The World War and What was Behind It; Or, The Story of the Map of EuropeBénézet, Louis Paul
History
The World War and What was Behind It; Or, The Story of the Map of Europe
Bénézet, Louis Paul
Europe -- History; World War, 1914-1918 -- Causes
Russia, always plotting to overthrow Turkey, at last accomplished
a wonderful bit of diplomacy. She encouraged Bulgaria, Serbia,
Montenegro, and Greece to forget their old time dislike of each
other, for the time being, and declare war jointly on Turkey. In
order that there should not be any quarreling over the spoils
when the war was over, the four little nations agreed, in a
secret treaty, that when they got through with Turkey, they would
divide up the carcass as shown in the opposite map. The head,
including Constantinople, was to be left for Russia, of course.
Bulgaria was to take the back and the great part of the body,
Greece was to annex the drumsticks and the second joint. The rest
of the body was to go to Serbia with the exception of the very
tail, including the city of Scutari, which was to be given to
Montenegro. Serbia was at last to have a seacoast and a chance to
trade with other nations than Austria. The Serbs had a grudge
against the Austrians, for the latter, taking advantage of the
fact that all Serbian trade with Europe had to go through their
country, had charged them exorbitant prices for manufactured
goods and paid them very little for their own products in return.
Bulgaria was to have Kavala (kȧ va′lȧ) as a seaport on the
Aegean and all the coast of that sea as far as the Gallipoli
(găl ĭ′po li) peninsula. Greece was to have the important city
of Salonika (sȧlōni′kȧ), southern Macedonia, and southern
Albania.
With this secret agreement between them, the four little states
went to war with Turkey. In accordance with the new friendship
sprung up between Germany and the Ottomans, German officers and
generals were sent to Constantinople to drill the Turkish troops.
Cannon and machine guns were sent them from German factories, and
their rifles were fed with German bullets. The four little
countries, accordingly, turned to France and Russia for
assistance. Their troops were armed with French cannon and
machine guns, and their military advisers were French and
Russians. While the big nations managed to keep out of the war
themselves, all were strongly interested in one side or the
other.
The result was a complete surprise to Austria and Germany. To
their consternation and disgust, the four little nations made
short work of the Turkish troops. In eight months, Turkey was
thoroughly beaten, and the allies were ready to put through their
program of dividing up the spoils.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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