p. 23 | Eastern Question

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 12, 1916

Eastern Question

Present Truth Series No. 22 This page is made up of the nine impressive paneled quotations which are set in bold type and used with other good illustrations in making this issue of the Present Truth Series the climax in the presentation of this leading question of the day. It contains the message due the world now. Thousands are being ordered. Millions will be circulated.

THE VITAL ISSUE

Briefly and simply stated, the Eastern Question is, What power shall control the territory along that natural waterway connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean? “Access to, free passage through, or control of, the Mediterranean is the permanent objective behind the foreign policy of all the greater European powers. . . . It is an objective, however, that lies at the very industrial and commercial life of Great Britain and Russia; that is bound up with all the ambitions of Germany, and that underlies the industrial and financial aspirations of Italy and the Balkan States. For the Mediterranean is the greatest trade route in the world. It is the gateway from the Occident to the Orient.”—Frederic C. Howe.

THE BONE OF CONTENTION

“Constantinople is the bone of contention between Christian and infidel, between Teuton and Slav. It is a stupendous drama that is being unrolled at the Golden Horn—a modern scene of the most vivid nature, with a background crowded with memorable figures and historic events. Whatever the climax, the tumultuous happenings of these current months stir the imagination of the world, and will powerfully affect its future.”—Washington Post.

ENGLAND’S RIGHT-ABOUT-FACE

“After laying down millions in treasure and many thousands of lives in the Crimean War in 1853-1856, and after the immense and costly coups of Disraeli’s statesmanship in 1878, it is now England herself who batters down the gates of Constantinople, in order that Russia may come in and possess it. Has there ever been so strange a right-about-face in the history of the nations?”—J. Chamberlain.

TURKEY TO PERISH BY THE SWORD

“It is not the Turkish people, it is the Turkish government, that has drawn the sword, and I do not hesitate to predict that that government will perish by the sword. It is they, and not we, who have rung the death knell of the Ottoman dominions, not only in Europe, but in Asia.”—Mr. Asquith.

GOD’S PEOPLE DELIVERED

“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book”—the book of life. Dan. 12:1.

CONSTANTINOPLE A KEY-CITY OF THE EARTH

The roads of the European nations cross at Constantinople; and on that cross “the peace of Europe was crucified.” The sword will never be sheathed until Constantinople, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles pass from Turkey into the hands of some other great power or combination of powers. “Since its foundation sixteen centuries ago, Constantinople, by position and natural destiny, has been one of the key-cities of the earth. It has been many times attacked and twice conquered. Its second conquest, like its foundation, marked the end of an epoch and changed the history of the world. Its third conquest can do no less.”—London Saturday Review.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

“Writers who can tell a stupefied world what this fearful portent means, who can throw light on the great fundamental problems of the race, and give some hint as to its destiny, will have an attentive and even anxious audience.”—Springfield Republican. Unquestionably this great war belongs to a series of epoch-making events which lead toward one great culminating event in the history and destiny of the human race. “It is not in reality one event that has changed the world. It is a world-change that has culminated in a great event.”—Dr. Hobhouse.

RUSSIAN HOPES

“The radiant future of Russia on the Black Sea is beginning to dawn near the walls of Constantinople.”—Mr. Sazonoff. “Constantinople and the strait must be Russian. Every other solution, whatever its nature, is impossible of acceptance by us, because every other would only make the position for us worse than it was before the war began. . . . Nothing less than the independence of Russia is bound up with this question of the strait.”—Prince Troubetskoi.

HANDS WIDE OPEN TO CATCH THE PRIZE

“The real bone of contention in the present struggle is Constantinople. The day of the Turk in Europe is practically at an end. In the minds of rulers—kings, emperors, presidents, chancellors—and in the minds of the leaders of the armies, ‘Constantinople’ is probably the slogan sounded deep down in their hearts, and kept tightly bottled up in the backs of their heads. . . . There is the real impulse of the present war. Constantinople, a position of wonderful advantage, must fall into new hands, and all are wide open to catch the prize.”—Los Angeles Times, Aug. 8, 1914.