The Washington times., 1916-01-19
GREECE BETWEEN THE MILL
STONES

Inc upper anu Tue Hethei hi'i-
stones are grinding fine the grist of
Greek national aspirations. From a
position that might have made it a
determining, certainly a highly sig
tnificant, factor, in the great war,
Greece has descended to the plane of
pathetic helplessness and hopeless
ness. The central powers menace it
from the north, the allies have block
AIDED it, are in force at Saloniki, and
have been pouring troops into the
country until now comes the start
ling statement that they have 600,-
600 of them in the country. This
amounts to military occupation.
Greece, sticking to the neutrality
policy imposed on the nation by pro-
German ruler. can only keep its SOL
dicrs out Of the way and try desper-
ately to avoid clash. It's own power is
minimized where it might have been
maximized. Instead of being a fac
tor, it is an incident; instead of COM
manding respect and earning place
among the real powers, it is a mere
triviality.
The allies, if they had adopted
German methods, might long ago
have shut up and occupied Greece,
as Germany poured into Belgium.
They might have crushed the coun-
try out of existence as Germany did
Belgium. merely because it insisted
on remaining neutral. They might
have wiped out government, army.
rulers, people, as Austria has done
with Serbia and Montenegro. But
the allies, in this warfare of civil
lied methods against barbarian
methods, are at fearful dsadvant-
age; they are fighting for their lives
and yet trying to maintain a proper
respect for the decencies Of interna-
tional' relations.
If it be true that more than a
alf-million men have been dumped
by the allies into Greece, it is sign
that the Levantine theater of war
is presently to be the stage of some
more tremendous operations. 1t sig
nifies that the abandonment of the
Gallipoli campaign was not the end,
but only the beginning of new
movement against the Turk and for
Constantinople. And this is the
logical view Of the war in the Near
East.
Germany will not be defeated if
she shall be able to keep Turkey in
Europe, an ally and stepping stone
toward the Far East. The entente
must hold Constantinople before it
can bring to bear the full fighting
capacity of Russia. There must be
open passage for war supplies to the
Black Sea, and for the agrees of Rus
sia's agricultural surplus from that
sea.
Nothing since the war began has
so powerfully suggested the allies
expectation that the struggle will be
long and desperate, as this move to-
ward the submergence of Greece. 1t
! is merely preliminary; but what
costly and long drawn prelim-
mary! 1t is the building of an open
road, over which the way to victory
may be won.
No mans guess as to what Greece
will finally. do, is worth while now
The Greek people sympathize with
! the allies. They know that they lost
the opportunity to make themselves
/ the great power in the Near East
by permitting their Germanic roya
family to have its way. There may
yet be revolution, the driving out
of Constantine, the establishment OF
republic. But even if that shall
happen, it will be too late to wir
back for Greece the dominating
Importance that might have beer
hers if she had proved worthy of the
traditions of her past and of the ma,
tional aspirations that even yet ami
mate her people.