The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-05-30
Turkey and Russia

Frederick the Great, so il is report
ed, used to say that war between
the Russians and the Turks might be
compared TO a duel between q China
man and q man with one eve. and
that it was not easy 10 know which
was which And yet, from the days
of Peter the Great, the Russians
and Turks have been almost habitu-
ally at war, and the record of their
struggles presents some of the mos,
exciting episodes in Modern history.
As to the war OF the eighteenth cen
tuary, the conditions Of coaiict be-
tween the two Powers have not wnol-
| ly changed; and some strategic ques-
tions are the same now as they
were during the eighteenth century.
Then, as now, says writer in the
London Times, the command of the
Black Sea was OF the highest moment
to either belligerent then, az now,
the ill-opened tracts aud pes;ilential
regions around the Balkans were a
dangerous barrier to "a invader, and
then, as now, the immense distance
between the Danube and CONSTANT
nople was 10 itself mos; serious OBJ
sticle. The innate qualities. 100, of
the hostile armies were probably then
what they still remain; the solid and
disciplined Russian infantry had an
easy superiority in the open field /;
the Turks were admirable 10 the de-
tense of fortresses, aud for patient en-
dursnce Of want and hardship.
But the enormous extension OF the
powers Of Russia, and the cores
ponding decline OF that Of Turkey
make these old examples no longer
opposite; and the essential difference
is largely increased by the improve
ments effected in modern war, and by
The altered condition, in recent times,
of the subject races of the Ottoman
Empire. In 1860, the Porte con-
tended on equal terms against Rus
sia backed by the whole strength of
Austria 10 lTs7-90 tie troops of
Suwarrow were scarcely able to ad-
vance at the rate of FIVE miles a day;
when Cstharine and Joseph agreed
to divide the spoils Of Turkey in Eu-
rape between them, the Cbrictian
population made no signs of life, the
wars, therefore, OF these remote peri
DDS cannot teach US much for the pres
ent juncture.
1t Is 0ore important TO take &C.
count of the general results OF these
bygone contests aud Of the political
combinations which marked their
course, or Ghich may be connected
] with them The first broad fact that
appears is that the power Of the
Cars bas prodigiously grown, and
that of the Sultsns has much dimin-
ished; and this memorable change, as
is well Known, has almost ever since
been in rapid progress
The frontier of Russia ia the war
of 1886 was on the Don and Dnieper
only ; 10 that OF 1871, it bad adj
ysnced to the verge of the Pruth {;
Suwarrow had already approached
the Balkans, traversed afterwards by
bis successor, Diebitch Again, it is
a mistake to suppose that the alli-
ances which in modern times have
upheld the fabric of Ottoman rules
are founded on long established ira
ditions, or indicate settled Europe
an policy. Twice Austria, in the
tenth century. combined with Rus-
sia to crush the power Of the Turks
in Europe, and ever since the day Of
the Emperor Joseph a party Of weight
in tie councils of Austria have advo-
Gated a return to this very system.
Nor has the attitude Of England
been altogether different during the
long struggle between England and
France, England often dealt with the
| Turks as enemies, and in fact, it was
not until the time Of Pitt that it con-
sidered the Porte as neutral ally"
1t deserves notice, too, that ever since
the wars which revealed her decay
in the last century, Turkey has been
treated practically by the great Pow
ers of Europe as in no real sense an
independent State, as justly subject
to the will OF the stronger, IL is not
necessary to lay stress on the parti-
tion planned at Tilsit but that Of
Duekworth's passage Of the Dardan-
elles Of Navsrion, and of the libcr-
alton of Greece, if on these occasions
the Porte bad the same kind of inter-
national and sovereign rights possess
ed by every European kingdom The
eighteenth century, in fact showed
what the Ottoman Empire really is ;
and nothing but series cf strange
accidents have since kept together its
| dissolyiup frame.