New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-07

TUE PARTITION or TURKEY-THE
PRESENT sULTAN-ATTITuDE
OF THE POWERS.
Tho story Of the Ottoman Turks OF which the
s.s,nning Of the end IS probably now being told
=. daily dispatches from Constantirople Athens
80 Canea is nearly seven centuries Old IL De-
- IN the famous Persian land OF khorassan,
-ha-a dwelt a small clan known as the Oghuz
rtsse tribesmen were driven westward by one
:. che earlier Mongol incursions. and sought
..,rse among the mountains Of Asia Minor.
rhsre in the thirteenth century. they materially
,Aod the Seljuk Sultan of Iconium in repelling
,,o Nongols in the great battle of Angora. and
ra,yard received a grant of land on the
eotoria River including the city of Sugud, or q.
,r,obosion where they dwelt and prosperec
asr the rule Of their leader. Ertughrul the
Sc. % Su-ul was really the birthplace of the
o,,or,sn Empire. For there was born In Loo
-, INDUSTRIOUS Osnnan, from whom the who!e
,ribe thereafter took its name. Osmanli. by En-
r,,sons he was called Gilman. and his followers
O,,ouans lie greatly enlarged the holdings OF
NC neople in Asia Minor. and his successors IN
12is crossed the Dardanelles and seized Gaiii-
lii IN the European shore-their first foothoId
IN Europe.
rba ottoman realm in Europe assumed i'm
r,al nronortions under the rule of the mighty
,,r-ad called by European writers Amurath
who occupied Adrianople. Philippopolis and Ms
=, and thus ruled over most of Thrace. Bulgaria
cd servia The raid of Timur Leng in Asia
Minor recalled the Osmanli from furtner con-
oues-s in Europe 10 look to their Eastern BORDERS
80 then Hunyadi. the White knight of Wal
lschia played havoc with them In the BALKANS
- lime They were not thus TO be checked
nc
and his son Murad II. the second Amurath. who
we're able and noble sovereigns. their power ana
d,7,irjons we're much extended. Constantinopie
90 i,,, -balr hands on May 20 1853. Funyad
e,u held out stubbornly al Belgrade. and after
hin, Matthias Corvinus: and Islander Beg Of
f,roio dened them successfully in Albania ana
rr.l,s Murad's heart. But elsewhere the Os-
m,nli were victorious. They seized Greece IN
l.77 and three years later gained footing IN
1.a,,. II Otranto Early in the next century
SYRIA Ecvpt and Arabia fell into their hanos.
The height Of their power was reached uhuei
Sulcir7an the Magnificent. lo2O-l1oo lie 'ooh
Belgrade and Budapest and made not only the
entire Balkan Peninsula. but Hungary as We'll
part OF the ottoman Empire. He even laio siege.
though unsuccessfully. to Vienna. In an era OF
great soycreigns. such as Elizabeth and Charies
V he ranked among the foremost.
THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE
Under Suleiuan's son. Selim H. came the first
clash with Russia II occurred in the Don Cos
sack country-for all the region along the north-
crr1 shore Of the Black. Sea was then TURKISH
Tho Turks wanted to connect the Don anu 'oisa
rivers and thus the Black and Caspian seas WIN
a canal. But the Russians then savage 'ripe
scarcely heard of in Europe. swarInec linthei
and prevented them. I'D indeed drove them out
of that country. other disasters followed. lrue'
the Turks took Crete in 16io. and IN l"o- IN
vaoed Austria and besieged Vienna again Hu'
John Sobieski and the Duke OF Lorraine siiio'e
tbeu, and scattered them with great siauen'e''
T,oy wore driven from Hungary in 1856. Their
noble refusal to give up Charles MI OF o"eueh
20 Russia after the battle of Pultowa brought
Russian wrath upon them. Peter the Great IN
vaded Moldavia with intent to annex it, bul
found he Turks too many Tor MIN, anu "'' SOU
TO escape with whole skin.
In 1736 the first partition Of Turkey was pro-
,osDd and actually undertaken by Russia ana
Ausiria But the Turks thrashed the Austrlahs
soundly and defeated the whole scheme ooi'4
wears later. in reckless disregard OF treaues'
Russia invaded Moldava. and seized the Criiiied
and all the other provinces IN that region oiea'
to the Caspian Sea. In 11Ss Russia ana Austria
again undertook TO partition the Whoie OIL Eu-
ropean Turkey between them. and again Aus'iid
was beaten by the Turks Russia was nltie
more fortunate and in third attempt ne. a. i
were signally successful under the lhhuiHdl,
butcher Suwarrow Belgrade, Bucharest an"
Ismail were wrested from the Turks But boiid-
parties wars in Western Europe denlah9eI H ~,
sia's attention and peace was conclucec PEI
grade and Bucharest being restored 10 luIheJ
and the Dniester River being made the oouhuals
between the two empires In ISL, hoMen.,,,
Russia pressed on to the Prutk. the present
boundary. oao r, ~.
Greece won her independence in 1888. Then the
Car attempted 70 assume a protectora'e W.
Moldavia and Wallachia. which was aDoilsheo
by the Crimean War Turkey was then, now
ever by the Treaty Of Paris. placed practcaiiy
under the tutelage of the other Powers especially
Great Britain and France. The next change
came in 1896. when Moldava and Wallacnla
united 10 form Rumana. and became practically
independent. Servia also became Independent
re next wear and so did Egypt under new
ruler called the Khedive. An instruction oc-
cured in Herzegovina in 1914. which set the
whole peninsula aname. The next year saw out
breaks and massacres in Bulgaria. Then Servia
and Montenegro declared war against Turkey.
The conference Of the Powers at Constantinople
followed and the ephemeral constitution OF Mid
hat Pacha and finally the Russian war
Aided by the Rumanians. and once saved by
them from utter rout the Russians, after des
perate struggle. defeated me nlghty OsInsm n, al
Plsvna and marched upon ConstantinOple. They
got a. far as Adrianople. There the treat or
San ctefano was made. practically surrenderins
everything 70 Russia Bnt Urea, sr haih ME- p
mania Servia and Montenegro were made abso-
lutely independent. with some increase of terri
tory Bosnia Herzegovina and Now BaZar were
put under Austrian administration. fart or
Thessaiy was coded 10 Greece. bulgaria
was made autonomous. afterward adding to her
self Eastern Rumelia. Thus Turkey In Europe
was practically reduced 10 a narrow strip from
the Bosporus 70 the Adriatic. including Ihrace'
Macedonia Albania and part OF Epirus
THE PRESENT SITUATION
To such a sovereignty the present Sultan ABB
du Hamid ii. succeeded. or this monarch HIM
self opinions vary. Mr.. Gladstone, with charac-
teristic vehemence has called him the Great
Assassin" and Mr.. William Watson has apos-
trophized him as Abdul the Damned" Many