THE GREEK THRONE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1917, Page 10

THE GREEK THRONE.

! LATE KING'S CAREER. AX INTERESTING SKETCH. In October, li)lti, the Copenhagen newspaper Kobenhavn published an article written bv Mr. Walter Christmas, late captain in the Danish Navy and a wellknown writer. Mr. Christmas is specially qualified to write on any subject dealing with Greece and 'Hellenic conditions, as very often ho was the guest of the late King George at the Hellenic Court. , I To all adherents of that typo of government which, most of the kingdoms of the earth have adopted, the fate of Greece must be full of suggestions and dejection. Few of them would have thought of the possibility that a constitutional king, leaning upon a minority through two long years of war, would be able to counteract the most vital and pronounced natibnal interests and traditions of the country; to destroy every possibility to reach that object which the nation has set itself through a hundred years; to 'bring his people and himself into so humiliating and degrading a situation that it will be difficult in the history of the world to find any'thing to equal it. Where any such thing ] takes place there is every reason to revise the relationship between the power of the people and that of the King. " '

A VIOLENT

The disposition of King Constantino is [brusque and defiant. He lacks to a pronounced extent the superior intelligence and the inborn, all-conquering amiability which stamped the late King, and made it possible for him to conduct the country through many years of trial to* development, extension" and prestige. Right from the years of his boyhood King Consjtantine showed a deplorable lack of His fits .of unmanageable anger and passion were al- ] ways the source of a never dormant anxiety on the part of his parents, brothers, and sisters. These fits of temper did not decrease 'with the years, rather to tlie contrary. It is self-evident that the King's temper did not become any milder, when a painful illness a year and a half ago made an operation necessary, the preliminary result of which was a wound which does not seera to heal. On the other hand, the King is praised for his great loyalty and feelings towards friends, and not r least for a friendly and good-hearted behaviour towards .the soldiers he has so often led to victory. A liandsome, manly figure, courageous, energetic, and a resourceful general. A man whose most sulky and hard face suddenly could 'be lit up* by a bright, almost boyish frolicsome smile, which planted large dimples in the pafc yellow cheeks. "His Majesty is some sort of human cocktail,'' once remarked a representative of an American paper to me after an audience at the Palace.

PRUSSIANISED BEHAVIOUR. Last time I saw tlie King he was on horseback at the parade ground, and 4 29,000 soldiers passed in review before him. A royal, proud, and dignified figure with the Field-marshal baton resting against the saddle-tree, while his watchful eyes followed every item in the equipment and movements of the troops marching past. All at once the blood Bhofc up into his white face; he lifted the marshal's baton as if he wanted to use it as a missile, and with the utmost power of the voice tljere flew from the Royal lips, out over the place, a shower of rebukes, msult3, and oaths, which translated into peaceful Danish language would have made our most robust noucorn, officers of the old Holstein school blush as girls. It was no doubt a mistake that the King received his military education at Berlin and 'Potsdam, because even if lie thereby learned excellently the art oj vrar, which was of use to him in the later time of warfare, yet his mind and behaviour were "Prussianised," which could only be detrimental for the future l ruler of Greece. Prussian militarism can never take root in the free and democratic Hellas. THE WEAKNESS OF GREECE. When the world war broke out Greece/ Was —as all the other* Balkan States, except Boumania, were—in a miserable condition. The two former Bulgarian wars had emptied all resources and strength to the utmost). The army was exhausted and demoralised; the newly obtained province made great demands Dn the finances and administration. Only « safe and long period of peace dluld again give the country back its strength. Great patriots now found a natural consolation in the thought that the country, under such difficult conditions, was conducted by the genial Venizelos. His masterful and elear view of the situation was this: Greece is militarily and materially dependent on England and France. There is not to be found a town or a part of the country which vannot be shot into atoms in the course of a few hours by a couple of Dreadnoughts. Only a few weeks' blockade would bring the. people into a state .of famine. The only buyers of the only export articles of Greece, namely, olive oil and wine, are France and England. And going through Greek history,, one sees these two Powers as makers of the modern Hellas, and as its faithful friends through the long and troublesome period of development. Germany, on the other hand, has on every occasion been opposed to any Hellenic policy of development, and supported the arch taemy, Turkey.

