Servia, in this astonishing declaration, was not mentioned by name; but the hint to both her and Russia was sufficiently broad. Germany and Austria are cut off completely by the hostility of Servia; and, if Russia had not intervened, it is clear that this "means of land communication" would have been kept free from a "barricade," if any Power had thought of putting one up. In this connection it may be recalled that the White Paper relating to the European Crisis (Cd. 7,467) contains a significant telegram from Mr. H.D. Beaumont, of the International Financial Commission, to Sir Edward Grey: Constantinople, _July 29th, 1914._ I understand that the designs of Austria may extend considerably beyond the Sanjak and a punitive occupation of Servian territory. I gathered this from a remark let fall by the Austrian Ambassador here, who spoke of the deplorable economic situation of Salonika under Greek administration, and of the assistance on which the Austrian army could count from Mussulman population discontented with Servian rule. The reference in the telegram was, of course, to the Bagdad concession; for Germany expected to be able to develop Asia Minor with the object of making it a country capable of furnishing the large proportion of foodstuffs and raw material which now enter Germany, from Russia, Argentina, Canada, France, and Great Britain. All the treaties and conventions relating to the concession specify this almost in so many words. Hence the desperate anxiety of Germany and Austria to secure Salonika as a port and to bring the Balkan States under Teutonic influence; since a single unfriendly nation--Servia, for instance--would have been an effective "barricade." The plan has failed and the failure has trebled the price of food in Austria and doubled it in Germany. Neither Government reckoned with a stern resistance; and the failure to do so has already led both countries well on the way to starvation. Two instance of the bitterness with which the campaign was waged on both sides may be mentioned as a fitting conclusion to this volume. While the war was responsible for a good deal, one would hardly have expected it to affect the text of a Wagnerian music-drama. Yet the _Vossische Zeitung_ gravely stated that "having regard to the fact that our ally, Austria-Hungary, and especially Hungary, is fighting so bravely by our side, Wagner's text to 'Lohengrin' was slightly altered at the opening performance in the Royal Opera House." In Wagner's own version Henry the Fowler sings, "Herr Gott, bewahr uns vor dem Ungarn Wut" ("Lord God, protect us from Hungaria's rage"). Knüpfer, who undertook the rôle, deleted the word "Ungarn" and substituted "Feinde" ("enemy")! The alteration is said to have been wildly applauded.