ternational situation provide the Turk with the best opportunity in a
century to achieve the aims cherished by Turkish statesmen who have the
best interests of Turkey itself at heart. For several years Turkey has
been in extreme peril. It was condemned to death by the Triple Entente
some time ago, and the prediction of the British Prime Minister in a
recent public speech that this war would end the existence of Turkey as
an independent power was only the publication of the sentence of death
long since decided upon. The Sick Man was kept alive by his friends, the
doctors, largely because they deemed his malady incurable. The moment he
showed signs of convalescence they agreed to poison him. But for the
protection of Germany the political existence of Turkey would be already
a thing of the past. The Turk, therefore, will stand or fall according
to the decision in this war for or against Germany. He will be
excessively foolish not to do everything he can to insure a German
victory.

[Sidenote: Entrance of Turkey into War.]

[Sidenote: Constantinople core of the War.]

The entrance of Turkey into the war has long been foreseen, and its vast
significance has long been clear to students. Some trained observers go
much further: Sir Harry Johnston, a traveler, statesman, and diplomat of
repute, has declared: "Constantinople is really the core of the war." In
diplomatic circles in Vienna this summer there was a general agreement
that the loss of Salonika, which the Turk was forced to hand over to
Greece at the end of the Balkan wars, was a vital blow to the Triple
Alliance, and its recovery would be of sufficient importance to justify
the risk of a European war to accomplish it. The situation in the Near
East and in the Balkans is an integral part of the European war. In
fact, the war is not a European war at all; it is a world war in the
most literal sense of the words.

[Sidenote: Control of exit from the Black Sea imperative to Russia.]

At the beginning of the twentieth century keen observers saw clearly
that the old order of things, which had preserved the Turk so long in
the face of many enemies, had passed away beyond a peradventure and had
left the Turk in great peril. Ever since the decay of the strength of
the Ottoman Empire the Turk had been hardly pressed in Europe by Russia
and by Austria, both of whom coveted sections of his dominions, and both
of whom would have been glad to obtain Constantinople, the gateway