But, oven apart from all material, traditional and more sentimental reasons, to throw their weight into the balance for the Entente in this war, the jTiteaty of the Alliance with iSorvia Should be a deciding factor for the policy of Greece. Venizelos has justly maintained that this treaty could not honorably foe broken, The originator of the treaty, Prince Nickolaus, during my last stay at Athens, did me the honor to explain to me very carefully his point of Hew with regard to this matter. However, I could not, with the best intentions, enter into the views of the Prince. For me it was quite plain that Greece broke her word, and failed in her obligations.

THE KING'S CONVICTIONS. v Of course some reasonable explanation must exist when a man with so distinct a feeling of loyalty as King ConStantine could commit an act of perfidy of so exceptional a kind, as well as that, there must have been deciding reasons 'for the King which brought him to overthrow Venizelos, go right against the latter's straight-lined and well-consider-ed policy, and venture out into antiEntente adventures, which in the very best case, must 'bring the enemy in the

most decided contrast to all Hellenic traditional policy of the past. The explanation pointing towards influence on the part of the Queen is without value, because King Constantine is absolutely not under the influence of tho German Emperor's sister. There is no reason to suspect the King of allowing himself to be led bv Herman sympathy; lie has surely all the time had the welfare of j bis country, the greatness of Hellas, as - the leading motive for his actions. Hie Kiilg's knowledge of the splendid preparation for war by Germany, and of " the building of the whole of the Titanic * «ar machine, which he himself had so ' carefully studied, gave him from tile very first the firm conviction as to the final victory of the Central Powers. He —as well as innumerable others all over tho world —-confidently based his own actions on this apparently absolutely soTid foundation. And events in the first year of the war largely supported his view—uof) the least because of the defeat of the British and French at the Dardanelles and Gallipoli. Glorious promises for the future from Berlin and Vienna, doubtless, have influenced the mind of ' the King far more strongly than the more sober ones from the Entente. 1 Kiijg Constantine is an extremely am- ] bitious man —in that respect he surely ■ compares well with Venizelos. It was.; quite clear to 'both King and statesman* 1 ( that the world-war must be utilised to ] make a long step towards the realisation of the great Hellenic idea, whereby is meant the • extension of the borders of Greece to include all the country , around the Aegean Sea, which iB mainly ' populated by Greeks. Macedonia, Thrace, ] the west coast of Asia Minor, and the «'hole of the Aegean , Archipelago, he- ? sides Epirus, the southern part of Servia, , and South Albania.

THE BETRAYAL OF SERVIA. Venizelos was as unshaken in his belief ,o( the victory of the Allies as King C'onstantine was in that of the Central Powers, and while the hopes of the first centred on enormous extension of the area of Greece in Asia Minor, with the rich town of Symrna as centre, the warlike spirit of the King stood to conquest of land on the European side towards east and towards north. On top of this there was the fact that Venizelos, with the utmost strength, stuck to the treaty with Servia, and this treaty had to be broken at any cost if the plans of the King should 'be crowned with success. -It nv&s thus necessary that Venizelos should, bo overthrown, and that the King should surround himself with Ministers who would adopt his personal policy. This, as is well known, actually happened. That the Greek policy was formed according to arrangements with the Foreign Ministers in Vienna and Berlin, perhaps also in Bucharest, should be beyond any doubt. That ;Servia would have to succumb to the Austrian-Bulgarian superior force seemed beyond doubt. The victorious Bulgaria ( however, would have to come out to the fight rather weakened, and would further be destroyed during a subsequent fight with the English-French Salonika army. The course of the war and a cleverly conducted policy should thereafter provide the proper moment when King Constantine could place himself at the head of his army of 350,000 men, and fight the deciding battle for Hellas and his own greatness. The misfortune was, that the war drew out too long, so that the cash-box of the State ran empty. The army cost unreasonable amounts to keep mobilised, and money was unprocurable, because the Western Powers began to entertain a well-founded suspicion as to the intentions of the Greek Government, and therefore refused to lend any money. The "friendly neutrality" towards'the Allies was not easy to keep up at the same time as the Government in Athens allowed Baron Schenck and his numerous host of German agents to work the press and people in favor of the caijse of' the Central Powers. The provisioning of German and Austrian suinbarines along the Greek eoaßt and among 'the thousands of islands, the establishment of numerous wireless stations which made impossible for the submarines to follow the movement of the transport ships of tile Allies, and many other highly unneutral actions irritated the Bntente Powers and forced them to make coun-ter-actions, which gradually brought Greece into the most painful situation. And what, above all, wrecked the plans of the Greek Government was the failing success of the armies of the Central Powers.

