Constantine's Intrigue.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 8 January 1918, Page 4

Constantine's Intrigue.

TELEGRAMS TO THE KAISER.

URGER A GERMAN OFFENSIVE

A large number of telegrams exchanged between th 6 Greek Royal Family and the Kaiser during 1915, 1916, and 1917, have been unearthed in, the Athens telegraph 'office. These telegrams were transmitted under the foreign Office seal, but in a special cipher code unknown to the Foreign Office officials. Fortunately the key has been discovered, and the telegrams have now been deciphered. They throw an appalling light on the real plans and sentiments of the late Greek Court towards the Entente, ard effectively dispel all doubts as to King Constantine's hostility towards the allies and dependence upon the German Emperor. This correspondence is incomplete, inasmuch as many messages mentioned in it. are missing, having been sent by wireless. But enough has been discovered to lay bare unequivocally the treacherous attitude of the ex-King and exQucen towards the allied army in Macedonia, and to remove any lingering idea that the King was the unwilling victim of his Hohenzollern Consort and proGerman advisers. The Foreign office has issued to the press a h-anscript of 54 of these telegrams, covering the period from January 2, 1915, to February 9, 1916.

GERMAN LOAN OF £2,000,000. Those sent in 1915 refer chiefly to a loan of £2,000,000, granted by Germany to Greece at King Constantine's persuiial request. The main point of interest in connection with this is King Constantino's suggestion that this loan might be affected through some German bank in New York, which suggestion it was found impossible to carry out, owing to the vigilance of the American control of gold movements. Another point of interest is the King's telegram of December 13, 1915, formulating a number of demands for Greece as against Bulgaria in Macedonia, which seem greatly to have embarrased Germany as being incompatible with Buigarians ambitions. A evasive answer was therefore sent. Early in 1916 the Greek King and Queen began to press their Imperial relative to institute an energetic German campaign on the Balkan front.'

Then came the Rvpcl affair, and the German and Bulgarian Ministers hastened to give King" Constantine soothing assurances regarding the integrity and territorial sovereignity of Greece. The allied ultimatum of Juno 21 threw Queen Sophia into the deepest dejection at her brother's failure to interpose his invincible battalions.. In August King Constance anxiously inquired the reason of the concentration of large Austro-German forces on the Roumanian frontiers. Evidently he was hoping against hope that this might be the prelude to energetic German action against General Sarrail's army, but he was told in\ reply, that this concentration was a mere precaution against possible Roumanian participation in the war. OCCUPATION OF KAVAILA.

Shortly afterwards King Constantino was informed that an advance against General Sarrail's army had been decided upon by the German General Staff under purely German leadership. This took the form of the occupation of Kavalla and the capture of a Greek Army corps, together with huge supplies of Greek anas and munitions, but King Constantino was again quietened by renewed German assurances that they would ultimately bo restored. Later the Kaiser urged his brother-in-law to organise guerilla bands in Western Macedonia to threaten General Sarrail's elft flank, and Major Falkenhausen, the late German Military Attache at Athens, was sent from Berlin to Progradetz, on Lake Ochrida : to co-operate with the movements of these Greek guerillas and supply them with money and munitions.

Then came the bloody events in Athens on December 1, which Queen Sophia, in a long telegram to the Kaiser, described as a splendid victory over four Great Powers. At the same time she hastened to ask when the German and Bulgarian forccs in Macedonia would bo sufficiently reinforced to undertake an offensive against the allies. The Kaiser replied, urging King Constantino to draw the sword immediately against General Sarrail. But already the Entente's blockade of Greece had made even the fanatical Royal couple realise the impossibility of declaring open war upon the Entente, and the Queen hastened to inform her brother that Greece had neither food nor munitions to enable her to hazard such an adventure and again implored him to hasten to the nssistance of Greece, which had made such immense sacrifices for his cause. To this the Kaiser returned a pointblank refusal.

QUEEN'S FINAL MESSAGE. . .Nevertheless, his suggestion as to the organisation of guerilla bands was complied with. A number of army oificcrs, including the King's Master of the Horse, were entrusted with the task, and various measures were taken to secure better communication between Athens and Berlin across Macedonia. Meanwhile the allies served on the Greek Government their ultimatum of Dcember 31, and on January 10 demanded its acceptance within 48 hours. Queen Sophia vainly spent the 10 days' interval in imploring her brother ho hasten to the relief of the Greek Royalist cause. The Crown Council at Athens was obliged to accept the ultimatum unconditionally, wliareupon Queen Sophia vented her rage in a telegram to the Kaiser calling the allies "infamous swine."