Evening star., 1915-09-12
WHAT BELLIGERENT NATIONS MAY ASK
WHEN EUROPEAN CONFLICT IS ENDED
MAPS TO UNDERGO GREAT CHANGES

Iundisputed possession Of CONSTANT
nople and the straits. They would in
sist upon the return to Turkey of tn
islands taken by Italy during the Tri
politan war, possibly some of tn
islands taken by Greece in the Balkal
war. British troops in the valley o
the Euphrates, Russian troops In tn
Armenian marches, would have to re
/ tire. AS to Egypt and Tripoli, the.
would be claimed for Turkey II Ger
man success justified any such claim
but it is doubtful If this is even hopet
for now by Berlin.
Bulgaria. frankly Teutonic in IT.
sympathies, would doubtless be re
warded for her neutrality by permis
sion to occupy certain districts il
Macedonia. She would probably ge
back the Silistrian districts taken b!
Rumania, which is to have Bessarabis
carried through. But actually Bull
garia would become a mere Teutonit
| vassal.
A mere buffer state between an Aus
trian Serbia and a Turkish Thrace
commanding the one road from Berlir
and Vienna to Constantinople and the
east, Bulgaria would henceforth be a
the mercy of her great neighbors ane
in due course of time sink to the leve
of the Serbia which would exist after
!
| in no different estate.
! Resentful Toward Rumania.
| AS for Rumania, she is larger than
the Balkan states to the south. Ber-
lin regards her recent behavior with
deep resentment. But she is always tc
be reckoned with in the near east. To
punish her would be to insure her per-
i nd
sia should again be able to reopen the
eastern question, she would be a dan
gerous ally of the enemy and pos
sible base for Russian operations IN
the Balkans. To give her Bessarabia
and forgive past offenses would be the
part of wisdom, and this seems to be
the German plan.
The conquest of these regions by Ger
man finance and industry has long been
a part of Germay's program. Rumania
has already fallen under the financial
hegemony of Berlin almost completely
It would be the work of German states
men hereafter, by tariff and by di-
plomacy, to complete the conquest. to
make Bucharest an outpost OF Berlin,
and it is idle to suppose that this would
not be done, or that peaceful rather
than hostile penetration would be re-
lied upon by the victorious German
map makers
Drang Mach osten.
Now glance at the map and it will be
seen exactly what the drift Of all this
German map making is. If possible
Germany will keep Belgium; CONNER
cially it is the true entrance and exit to
Germany. If it can be held the absorp-
tion of Holland presently is inevitable.
But for the present it may be impossi-
BILE to realize this dream. The argu-
me ia
much less impressive. Unless Germany
is beaten now, France will never ques-
ton the possession of Alsace-Lorraine,
and aside from this and Belgium. there
is no cause for quarrel between the
two nations. France is only accident
ally foe of Germany, from the Ger
man point of view. Germany is even
ready to make generous concessions, If
only France will cease to be foe and
an obstacle. 1t is England that is al
ways the enemy.
AS to territorial rearrangements in
Russian Poland, these are merely pro-
tective. A vassal Poland. presently
acquiring under German direction an
army and a measure of independence,
will be a bulwark against the future
inroads of the Slavs. 1t will be an in
surance against the future and the end
of the Russian pan-Slav movement, be-
cause Poland will be a Slav force hos
tile to Russia. Finland will go to
Sweden, if at all, simply to bind
Sweden to Germany, for only with Ger
man help could Sweden maintain her
hold upon Finland against Russia
hereafter.
Great Purpose Disclosed.
So far the German program is mod
est and goes little beyond the reason
able expectations of victor. But look
ing south the great purpose is dis
closed. AS the German map makers
would draw it, the whole of central
Europe from the Baltic to the Aegean
and the Straits, from Hamburg to Con-
stantinople, would fall under the sway
or the domination of Germany and her
Austrian ally, who has already become
subservient to German will, or con-
WINGED that her future lies in close as
sociation with Germany.
From Constantinople to the frontiers
of India and Egypt Turkish territory
stretches. and Turkey, now the ally.
is henceforth to be the economic and
political colony of the Germans. Asia
Minor passes under German control
the Bagdad railroad t,comes the high
way for German commerce from Berlin
to the Persian gulf Here is a mighty
colonial empire. which is at every point
safe against British sea power. Here is
Germany's place in the sun!
Great Dream of Germany.
Consider now what it will mean a
generation hence, if Germany, having
entered into an alliance with Austria,
| which amounts to union of the two
states, shall be able to exercise econom-
| ic and military control from Berlin to
Bagdad. To drill the Serb. the Bulgar
the Turk, to exploit all the vast agri-
cultural and mineral wealth of these
regions, develop them, drawing from
revenue which her managementwill in
sure,
These regions in past centuries have
been the seats of great empires and
splendid prosperity. Who holds Con-
stantinople holds the gate to half Rus
sia, and the Baltic commands the other
half. Russia in due course of time will
have also to yield to the economic if
not to the political sway of Berlin
+, Great as her future must be, it will
not be sufficiently great to permit her
| to oppose again the nation that holds
all the dOorways to Russian territory
by sea and by land, save only that
| on the remote Pacific.
And is there any reason why Ger
many should stop at Suez and the
| both been conquered from Asia Minor
Can any one believe that England
alone could ever hold India agains,
Germ an armies sent through German
! territory and along German railroads
| until they were within striking dis
| tance? Would not the problem of hold
| ing Egypt become practically impos
| sible if German masses were to come
| through Palestine by the Mecca rel