The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1917-11-30
THE STATES-GRAPHIC
THE PROBLEM OF THE EAST.
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY


THE PROBLEM OF THE EAST.
We must not lose sight Of the ult
mate aim that Germany had when
began the present war. England wa
and is the arch enemy Of Germany
and must be conquered if Germany i
to obtain what it is after. To anne.
or to dominate Belgium and to over
awe the Dutch and the Scandinavia
Kingdoms are merely measures t,
make Germany secure in carrying on
its real program.
The war began as an incident o.
the eastern question. 1t is today es,
.sentially a contest over that question
German ambitions, so far as they are
not world wide, lie chiefly in the direc.
ton of Constantinople and Asia in
breaking up the British empire and
controlling all parts of the world. The
allies of Germany cover the route
thither. 1t can achieve its purpose if
it can paralyze Great Britain, but only
if it can. For that reason, the war,
when it ends, will either give Germany
the mastery over the entire region
from the Danube to the Gulf of Per-
STA and open the way for a movement
against India, or it will Illustrate for
a long time if not forever the German
scheme for influence in the East.
That view of German ambitions
makes many things that have been
obscure quite plain; German hostil-
ity to Russia power that has al
ways been ready to balk German and
Austrian extension nd conquest in the
Balkan area; the counting of Turkey
as an ally; the streuous efforts to hold
back Greece, to defend the Dardanelles
to stir up sedition in Egypt and India.
1t also explains the reason for the ex-
petitions of the entente into the re-
mote regions and the Importance that
is now attached to the capture of Bag
dad. No country stood to gain more
by the defeat of German ambitions
than Russia; none would lose more by
their success.
Some of the keenest military writ
sers on the side of the entente have ta-
ken the ground that although most of
the fighting must be on the western
front, the critical point is the East.
Germany can overrun no more Of
gqona; nos are the allies
likely soon to transfer the conflict to
German soil, much less to threaten
Berlin. But if the kaiser can be frus-
tyated in the schemes that are embod-
led in the phrase "from Antwerp to
Bagdad," it will mean that he is de-
-feated. 1t will be accomplished first
by smashing the lines of communica-
ton between Berlin and Constantine
and then by destroying the nominally
Turkish but really German authority
in all the dominions, European and
Asiatic of the Sultan.
Does that mean that the war is SIM
ply an affair of Europe in which we
nave no concern, and that our entry is
foolish? By no al The con-
quest of the east is but a preliminary
to a German effort at dominating the
world. Read once more the recent ar
ticle in the Companion that shows the
plans of Germany for "the next war"
Long before the United States declar-
ed war, even long before this war be-
gan, the designs Of Germany against
America, and particularly against the
country as the defender of America
against European aggression, were
more than suspected. And before our
patience in the face of German out
RACES and German intrigues gave way,
there was in the tone of the German
government and the German press ev-
idence of a resolution at Berlin to
make this country the next victim.
Germany has long looked upon the
United States as a treasure house to
be ~plundered for the money necessary
to defray the cost of reducing Europe
to submission.-Youth's Companion.