Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-17
Greece Now Under the Rule of the Entente Allies

leagues. There will be no Hellenic ter
ritory in Asia Minor, and there may be
fewer islands in the Aegean and the
lonan seas. which will be part of Greece.
When the allies were in extremity
through the military blunders OF the
Dardanelles campaign. and England Of
fered to cede Cyprus in return for
Greece's entrance into the war, al
though these were not the terms stated.
there was the prospect of greater
Greece. which would include all the is
lands and possibly some of the Asiatic
mainland. But King Constantine's gov
eminent rejected the proffer. preferring
not to take the chance of German in
vasion. Now this prospect is changed.
At the outbreak of hostilities Greece
was in strong position to realize the
national aspirations. The first war of
the Balkans had enabled her to get
back from Turkey considerable terri
tory on the mainland and the Island of
Crete. The second Balkan war. in which
the victors over Turkey fought among
themselves. had aided her to gain fur
Their advantages over Bulgaria, her
hereditary enemy, although the two
countries had been fighting as allies
against Turkey Serbia. too. the ally
in the two Balkan wars. had been per-
suaded to forego any claim to the sea-
port of Saloniki.
Il ::
When Serbia was invaded by the
German army Greece refused to observe
the terms of the treaty under which she
was to aid Serbia in the case of enemy
attack. King Constantine's government
claimed that the treaty only was bind
ing in case of attack by a Balkan
enemy. In the final settlement, when
the entente allies are seeking to COM
pensate Serbia for her sufferings. this
attitude of Greece is not likely to be
overlooked 1t is, however from Ital-
ian ambition that Greece has most to
fear.
Greece's extremity has been Italy's
opportunity Whatever the final out
come of the Italian campaign against
Austria in a military sense. there can
he no doubt of her claims to the sup
port of the allies in determining the
status of some of the Grecian islands.
The allies are in military occupation
Of the Ionian islands, where the Italian
population once was strong in num-
bers and in language. Their headGuar-
ters are at Corfu. where. under their
guidance. the seat of the Serbian gov
ernment was transferred after the Ger
man military occupation OF Serbia
British statesmen. who have long
memories. are not apt TO encourage any
effort to seeregate Greek Nationality in
the Ionian Islands. hree-quarters OF a
century ago the great powers placed
them under a British proteetorate. one
of the episodes in the pubic career OF
Gladstone was his visit to the island as
a special commissioner in order to find
out what was wrong with the 1onians
themselves and with the British admin
istration. He undertook the mission at
the request of Rulwar Lytton. who was
a cabinet minister in the liberal govern
ment of the day. Bulwar Lytton wrote
Gladstone that the problem was to
reconcile a race speaking the Greek
language to the science of practical lib
erty.
Gladstone discovered that it was. in
deed. difficult problem. and he also
discovered that the sentiment of ma
tionality, which meant attachment to
Athens, was very strong. Ultimately
England grew weary OF the RESPONSE
blity of the protectorate and the lonian
Islands were incorporated into the
kingdom of Greece. The distracted
Greece of the present day still includes
the Ionian Islands.