Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-26

Recent dispatches announce that the
entente allies have presented a Joint
note to the Bulgarian
Diplomatic government asking
1r that its attitude to-
movements. ward Turkey be ex-
planned. and a definite statement be
made as to its Intentions one way or
the other. A dispatch. dated Athens.
18th instant. reported that in con-
sequence Of the note King Ferdinand
had received the opposition leaders
who oppose the equivocating policy Of
the government at Sofia" meeting
of the cabinet council in Rome on the
same day for the purpose of discuss
ing the Balkan situation is considered
as full OF significance in view of the
crisis precipitated by the note of the
entente allies. Italy. it being under
stood. having real interest in the
Balkans
It is announced that the opposition
leaders expressed to the king their OBJ
lection to the apparent policy Of the
ministry and recommended the forma-
ton of a new cabinet. They declared
that a neutral policy would be con-
trary to the interests and sentiments
OF the nation and the formation of
coalition cabinet and the immediate
summoning of the sobranje were neces-
sary
Whatever may be the result of the
action of the opposition leaders it Is
evident that Bulgaria is confronted by
a situation which will force her to
declare her intentions. In the interval
OF waiting for this declaration il viii
prove interesting to cast a glance at
the various Slav forces that outside of
the balkan states compose the latent
strength OF the Balkans.
A diplomat of authority and distinc-
ton, NJ. Gabriel Hanotaux. in an
ticle entitled: I'm the Balkans. said
liquidation of the question of the
orient. On its issue will depend the
fate Of two great Mediterranean ports
which only yesterday belonged to the
Turks-Constantinop and Saloniki-
and their hinterland. 1t may be said.
fguratively. that hostilities were be-
gun to regulate the destiny Of these
two cities"
NJ. Hanotaux's conclusions are indis-
putable. yet the expression loses great
part Of it's value because made after
the fact, when, 1t made before the fact,
prompt action might have. would have.
rendered unnecessary the actual strug-
gle to possess Constantinople. The
Turk, beaten at Tchatalka and Tchorlu.
was ready. almost willing. to quit
Europe and retire to Asia Minor. The
singular hesitations at London alone
saved the Turk from a manifest destiny,
winch Is all the more deplOEdDle That
the retention of the Turk has made the
actual war in Europe possible.
X Z:
Apropos to the faults committed by
Europe in this matter of the orient. II
|. may be said that its
Treaties as treaties. from that of
Zurich. have each one
wal oeeos. contained the seeds of
future war. The treaty of Berlin solved
none of the Balkanic questions. but. on
the contrary. prepared the way for the
Serbo- Bulgaro-Turk war of 1913. Aus
tria's aspirations to acquire Saloniki.
and thence route to the Mediterra-
mean were never a hidden secret to the
diplomats of Europe. AS one of these
has confessed: Austria. having failed
to obtain what she desired by way Of
Saloniki. there was coalition to get it
indirectly BY way Of Antwerp
The Balkanic peoples are divided
among themselves for a variety of
causes-race. religion. history. ancient
Ave years ago that their union was
possible The ex-Sultan Abdul Hamid
laughed at the idea of a Balkanic
union. and the rapid way in which. the
union of Bulgaria and Serbia was dis
solved proved the justice of Hands
appreciation. The rivalries between
the states make them brother enc
miles," and these rivalries are as strong
and tenacious as their desire for in
dependence. 1t is necessary to take
outside the peninsula of each of these
little states. their geographical situa-
ton and their economical interests. All
that constitutes for European diplo-
macy a sort of ''puzzle-brain," too much
for the comprehension of the European
diplomat, too much absorbed, perhaps.
by the particular interests of his own
state to comprehend the Inconsistency
of European conditions.
But Russia is not the only Slav today
Dardanelles. To Russia's
Slavs Seek millions there must be
added those millions of
VIC oea. Slavs of the Balkans and
the pest, those of Bosnia Herzegovina.
Montenegro. Bohemia, Poland. Lusace,
ARram, Prague. Corinthia, Syria, Car
niola, otherwise classed as Serbs,
Czechs. Slovaks, Slovines. Croats, Ru-
thenians. Rumanians. etc.
These are the forces that are massed
behind the Balkans, and to which Eu-
rope is looking askance. strangely
of the immense force stored up in the
mass of which it was once SO stupidity
and inately afraid.
For a fact the Serb has been almost
unconscious of his own strength until
recent events disclosed his latent
power. AS the result of the Balkanic
wars of 1912-1913 national conscience
has powerfully awakened and caused
to vibrate these millions. the one-half
Of whom only possess nationality and
independence. This. indeed. was the
situation of Italy the morning after the
"Risorgimento.' after the first victories
of the house of Savoy: now the house
of Piedmont may be compared to the
Serb kingdom. The adversary now, as
then. is the same.
Let US follow little the historical
evolution of events in Austria. which
permit US to appreciate with precision
current events. This evolution had its
Rudolph Of Hapsburg Gss2), who
possessed besides Austria proper.
Syria and Carniola. half German. half
Slovene. In that year Trieste, in order
to escape from the power Of Venice,
placed herself under the protection of
on the Adriatic. Under Macmillan 1
G4S2-16lo) the group was augmented
by the acquisition of Mitterbourg Pus-
therthal and the county Italo-Slav of
Gorica.
At the diet of Cologne in 1912 Aus
TRAN possession constituted one of the
ten circles OF Germany. The crown of
Bohemia. Moravia. Silesia was chiefly
composed of Czechs with small colony
Of German miners and woodchoppers
Hungary was composed of Magyars,
Germans. Slavs and Rumanians
The two kingdoms were separate and
Independent states. In the presence of
pnfy,