adhesion of the Turk has exceeding importance for Germany and had long
been arranged in advance.
[Sidenote: Control of the Suez Canal vital to Great Britain.]
The possibilities before the Turkish army, well equipped with modern
munitions of war and capably officered by Germans, have been by no means
forgotten. The great objective of Pan-Germanism is not in Europe but in
Asia and Africa. The defense of the English and French dominions in both
will have to be made in Europe. The strength of the German army, the
size of the German fleet, would prevent the English and French from
dissipating their forces over the vast territory which they claim to
control. The experienced troops in India, in Egypt, and in Morocco were
shipped to France upon the outbreak of the war exactly as the Germans
expected and hoped. Their places were filled by less experienced
regiments from France, England, and the English colonies. Egypt and the
Suez Canal, India, and the great defenses would not be so strongly held.
The Turk occupied a position flanking Persia and a position flanking
Egypt. A strong, well-trained Turkish army might conceivably capture
either or both. Assistance from within might well be expected in both,
and victory in either would exert a moral effect upon the war in Europe
which would be of the utmost importance. A few hours' possession of the
Suez Canal, furthermore, would allow the Germans to obstruct it and
effectually block the approach of England to Australia and India except
by the long road around Africa. Conceivably this might interfere
seriously with the English food supplies from Australia and New Zealand,
particularly with the supplies of meat from the latter. This would be
more than usually important in view of the deficiency of meat supplies
in the United States and Canada, and the length of time necessary to
procure them from the Argentine Republic. It is by these blows at the
food supply that the Germans expect to make the greatest impression upon
England. Short of actual invasion, the stoppage of supplies is the only
method by which the Germans can inflict suffering upon England.
[Sidenote: Bulgaria ally of Germany.]
[Sidenote: All Balkan states weakened by Balkan War.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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