CONSTANTINOPLE QUESTION

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15193, 13 April 1917, Page 3

CONSTANTINOPLE QUESTION

ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT. LONDON, April *l. The. Daily Chronicle's Petrograd correspondent, explaining the Government attitude regarding annexation, especially that of Constantinople, state.-! that the question came to the forefront as the result of M. Miliukoff's statement of his personal view that Austria should be disintegrated and Russia should annex Constantinople. The Socialists were thrown into a ferment and the position was so serious that the Government was compelled.to disclaim annexation. The Congress of the Cadet party, the best organised in Russia, passed a resolution in support of the Government's statement. The veteran leader Rodicbeg emphasised Russia's obligation to the Allies. "Those sneering at the annexation of Constantinople should remember the Allies' tremendous sacrifice for our interests. Thousands of British and French soldiers are buried on Gallipoli for Russia's sake. We don't want the Allies to say they gave their sons and brothers at Gallipoli merely to satisfv a Russian whim."