Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-30
The MOTIVES OF GREECE IN WAR
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
ondence of The Star and the Chicago Record Herald

SpcCtdI u lie = "a
CONSTANTINOPLE. September 26. 1910.
The insane eagerness of the Greeks to
| fight Turkey is not due alone to their de-
sire to retrieve military
Religious reputation they lest in the
-, recent struggle with that
AAAP uA0S' country or to revenge them
selves for the insults of the boycott that
has been imposed upon their fellow
countrymen in the Ottoman empire dur
ing the last summer, but many of them
imagine that they are inspired to carry
ON a holy crusade. They dream of the re-
ccvery of Consta ntnople, the ancient
capital of the Greek empire. which was
taken by Mohammed II from the Greek
emperor Constantine MI in the year
14.2
The Greeks founded ConstantinOple
about 657 B. c. Their mythology gives
that honor to son OF Neptune. their
sea god. and 10, who. changed into
heifer, swan across the narrow strait
that divides Europe from Asia. and that
was the origin of the name Bos-phorus.
The true history of the city begins with
Constantine the Great who brought
grandeur riches and dignity to his cap
ital until il was rival of Rome. 1t was
not only the capital of the Byzantine en-
pire. but the citadel Of the Christian
faith. And so it remained until the
middle of the fifteenth century. when
horde of barbarians from Turkestan
swept across the boundaries of Europe,
occupied Hungary, Austria and the
Balkan states and began graduaily 10
close around the capital of ChriStendom,
drawing nearer and nearer, until their
camps could be seen from the towers OF
the Constantinople churches.
In 13a; the Turkish sultan, Bayezid,
erected on the shore of the Bosphorus
some five miles above Con-
Bridge of stantinople the massive and
picturesque fortress which
OaAAuS' now adioins the campus of
Robert College. The Bosphorus is only
about 800 yards wide at this point. and
nearby was strung the bridge over which
Darius the Great led his army of Per-
slams into Europe. A throne was hewn
in a rock at the top of the promontory
adjoining the college. on which Darius
sat and watched his soldiers crossing
from Asia. Visitors to the college now
land from the ferry boats on the Bos-
phorus under the shadow of the Rumili
Hisar, as the castle CT Bayeztd was
called. It's walls and towers are now as
picturesque and extensive as any ruins
in Europe. 1t was finished In the ran o.
1452, and in the spring OF 14o3 vast
host of Turks began to swarm ABOUT tho
banks of tie Bosphorus.
One must look among the Armenians'
the sheikhs of Lebanon and the Jews
of Damascus for the aristocracy OF
Turkey for their pedigrees go back 10
the beginning of time. The same fam
lilies have lived around the base of Mount
Ararat since the flood, and their Arme-
MAN descendants are living there sun.
The leading families OF Lebanon trace
their lineage directly to Ishmael. and
Jews of Damascus can trace an UNI
broken line of descent and uninterrupted
occupations from the days of Abraham
Isaac and Jacob. They wear To-Day the
same costumes. made of the same kind
of materials, as their fathers did When
Memphis Palmyra, Ninevah and Baal-
bek were f1ourishing cities. The Turks
are carpet baggers in Turkey.
Although Mesopotamia is believed to
have been the scene Of the origin OF
mankind, China was a
Ancient source of a large portion
of the worlds population.
0actIld. That part of Asia lying
east of the Caspian sea was called Bac-
tria by the ancients, and is believed TO
have been the birthplace of all the
Aryan races. The Greek historians called
it Scythia; the Romans called it Tar
tary, and even down to the time OF
Tamerlane it was known by that title.
Tamerlane was called the Khan OF Tar
tary. In early times the congestion
of population in China forced out tides
of emigration and conquest. Advancing
westward through the vast region now
known as Turkestan, they drove their
flocks and herds beyond the boundary De-
tween the continents, overrunning Aus
tria and Germany. and even france,
where they were known successfully as
Goths. Vandals, Huns, Tartars and
Turks.
The habitat of the original Turks.
called in Chinese Tu-kaiu, was in the
Altai mountains of China, whence they
migrated in large numbers at an early
day, and gave the name OF Turkestan
to the territory they occupied. from
there they moved westward because IN
that direction they met with least re-
sistance, and therefore wandered in the
greatest number With an interval of
200 years several great Turkish waves
poured over western Asia and southern
Europe The first flood took the form
Of religious invasion of Christian coun-
tries. and under Alp Arslan they in
yaded the Roman empire. His career
received at the hands of a man whom
he had condemned to death. Merv was
his capital and there today stand the
ruins Of his tomb. His reign was at
tended by a degree Of material pros
perity and advance in learning. culture
and in the development of literature and
architecture that has never been sur
passed in the history of Turkestan.
He was followed by a grandson, Sanjar.
also a man Of intelligence and learning,
and his reign was one Of the
Emneror most brilliant of that cen
fury. His capital. however,
00AJdI. was destroyed by invaders
during his absence on a military cam
paign, and when he returned he was 80
shocked at the desolatiOn that met MS
ewes that he sickened and died. The
ruins Of his splendid mausoleum. which
was built during his lifetime, are still IN
the center Of ancient Merry. and SO mas
sive were the walls that the natives
called it Oar ul-Akhirat, THE Abode OF
Eternity" Sixty years after his death
it was destroyed by Chengiz Khan and
his horde of Mongols. which swept over