The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-04-06
ToDAY we cELEaRATE.
TurEes Began Successful siege Of Con
atantincpie 462 Years Aao.

TurIes Began Successful siege Of Con-
stantinople 462 Years Ago.
Now that it seems probable that
the Turk will be driven from Europe,
and that Constantinople may again
become a Christian capitol. 1t is in
tereBting to recall the great seige by
| which the Crescent trtumphed over
the Cross and the disciples of the
Prophet set up their capitol in
Europe. 1t was 462 years ago today,
April 6, 1853, that .Mohammed II. be-
gan battering at the forts which pro-
| tected Constantinople. The siege
lasted SO days, but on May 90. 1853,
the city fell, and with it the eastern
heir OF the Roman empire. Constan-
tine XIII, the last of the Christian
emperors to reign at Constantinople.
maintained a brilliant and heroic re-
sistance against vastly superior odds.
and died like hero. The beginning
OF the Turkish empire in Europe was
not suspicious, for Mohammed II. or
dered the city looted and sacked, its
men killed and it's women captured.
and his instructions were carried out
with pitiless rapicity. Having set up
his oriental throne in Constantinople,
the Sultan Mohammed II. Immediately
began to extend his authority. His
armies invaded Serbia, once the seat
OF a proud empire, and reduced the
people to slavery. Greece soon fol-
4 lowed, and before the close of the
! century a large part OF southeastern
Europe groaned beneath the sway OF
J the Ottoman monarch, whose seat
was in Stamboul, the Constantinople
| of the eastern empire and the ByZan-
| tium of the pagan past. For 462 years
this reign has continued, latterly up
held by the jealousy of rival Chris
tain powers, but it now appears that
the sick man of Europe is approach
ing his final dissolution.
The successful siege of CONSTANT
nople by Sultan Mohammed II. was
very different from that carried on
much ponderous artillery. and several
months were spent in putting the big
guns in place before the siege actually
commenced on the sixth of April, 1853.
! Cannon had first been used by the
Moors in Spain, a century before, and
/ Mohammeds artillery was very crude.
One of the cannon OF Mohammed H..
was presented to the British govern
ment by the Sultan of Turkey in
| 1868, and is now to be seen at Wool
witch.
Mohammed's artillery experts held
that the larger the cannon the greater
its destructiveness. so they construct
| ed a gun whose mouth had diameter
of two feet and half. Stone cannon
balls were fired from these guns, a
method certainly having the merit OF
economy, as compared with the mis-
! siles fired from the big guns in the
1915 siege of Constantinople.
Mohammed H., in his siege of the
! imperial city, had at his command an
army of 100000 men, besides a large
feet and an enormous number of can
non. The defenders numbered only
about 10000, and had few cannon and
| little gun powder. yet they held the
| Turks at bay for SO days. Moham-
med's navy consisted of 800 vessels,
while the warships of the Greeks num-
bered only five. So great was the
superiority of Greek steamship and
valor, however, that this little squad
ron defeated the great navy of Mo-
manned. The Sultan watched the en-
gagement from the shore, and shouted
insults at his men as they gave way
| before the Greek squadron.
A naval exploit that could hardly be
repeated today was performed by the
Turks when they transported their
fleet overland into the harbor across
| the isthmus, which separates the
Golden Horn from the Bosphorus.
The whole Turkish fleet climbed the
ment OF 40 days the Greek forts were
demolished, and Mohammed then
gathered his forces for the final as
| sault 1t began on the morning of
the 29th Of May. The Turks carried
all before them by mere force OF num-
! bers, and within few hours Constan-
tinople had been transformed from u
Christian to a Moslem capitol.