The New Map of Europe

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Sep 25, 1913

The New Map of Europe

THE fortunes of war are uncertain at best. It appeared at one time that Turkey might be driven out of Europe entirely. Dispossessed of the major portion of his territory, of the city of Adrianople which he prized so highly, and confined to Constantinople and territory immediately adjacent, serious consideration was given, not only by the outside world but by Turkish statesmen as well, to the transfer of the seat of government to Asiatic soil. The closing chapters of the Balkan struggle, with the consequent weakening of the allied powers, afforded Turkey an opportunity to recoup some of his losses. Adrianople and the surrounding country is again reoccupied by Turkish forces, and now as the result of the recent treaty between Turkey and Bulgaria, Turkey is again secure in the possession of Adrianople and “nearly all that is predominantly Turkish in population and religion lies within the new boundaries. . . . Thus the outer line of Moslem defense against Christian neighbors is once more intact from the Black Sea to the Marmora.”

Of course, Turkey has lost much,—part of Thrace and all of Macedonia, Albania, and Novibazar,—but in these provinces the Balkan races far outnumber the Turks, and their elimination from the empire will remove a thorn from the side of the Ottoman power.

It seems that the war indemnity of $350,000,000, which was to have been exacted from Turkey, has been forgotten in the later struggle. In consequence the government has been able recently to float a loan of $190,000,000 in France. These recent advantages, with the army of 350,000 men which Turkey has continually kept in the field by contributions from Islam at large, makes a power still to be reckoned with.

It is one of the unfathomable problems of history that in the struggle of the centuries, with every man's hand against him, Turkey has still hung on. And yet out of every conflict during the last one hundred years he has emerged despoiled of new territory and with a loss of national prestige. How soon the changing kaleidoscope of national events will bring about conditions which will complete the prophetic forecast, driving the Ottoman power back to its native habitat in Asia, we cannot of course foretell. In these times events shape rapidly. Soon, perhaps sooner than many of us realize, too soon for those who are unprepared, will the prophetic prediction concerning the king of the north be fulfilled. In the meantime, while the hand of mercy stays the execution of final wrath upon the nations of men, let us be diligent in sounding to the world the warning message for this last day.