Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-19
ABDUL HAMlD THE CRAFTY
The PAST GRAND MASTER OF the
ART OF DIPLOMACY.
Struggled for n Quarter of IA Century
Tor His Position In Europe
His Policy of DcIay.


! i't''' iiiiIitN Preside Mt Mckinley and Sec
rotary Hay have entered upon a struggle
wan Tue past grand master of the Fa-
piah school OF diplomacy. Abdul Hamid II
| Is lar ana away the craftiest and most
| daring ruler in the old world His nnass.
skill, cunning, boldness have been co,-
| S'dh'ly exercised in contests with the ablest
| statesmen OF Europe for a auarter Of a
| century. and. while he has not ALWAYS como
| on Victor, he has won more Frequently than
| he has lost
| Abdul Hamid IS Turk and Mussulraan
| OF the o1d school He Is fifty-eight wears
OF age. and the Innovations of modern civ
! ilization have left little Impression mon
| MN. Tie rules Turkey as his predecessors
| ruled 1t, and has only yielded grudytn.,v
| To the progress of the age
! lie became the ruler of the Ottoman ON
| pre- IN August 1876 at a moment VIII n
| the SerNian and Bulgarian provinces w.r,.
| IN me revolt which Immediately preceded
| the lurko-RuSsian war. and when the COM
| bined powers of Europe were ey,rtins tba;r
| utmost pressure to compel Turkey To adopt
! new policies.
| Upon his accession to the throne Abdul
| Ii"hlld was confronted by the immediate
danger or the diSintegration of his eunire
| A. that time Turkey in Europe included
Servia. bulgaria. Roumauia. Montenegro,
| Bosnia, Herzegovina and Thcssalv Thesa
| provinces We're not only in a state of re-
| volt, but Russia and Austria We're known
| 10 nave designs upon territory which would
ranean III. o" di tlE,tIgrs 70 Inc Mediter-
| freely predicted in every capital of Europe
| and the strife between the powers for pos
the spoil of Constantiri,.i - ~ i"r
| of th. DardanaII,s ,,~,t,6t ~. a,.T so III y,
| Europe in general war.
| Abdul Hamid IIndnubtofir,. yaoI,za, tho.
It was too late To- saw. tbS ienIit1,' , r.it.
! inces bur he was o,fcl, "a ro1,,,ri-n ~ ~,
| general European situation the opportunity
OF saving his throne and his footing in
| monte as tho se3t az IT,b,,,,r,1.io,,, -,
| For the first tima he ,,i,y.ri bis IN, -,
/ the chess board of Furnnr ali .bs v,nrlJ
| knows What fnl,owed rba war n.itb ~.
| STA lost Servio ana Po,,rnani, 70 tbs III
| tan Bosnia and U.rz.rnyfna vent :,
| Austria. hut Montenegro was Srected intn
a buffer state that for the time blocked
| Franz losers ratbvav to Sai,ni,, rTbs
| czar's yictorious armies vc.rs ar tho ,ratns
| of Constantinor,l, and Turkeys nnsition in
Europe hung only by a thread
| Then it was that Abdul Hamid taught
| Europe. its first lesson in oriental state
| craft Ry q scorer traatI- with Lord R.o-
| consfield the sultan coded +, Great Britain
! the Island of cypress. In return Lord
Beaconsfi.ld guaranteed the territorial in
| tegr!ty of Asia Minor and sent the British
| fleet through the par,lan.lles
| Russia was checkmated. The car at once
realized that his troops marching into Cons
| stautinople would be shellri 10y The British
! fleet. He was reluctantly compelled to giva
| up project long dreamed Of by Russia and
| 10 submit to the terms of the treaty Of Ber-
| lin. dictated by an European congress de-
mandetl by Lord ReaconsiieId, who really
| acted as the agent of the crafty sultan.
| In June ISIS the powers were compelled
| to take steps to secure the enforcement of
| the terms Of the treaty If Berlin with ref
! grin frontier In this controversy tho sul-
tan lost. He endeavored to save himself by
| changing his ministry. thus giving Great
| Britain almost complete ascendency at Con-
l., ti,a 50 toms
of the powers closely. waiting make the
| most of any apparent disa agreement. But in
the end he failed. being compelled to cede
DuIcigno to Montenegro, but not until after
| having received TWO ultimatums backed up
| by the allied fleets of the powers.
Sultan Abdul Hands position In Europe
was rapidly becoming precarinus. Nearly
every power had claims upon him. He
| owed money to every banker in Europe. He
could only pay in territory. as cash he had
none Th, terri torfal demands Of Greece
| were still unsatstied and the Russian war
indemnity vet unpaid.
So long as the concert of the powers ex-
listed the Ottoman empire was doomed.
This was Abdul Hamids situation in 1880
and ISL
The English and French rivalry for pos
session of Egypt gave Abdul Hamid the
coveted onnortunity for breaking the con-
cert of the powers, The powers had united in
pressing the demand for the completion OF
The Berlin treaty with reference to the ter
ritorial claims Of Greece. The Grecian gov
arnmant was clamorinp for a settlement
anI vas actively nrenarinr for war Glad
stona ba5 s,lccaaded T5eaconsiield and was
oncrrrafrire Grseca Austria was susnected
of 5aeisyns i, Sa1onica hay Gladstone re-
11rsirg tba ,nIicv of Reaconsfell sided
nith B,ssio
IT., 49, ~. ", tho Situation an onnor-
$50 ~ "a" ii,.,i ~ ,,nwars IIa annsnIa,
.uiiIts ~ VI tue ~. ni.e ,li 20 f., IN;
10 iaii.'' ,r ..'i,ut..5 ~ ,.h;t -,
,erests III iipoli am unls, w. vi go
laiu W 'S iLo9tiie Gnu - r. i.tS -. -.
lIlelld!y -hiaiin anu ia'r.r 49,, a. si
eillploiieu IN lutsi 81 49, iioi
RUSSIA sluihs win E.i.siaIiu. =, .,
ne po"giS were pit'ett IS ~ -, - m,
ana the european coIlSeIt VI w w
sultan IoFteu tlts Laf r., 80 80
reoe1s 10 thelr colo[S, anu iid,tg olie
snow OF preparing lor WA. i,iS
paruE succeeued; LOT al'h'usu III mt M
ne was cofnpeile1 10 give III 10 me qei'.aiids
OF Greece ne only gave a part OF 'iis .eiri-
tory oriElnaiE DEMANDED. ,,.
In 1856 the powers again came Jog 'he' ~
consider the bulgarian question aI'er 'he
revolution winch hnally sndea IN frihce
AleXanders resignation. RUSSIA ana AUS
tria- working toseiher' demanded liie res
toratlon OF Prince AleNai,ier' WHO was en-
tire!y under RUSSIAN influence. GnrhaNy
ana ItalY TOOK the SANE P'Sltloil. Inc sur
tan appealed 10 Ehsltti. asserting t''a.