THE DODECANESE ISLANDS.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 218, 9 June 1919, Page 6

THE DODECANESE ISLANDS.

v A PEACE CONGRESS PROBLEM ITALIAN OR GREEK? Of the many questions befovo tho Peace Conference, few were at once so important and so little understood as the nuestion of tho Dodecanese, the little group of twolve islands, including tho famous Island of Rhodes, off the south-west coast of Asia Minor. In many ways (says tho ."Christian Science Monitor" in an editorial on the subject) tho question of the Dodecanese is a test question. In no instance, perhaps, is the application of the fundamental idea of nationality clearer or more direct, and n no case is the (cmpetation to offset this test by recourse to the ancient demand of tho balance of power more pressing. The rights' and wrongs of tho question aro soon told. When Turkey hastily patched up a peace with' Italy by tho Treaty of Lausanne, in the autumn of 1912, in order to leavo herself freo to deal with her now enemy, the Balkan Alliance,'ltaly was left in possession of tho Dodecanese, and it was one of the provisions of tho Treaty, of Lausanne that Italy should remain in possession of these islands until Turkey had carried out all the terms ol the peaco treaty, the most important of which was tho complete evacuation by Turkish forces of tho territory of Cyranaica. The terms of this treaty, according to Italy, were never fulfilled, and, as a consequence, Italy remained in possession of the islands. Tho people of tho Dodecanese are, however, Greek. Upon this subject there is' and can bo no question. They are, indeed, more thoroughly Greek than the Greeks of Greece, and, in spite of all their vicissitudes through the centuries, they liavo maintained unaltered their Greek customs, characteristics, and attachments. They were inclined, in 1012. to hail the Italians at first as..their deliverers, one did, indeed, welcoino them with open arms. They did not, however; hesitate to make it clear that they regarded the Italian occupation as necesarily only one step toward the achievement of their great aspiration, namely, reunion with Greece. Accordingly; when the Italian troops landed at Ehodes, in May, 1912, tho people received them with joy, and this feeling deepened into something very like triumph when General Ameglio, the commander-in-chief of the Italian army of occupation, assured' them, in the most categorical manner, that, after tho termination of the- Italo-Turkish War, the islands, which were "under temporary occupation of Italy," would receive an autonomous system of government, and that the Turks should never return. "I tell you this," General Ameglio added, "both as a general and as a, Christian, and you may consider my words as gospel truth." • ■

Aspirations Blocked. The islanders accepted these assurances, 'but at' the famous conference held at. Patmos, a month later, whilst expressing their gtatitudo to tho King of Italy for their deliverance from the "unbearable Turkish joke," and.declaring their hrm determination never to submit to snch tyranny again, they proclaimed'the; "age-long national wisii of the islandera for-union with their motherland, Greece." In spite of all this, the situation developed-in the way already indicated. The Dodecanese, by-the Treaty of l/au6anne, became a kind of Turkish hostago to Italy, and when a,year later, Greece found herself in possession of ajl the other islands of tho Aegean, as tho result of tho Balkan League's victorious war against Turkey, she also found herself barred out from'the Dodecanese •by the Treaty '.of Lausanne. • So the matter stood at the outbreak of tho Great tVar. and 1 almost four years ago was'rendered still more difficult- by tho treaty between Great Britain, Franco, Eussia, and Italy,' under which Italy agreed to enter the war on the side'of the Allies. Article VIII of this treaty categorically declares that "Italy'(ball obtain full possession of all the islands of the Dodecanese at present occupied by her." Vehizolos Intervenes. As, however, 31.- Venizelos declared, in his able statement of.the Greek case before the Peace Conference a few weeks ago, it should be remembered I that'at, the time this treaty' was.signed'the war had not' assumed', the . character which was later given-to it by the Allied Governments' declarations, and •by • tho "principles proclaimed by President Wilson."' "It is now admitted," st. Venizelos- said, '"that those principles will form the basis of the futuro peace. The Greek Government' has, therefore, no doubt'that its great neighbour . will itself tako the initiative in proposing tho retrocession of theso islands to Greece. Tho Greek Government is convinced that Italy will not wish to impose its sovereignty upon a population which is purely Greek, and therefore create a constant source of annoyance between two peoples bound together by their past, a fact which along with their situation as near neighbours should impel them to closer collaboration in the future." Such a statesmanlike bid for friendly settlement is what the world is coming to look for. from M. Venizelos. The Greek Premier has shown himself immovable on all questions of justice, and yet, In making his stand, lie has succeeded every time in convincing his audience that he depended, and desired to depend, for 6ucnothing but tho righteousness of h'is cause. On the question of the Dodecanese he has no doubt. "They have been Greek for thonsands'of years," he declared to' the Peace Conference, "and for this -reason Ihey ought to be returned to Greece."