As this financial dependence of the three vassal states, with its tremendous consequences, is, as I have said, maintained simply by means of a printing-press and little slips of paper, which cost very little indeed; and since Germany receives in exchange for these slips of paper bearing her signature, men, food-stuffs, and supplies which, but for the action of the Allies, would enable her to establish Pan-Germany as mistress of Europe, we may safely say that the Pan-Germanist loans floated by Berlin at her allies’ expense constitute a powerful element of military advantage, which, if one but examines the conditions of its origin, must stand out as the most profitable and extraordinary swindle ever perpetrated. III _The third element of German advantage: the value of a monopoly in exploiting the latent resources of the Balkans and Asia Minor_ The figure of 269 billions of francs quoted above takes no account of the enormous agricultural and mineral wealth, as yet unexploited and unappraised, of the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire. Now, the business of tapping these vast reservoirs is entirely in the hands of the Germans, as a result of the Pan-Germanist loans. IV _The fourth element of German advantage: the value resulting from the creation of an economic Pan-Germany_ Economic Pan-Germany, as it was outlined by List, Roscher, Rodbertus, and other German economists, may be defined as follows: A territory uniting under one supreme central control Central Europe, the Balkans, and Turkey—_a territory large enough to include military and economic resources entirely sufficient to provide for the needs of the population in times of war; and to assure its rulers in times of peace the domination of the world_. The seizure by Berlin of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey—all essential elements of Central Pan-Germany—was accomplished in three ways: _militarily_, by the supremacy acquired by the German General Staff over the troops of the vassal states; _financially_, by means of the paper loans granted by Germany; and _diplomatically_, by the treaties signed in Berlin on January 11, 1917, establishing the strongest sort of German protectorate over the Ottoman Empire. This done, the consolidation of Pan-Germany was quickly undertaken by Berlin in a great number of ways.