iplomacy had won its point.

It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a
favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had
counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had
visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a
sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken
representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and
a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had
become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the
Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped
for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through
those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no
response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who
was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this
new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk
party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.

At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move
to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral,
and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of
her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it
could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany
and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies.
An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops
which otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be
sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An
expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and
perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an
opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was
being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The
Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened but the Germans had sent
there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in expert
opinion, made Constantinople safe.

The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia and
in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been
controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East
India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of
its commerce. The English had protected Pers