Ceredo advance. [volume], December 16, 1908, Image 3

About Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
TURKEY’S LAST CENTURY OF TROUBLE.
18C8 to 1812—Wars with France, Russia and the Christians.
1812—Peace of Bucharest; less of part of Moldavia and Bessar
abia.
1817—Loss of principal mouth of Danube to Russia.
1821—War of Greek independence.
1826— Massacre of Janizaries at Constantinople after a revolt.
1827— Destruction of Turkish fleet at Navarino by powers.
1828— Capture of Adrianople by Russians.
1829— Peace of Adrianople; recognition of* Greece’s freedom.
1831 to 1833—War against Sultan by Pasha of Egypt.
1840—Revolt headed by Mehemet All, who was forced to desist.
1853—Start of new war with Russia.
1856—Defeat of Russia; treaty of Paris.
1875—Revolution by Herzegovina, Montenegrin and Servian prov
inces.
1376—Granting of constitution; fruitless conference at The Porte.
1877— Declaration of independence by Roumania; war with Rus
sia.
1878— Peace treaty of San Stephano, Turkey getting small end.
1881— French invasion of Tunis; treaty with Greece.
1882— Loss of Thessaly and part of Epirus.
1885— Revolution at Philippopolis; loss of Roumania.
1886— Recognition of loss of Roumania.
1891—Annuling of constitution of 1876.
1908—Regranting of constitution of 1876; political amnesty; other
reforms.
1908—Loss of Bulgaria, because of declaration of independence;
loss of Crete because of union with Greece and loss of Al
bania, on account of declaration of independence. Prospec
- tive war.
ULTAN ABDUL HAMID
II. of Turkey, the people’s
choice, popular hero and
the inan whose name is a
household word through
out the Ottoman empire.
Never before in history
were such nice things
said about the • sick nan
of Europe.”
The reasons thcrefo.
are simply the revival of
the constitution of 1S76.
which bestows upon Turkish subjects
many rights' which were taken away
years ago. With the revival of the
constitution came a general amnesty
to all political prisoners and many
other details, which were outgrowths
of the new order of things.
Two years ago if you h»d told an
Americanized Turk that you had wit
nessed a 47-minute demonstration for
the sultan in Constantinople, Jig would
have retired behind the coiner lamp
post and laughed himself to death. To
day he will smile with pleasure, for
demonstrations for the former tyrant
of the Yildlz are of weekly occurrence.
The sultan seldom leaves his palace
without his people giving him an ova
tion.
sM/r/teM.
N\AW/<Sf>?
/ySot-te
y Of roe
16 NITONS
Sons
t.very rormer subject of Turkev
well remembers the Yildlz Kiosk
which was declared to be a synonym
for Turkish tyranny. The kiosk Is slluatod up
•on Ihe Golden Horn and on Ihe croun.ls are
®Gor<>s of pavilions and each evening the stil
T?St-W°nt t0 choose one °f the dormitories
Jn which to pass the night.
Travelers in Turkey declared It was his
manner of escaping assassins, for it was never
known to outsiders just whore the monarch
chose to sleep. “Uneasy rests the head that
wears a crown.” said some wise patriarch long
ago. The sultan’s rest was probably the un
easiest of any in the world during the years
♦hat there was no constitution. He was always surround
ed by his own bodyguard; then there was an outer guard
and a battalion of soldiers, besides innumerable secret
service men. whose business consisted of spying upon the
personal bodyguard.
Turkey was so full of spies, a tourist declares, that
men could not talk freely within the sacred confines of
the family home for fear that a kinsman might he in
the government s employ as a spy. It is declared that
25 per cent, of the Turkish subjects were spies, em
ployed to tell tales about the other 75 per cent. Naturally
it was uncomfortable to even think harsh thoughts about
his highness.
The first demonstration which created a Turkish fad
was the ovation given Abdul when ho went to Selamlik •
for the customary prayers in the Hnmldie Mosque. He
was received with the wildest fervor by his people and
lie did an unprecedented thing when he stood up in his
carriage to acknowledge his subjects' greetings. That
was soon after he proclaimed the constitution of 1876
to be In force.