REFUSAL TO PACE THE FACTS. 1 stayed at Athens when the Russians, after the conquest of Erzeruin, pushed threateningly towards the west, and when the progress of the Germans at Verdun was brought to 'a standstill. It was quite clear to me then that the majority of the intelligent Greeks looked upon these evqpts as a turning point, in the war, and that the one who now based everything on the quick and certain victory of the Central Powers was in danger of complete failure. Once more King t'onstantine was offered a favorable chance to "go astern,'' change his policy, and collect a united people around him. For the last time the King received from the British a communication with a positive and specific advantageous proposal regarding an arrangement of the relations between Greece ami the Western Powers. lint the King did not recognise the time of his visitation. His defiant and stubborn mind did not permit him to submit. :; is being said that even the Queen, fearing the fate of the dynasty, tried to move the King to receive the arrangements offered. Everything in vain. And when this rejection became a solemn fact, when King Constantine continued his political two-faced game, relying on a Pro-German Ministry, and on a General Staff of the same pronounced color, and when at the same time lie refused to demobilise the army, which was a most serious menace at the back of the Salonika Army, and paralysed the activity of General. Sarrail, then at last the patience of England and France came to an end. The era oT*lhc"firm hand was introduced.

RECENT IvVEXTS. The later stages of the Greek difficulties have been a succession of comparatively petty incidents, all arisTng from the pro-fierma/n party's obstinate opposition to the Allied demands. At the beginning of last December a particularly ugly incident occurred in Athens-, when a force of Allied troops was treacherously fired upon. As the outcome, a rigorous blockade of Greece was instituted, and lirm demands for the demobilisation of most of the army, the virtual internment of the rest in Southern Greece, and the delivery of arms held by civilians, were made. This acLtion was precipitated by the treachery liof December, but it had already been

shown to be necessary by the disgraceful delivery of the frontier forts in Macedonia to the Uulgars in April and Mav of 1016. Since the blockade there has been comparatively little news from Greece. The. danger of the Allied Army being "stabbed in the back" had beeii almost abolished by the establishment of a wide safety zone south of the battlefront, but, while some of the Allied demand* were complied with, the surrender of arms was unsatisfactory. It is only recently that the. Allies have secured again control of the (ireck communications.

