DREAM OF EASTERN EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2962, 28 December 1916, Page 6

DREAM OF EASTERN EMPIRE

The leaders of tho Pan-German movement have always looked to the East for empire. Mesopotamia and tlie shores -ot the Persian Gulf were to give Germany her place in thesun. The incorporation ot Belgium and Hollaud, the control of Antwerp and Rotterdam, were of secondary importance compared with- the carrying out of "tho great plan of a highway from Hamburg and the shores of the North Sea to {Tie Persian Gulf, and thence a German waterway to India and 'the Far East."

JEf. Evans Lewin, in a fascinating and exhaustive volume, explains the origin of the dream and the means tnat havo been taken to make it a fact. K is the complaint of tho Germans that they arrived" late in the great world. When'they were ready to rule there were few available colonies to acquire. Their African possessions did not satisfy their ambitions, and a'quarter of a century ago the plan for the acquisition of tho undeveloped territory of tho j Turkish Empire began to take form in tho Pan-Germanic brain. Mr. Lewin says:-— ,

Tho German iliind, intent, and rightly intent, upon tho aggrandisement of nie Fatherland, saw in Asiatic Turkey an immense territory feebly held by a moribund Power, a. territory where — owing to the uafortunate relations between France, with her special interests in Syria and , the Levant generally, Russia, with her strong political position iu the "Trans-Caucasus and in wje north-eastern ' regions of Asia luinor, and Britain, with her waning influence at the Court of the Sultan, but with her as yet unassailed commercial position at the eastern ports and her strategic interests in Egypt, and 'to a lesser'degree' in Mesopotamia— every opportunity existed for a bold and aggressive policy on tho part of a fourth Power,i which, owing to the dissensions of the other three, might herself sccure tiie paramount position. The alliance with Austria, tho patronage of Turkey, the Bagdad Railway, the seducing of Bulgaria, tho destruction of Serbia, the plots of King Constantino are all means to the same end. believe that this- ivar must bo won on the Western ffont, but_Mr. Lewin is fully justified in insisting that the clue to the German problem is to bo found in the East

"The key to the' whole-situation is to be found in the East. The Ames, in coming to' their somewhat tardy decision that it is above all things necessary to stem the German eastward advance, have arrived at the only possible solution of the German' problem. The destruction of the Hamburg-Persian Gulf scheme is an object common to all the Allies; for the realisation of this idea would threaten the integrity and the safety not only of Russia and the British Empire, but also the economic and political interests of France and Italy.

The results of,the activity, engendered by the long and close allianoo between the Wilhelmstrasse and tho Porte depend absolutely upon what the Allies are able to do with their present base at Salonika, which is the only geographical point whence they can threaten and destroy tho TurcoGermanic junction, and put an encj, once and for all, to German enterprise in Asia. An offensivo from Salonika will be a necessary preludo to the overthrow of the Teutonic Powers, and will contribute directly to final victory in Europe itself." N v Germany leaves nothing to chance. Her .more or less legitimate national ambitions, and her hatred .'and envy of Great Britain both encouraged her to give her methodical mind to the realisation of lier dream. Bismarck' said that. tho.'Suez Canal, was 1 the spinal cord of the British Empire. If Germany controlled the eastern bank of the Canal her rival would be largely at her mercy.

The idea of reigning in Jerusalem inflamed the Kaiser's theatrical imagination. _ His friendship with Abdul Hamid and the famous journey to the Holy Land' were steps towards the goal, which, it was hoped, tlio war would finally attain. ' Mi 1 . Lewin quotes an English clorgyman's evidence of the thoroughness of the Teuton's methods:—

"While living for a few years at Jerusalem," continued Canon Parfit, "I' watched tho erection of three remarkable buildings—tho magnificent German Roman Catholic church on Mount Zion, with the highest and noblest tower in Jerusalem,; that dominates the whole city ; the massivo hospice near tho Damascus Gate, which everyone declared to bo ridiculously like a fortress; and the beautiful mansion or sanatorium 011 the heights by tho Mount of Olives, ' with another , . huge tower that commands the Jordan Valley, and is furnished'with a wireless installation, which was tested by. Prince Eitel when with becoming pomp he opened this princely palace a few years ago. It is rumoured that this wireless installation has been of inestimable value to tho Germans since the outbreak of war." .

Although ostensibly erected in tho cause,of religion and philanthropy, these extraordinary buildings were certainly intended to further the political and military aims of the Fatherland. The Augusta.A'ictoria Stiftung, on the Mount of Olives, supposed to be a rcsthouse for German missionaries, was supplied with a powerful searchlight dominating the whole > countryside, while it was also probably the reposi T tory'for a store of ammunition likely to bo of use in the event of hostilities.

The German Government supported the Zionist movement, as another step towards eastern empire:— ''William 11, always a clever politician," stated "Le Mois Colonial" in ■1910, , "has been ablo to use a twohandled weapon. On the one hand, in favouring tho exodus of the Jews towards the Holy Land, he is ablo to rid Germany of a people who in general aro extremely unpopular, and are often badly treated; while, on the other hand, as these Jews retain the status of Germans, .a, nationality of which they are proud, and are assured of the protection and help of their Emperor, they constitute a powerful agent in his policy of peaceful penetration." Mr. Lewin has chapters on tho Berlin Congress,, where tho "honest broker" contrived to stir up strife and gain for himself great advantage; on the part played by Germany in the Balkan wars; and on German intrigues m Russia and Rumania. All thougn ho shows us the tireless, ingenious plotter, never forgetting his objective, using any means of approaohing it. This book, indeed, collects olio side of the overwhelming ovidence that the war'is no mere fortuitous tragedy, but was determined-and even dated by the rulers of Germany as tho necessary last step in a forty years' progress tok wards a grandiose ideal.