Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-29

naval supremacy was assured. 1t was,
| too. natural and easy line OF ad-
vance. once the little Balkan peoples
Were brushed aside and they could
offer no real resistance to Austro-Ger-
| man might: and in Asia Minor there
was a world. once the center OF pros
perIty and civilization. now become al
most a desert. but still rich in all the
possibilities of industrial and CONNER
cial life
Thus it was that Germans began
many years ago to dream OF an EN- :
pire. an empire which should be found
ed on the closest commercial alliance
between Austria and Germany. the pa :
cific penetration first, then the mill
tary control, of Turkey. From Befiln
to Bagdad. through Austro-Germah
Turkish ally or vassal, the railroad
was to connect the Spree with the Eu :
pirates, and in due time German mill
tary power was to approach SueZ anu
the Indus. to strike at Great Britain at
two vital points.
The Bagdad Railroad.
The story of the beginnings of the
Bagdad railroad is a marvellous fusion
of romance and machine. In a few
brief years the German. whom the
world has learned to despise is a diplo-
mat, had replaced the Briton at the
Golden Horn. He was the first friend
of the sultan. The kaiser was the ally
of the head of the hierarchy OF Islam
His generals We're training turkish
| troops, his engineers We're crossing
Asia Minor by the road OF Alexander
and of Cyrus.
The Sick Man of the East seemed
suddenly galvanized. German and Aus
trian statesmen supported Turkish rule,
or rather misTule. in Macedonia: me
chaos there was prolonged. with the
very deliberate intent that it should
one day yield to Austro-German order.
All the ambitions of Serb, Greek. Bull
gar were crushed down by the Turk
ruthlessly. with the open or covert aid
of the Germans Every effort at re-
form went to wreck, because the Iurk X.
sure of his allies. felt no fear of his
old foe. Russia, no regard for his an
cient British ally.
that what Germany aimed at was ul-
innate conquest, but in the meantime
her purpose vas identical with that of
the Osmanli: she was interested in
purposed to rule it all. Russia and
France had their eyes fixed on Constan-
tinople and Syria. Great Britain had
taken Cyprus and ruled supreme in
Egypt. despite a nominal recognition OF
| the khedive. 1t was the dream of the
! Turk to restore his ancient empire. He
| longed to reconuuer Egypt. Tunis. AL
| geria; to take up the ancient pathway
| of glory along the southern shore OF
! the Mediterranean.
AS for Germany such an expansion
| struck at France and England. Con-
| trolling the sultan she would control
! the spiritual commander of most of the
; SOC. 100000 Mahometans, not alone those
subject to the Turks. but also the sub
| jects of Great Britain, of France, OF
Russia. Once the Bagdad railroad con
nected Constantnople with Bagdad
| made junction with the Syrian rail
| roads which led down past the Egyp-
| ton frontier to Mecca her pathway OF
i empire was ready.
Balkan Barrier.
To the completion of her colossal pla n
/ the small Balkan states. Serbia and
Bulgaria, were direct barrier, Greece
| dreamed, absurdly as it then seemed
! OF retakinS Saloniki, even CONSTANT
| nople, and restoring the eastern EN-
| pire. 1t was then essential that Serbia
and Bulgaria should be made vassals
| or conquered. Above all it was neces-
| sary that they should not be permitted
| to expand at the expense of Turkey. In
| due course of time Austria could and
dld hope to descend to Saloniki. to
! touch the territory of the Turk
! through Serbian provinces.
FIVE years ago, when Austrian troops
occupied the sanjak of Novi Bazaar, the
junction between Turkish and Austro-
German territory existed. A railroad
| coming south into Bosnia, and through
Bosnia to Uskub in Macedonia. was
planned. and abandoned because it was
believed in Berlin and Vienna that it
would be easier and less expensive to
CONQUER Serbia and take the Belgrade
Saloniki railroad, the main orient line
to the Aegean. than to construct a new
line through the difficult region west
of Uskub.
But it was Serbia which constituted
the chief, the only serious obstacle to
the Austro-German program. If Serbia
remained independent; above all, if Ser
bia were able to annex Bosnia and the
sanjak of Novi Bazaar: if she were able
. to- get her window on the sea-" then
she would cease to be walled in by
Austria and Turkish territory, eco
nomically helpless. Thus it was that
the first considerable defeat for the
passing of Serbia from the Austrian to
the Russian camp with the ASA ssna :
ton of Alexander and the accession of
Peter in 1905.
For always it is essential to remem-
Der that the Russian ambition ran Just
counter to German. Russia had long
desired ConStantinople. She had fought
many wars for it, and had just missed
getting it before the congress of Ber-
lin, when her troops reached San Ste
San Stefano. Russia had created a
greater Bulgaria, which was to include
Macedonia, and thus close the Austrian
door to the Aegean, and the congress OF
Berlin had torn UP the treaty and left
the Turk at Saloniki and Uskub.
Italy Takes Alarm.
In 1908 the Young Turkish revolution
temporarily interrupted German plans
For the moment it seemed as if the new
order would look to London and Paris;
above all, it seemed likely that it might
create a strong independent Turkey
and this would be fatal to the whole
German plan. In fear of this, Austria
annexed Bosnia. which she had long
occupied with the consent of the con-
cert of Europe given at Berlin
| But the annexation of Bosnia had a