JO 



district of the vilayet of Adrianople; but the patience of the Allies was now nearly ex- 

 hausted. They gave the Turkish delegates till Monday, January 6th, to decide whether 

 Turkey would (i) relinquish her sovereignty over Crete, (2) cede the Aegean Islands, 

 and (3) agree to a frontier leaving the town of Adrianople to the Allies; otherwise, they 

 declared, the negotiations would be broken off. Reshid Pasha's reply was at first prom- 

 ised for the following day, and was then postponed till the 6th, but it was believed that 

 he had received instructions from Constantinople to refuse to give way on the question 

 of Adrianople. This proved to be the case. On the 6th Reshid Pasha read out a state- 

 ment, which, though conciliatory in tone, insisted that Turkey could not add Adrianople 

 to her other concessions. The Balkan delegates then declared the negotiations " sus- 

 pended." 



Consultations followed between the Great Powers, and on Jan. 1 7 a collective note 

 was presented to Turkey advising the Porte to give way as regards Adrianople and to 

 leave the Powers to arrange as to the Aegean Islands. The Turkish Cabinet on Jar. 

 22 obtained the approval of the National Council for this course, but next day the 

 Young Turks again asserted themselves in Constantinople and upset the government . 

 A crowd collected in the streets, and Enver Bey at their head demanded the resigna- 

 tion of the Grand Vizier, which immediately took place. Kiamil Pasha was succeeded 

 by Mahmud Shevket Pasha, and once more the demands of the Balkan Allies were 

 refused. At the end of January the armistice was formally declared to be at an end. 



THE INDEPENDENCE OF MONGOLIA 



The setting up of a Republic in China introduces a new international problem in 

 that part of the world; and it remains to be seen how far the balance of power in Asia 

 may be affected by results under the new regime. The Chinese revolution provided 

 an opportunity for a formal assertion of independence on the part of the northern or 

 Outer section of Mongolia, inhabited by the Kalka tribes, whose capital is Urga, and 

 whose native ruler is the Hutukhta Lama, known as Bogdo Gegen (Living God). It 

 was to Urga that in 1904, when the British expedition went into Tibet, the Dalai Lama 

 went for refuge for about two years; one of the chief centres of Lamaistic Buddhism, 

 it is the object of yearly pilgrimages, especially by the Russian Burials; and Russian 

 commercial interests are also strongly represented, in view of its proximity to the 

 frontier town of Kiackta. Under Manchu rule, Outer Mongolia was subject to the 

 authority of a resident Chinese Amban, but the immediate result of the fall of Manchu 

 power in China and the setting up of a Chinese Republic was a revolution at Urga, 

 and the repudiation of Chinese suzerainty. The four Khans of Tushetu, Setzen, Sain- 

 noyan and Jassaktu (see E. B. xv, 642d) Mongol Princes reputed to be descendants 

 of Jenghiz Khan combined under the Hutukhta Lama to set up an independent gov- 

 ernment; and the safety of the Chinese officials in Urga, and the protection of the 

 Chinese bank, were only secured by the presence of the Russian Cossack troops who 

 formed a permanent garrison in connection with the Russian consulate. 



It is obvious that this breaking-away of Mongolia from China simply means an accre- 

 tion to the Asiatic territory subject to Russian influence. In effect it is a distinct step 

 in the partition of the Chinese Empire, and marks a natural development in the slow 

 opening of the unknown East to modern ways. It is worth noting that the Times 

 correspondent (Aug. 8, 1912), who gave some details of the state of affairs at Urga, says 

 that " while expressing the most friendly sentiments towards Russia, the Mongols ap- 

 pear to view with suspicion all advances from America. This suspicion is based on the 

 alleged preference shown in the past by Americans to Chinese and Manchus in the 

 matter of favours which were refused to Mongolian Princes, such as the facilitating of 

 the education of their children in America. The Americans are considered to be too 

 friendly with the Chinese to be real friends of the Mongols." In fact Russia, like Japan, 

 has a civilising mission in this part of Asia, in which, both for geographical and for racial 

 reasons, neither Britain nor America can play anything like so effective a part; and it is 

 important to recognise that the closer accord between Russia and Japan, who in 1912 



