In the Balkans

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 9, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 35.

In the Balkans.—In the settlement of the Balkan situation by the “powers,” the evidence all seems to point just now in the direction of allowing Turkey to retain Adrianople. Turkey is very anxious to keep that place, because of the religious sentiment she has for the city. Russia is ready to drive Turkey back to Constantinople. France protests against using military force in doing this, and Germany protests against using moral pressure to bear against the Turk. But at the same time, there are undercurrents working in the direction of dividing up the whole of Asia Minor into “spheres of influence” among the powers. The greatest diplomats and statesmen of the age have been grappling with the situation ever since the Balkan war broke out, about a year ago. Mighty nations, any one of which could easily cope with all the Balkan States, have been participants; but because of their jealousies and ambitions, they can not agree. War, and not peace, is the passion of this age, and experiences of this kind show it unmistakably. The conditions among the nations will be more and more unsettled and stormy until the very end is reached. We should take time to know the prophecies that make these things very clear. The Bible makes it plain that the angry spirit of war will characterize the last days, and it will be only the teachings of men who ignore the actual facts and conditions that will lead any one to think that we ever can have universal, permanent peace this side the second coming of Christ.