GERMANY AND GREECE

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 87, 11 October 1915, Page 6

GERMANY AND GREECE

In the course of comment in Saturday's issue on the big distinction between Bulgarian national ideals and the soaring personal ambition of Tsar Ferdinand, it was affirmed that Germany nuvuld^i^^idoumJA,JiliOAiMu^b4ua^fii^:

ing almost anything, in order that thft Bulgarian army might be involved in th« conflict. Confirmation of this comes today from the Greek newspaper Patris, which is understood to be occasionally inspired from Venizelist source* ; and as the ex-Premier has a purpose at present in putting certain facts before the public, this statement is likely to be more reliable than Athens messages usually are. In brief, it is alleged that Germany and Austria concluded with Ferdinand's Government a secret treaty giving Bulgaria, not only the Macedonian territory which is claimed by her people on tbe ground that it is Bulgar in character, but also awarding Bulgaria a large part of Albania (which means a •window on the Adriatic), and, incidentally, some pieces of Greece. Now, this concession •would altogether exceed the reasonable demands of Bulgarian nationalism. It is a. political sop which the Entente (though sympathetic towards the Bulgar's natural irredentism) could not offer ; and, of course, it represents a partition of the lion's skin before the noble beast is dead. The Entente could not dangle such a bait before Ferdinand, because the Entente has to consider the interests of Servia and of Greece. Germany, of course, would not worry about Servia, but what of Greece? The most remarkable thing is that, in spite of the covert and overt indications of Germany's intrigues with the arch-enemy of Greece, King Constantine remains to all appearances pro-German. In another Athens paper appears a statement that the King, in combating the proposal of M. Venizelos to defend Servia if Bulgaria attacked, quoted a refusal of M. Venizelos to defend Servia against Austria and Germany. But the two things are obviously not parallel. The testingtime for Constantine will come if Bulgaria does attack Servia. When that occasion (the occasion stipulated by M. Venizelos) arrives, it will be seen who of these two has rightly read Greek national feeling. Constantine appears to be as timid as Ferdinand is venturesome. Their common bond is a desire to gather the crumbs dropped from the Kaiser's table.