WHAT WILL HE DO?

Taranaki Daily News, 11 December 1915, Page 11 (Supplement)

WHAT WILL HE DO?

CONSTANTINE'S DILEMMA. SECRET OF HIS HESITATION. FOUND IN FAMILY TIES. (By Lovat Fraser). Tha position in Greece is obscure. The published reports present it as a conflict between the pergonal views of M. Venizclos and of King Constantine. We may be reasonably sure that there are at least four other factors at work.

They are, first, the feeling of the higher officers of the Greek Army and Navy; second, the hostility of the political rivals of M. Venizelos; third, the populace; and fourth, the German Emperor, whose sister is the Queen of Greece.

It is necessary to consider quite dispassionately the peculiar position of King Constantine. It may be doubted whether he cherishes the least personal hostility to Great Britain or to Russia or France. The probable explanation of the King's attitude is that he has friends and relations in both camps and that he is seated on a somewhat slippery throne. It must be remembered that the King of Greece was not very popular with his subjects when he was Crown Prince. He was blamed and quite unfairly blamed, for the defeat of Greece in the Turoo-Greek war of 189 T. The Crown Prince becajne the object of public wrath. For fifteen years, until he led his victorious troops into Salonika, his military reputation suffered eclipse. The Queen will probably never forget how she, the daughter of an Emperor, was afterwards hooted and even stoned in the streets .of Volo. THE ATHENIAN WAY.

These feelings long played a prominent part in Greek politics. The Greek people have often treated their Royal Family with scant consideration. A few years ago I was seated smoking a reflective morning pipe on the wall of the Parthenon, when I saw a great mob sweep into the open space in front of the palace. The people rushed into the grounds. Their shouts and execrations floated upwards. I picked up my fieldglasses and prepared to watch the interesting spectacle of a modern revolution in full blast. Nothing whatever happened. It was simply the Athenian way. Six years ago the feeling in the Greek Army and Navy against the Princes of the Royal Family came to a head. The agitation was not directed against the late King George, but against the present King Constantine and his brothers, who were held to have neglected their duties, and also against the numerous politicians who were alleged to be starving the forces, A Military League w»b formed, and for a time it controlled the country, The man who rescued Greece from these unhappy troubles was M. Venizelos. RELATIONS WITH VENIZELOS. Venizelos' motto was, ''The Balkans for the Balkan- peoples." He originated the Balkan League, under which Greek troops joined their neighbours in mraching to victory over the Turk. The defeat of 1807 was avenged. Tiie world saw that Greeks could fight with valour, as, indeed, they had done under most adverse conditions 15 years before. The Crown Prince found himself a popular idol, and when he ascended the throne after his father was assassinated at Salonika in March, 1913, he had no reason to complain of the warmth of his reception. These facts are recited because clearly they have some bearing upon recent developments. Twice this year King Constantine has brought about the resignaof M. Venizelos. He must be conscious of warm support somewhere within his kingdom. Does he receive it from the Army? The Greek troops have been trained by French officers; the Greek artillery is of French construction. On the other hand, many of the Greek staff officers, as well as the King himself, received their military training in Germany. It must be assumed that King Constantine believes that to-day the leaders of the Army are with him. ' The King's relations with M. Venizelos are believed to have always been marked bv a certain constraint, the kind of constraint which a monarch not too sure of his own position would be likely to feel towards a powerful and extremely able democratic statesman who is beloved by the populace. Yet there has been no open rupture, and M. Venizelos is far too patriotic a Greek to precipitate a rupture. His instincts are constitutional. And the populace? I fancy no foreigner can attempt to analyse'the somewhat variable and perhaps capricious emotions of the Greek populace. We can only turn to facts. M, Venizelos was recalled to power by a majority. His political opponents are powerful and .vigorous, but they show no manifest disposition to acquiesce in German embraces, and most certainly they have no love for Bulgaria,. KAISER AT OTHER END, It is probable that the domestic struggle in Greece is really over' the choice of two paths. One path, which has as its signposts treaty obligations, the character of which are in dispute, leads to the support of Serbia and the beginning of hostilities against Bulgaria iu conjunction with the forces of the Entente Powers. The other path leads towards the continuance of an extremely precarious neutrality. The dominating motive of King Constantine—and it is perfectly unders.Vtndable—is doubtless reluctance to draVf the sword against his wife's brother,'.He knows, moreover, that the Greek nation as a whole is by no means so united as a nation considering a plunge into v*«r should bo. The existing differences afe revealed by the debates iu the Chamber. And far away, at the end of a telegraph wire, sits the Kaiser, the most skilful concoetor of telegrams in all Europe. Yet King Constantine has little for which to thank the Kaiser, who opposed most bitterly the marriage with his sister. For years, while they were Crown Prince and Princess, the Kaiser treated them with scorn and contempt. Only after King Constantino had been crowned and after the transformation of the Balkan war made it desirable to' cajole Greece did ho relent towards the relatives he had long sought to humble. I should say the final explanation of recent news from Greece is that there are a great many Greeks who would rather keep out of the war. the King shares their desires, and together iliey dominate the situation for the moment. The case is one for regret, hut not for criticism, and I doubt whether Greece can keep out of the war for very long.