The decision really lay between France and England. England's, like Russia's, co-operation hitherto had been but a concession to France. Neither the Foreign Office nor the War Office had ever taken the Salonica Expedition seriously; and both departments would gladly have washed their hands of a business barren of profit and credit alike. But the motives which had impelled London to keep Paris company so far were as potent as ever, and English politicians had hitherto proved themselves so pliant that, provided French pressure continued, the utmost which could be apprehended from them was a feeble show of resistance followed by abject acquiescence. Notwithstanding the moderation England had insisted upon at the Boulogne and Rome Conferences, France had managed to lead her from violence to violence, till this last iniquity, to the logical French mind, seemed inevitable. [1] Zalocostas to Greek Legations, Paris, London, Rome, Petrograd, 30 Dec./12 Jan.; to Entente Legations, Athens, 19 Jan./1 Feb.; 8/21 March, 1917. For a full and intimate account of this intrigue, somewhat ambitiously styled "The Conquest of Cerigo," see Lawson, pp. 241 foll. [2] Zalocostas to Greek Ministers abroad, 12/25 March; The _Nea Himera_, 8/21 March; Exchange Tel., Athens, 16 April, 28 May, 1917. [3] General Sarrail mentions the punishment (Sarrail, p. 235), but not the provocation. This, together with other atrocities, is the subject of a Note from M. Zalocostas to the French Minister at Athens, 9/22 March, 1917. [4] Le Temps, 11 April, 1917; Sarrail, pp. 236-7. [5] Du Fournet, p. 116. [6] "La Grece Venizeliste," in the _Revue de Paris_, 15 Dec., 1919. [7] Such a project is only discussed in some of the messages exchanged between Athens and Berlin in December, 1916 (_White Book_, Nos. 177, 183, 186)--before the definite acceptance of the Allies' terms by the Lambros Cabinet. But there is absolutely nothing to show that the idea ever materialised. [8] The _New Europe_, 29 March, 1917. [9] See telegrams, dated Salonica, 29 March, published in the London Press by the Anglo-Hellenic League; letter from _The Times_ correspondent, dated Syra, 23 April, 1917, etc., etc. [10] Sarrail, p. 238. [11] For details of this apocryphal scheme see a report from Salonica, dated 16 May, disseminated by the Anglo-Hellenic League; _The Times_, 8 and 30 May; the _Daily Mail_, 9 and 30 May, 1917. [12] _The Times_, 14 May, 1917, dispatch dated Salonica 11 May. [13] _The Hesperia_, 11, 18, 25 May, 1917. [14] _The Times_, 30 May, 1917. [15] Sarrail, p. 234. {186} CHAPTER XVIII