Since that Friday there have been numerous wild
cheers for his highness and no longer does he find It
necessary to employ substitutes as targets for plans of
assassins. The photograph of the sultan accompanying
this article Is made from a crayon drawing'for which the
ruler posed. It Is probably the only likeness of the mon
arch which was ever produced with his consent. It took
weeks after the granting of the constitution to recuro
his permission to sit for the sketch. He was even then
a trifle peevish and the sketch had to be finished in one
sitfing of a half hour.
The picture is declared to he the hcs» likeness of his
majesty which was ever produced. The sultan has never
of his own will been photographed since he came to
the throne of Turkey. He has shunned camera fiends
as he would shun a bomb-throwing enthusiast, but never
theless there have been thousands of photos distributed
throughout the world. Consequently the reproduction
shown in this issue Is the first authPiiUo and official like
ness of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. It was made by a noted
Turkish artist high In favor In court, circles.
The story of the tyranny of Turkish monarchy is a long
one and now is said to be ended in the restoration of
the constitution. The tale begins with the founding of
the empire back In the thirteenth century.
The Ottoman Turks came originally f:om Central Asia
and In tba sixth century they, in connection with other
Turkish tribes, pushed west. From the Saracens they
l took their first religion. First the Turks were slaves,
* than mercenaries and eventually they succeeded their
masters In the caliphate. They next, appeared In the
world's history as allies of the Seljuklan Turks early In
the thirteenth century. They fought and defeated the
Mongols nnd for their efforts received a grant of lands
In Asia Minor. Their leader, Osman, became a powerful
ruler and immediately after the death of the Sdjuk sul
tan he proclaimed himself sultan In his own right. That
was late In the thirteenth century. He died a natural
death in 1326.
Thus we see the Turkish empire founded upon the
ruins of the Seljuks, Mongols and Saracens. Passion
for military honors and religious fanaticism flowed
through the reign of eight princes who followed Osman In
the possession of power and as a result the period be
tween 1300 and 1566 saw the Turkish empire rals< ^ to
the position of one of the first military powers of Eu
rope. That was probably the reason that the world to
day called the rule of the sultan tyrannical, for he ruled
with military discipline to which the remainder of the
Inhabitants of the earth ha\y> grown unused.
The constitution of 1876 was brought, about through
rebellion In various parts of the empire, which started
In much the same manner that the revolt of the Young
Turks party of today did. It was the stand taken by
the latter only a few months ago which caused the
sultan to restore the constitution and hand to historians
a bit of history to add to the checkered career of the
country.
It was In 1875. the year before the granting of the
original constitution, that the people of Herzegovina de
clared they were no longer able to bear the oppression
to which they had been subjected. They rebelled and a
year later were followed by the Servians and Monte
negrins. The Servians a few months later abandoned the
war. but the Montenegrins fought on.
The powers of Europe, tired of the tnctlcs taken by
rulers of Turkey, kept pressing the Ottoman sultan strong
er and stronger in the direction of reform. Toward the
latter part of the year 1876 a big conference convened
at Constantinople with a view towards making some sort
of a settlement. The recommendations of the confab
wore unceremoniously rejected by the Turkish govern
ment. Then Russia became wrathy and Issued a sensa
tional manifesto, telling the Turk that the Slav bear wai
about to consume him. A great war followed and the
Turk was beaten. In order to hold what few subjects
he had left to his cause, the constitution was granted by
the sultan.
A few years ago It was said that tho great power*
of the world were arming to lay hands upon certain parts
of the Ottoman empire which were most suited to their
immediate purposes. The
“sick man of Europe"
didn’t pay his debts as
quickly as the powers
thought he ought to and
the frequent, demonstra
(Ions which occurred in the vicinity of The I’orte grew
to be of a menacing character, It being the belief of
many experts on International affairs that sooner or
later some of the demonstrators would shell the sacred
city and take therefrom their dues.
Latest developments In tin* Turkish situation pointed to
war. For a while It looked like a war In which all F.u
rope would take part. In the ante-bellum talk Servla.
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and a few of the
others were apparently prominent movers. The trouble
of the present year started with Bulgaria announcing Its
Independence from Turkey.
