The Balkans and the Turk
By T.
WAR between the Balkan States and the Turks has broken out in good earnest. Montenegro opened the fight; and now the four states of Montenegro, Bulgaria, Servia, and Greece are pushing the conflict with vigor. The Turks have a larger army than the forces of the combined Balkan States, but it is so widely scattered that she may not be able to get it into the field in time to strike before she is overpowered by the allies that almost completely surround her. The powers of Europe undertook to stop this war, but it got under way in spite of them; and altho it has been in progress but a few days, it has already assumed very stormy and extensive proportions. The outcome of the issue will be watched with a great deal of interest by the students of prophecy. The wars of this time, as observed in another column of this issue, are to be characterized by fury and violence far beyond those of former days. They must break forth like a tempest, for the winds of war are held under restraint by the divine hand. The war spirit being thus kept in bounds, it is equivalent to confining it under pressure; and when it does break away, it goes off like an explosion. In 1840 the Turkish power came to its end as an independent political force. Several years previous to that time, those who were proclaiming to the world that the Lord would come in 1844, had made the prediction, from the prophecy of the ninth chapter of Revelation, that the Ottoman Empire would fall in 1840. And it was strikingly true that when the time came, the powers of Europe took possession of the Turk, and he has been held by them ever since. When that prediction was so literally fulfilled, it was widely heralded, and it was so convincing that it is stated that more than a thousand skeptics are known to have embraced the Christian faith as the result of that clearly fulfilled prophetic forecast. Since that time, Turkey has done only what was permitted her by these European powers. As a power herself she has been acting merely as a buffer between the great nations. Turkey holds very desirable territory from the strategic standpoint. Her valuable ports and other natural advantages are so great that no one of the powers is willing that any other should possess it. And because of this condition, Turkey has created what is known in the political world as the "Eastern Question." While Turkey has had a name to live, yet as a nation she expired over seventy years ago. The prophecy called for it, and the facts show that the prediction of the divine seer was remarkably correct. No one of the nations being willing that any other should have her territory, they have agreed together to hold her there as a sort of neutral zone, yet keeping up the outward appearance that she is still a living government. But to show how the defunct kingdom is decaying, we need only to mention how she has been going to pieces. Greece, formerly under Turkish dominion, became an independent kingdom in 1830. The French occupied Algeria in 1830, and it is now a French province. Servia became an autonomous principality in 1830, an independent principality in 1878, and a kingdom in 1882. In August, 1840, Abd-ul-Mejid gave himself into the hands of the powers of Europe, in order to overcome the advances of Mehmet Ali, which he saw were sweeping him from his throne. Rumania became an autonomous principality in 1862, an independent principality in 1878, and a kingdom in 1881. Montenegro became an independent principality in 1878, and a kingdom in 1910. Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied by Austria in 1878, and annexed to Austria in 1908. Bulgaria became an autonomous principality in 1878, and an independent kingdom in 1908. Eastern Rumelia became an administrative autonomy in 1878, and was annexed to Bulgaria in 1885. Cyprus was ceded by Turkey to England in 1878. Tunis became a French protectorate in 1881. Egypt was occupied by Great Britain in 1882. Crete became autonomous in 1898, and is now striving for annexation to Greece. Libya was ceded to Italy in 1912 in settling the war over Tripoli. Albania is now in rebellion. The foregoing historic facts in regard to Turkey show how the nation is decaying. Her decay was well under way when the time came for her to lose her independence in 1840 to answer to the voice of prophecy, and since that time her decomposition has been very marked and rapid. Living nations do not waste away after that sort. The great Mohammedan hordes in both Europe and Asia are a fearless people. But they are lacking in the power of government. Their governing body, occupying as it does a cringing attitude before the powers of Europe, has become weaker and weaker, and more and more corrupt. They have great soldiers and great mobs of fighting men, it is true. But their fatalistic beliefs taught them by Mahomet are the source of the power of their fighting, and not their mock government. From the religious standpoint, the power of the Papacy is tightening its hold and strengthening its influence among the nations that are at war with the Turk. Special services are being held in the cathedrals to invoke a blessing on the "holy war." The war-cry is that the Turk must be put down because of his cruelties to Christians — and by Christians they mean the Papacy. The Catholic power as opposed to the Mohammedan power is the issue. And as the governments of Austria and Russia are so strongly under the influence of the Papacy, and as Germany, France, and Italy are coming under that power more and more, it is clear to be seen where the prejudices of the powers will lie in the conflict that is now waging. They will give the Catholic powers that are now at war with the Turk every advantage that they can, consistent with their jealousies over territorial expansion.