Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-06
AND THE DARDANELLES

4 ~ ANIL L XkXvN i II
On the authority Of the Journal Poll
tkten Of Copenhagen. Russia IL reported
as having demanded
Fleets Passage the unrestricted pas
n..,, sass Of her Black sea
~e~' neet through the Oar
daneilsA Russia II 10 asserted. claims
that tho neutrality Of the straits pro-
claimed BY Turkey in the beginning Of
the present war was violated when the
German cruisers Goeben and Breslau
were accorded refuge there and sold to
Turkey.
Russia's Black sea dsst consists Of six
pre-dreadnought battleships. ranging
from l1.23O to f2.s40 tons. four of them
carrying six l2-inch guns each. and all
with tho customary secondary batteries
Of the pre-dreadnought period. There are
besides one smaller hattlesh!p. also
two cruisers. sixteen dessroyers. sixteen
torpedo boats and nve submarines.
Turkey, Il 10 reported. 10 anxious to got
into the conflict, but II 10 not certain that
such is tbs case. Turkeys recent war
experience would seem to dictate abso-
Lutte neutrality. Besides Turkeys i'm
nixtion would b followed by . tormi-
negro. servia, Roumania and Greece and
probably Italy. Again. II IL scarcely
probable that France would have Ia
vored the recent loan to Turkey without
exacting respectable pledges Of neutral
to the triple entente.
Whatever the value Of these considers
tons the interest in tho question Of the
Dardaneiles Ia paramount and memo
randum thereon Ia both interesting and
intelligent appreciation OF the political
diorama.
What are tho Dardanelles or straits7
An arm Of the sea that separates Eu-
side, Asia on the eastern, This arm Is
seventy kilometers In length. II 10 the
ancient Hellesront Of the Greeks. the
Bari-sefd-Boghas Of the Osmanlis; II
Is the key to the Sea Of Marmora. as the
Bosporus Is the passage to the Black
sea- 1t was by the Hellespont that
xerxes passed into Europe with his army.
having thrown across 1t a bridge Of boats
between Abydos and Testos.
At this time the Dardanelles has be-
come q much-discussed maritime pas
sageway and the confessed key to Con-
stantinople. The principal cities on the
west bank are Gallipoli and Kilid-
Bahr: on the east Kalch-Sultanah. The
straits vary from 1910 to 5000 meters
wide and from 4s to 40 meters deep.
The history of the empire Of Turkey.
for tho purpose Of this article. may
commence in 1883. when
Turkish Constantinople was cap
u;.s., tured. and may be divided
AJ' into three periods: First.
from 1883 to the treaty Of Carlowitz.
In 1900: second, from 1899 to the
Greek insurrection. in 1921; third. from
1921 to the present time.
The nrst period IL characterised by
the struggle of the Turks In the
Balkan peninsula against the occi-
dentals. The victorious suitans ex-
tended their conquests 70 Persia. Kur-
distan. Mesopotamia, Chypre, Yemen.
Bagdad Egypt
Mustapha ii. defeated at Zanta, and
compelled to sign the peace Of Carlo
witz. 1859. ceded to Emperor Leo
poid Transylvania and the country sit
uated between the Danube and the
Thesis. Venice was given the Morie.
Dalmatia Saint-Maure. Peter the Great
retained possession Of the Axof and
Poland received Podoiia and Ukraine.
Turkey thus saw the glory Of her con-
quests decline after the peace of Carlo
witx-
The second period, from 1909 to 1921.
Is marked by constant checks of the
sultans In Europe: The reign of
Achmet Ill. from 1908 to 1880. was hon.
orable. and If Prince Eugene acquired
for Austria Temcovar and Belgrade
and part OF Servia, these losses were
compensated by Turkeys conquest Of
the Poioponeses, part Of Persia and
the Axof. Peter the Great. surrounded
on the Pruth. escaped captivity only
hvyo fc -fver -
standing the excellence of the govern
ment of Achmet III. the latter was
deposed In 1850 by the janissaries, and
1t was his successor. Mahmoud I. to
whom was reserved the honor OF sign
ing the treaty of Belgrade.
After Gilman II 1754) came Mus
tapha III. who engaged In a long con-
f1ict with the Cxarina Catherine II of
Russia. The war with Russia resulted
in the expulsion Of the Ottomans from
Georgia and the loss of the Crimea. fol-
lowed by the revolts of Mahmoud In
Albania, Ali Pasha In Epirus and
Dagger in Palestine.
~
Abdul Hamid, sultan, In 1774, after a
disastrous defeat at varna, was COM
PEELED to sign the
Independence treaty Of Koutchouk-
.m Kainardji. by which
OF Tartars. Turkey recognized the
independence Of the Tartars of the Cri-
mea and the cession Of notable advan-
tages for Russian commerce in the
Black sea- Up to this time. l774. there
was no mention OF the restrictions as
to the Dardanelles. For a fact the
treaty Of Jassy. signed by Sultan Selim
in 1892, sanctioned all acts OF Russia
and Austria on the Danube and in the
Black sea
The French expedition against Egypt
provoked revolt in some provinces. and
Russia occupied Valachia and Moida-
via. February 10, 1907. the English adj
miral, Duckworth, forced the passage
of the Dardanelles with several vessels
of war and anchored before CONSTANT
nople. This was the first naval demon
stration on the empire since 1853. In
1909 an agreement was signed between
the Turkish and British governments
which declared that the Dardanellts
should be closed to all foreign vessels
of war; In the same year Mahmoud II
proclaimed the treaty Of Bucharest
which assured to Russia the mouths of
the Danube. and fixed in Pruth the
The third period Of the empires his
tory dates from the insurrection in
Greece 1891: the Intervention OF Europe.
the disaster at Navarin. the war with
Russia, the French expedition to the
Morea and the treaty Of Adrianople,
1920 which recognized the Hellenic In
Of Valachia and Moldavia
and opened the Dardanelles to the fleets
If all nations