New-York tribune., 1922-10-01
By William L. Mcpherson
CC0RDfNG to Homer. the wrath
of Achilles was athe dirasnl

the haIf.mythieal Greece whIe1
fought the Trojan war. The wrath o,
the monkey which bit King Alexander
mas been equally the spring Of woes sr.
numbered to the modern Greece ere.
ated by Venizelos's ssatesmanship.
alexander should have sent his dis.
tempered pet to the Athens Zoo Neg
ieeting to do this, he died of rabies, or
some other obscure infection, and gave
the Greeks chance TO go loco, recall
Constantine and arm him with sledge-
hamfneS with which to chip away the
edges of the greater Greece which had
cffierged from the peaoe conference.
The Greek voters were also infected
with animal rabies when they turned
down Venizelos in the 1920 elections
and sent homecoming invitation to
the exile of Lucefne. They knew his
record. They knew his failings. Yet
they summoned to the throne from
which he had been ingioriously elected
the greatest hoodoo and hard luck germ
carrier in Hellenic annals Constantine
had always been bull in the Greek
china shop. What chance was there
that he would not go on plunging and
smashing after the doors Of the shop
were again opened to him?
Certainly he did not disappoint rea-
sonable expectations. Tino is Morse
giant, with bulging dome. But that
dome is mostly solid ivory. He long
since lost the faculty of learning any
thing or forgetting anything. His men
tality is hopeiessly frozen. -
Tino has always labored under tive
obsessions. One Of them is that he is
u soldier. The other is that he is q
statesman. He has never been either.
He started wrong in life and never re-
covered and got fresh start. He
poses before his people as a Greek
patriot. But in all his instincts and
policies ne has been non-Greek. In
feeling he is more Prussian than any
thing else. The, one controlling i'm
luenee in his career was his marriage
into the house Of Hohenzollern. His
greatest ambition has been to prus-
sianize Greece.
Constantine's initial error was in
going to Germany for a military edu-
cation. He served as an officer in one
of the Prussian Guard regiments and
fell under the delusion that he had as
simulated German military teachings
He was always proud of his association
with the. Kaiser's war establishm ent.
During the Great War William II
played on that weakness by having the
German division in which Tino held an
honorary command send him New
Years greetings from the field. The
last one arrived in Athens in January.
1917, and Tino dutifully returned
thanks and congratulations.
In Berlin he met the Princess Sophia,
Williams sister, and, against his
fathers wishes, formed the attachment
= for her which was to lead to their mar
riage. Constantine has always been
personally ambitious to the point Of
megalomania. He may have been af-
fected, too, by the ancient Greek super
stition that the empire of Byaantium
would be restored to Greece under a
king named Constantine and a Queen
named Sophia. He has always dreamed
of shifting his capital from Athens to
Constantinople.
Under Fenizelos Greeee's border was
pushed eastward to Salonica, then to
the Martha and finally to the Chatalja
line, just TO the northwest Of the Con-
stantinople enclave. A few months
ago, when he mistakenly thought that
the Anatolian Turks were fought out,
limo massed troops in the straits re-
gion and announced his intention of
occupying Conbtantinople. He was de-
tered only by joint ultimatum from
treat Britain, France and Italy. This
futile threat Mt Constsntnople, involv.
ing shifting of Greek forces from the
Anatolian front, was. in fact, a signal
to Kemal for the launching Of his IRE.
sistible offensive.
Constantine welded the Princess
SOPHIA in 1Ss94-in his twenty.first
year. He returned to Athens to prsc-
t'ce the military profession and rose
to command Of the Greek, army. He
led the Greek troops in the brief and
disnstrous war with Turkey In 1897,
he may not have been exclusively IA
blame fer Greece's sorry showing. Eut
ne became the prize popular scape
goat. The people hated and despised
him Yet he was allowed to continue
as commander in chief.
II, August, 1909, dissatisfaction with
Nhim and his brothers, George, Nicholas
and Andrew. fared up. in revolt start.
ed by the Athens garrison. A reor-
canization of the army and navy was
demanded and the elimination Of the
Ornamental prineely military chiefs.
All four brothers resigned and went
into retirement abroad.
1t is enc of the curious ironies of
history that Constantine was recalled
from this first exile by yenizeios. The
Cretan statesman always erred on the
side OF too much generosity to the in
competent members OF the ruling
aouse. ;ie went cut Of his way to ask
the Greek legislative assembly to bring
Constantine back and reinstate him in
his soi{ifars fuoe4sous TIT.