The Wilmington morning star., 1945-11-25
Orphan Areas Of Europe
Lstanbul Key In Schemes
Of Major World Powers

ly 60 miles of narrow waterway
where shipping can be readily con-
trolled from shore forts. Longer
than the Panama Canal, they are
bracketed with it, the Suez Canal
and the Strait of Gibraltar as the
worlds most strategic bottlenecks
for shipping.
Only through the Straits can
ships reach the grain ports OF the
Ukraine, oil of the Caucasus piped
from Baku to Batumi, the oil and
lumber ports of Romania and the
lower Danube, Turkeys tobacco
port of Samsun, rug port of Trab
ION (Trebizond and varied trade
of Istanbu1. In normal preWar
wears the flags of Russia and
Great Britain led those of Is or
more ma ions represented in
Straits shipping. Turkish vessels
carried only a tiny fraction Of the
tonnage.
WORD WAS LAW
In the long heyday of the Otto
man Empire, the word Of the Sui
tans was law in the Straits. AS that
Empire declined, Great Britain and
Russia entered into a contest to
keep control of the Straits from
each others hands. The Crimean
War of 1886 was one of the mill
tary phases of the contest.
By 1914 German power in Eu'
rope so threatened the balance
that World War I found Great Bri-
tain and Russia allies. Through
nine months of 1915 the Turks, un-
der German direction, fought of
Allied attacks on the billy CALI
poll Peninsula. More than 100000
Allied soldiers died beside the OAR
danelles in the vain effort to open
the Straits to Russia and Romania.
In the opinion of Britain's Lloyd
George, the failure postponed Al
lied victory in the war for proba-
bly, two years.
In 1920 the Treaty Of Lausanne
gave control of the Straits to an
international commission. Forts
were dismantled and for Is years
the principle of freedom of tran
sit and of navigation by sea and
by air, in peace as in war" held
sway.
In 1886, with German strength
again rising, Turkey pied with the
Lausanne singers for the right to
safeguard the Straits by refortify-
ing them. The resulting Montreux
Convention, still in force,> granted
the right by abolishing the COM
mission and handing its powers to
Turkey, at the same time strongly
favoring Russia in its provisions
for military use of the Straits.
Throughout World War II from
1889 to early 1915, when the Straits
were at last opened to Allied shipp-
ing, Turkey carried out its duties
under the Montreux Convention.
Where fortification of entrances
and shores of the traits had sui.
feed for control in past wars,
however, air power in the hands
of the Germans on Crete and some
OF the Dodecanese Islands paddock.
ed the traits even to limited al.
lowable Allied shipping through
most of the war.
AS a result, Russia now seeks
strategic defense bases in the air
expanded traits area so that Sow
let garrisons may jointly control il
with Turkey. Turkey has acknowl
edged the need for revision of thu
Montreux Convention; and Turkish
Thrace and the Aegean Islands ar,
added to the problem OF Straits de
tense.
Thrace, southeastern portion O
Europe's Balkan Peninsula, is di
vlded among Bulgaria, Greece an,
Turkey. The very fact that Greco
and Turkey, meeting in a common
border, shut Bulgaria off from di
rect access to the Mediterranean
creates one phase of the region
complex political problem.
Turkish Thrace, the one-thirtiet
of Turkey that lies in Europe, !
smaller than Maryland. Holdin
, lstanbul and vital stretch of tt
main trunk rail line connectin
, western Europe with Baghdad,
: accounts for one-tenth of Turkey
i population and about four-fifths
t its total public revenue. 1t reacht
E northwest from Istanbul 100 mill
S across land that has been impo
S tant throughout history in con
merce and wars, to Edirne,
: Adrlanople. Like Constantinopl