The Star. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11512, 7 October 1915, Page 4

The Star. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

The situation in tho Balkans is more opmplicated than ever. The announoe(iuent that M. Venezelos has resigned I and that King Constantino is unwilling ■ ■ to carry out his Cabinet's policy to the end will be viewed with something like l : ", consternation by the Allied nations. It k is no longer a unanimous Greece, wholeheartedly in support of their cause, Jbat they have to contend with, but IB a Greece that is split into factions by ■ intriguing Germans. When M. Venezelos returned io power at the last If elections his majority was overwhelmI ing ,but since that date evidently many have seceded - from his party. The l : Greek elections were a diplomatic vic- ; tory for the Allies. They signified on which side of the fenco the Greeks stood. M. Venraelos's war policy had met with the full appiroval of tho country and the Allies could hopefully ex- ;*,■ pect Greece's sympathetic co-Opera-tion. " Until the last day or two the most n ; careful person could have confidently predicted! Grecian participation in the war oil the side of the Quadruple Entente. Allied troops had landed at Salonika, a Greek port, with only a forJbaal protest from, Greece against the violation of her neutrality, and there was every indication that tho Bulgarian menace was calling the Greok nation to arras. Now a bombshell has "been dropped into the Allied camp. M. Venezelos, on whom they had placed their hopes and their fortunes, has resigned. We had an inkling of the dissension that brought about tne Cabinet crisis yesterday, when confidence "-*in the Government's policy was carried by 142 votes to 102. Not a unanimous ■ majority by any means, on so momentous a decision as that of war or peace. Even the debate on the Gnoco-Serbian Treaty did not exhibit a spirit of amity lietween the rival parties, and members of the Chamber even went as far as to state that the alliance with Serbia was invalid because Serbia had agreed to cede to Bulgaria tho conquered territory which was the base of the alliance. Tho decision of King Constantino places Greece in a quandary. Sho has permitted Entente troops to traverse her territory almost without protest, and at the eleventh hour sho has declared against the war policy for which her army has just been mobilised. Sho cannot ask the Allied 1 troops to withdraw and to attack them would be to violato her treaty with Ser"F i>ia and bring her into con- ■ diet with the Allies. Neither can she permit Bulgaria to take tho initialive against Serbia without dishonouring her treaty obligations, and allowing Bulgaria to become the predominant Power in tho Balkans. Again, a victory for the Central Powers would practically mean tho passing of the independence of the Balkan States, and Greece cannot afford to entertain such a prospect. In some strange man nor the German diplomats seem to havo exerted a hypnotising influence over ihe Balkan States. They have hold before them the spectre of a predominant Russia in occupation of Constantinople an,[ they have played on national fears by