The Bookman

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 124, 26 May 1923, Page 19

The Bookman

EAST AND WEST

"The Western Question in Turkey and Greece." By Professor Arnold J. Toynbee. London : Constable and Co. (the . Australasian Publishing Company, Ltd., Sydney). .

Popular knowledge of. Greece or Turkey is small,' and if Professor Toynbee i& right, most of the popular knowledge is wrong. The popular belief is that the Greek is a Christian, a European, and a descendant of a highly-cultured people; whereas the Turk,is some sort of heathen, the descendant of barbarians, and if he is now in Europe he ought not to be left there any longer. If the man in the street knows little more than this he cares even less. Professor Toynbee'e Book is designed to present' facts in a clearer light, and to correct misconceptions, not merely for the purpose of Hecuring that truth shall prevail, but so that policy ma} be wisely directed. His argument is that, though Western people in the mass care, little for 'fate of the Near and Middle East, events in the East have been, largely determined by the policies of the Western rulers. Even where there has been nq set political purpose the oourse of the East has bean shaped by Western influence, The sub-' title to this book is; "A Study in the Contact of Civilisations," and this describes its character. Eastern and Western civilisations, differing radically, have come in contact in the Near and Middle East. Western statesmen have not been sufficiently wise or sufficiently interested to ease the contact, and the imperfect assimiliation of Western civilsatiori, without wise control, has produced wars, atrocities, and conflicts. QUALIFICATION. Professor Toynbee is well qualified to' write such a book. He is Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and History at the University of London, and has devoted eight years to special study of the political, social, and economic problems of the Near and Middle East. His study of contemporary events and documents is enlightened by an eucylopaedic knowledge of history and by extensive travel in the countries ,of which he writes. His book is not easily read, and it is essentially a work for men who have already made more than a superficial study of the subject. It is a work which demands and deserves patient and careful study. Public men who speak or write upon the Graeco-Turkish conflict should read it. Much of it may prove unpalatable to the English mind, for Professor Toynbee condemns British action in the East and British methods just as roundly as he condemns French action when he holds that condemnation is called for. He ie prepared with dates and 'documents in support of his, verdict, "Backing the wrong horse" is not the mistake which comes in chiefly for condemnation, but backing any horse at all. The nations of the Near East have had their quarrels, and have allowed themselves to be used, as pawns in the rivalries of the greater Powers. Professor Toynbee blames the small nations for allowing their little rivalries io,lead them to this, as well as the greater Powers for encouraging them. This association of Eastern quarrels with Western . rivalries has produced an atmosphere in the East which makes peaceful settlement muoh more ■difficult, even when the Western Powers are,; anxious for it. RELIANCE ON BPJT4IN. . "Nothing (writes Professor Toynbee) struck me more" forcibly during the eigh£ months I was in touch with the Greek army and public, than the universal''belief that Great Britain, or rather the Prime Minister wielding the resource* of Great Britain, would see them through." It was. in vaip that th« Professor pointed out that th^ majority of British people were not interested .in Greece, and that Lloyd George was not an autocrat who could act in defiance of public opinion. The conversation usually ended with the Greek declaration: "You will be with us all right when the moment comes. Hei-e is to the health of a nobje son of the great country which is the bene: factress of Greece!" It is impossible in a brief review even to indicate the problem's arising, from the contact of civilisations; . How they differ from the" • problems which we ourselves face may be just illustrated by the trouble arising from the overlapping of nationalities and boundaries. In the west boundaries conform in great measure to the areas occupied by different nationalities. In the East, this is not so. It is impossible to draw a line and say: "All the Greeks are on this side, and. all. the Turks are on the other." There have been, for very many generations, large minorities resident in countries governed by a dominant race. In the Eastern form of government, such minorities lived happily and contentedly till the Western idea of democracy came to them without the education preparinj them for it. They had local autonomy and freedom. When the wider form of democratic xule was proposed, thera were conflicts between the minorities and the majorities. Then there were efforts to clear the boundaries by exterminating the minorities, who were.not always free of blame. Professor Toynbeis shows that , this extermination process was one which W-estenr civilisation practised in its own earlier .days, and thus assured that the boundaries of States should march with the boundaries of nations. But the West has now forgotten that.

CULPABILITY FOR ATBOCITIES. In writing o£ atrocities, Professor Toynbee does not spare the Turk, but lie holds that Turkish minorities have ajso suffered at the hands of Greeks and others. He produces voluminous and detailed evidence, and condemns the G.reek leaders as well as the rank and file of Greek soldiers and civilians. His estimate of the Greek and Turkish character and the respective, claims to consideration is evidently the result of careful research and consideration, He denies that the modern Greeks are the spiritual or even largely the physical descendant* of the Ancient Greeks. They have been led to regard themselves as [ such by the very Western people who | | were cust.od.ians of Ancient Greek culture at a time when Modern Greece had mostly forgotten' it. That the Turk should be condemned as a Moslem while the Greek is lauded as a Christian is also held to .be utterly out of keeping witli fact«, as Professor Toynbee sees them. He holds it not proven that the Islamic faith has proved a. barrier to ■ ■progrea*. The distinction of European (Greek) and Asiatic (Turk) is held to ■ be false also, on the ground that tbere is no boundary but an artificial line on the map. Actually the oradle of the Modern Greek people was Anatolia-, and the Turks were for centuries more at home in Europe than in Asia. Professor Toynbee has not been content to state facts as he sees them and diagnose the disease which has been troubling the East. He prescribes a remedy which is based upon sound principles, though it may prove difficult to aP!'l.y- Greece and Turkey, ho hold.-?, have both to solve tlie problem of adapting their civilisations to Western ideas. In aider that thty mty Ijji free to dp.

tins, they must compose their own differences, and the means he suggests are reciprocal guarantees of the rights of minorities. If, action is reciprocal and the fixation of boundaries definite there will be guarantees for the success of the measure, but minorities who cherish the hope of a- change of frontiers (and because of that hope ar e a danger to the majority surrounding them) must always menace peaße. The We3t, for its part, must recognise that it cannot live for ever unto itself. It must realise that a, new civilisation is arising in the Ea3t, and it must regard that movement with charity, and in a spirit of helpfulness.