Newark post., 1915-02-17
CONSTANTINOPLE
OBJECT OF WAR
Harvard Professor Discusses
Tribulation Of The East

That the real object or the war
raging in the east Of Europe is mas
terry Of Constantinople, and not a
clash between the Teutons and the
Slavs, was the opinion expressed
by DR.. Albert Bushnell Hart, pro-
fessor of the Science of Govern
ment, at Harvard University, in
lecture delivered in the College Or
atory last Saturday evening.
Constantinople, the speaker de-
clared, is still one of the majestic
cities Of the world, guarded still on
the land side by those walls which
were stormed centuries ago. The
city occupies one Of the most ad-
mirable positions on the face Of the
earth; a position which before the
introduction of powerful long
range guns was practically i'm
pregnable. The city is truly a prize
in itself, worth fighting for; it is
the cork in the neck of a bottle
stretching far to the north and east
ward. We are by now, the speaker
declared, fully convinced that the
war did not break out because of
the assassination Of Franz Ferdi-
nand. 1t is rather because of the
apprehension that the Hungarian
government was being undermined
and that there was a movement to
gain greater power for little Servia
to the southwark. 1t seems alto
Eether probable that before Aus
tia issued her ultimatum, Germ
any had practically agreed to
stand by it. The whole purpose of
the plan was not to avenge the
death of Franz Ferdinand, but to
put the Servians out Of commission,
and to reach down toward the cov-
eted coastland Of Salonika. But
how does Servia, five hundred miles
away, become Of such moment in
the struggle, we may ask. What
has Belgrade to do with Constan-
tinople9 Constantinople is the
stopper in the bottle formed by the
BLACK Sea. Bulgaria, Rumania,
Turkey, and Russia make up the
Black Sea-coast. Russia, however,
controls no outlet to the open sea,
except those in the far north which
are ice bound during many months
of the year. Consequently, cen
turies ago, Peter the Great formed
what he called the "Warm Water
Policy" campaign Of beating
his way to the sea-
The speaker paused here to ask
And it is not right for Russia to
have an ocean front?" "Has not
such mighty nation, inhabited by
many millions of people, the right
TO ask for sea-coast?" For nine
hundred years the ambition of
Russia has been constantly directed
to the Bosphorus. And the Rus
sian is persistent. He always re-
turns to the original object; he
cannot be stopped, but like some
mighty avalanche, once set in mo-
ton, moves on and on with an
overwhelming force, leaving upon
the face Of the earth, the marks of
his coming. The great object of
Russia is actually to gain control
of Constantinople and the Straits.
Dr. Hart reviewed the race con-
ditions in the Balkans,-the seven
nationalities, with their three re-
ligions. He declared the Turks to
be individually among the most
amiable men and women on the
earth; combining they make one
of the worst governments on the
face Of the earth. The speaker re-
fel red to the separate Balkan
states, which he declared had been
made out of the ruins of Turkey.
He mentioned the fact that AL
bania stands alone as the only one
of the group never to succumb to
the Turks, declaring the reason for
this is evident to anyone who visits
the country, for with it's shelving
limestone hills and deep ravines it
seems actually bomb-proof.
Many people have declared the
war, DR.. Hart said, because of the
terrific jealousy between the Slav
and the Teuton; some say the Slavs
are incapable Of orderly or demo-
cratic government; that the present
war is great struggle to decide
whether Teuton or Slav influence
shall prevail. There is no founda-
ton for such statements. The riv-
airy between Slav and German is
all humbug. They have lived in
Austria and Russia for five CEN
turies without war There are no
better business men than the Bo-
hemians, Croatians, Slavs, and
Bulgarians. 1t is true, however,
that thare is q cOnteSt hatwaap oar