! .QUJiKS" SOPHIA'S STRONG -HAND. It is possible tliav, when the story of Greece » -fully told, the influence of its Hohenzollern Queen, Sophia, sister of o Kaiser will be found to 'have been paramount in the framing of the Kind's policy. She is a woman of most vigorous and independent character, and the on ) member of the Kaiser's family exwpt his mother, who has seriousiy quarrelled with liini; and t-lie story runs that it was he, and not she, who made the advances for a reconciliation, during the whole .period of the war she has been an ardent supporter of her brother and a powerful agent in keeping Constantino firm i„ the German cause. Ihe Queen's relations with her husband have had their stormy periods. PRECARIOUS YEARS. ' The years after Greece's first war with iurkey up to and after the -military revolt ot IJOD, were exceedingly precarious for the royal family, it was unpopular ' and time and again Constantine's father lung George, was on the verge of ah-' dicating, being saved from this step, as a matter of fact, by that same Eleuthenos \ emzelos who now occupies the centre cf .Hellenic- affairs, jointly with Queen .Sophia, and who had then just emerged from Crete, where he had made ft name dor himself as a school teacher and local politician. Jt was Vonizelos who brougnt the military party's rule to an end, and re-established constitutional government in Greece. Hut Constantly was forced to leave the country by ins unpopularity, and to cap it all lie quarrelled with liis wife, the breach widening to such an extent that for a time they lived apart. He went to Russia, intending to enter the Russian Army and never return to Greece. ,Sinwent to Berlin and l'otsdam and told lu-r troubles to the Kaiser.

Then happened one of the wisest things that William ever did. He sym•patlused with Sophia, but took the opportunity to poiut oUt to'her the ohli-a-lions she owed her rank and her bustend, who, if he happened to Mm in trouble, needed her all the more. This was fair play 1 omthc Kaiser's part, inasmuch as Constantine had shown plainlv before this his dislike for his brother-in-law, whoso arrogance had proved "ail-ing-to the high-spirited heir-apparent of a kingdom the size of Berlin. But the upshot of it all was that the Kaiser achieved the, reconciliation ho wanted and convinced Constantine that he wasn't such a poor sort of a person, after all. Followed then Veuizelos's use to power in Greece, the recovery of the royal prestige, Constautine's summons home to resume command of the army, and in 1912, the long-awaited war TOh lurkey, in w/h'ich, largely by the aid 01 her Allies, Greece avenged her disgrace in 1897.

COXSTAXTINK AS OMIirAXJMSR.

One incident of this war was the triumph of Constantino us Commander m-Uhiet of the army. Another was the assassination of his father .by a madman in Salonika. Constantino mounted the throne, had the good iuek to beat tiie outnumbered Bulgarians in the second Balkan -War-narrowly escaping capture, with his whole army, in the battloficM-and was able to attend the German army manoeuvres of the fall of 1013. the most popular and talked-ot ruler in Europe. His Imperial brother-in-law, quick to see the psychology of the moment, made him a Prussian Field-Marshal on the spot. From this tlay may bo dated the ascendency of Gerinau counsels at Athens.

The beginning of the present war found Conslantine passively on the side of the Central Powers, Sophia actively interested in their success. She took .njeans to see to it thai nejvs of Germany's victories readied Athens regularly. She lent her influence to the German Military Attache in swinging the sentiment of the army in Germany's favor. It has been said that about her has centred the notable German campaign' of propaganda, in .which one-half of the Greek press has been subsidised. She made it evident to the politicians about the Court that they must favor Germany if they hoped to have her support. In every conceivable way, this remarkable woman bent the force of her strong personality to support the Teutonic cause, and compelled her husband to lend his prestige to hers. On March 18, 1013 (the fiftieth anniversary of his reign), King George was assassinated in Salonika, ami was succeeded by Constantino. The new King had ample knowledge of his duties, for he had acted as regent for some years. His father, who was distinctly not a Greek, preferred residence at Paris and Aix-les-Bains.

There are five children in the Royal family. The eldest son, Prince George, was born in 1890. Prince Alexander, who succeeds to the throne, was born in 1893.

RELATIONSHIP WITH EUROPEAN THRONES.

The Greek tin-one is tied to a number of European thrones. Constantino's ■father (King- George) was the brother of Queen Alexandra and of the EmpressDowager of Kussia. The late icing's consort is the Duchess Olga, cousin of, the Tsar. Thus, Constantino's father .was uncle of King George V. of Britain, ICing Haakon VII. of Norway, and King Phristian X. of Denmark. These were the principal Royal relationships, but there were others. Germany's share came with the marriage of Constnntine to the Kaiser's sister, I'rincess Sophia of Prussia. This followed a schooling under German tutors.