Evening star., 1916-12-24

T. the duma, is now ready for
realization. The announcement was
made before the German conquest of
Rumania had been completed, and be-
fore Germany's peace proposal was
put out.
In view of these developments, OBJ
servers may wonder whether the real-
zation is quite SO close at hand as the
Russian premier indicated. but they
are bound to note once more what a
tremendous prize Constantinople is.
Its value was discussed when the allies
undertook their ill-fated Gallipoli eX-
pedition and blithely assumed that 1t
was only a matter of a few months
until they would have control of the
BoSporus and the DardanelleS Ger
rnany's alternative for Russia in peace
negotiations might be the Persian gulf.
Premier Trepoff. in reading to the
duma the official proclamation announc-
ing that the agreement concluded by
Russia France, Great Britain and Italy
establishes the right of Russia to the
straits and Constantinople, declared
that for more than 1000 years Russia
had been reaching for this prize. His
torically, this statement vas hardly
correct for a thousand years ago there
was. in reality, no Russia. as it is now
understood and it is less than 800 hum
dred years since the Turks took Con-
stantinopie and the Byzantine empire
Roman civiliza ton in the near east
While historically the Russia of TO-
day may not claim to be entitled to
realize a thousand-year-old ambition
or dream, it can point to several CEN
turies Of uninterrupted effort to reach
an ice-free outlet through the Medl-
terranean and to make the Black sea
a Russian lake.
1t was Peter the Great TO whose de-
mands the Sultan of Turkey, in the
opening year of the eighteenth century,
declared that foreign vessels could sail
in the Black sea only NHen the Turkish
empire should have been turned upside
down. Actually, the Turkish EN- pire
has been turned not only upside down.
but inside out during the last two CEN
turtles. and Russia. by territorial ac-
quisitions anu by sheer force of pres
sure Of numbers, has been getting
closer to the dream med- of outlet to the
Mediterranean. For Il century. how
ever, England blocked the way, and
British policy kept the Turk in Europe
as a check to Russian ambition.
To Dlsrael and the large school of
British statesmen the Turk was a gen.
tleman and the Russian was q bear. A
section OF the British public still holds
this view, although since the opening of
the war 1t has been quioscent. and Kip
ling himself has taken back what he said
about the bear that walked like a man.
But it is doubtless correct, as the cable
dispatches stated, that the British press
was generally silent on the announcement
of the Russian premier of the agreement.
When the Gailipoli expedition was under
taken no admission could be obtained
from London that in the event of Sue
cess Constantinople would fail to Russia
as the legitimate spoiis of war. Lord
Grey, the foreign minister, made pub
lie statement that Russia's services We're
fully appreciated and that England SYM
pathized with Russias aspirations. The
British public let it go at that, but the
impression was allowed to be spread
abroad that the naturalization of the
straits and Of Constantinople was the real
plan, and that Russia would be satisfied
with such an arrangement.
At that period there was reason to as
sumo that international control of some
sort was in mind. Greece, while not
Joining the allies and making land ex-
Dedition possible, nevertheless was sup