Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

before the war ends all of Armenia
perhaps all of Asia Minor, including
the upper valleys of the Tigris and tn.
Euphrates, will fall to Russian armies
and in this case Russia will probabl!
/ claim what she holds.
France has long looked upon Syria
with the Lebanon district. as her owr
sphere of influence. British occupa
ton of Palestine as IA protection tt
/ Egypt has been frequently discussed
Italy and Greece are rivals for the pos
session of all the Aegean shore from
the mouth of the Dardanelles t6
/ Rhodes. and Italy has laid claim to the
shore from Rhodes to the Gulf of Alex
andretta. AS to Mesopotamia. the Brit
ish are patiently attempting to set VI
the claim of possession to the whole
, region as far north as Bagdad.
In sum. the allies plan to dismembel
| Turkey and partition the Osmanli terri
tory among themselves. In almost any
| settlement that it is possible to con-
ceiye, short Of allied defeat. Russia
! will get Constantipople and most OF
Armenia. since it would be impossible
! to return this stricken land to the
i kurd and Turkish butchers. But it is
| quite possible that the mutual jeal-
/ ouSies of Italy. Russia, France and
| Great Britain in the eastern end of the
| Mediterranean may make it impossible
! to divide the Turks Asiatic estate and
| Turkey will be continued as an AsiatiC
| power
y
bare chance. that Turkey. by making a
! separate peace with the allies, might
| save Constantinople. The chance re-
| mains. but it is slight Indubitably the
British and the Balkan states. notably
Rumania, which is still to be reckoned
! with. would prefer to see the Turk in
| Byzantium rather than to witness the
! arrival of the Russian at the gates OF
| the Black sea. But Russian sacrifices
| in the war have been so great and the
! orN-
I. portion of the armies which the allies
| rely upon to wear out the Germans
| that there is every reason 10 believe
| that Russia will be able to fix her own
! reward in the near east
Is Compromise Possiblep
Having set these two views side by
side, do they offer any hope for COM
promise? Two weeks ago / discussed
the possibility OF the elimination of
Belgium from the war by means of a
separate treaty of peace with Germany
Such an arrangement was sought by
the Germans and fell through. Con-
ceivably it might come, but only if
| than endure the perils of a new inva-
sion, this time by her friends.
would France consent to modify her
demands as to Alsace-Lorraine2 / dc
not believe it. but the Germans, evil
IDENTIFY believing otherwise, have, so the
London correspondent of the Tribune
reports, made the proposal to cede GER
tain Lorraine districts. presumably the
city of Metz and the French speaking
communes about that town, and there is
even the suggestion that Alsace would
be erected into an autonomous state
But the French believe that they can
retake their lost provinces and that the
| possession of them is the only assur-
ance they can obtain against new
German attack in the future. They also
regard the reunion of Alsace-Lorraine
to France as a moral duty.
Believing that they can win back all
of the lost provinces, the French are
| not likely now to take a portion. They
| might waive all claim for indemnity
but this is remote consideration, any
way. On the other hand. there is no
reason to believe that Germany would
think of giving up Alsace at the pres
corner of it, and she holds a portion
| of northern France even larger. The
surrender of these provinces. posses
| sing enormous economic value because
of their mineral district. could come
only with complete defeat, and Ger
many is nowhere near complete defeat
she is not even beaten on the battle
| field.
Situation in the East.
The situation is not different in the
east Russia will not cede Poland: Ger
many cannot agree to return to the old
condition without giving up the real prize
of the war for her-security on her east
ern frontier and the abolition for long
years. at least, of the pan-Slav peril.
But she is even less likely to consent to
| Russian annexation of Galicia. because
this fortifies Russia's southeastern from
tier. and by bringing the Russians to
| Cracow threatens the whole Of Silesia
| behind the Oder.
| Compromise in the Balkans Is only less
likely. Conceivably Serbia's allies would
ask for her only what she had when the
war broke out, but this would close the
Austro-German road to Constantinople
II would cut the Berlin-Constantinople
| Bagdad line, and it would block the way
to German land expansion toward the
near east. In reality. 1t would leave the
real victory Of the war with the enemies
of Germany. because the occasion of the
war was the Serbian incident. and the is
sue of the war has been and remains the
contest between Teuton and Slav in the
| Bs lkans.
| If the Germans should consent to 9
peace which left Poland to the Russians
and Serbia free and undiminished all the
| tremendous sacrifices that they and the
Austrians have made would have beer
in vain, and Germany would emerge from
the war shorn of all her colonies and still
| surrounded in Europe by an iron circle o.
enemies, whose frontiers closed all heI
| avenues to the outer world.
Says Differences Remain.
The truth is, then. that the differences
which led to the present conflict, the
rivalries which provoked the struggle
remain. The western war is Tough,
out: even the Germans concede this
and the German suggestions of peace
all recognize that there must be here
a return to the conditions of 1914 Blu,
in the east there are prizes I'm German
hands which she must surrender il
she would have peace. To surrender
them is not merely to lose a war: 1t i.
to lose for all time, as far as II is pos
sible to see, the chance to build a Teu
tonic empire in Europe and Asia: ii /.
TO surrender the Balkans and Asia Mi.