EASTERN QUESTION. 



IM 



! i it lost tho control of tho months of tho 



I'aaulii-; tin- Black Sea was neutralized, and 



1 tn vessels-of-war ; Turkey and Russia 



pmliiliiteJ to construct or maintain ar- 



i on its coast ; tho protectorate over the 



!c -Catholic population of Turkey by Rus- 



:is abolished; while tho Sultan, on tho 



hand, conceded tho adjustment of tlio 



Mi.irious and political rights of the Rayahs. 



On the 15th of April, 1850, Franco, England, 



and Austria, mutually agreed to guarantee the 



Independence and integrity of tho Ottoman 



Kni;>iro, and to consider any infraction of tho 



tivaty of March 80th a casua belli. 



Tho Crimean War proved only an episode 

 in tho development of Eastern affairs. Soon 

 tho persecution of tho Christians was renevvod 

 at Damascus and on tho Lebanon ; how insur- 

 es broke out in Bosnia and the Herzego- 

 vina ; and, on March 31, 1861, tho two Danu 

 1 i.ui principalities, in spite of tho Treaty of 

 , constituted themselves one state. In 

 1806 this new state chose a prince of tho 

 house of Hohenzollern its hereditary ruler. 

 Tho Turkish Government seemed at first to be 

 disposed to refuse the recognition of an heredi; 

 t iry prince, but finally yielded. Tho signers 

 of the Treaty of Paris likewise gave their con- 

 sont to this change. 



Differences of a more recent date between 

 the Sultan and the Viceroy of Egypt were 

 amicably settled by mutual concessions. In 

 Bulgaria, which has a population of about 

 5,000,000, the Porte established colonies of 

 Tartars and Circassians after the close of the 

 Crimean "War, especially along the frontier of 

 Servia, with a view to strengthen the anti- 

 Christian element, by adding to tho limited 

 number of inhabitants of Mohammedan faith. 

 This step of tho Government has had grave 

 consequences, and an armed opposition was 

 organized in 1867 against the further introduc- 

 tion of colonists, which was only suppressed 

 after much bloodshed. The relations between 

 tho Porte and Servia wero likewise unsatis- 

 factory.. The Servians had formally demanded 

 tho withdrawal of the Turkish garrisons from 

 their fortresses ever since the bombardment 

 of Belgrade, in 1862, but the Porto steadily 

 objected to that demand, until m 1868, when 

 she yielded, at the joint instance of Austria, 

 France, and England, who thought that by this 

 concession a better understanding might be 

 brought about between the two governments. 

 The insurrection on the Island of Candin, in 

 1866, threatened most serious complications. 

 As far back as 1830 tho cession of this island 

 (which has a population of nearly 230,000 

 Christians and 70,000 Mussulmans) to Greece 

 had been seriously discussed, but tho question 

 was dismissed, in consequence of a declaration 

 by the Emperor Nicholas that he would nei- 

 ther permit the aggrandizement of Greece, 

 nor the establishment of a Byzantine empire. 

 The island was then given to Mehemet A15, 

 but, as the experiment proved a failure, and as 



the inhabitants revolted against the government 

 of tho Pacha, it came again under Turkish 

 administration in 1841. In 1866 the inhabit- 

 ants complained to tho Sultan about the op- 

 pressive measures of the government, excessive 

 taxation, tho want of streets and bridges, tho 

 ent ire disregard of rights and privileges granted 

 them in 1858, tho suppression of personal lib- 

 erty, tho bad administration of justice, and tho 

 want of schools, and of freedom of conscience. 

 Their remonstrances remaining unheeded, they 

 rose in arras and declared the abolition of the 

 Turkish Government, and the reunion of tho 

 island with Greece. The war which now fol- 

 lowed was conducted by tho Turks with the 

 utmost crnelty, while the revolutionists fought 

 with the courage of despair, and were secret Iy 

 supported by Greece. Toward the month of 

 December the great powers, fearing for the 

 peace of Greece, and apprehending a general 

 rising of the Christian inhabitants of the Otto- 

 man empire, interfered. Russia recommended 

 the annexation of the island to Greece, or tho 

 creation of an autonomy like that of the Da- 

 nubian principalities. Franco recommended 

 a plebiscite, to which proposition the other 

 powers gave their assent, except England. In 

 a note of May 17, 1867, Austria, France, Italy, 

 Prussia, and Russia, demanded tho appoint- 

 ment of a commission, which was to inquire 

 into the wishes of the population, but the 

 Sultan refused any interference of the kind, 

 being encouraged by England in his oppositioa 

 to the demands of the Continental Powers. 

 The Porte, while promising reforms to the 

 Cretans, assumed energetic measures against 

 Greece, which, by supporting the Cretans, had 

 prolonged the war. In December, 1868, she 

 decreed the expulsion of all the Greek subjects 

 from the empire, and on the llth of December 

 she sent an ultimatum to the Greek Govern- 

 ment, demanding the disbanding of the free 

 corps, and due regard for existing treaties. A 

 conference of the European powers induced 

 the Government of Greece to comply with the 

 demands of Turkey. 



The Osmanic Empire, in spite of numerous 

 losses of territory, still occupies the eastern 

 coast of the Mediterranean. Independent of its 

 Asiatic and African possessions, with an area 

 of nearly 1,700,000 square miles and 25,000,- 

 000 inhabitants, it has in Europe an extent 

 of 200,920 square miles, with from 15,000,000 

 to 16,000,000 inhabitants. The population 

 comprises a great variety of nationalities. 

 The Slavic nationalities are represented by 

 4,000,000 Bulgarians; 1,000,000 Servians; 

 800,000 Bosnians; 400,000 Croats; 860,000 

 Dalmatians; 200,000 Montenegrins. There 

 are, besides, 1,500,000 Albanians; 4,000,000 

 Wallachians ; 200,000 Zingaris or Bohemians ; 

 1,000,000 Greeks; and 400,000 Armenians. In 

 the commercial cities there are 60,000 French 

 and Italians, and 70,000 Jews. Turkey in 

 Europe has about 2,100,000 Turkish inhab- 

 itants, who form the dominant class. The 



