Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-04
Adrianople
BY Frank H. Simonds
.Copyrxht io2o-By The Mcclure Newspaper syndiceteo

BYZANTINE empire, old fighting ground
between the Greek and Bulgar before the
Turk came. the Turkish capital before
the Osmanli finally took Constantinople.
Moreover, a fact worthy of notice, In the
same month the Greeks have occupied
Brusa in Asia Minor, the capital OF the
Osmanli before they entered Europe, the
point of departure for their great ad-
venture which carried them to the walls
of Vienna, where they succumbed not To
an Austrian but to a Pole.
Greece then enters into another large
fraction of the heritage of the Byzantine
empire. The Bulgarians dream of Con-
stantinople, which has been cherished Tor
more than a thousand years goes TO dust
and ashes. European Greece, which had
little more than two million inhabitants
fifteen wears ago has now moro than
seven. with at least another million in the
Asiatic provinces of the Turk recently
occupied. The Byzantine world is enjoy
ing one of the most amazing renaissances
in all human history.
Perhaps tomorrow Alexander, who at
the head of his army has already entered
Adrianople, will realize the greatest OF all
Hellenic homes and make triumphal
entry into Constantinople, lost by
Greek emperor six centuries ago. AT
the least the French suspect that British
policy looks toward the establishment OF
Greece at the Bosporus rs useful ana
friendly guardian. But recognizing how
closely British and Greek interests are
now combined there is still no reason to
criticize Hellenic expansion as unwar-
ranted. 1t is to their own lands that the
Greeks are returning after an exile
covering many centuries.
1t would be idle, however, to suppose
that Greek expansion promises peace
Bulgarian resistance, broken Tor the
moment. is bound to make head again
anyone interested in history may look
back to the remote centuries and see
Bulgarian beaten before, rising again
and again from disaster, for the battle
between the Bulgar and the Greek for the
lands of eastern Thrace, for the cities
of Salonica and Adrianople is at least a
thousand years old.
In Asia, too. the Turk remains menace
to the new Greek adventure III the ancient
Hellenic regions, which from the days
of the Persian wars onward have played
such a part In Greek history. Greece
is fortunate among the small nations OF
the world in the greatness OF her states
man, Venizelos He has been the archi-
tect of the restored Greece. At Paris
he was easily the ablest diplomat present:
Step by step he conquered the men OF
greater influence until at last he has OBJ
tanned for his country prizes which less
than a decade ago seemed as remote AZ
at any hour since the fall of the byzantine
empire.
But the recent history of Adrianople
suggests beyond all else the impermanence
of all conquests in the Balkans. 1t has
been Turkish, Bulgar, Turkish and IN
part Bulgar all in the last seven years
Now it is Greek. Less than half a
century ago the Russians took it on their
road to San Stefano and assigned II to
the Bulgars, who lost it at the Congress
of Berlin mainly through British opposi-
ton. The Greeks will be lucky u they.
are able now to consolidate their new
position and on this foundation to con-
tinue their rebuilding of the Byzantine
edifice. but they have two great assets,
Nenizelos and British assistance, COM
bined these seem sufficient for almost any
achievement.