The Eastern Question Defined
The evidence is abundant and conclusive that the storm center of this great war is the Near East. But this is not a new storm center. It has been the center of stormy conflicts for centuries. The war now raging around that center is one more added to the many that have been fought by the European powers over the long-standing dispute as to who shall possess Constantinople, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles. As Mr. Seymour says in “The Diplomatic Background of the War”: “It may fairly be said that during the last decade the international aspect of the Eastern Question has been the struggle of the forces of Pan-Slavism and Pan-Germanism.” This war, then, is over that old, complicated, never-ending Eastern Question. 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? The northern end is called the Bosporus; the middle section, the Sea of Marmora; and the southern end, the Dardanelles. On the eastern side of this great river is Asia Minor, and on the western side is the Balkan Peninsula. This channel has been in the possession of Turkey since 1453, when the Turks took Constantinople and made it the capital of their empire. During a large portion of this period, the territory involved has been the object of many sanguinary wars. The nation that controls the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles, must hold the dominant influence at Constantinople, and over the territory along the waterway. Absolute control of this great natural canal would mean possession of the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula and of Asia Minor. At present this territory is in the possession of Turkey. But it is about to slip from her grasp, and the question to be settled by this war is, To whom shall this strategic position pass? Of this controversy the editor of the Washington Post, Aug. 18, 1915, said: “As diplomatic and military activity increases in the neighborhood of Constantinople, the world's attention is directed more and more to the momentous events that are impending in that quarter. Constantinople is the bone of contention between Christian and infidel, between Teuton and Slav. It is a stupendous drama that is being unfolded 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.”