Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1920. WHAT WILL THEY DO WITH GREECE?

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 225, 29 December 1920, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1920. WHAT WILL THEY DO WITH GREECE?

In the brief reference id Greece contained in the King's Speech proroguing the British Parliament we have a'hint of the extremely unfortunate position in • which the Allied -Governmeut*rfind themselves as a result-of the recent Greek emotions, which'ended in the almost tragic defeat of M. Veoizelos and the return to power of the Monarchists pledged- to the restoration ci Constantino to tho throne of Greece in j succession to his dead son/King Alexander. Nothing that has occurred sincf

the signing ol the armistice has had quite such a disconcerting effect upon the counsels of tho Allies us the' untoward happenings that have forced the great Greek democratic leader to become au exile from the country for which he dared and accomplished si much, aiid whose boundaries he was the means of enlarging so considerably. Ureecc under Venizolos /could bt trusted; under Constantino it becomes a source of danger to the Allied Powers and, although the exiled si>i{! vvho has now been restored to tW throne has avowed his intention el standing by the Allies loyally, and c, faithfully adhering to the policy which was destined to restore to Greece some of. its old prestige as-a great' Eastern lower, in Europe capable of safeguarding European interests in Asia Minor «_ J m i_ *!i_ i • i .' - - .

and Turkey, his past apt ions and those ot Jus Queen, the Kaiser's sister Sophia, are such that no great dependence can be placed upon either his assurances or Ins good-will. For the Allies it was ot prime and even vital importance that Greek co-operation should be secured in the earlier jstagcs of the war. Thai co-operation was at:first 'forthcoming, and wus maintained until Veriizelos was sent to the right about by. Constantino' although at the time Venijselos com inanded a majority of the members hj. the - Greek, Legislature. Then, under Berlin influences, exerted through his wife, the Greek king began that intriguing with thp Central lowers which .was only ended by -his deposition and the re-emergence of Venizelos as the hciid-of the Government. Telegrams exchanged between Cbnstalitine and Jaoph'iu and the Kaiser, which were brought to light after the king's deposition, in the clearest possible terms the hostility of the Royal couple to the Entente, and shed a sinister light on their evil plottings through the years in* which they \iete posing m injured neutrals; At Constantine's request the Kaiser 4 agreed, in 1915, to a loan of 40,000,000 murks to 'bo- advanced by Germany to Greece. This was at Constantine's personal request Early in 1916 the Greek King and Queen pressed their Imperial relative to institute an energetic campaign against the Allies on tho Balkan front. The Rupel affair followed, and the German and Bulgarian Ministers hastened to assure Const an tine of tht* integrity and territorial sovereignty of Greece. In August. 1916, Constantine was anxiously inquiring the reason of the largi' concentration of Austro-rGermari fprccs on the Roumanian, frontiers, evidently hoping that this might bo 'the prelude to energetic action against General barrau s army. Later Constaatinowas informed that an advance had been deeded upon bv tho German General staff against SarrailJ and this took the orm of thoioccupation of, Kavalla, and :ho capture of a .Greek armv corps* together with huge supplies of Greek irmsand ammunition. .Again Cons.tanine was quietened by renewed German i insurances that they, would.'ultimately '< ie restored. Still !ater> Constantine*, ( it his Imperial ,r.e4 I luest-, arranged for the organisation of \ cuerilla bands in Western Macedonia to "' lafass General Sarrail's left-flank, and I rfiijor Faulkenhauscn, the ex-German J nilitarv attache at 'Athens, was -sent row. Berlin to Progradetz, on Lake « tehrida to co-onerate with the/ move- \ nents of these Greek irregulars-,ami,to | upply them with money and. muni- | inn*..' While thepo events wern in pro- "4 lies*' Venizelos had, howvyor,. ijsterv' t ishv'd'his provisional a| c

Crete, and subsequently more*! nil headquarters to Salonika; fchero he mi co-operating with the Allies. A* a Wf suit of i Constantino's intriguing* the Allies had further taken strong action against Greece, blockading the capital and ordering the Ministers of the Central Powers to leave Athens, which they did under protest on November 21,1910. Three days-later, the Allies delirered an ultimatum to Constantino, requiring him to hand over the rifles and gjins belonging to the Greek army. As the King refused to comply,with the;

demand, the warships of the Allies, ,j with .troops, arrived at Piraeus on the 29th and moored alongside the quay. On December Ist the King publicly rejected the Allied, demands nnd renamed possession of the Post and .Telegraph services which had been under Allied control. Allied troops; were consequently landed in the city, and were fired upon from the roofs of dwellings ajtd m the streets by' Greek troops, the blood-spilling events (in which somo 400 Allied- soldiery were killed) which followed 'in Athens being described in a telegram sent by Queen Sophia to the Kaiser as >*% great victory over four great Powers." The blockade instituted by the Allies led the same Royal personage to describe the Allies as "infamous swine" in a further telegram which she despatched to her}brother the Kaiser, and other telegrams (all of which were in nn unusual cipher to which it was a difficult matter to find the key at first), which subsequently passed between Athens and Berlin, showed that Constantine and his advisers were prepared to destroy their guns and ammunition rather than let them fall into the hands of the Allies to be used against Germany, while the Queen was,, continually urging the Germans to attack §arraif.& army in the rear. A secret wireless station was also established'in 'Thcssaly ,to enable communications to be maintained between the Kmg 'end Queen and the Germans after the Post "and Telegraphs had been banded back to Entente control, upon the acceptance of the; Allied ultimatum. From first to last there does not appear, in the whole of the a single word .in favour of the Allies; father does it afford ample evidence of the pro-German sympathies of Constantiife and his Queen and of their desire to compass the 1 defeat and destruction oftho Entente Powers. It is hardly likely that Constnntine ifr Sophia have in any way modified ' their attitude towards the Eentcntc, and it is quite possible that, from being the ally and friend .of Prance and Great Britain, Greece may become its enemy under the resumod sway of Constantino. The situation is therefore extremely unsatisfactory, and it is very unlikely that the Allies will now extend the Grecian boundaries on the liberal scale to which they agreed when Venizelos commanded the situation in Greece l The possible complications are disquieting.