Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-03-26
RECORD OF THE TURK
Has Won and Lost More Land
Than Any Other Nation.
ONE TIME A WORLD BUGBEAR.
Then tho Tide Turned, and One Great
Misfortune Followed Another Till
He Was Almost Swept Out Of Eu-
rope by the Treaty Of Berlin.


He Was Almost Swept Out Of Eu-
rope by the Treaty Of Berlin.
The Terrible Turk" who may be
taken as typifying the empire Of the
sultans. holds one record at least
which he is not likely to be deprived
of. He has won and lost more terri
tory than any other nation.
There was time when the sultan
was the bugbear Of the world. Even
little children in England shook in
their shoes when they heard his name
mentioned, and those people who lived
anywhere near him - ed not call their
lives their own.
But at last the tide turned. The
Turk began to lose, and one great mis-
fortune followed another.
Spain was the first big bit Cf the
Turkish empire to break free The
Moors, who were subject and paid
tribute to the sultan, were driven from
province after province until at length
they were cooped up In the solitary
kingdom Of Granada.
The last Moorish king to reign in
Spain was Boabdil-el-C haco, or Boab-
dill the Unlucky. In 1882 Ferdinand
and Isabella, the king and queen of
Aragon and CASTLE, declared war on
him, and In 1902 he had to surrender
everything.
Hungary, which now forms half of
the dual monarchy Of the Emperor
Francis Joseph, was q province of the
gultan for $50 years. Then it was torn
from him by the sword.
After this came the turn Of the
ears. The Russians, whom he once
tiespised, have been the Turks worst
enemies. They have either robbed him
themselves or encouraged others to rob
him.
Peter the Great set the example, but
was not, on the whole, very successful
In his wars against the Moslems. AT
one time the Turks could have cap
tured and massacred Peter and his ar
my, but were frustrated by the slave
girl. Catherine, whom Peter had mar
ried.
Catherine the Great tore the Crimea
from the unhappy Turk, together with
thousands of square miles Of territory
along the shores Of the Caspian.
In 1921 the Greeks, who had been
slaves Of the sultans for many centu-
rles. rose in rebellion and drove the
Turks out Of the country. But then
the Greek leaders began to quarrel
among themselves, and civil war fol-
lowed The Turk took the opportunity
to seize the country once more.
But the massacres and other horrors
which followed aroused Europe. in
1927 the Turkish feet was destroyed
at Navarino. The combined fleets of
Britain, France and Russia took part
in the operation.
In 1928 Greece was acknowledged as
free and independent kingdom, with
a king Of its own.
For nearly century Egypt, which
the Turk conquered in GAL, has been
part of the sultan's empire In little
more than name. and since 1882, when
the English occupied Pharaoh's coun
try after Arab Pasha's rebellion. the
Turk has had practically nothing to do
with Egypt.
The Moorish corsairs who had their
lair In the pirate city Of Algiers ac-
knowlcdged the sultan as their suZe-
rain. but were defantly independent as
regarded all the rest of the world.
Their swift sailing dhows preycd on
the commerce Of all Europe, and from
start to finish they seized many thou
sands Of white captives. many of
whom they ransomed, while others
they doomed to slavery.
When asked to keep his plratical
subjects IN order the sultan declared
himself helpless to do anything The
freebooters went on doing as they
liked for long time. Then France
became weary Of patience and forcibly
took possession Of the city I'm 1880.
Since then she has annexed 307,9S0
square miles Of Algerian territory once
subject to the sultan.
Then came the Turks worst time.
Russia made war Oh him, and the Bal
kan states, which had been held as
provinces by Turkey for hundreds of
years, revOlted, flew to arms and did
everything they could on the side of
Russia. Had the car been left to him.
self the Turkish empire would have
been practically destroyed. The other
great powers, however, were afraid to
see Russia too powerful. They insist
ed on summoning the congress Of Ber-
lin.
BY the terms Of the treaty Of Berlin
the Turk was almost swept out Of Eu-
rope. Bosnia and Herzegovina were
handed over to Austria to keep in or
der Roumania, Servia and MOntene-
gro were declared absolutely lndepend-
ent Of him. Bulgaria was created into
a principally. nomlnally under the
sultan's suzerainty, but in reality free.
And then Austria annexed Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Pearson Weekly.