Of course that made the sultan awfully mad and his
people having recently become his friends, became equal
ly sore on the proposition. The Turkish ministers then
held a cabinet session at the monarch's settee and de
clared that Bulgaria should not become Independent.
So forthwith the dally papers summed up the fighting
strength of the two nations In time <*f war and In time
of peace and found that Turkey had about !,000,000
men ready to go Into the field. Bulgaria had far less at
that time.
When that had been decided Crete announced Its In
dependence also and as a protective measure united
with Greece, which declared It would protect Crote to the
best of Its ability. Then the Aunauts of A1ba.iia pro
claimed that they were no longer servants of the Turkish
government. With everybody proclaiming Independence
it began to look as If there would remain llttlo of Turkey
with the exception of Constantinople, aud the danger
existed that some of the ever-ready powers would per
haps devour The Porte Itself.
The Berlin treaty, a sort of protective measure which
experts took as n plan of Turkey’s to keep It from losing
lots of Its small territories, bothered Kussla, France,
Germany, England and several other signers. Now
that there was likely to be war nol>ndy wanted to be the
’’fall guy,” so the revision of the articles of the document
was strongly suggested by St. Petersburg.
America was only a looker-on In this trouble and was
not likely to get mixed up In It at any time. But the
other powers who have always had an Itching of the
palm whon Turkey was mentioned were said to crave a
chance to tear off a yard or two of the Ottoman map for
themselves.
Austria Hungary was the first to make a move In that
direction. The people of Servla simply ached for war.
The farmers, merchants and every citizen promised to
contribute to the expenses of war and those who had
no cash to contribute went out on the streets late at
night and rioted fo* (he purpose of calling attention to
the fact that the/ demanded war and the stlffeat kind of
ZlBDi/l /YBBf/BB C/ffi/PMGF
a fight to settle Europe’s little argument of “who’s to
get the Turk?”
However, to date these conditions had become of
serious character, but the longing to possess Turk
ish lands still lingered In the breasts of the war dogs of
the old hemisphere. So It was natural that with the
revolt of the Young Turks gaining sway throughout th*
Interior the sultan should scent dnnger from afar. Had
the Young Turks overcome the empire It would have
been but. the work of a few weeks before the collections
of the great powers would have been made by taking
binds most suitable to their purposes, war authorities
declare. So his royal highness capitulated. Ho granted
the same constitution which had appeased the peopls
during the struggle of 1876, but which he later took
away.
Abdul Hamid felt that he could ward off danger from
without or within, hut he could not hold his own with
the struggle going on both without and within, so he ap
plied the easing process where he had power to do so.
Since the conclusion of the treaty of Merlin, which ter
minated the wars of 1876-77, were the French Invasion
of Tunis In 1881, the treaty with Oreece, the same year
by which Turkey ceded to the former country the whole
of Thessaly and a strip of Epirus; the occupation of
Egypt by Oreat Britain In 1882; and the revolution at
Phlllppopolls In 1886, when the government of Eastern
Itouiiiolia was overthrown and the union of that country
with Bulgaria was effected. The results of that revolu
tion were in 1886 recognized by imperial flrmln. The
last event which attracted world wide notice was the
granting of the constitution this year.
WA LKERS OF THE PAS 7
The recent walking matches at. the stadium take the
memory back to the late ’70s, when similar long distance
competitions flourished amazingly under the aegis of
Sir John Astley and when E. P. Weston, Howes, Vaughan
and Hlbberd were the heroes of the hour.
Though Weston, the pioneer, accomplished some fine
performances, they were soon eclipsed by our own walk
ers, whose feats created a great sensation at the time.
One of the best of them ail was Hilly Howes, a little one
eyed athlete, who walked 100 miles In the truly marvelous
time of 18 hours, 8 minutes, 15 seconds, a record which
still remains unapproached. Hlbberd covered 50 miles
in 7 hours 54 mirnites 16 seconds, nnd without stopping
lowered all existing records up to 70 mil**, for which
distance his time was 11 hours 38 minute* 35 seconds.
Even more wonderful was the performance of George
Littlewood, who at Sheffield tramped b3l miles in IS j>
hours 48 minutes 30 seconds, an average of not muc •
less than four miles an hbur, night and day, betwee
Sunday and Sunday.—WcAir'nster Gazette.