Evening star., 1911-08-13

the downfall of his futile and ugly
despotfsm. The aim of Little Nicholas
and of his st. Petersburg advisers gen
orally ts indeed, not to make war. but
to foil the Young Turks attempt To
consolidate the Ottoman empire. to keep
up irritation in the Balkans: and either
to destroy Turkey by slow abrasion Or at
least to keen her in the abject conditions
of the Hamidian regime.
If the Balkan states do this unpleasant
work. and bear the chastisement of the
Turks in case they fail, Little Nicholas
will be only too pleased: but he has not
the slightest intention Of helping Biz
Nicholas; and 1t is sure indication that
Big Nicholas has poetical, visiorarH
mind that he hopes for help from -.
Petersburg.
The optirnists who want war ought to
be very iowncast by this fact But they
are not. They know that though BIZ
Nicholas will not 20 TO war without Little
Nicholas, and that although Little Nicho-
las has no warlike intentions. war never
theless may break out easily. One pos
sible cause is the blundering diplomacy
of Russia which without wanting war
with Japan brought II on in the surest
way.
The diplomatists who rule at the Sing
er's bridge in st Petersburg are not men OF
high capacity: and their best intentions
are foiled by the fact that Little Nlcnoidr
eternally carries on shifty games behind
their backs His latest trick was TO
send most threatening note 10 Turkey,
which note had IL not been Withdrawn
in time, most certainly would have caus-
ed a war.
The Turks were ordered categor1cally
to give a declaration that their nobliiza-
ton was not against Montenegro. or
this note the Russian foreign minister
Sazonoff had no knowledge. 1t was con-
h..
of the meddlesome Premier Stolypin. un-
der the pressure of Grand Duke Peter
Nikaolaievitch, whose wife is Big Nicho-
las daughter. The note was published
officially before being presented 10 Iur-
key, and the result was that Russia
did not present II at all, but issued an
absurd explanation and rendered an alb
ject apology to the Turks. After that
Russia got fright, and her latest act is
to issue an official newspaper warning
to Big Nicholas that he will get no help
from Little Nicholas il he plunges In
cautiously into war.
Apparently Big Nicholas is much dis
gusted. but he is the victim OF his own
illusions and ultra-poetical faith in lis
fellow men-and his fellow diplomatists
Nothing that has happened diminishcs.
however. the danger of war. !, present
the Montenegrin general Minschko-
w,tsch Is in St. Petersburg pleading-in
vain, it seems-to Little Nicholas TO
change his mind. This viii have no
effect, hut there iS another danger from
the Turkish side. The Young Turks have
recovered entirely their self-confidence:
they are backed by Germany; and they
believe that they are perfectly able 10
tackle Russia alone. And they do not
believe ii will come to that.
The trouble In Albania, subsidized as
they know from without. Is never likely
to subside without some drastic remedy.
And. therefore, while IL is not likely. IL
is every day possible that Turkey Will
send an utimatum to Montenegro re-
curing her TO withdraw her support or
the Albanian rebels. In that case all
Europe is likely TO be in for war. and
even Little Nicholas may be drawn into
It against his vacillating will.
Copyright, 1911. in the United States by Curtis
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