GREECE AND THE BALKAN STATES 



year, was now enforced with extreme rigour. All dealing with Greeks was prohibited, 

 Greek steamers were prevented from taking up or landing passengers or goods, Greek 

 shops were in many places forcibly closed and Greek workmen were forbidden to pursue 

 their avocations. The movement was ostensibly under the direction of Kerim Aga, 

 a quay-porter at Salonika. The embassies at Constantinople protested, but were 

 informed that the Government was powerless. The rejection by the Porte of a demand 

 for compensation to Greek subjects in Turkey led to withdrawal of the Greek minister 

 from Constantinople, but diplomatic relations were not suspended. 



At the end of August 1910 the fiftieth anniversary of the accession of Prince Nicholas 



of Montenegro was celebrated at Cettigne with great rejoicings in presence of the King 



and Queen of Italy, King Ferdinand and Prince Boris of Bulgaria, the 



Montenegro c rown Princess of Greece and Servia, and other distinguished personages. 



a kingdom. On the morning of the 28th, in response to an address from the Sukpshtina, 



Prince Nicholas assumed the royal dignity, and accompanied by his 



illustrious guests attended a Te Deum in the historic monastery of Cettigne. The golden 



wedding of the King and Queen was celebrated next day in the little Vlaska church in which 



their marriage took place. The festivities continued for three days amid great enthusiasm. 



The new kingdom was immediately recognized by the Powers. 



Elections were held in Greece in August 1910 for the Revisionary Assembly, at which 

 M. Venizelos and other Cretan candidates were returned; the latter resigned their man- 

 dates at the instance of the Powers, to which Turkey had addressed a pro- 

 test > ^ ut tne election of M. Venizelos, who was technically a Greek subject, 

 Assembly. having received the freedom of Athens, was allowed to stand. The Assem- 

 bly was opened by King George on September i4th, and four days later 

 M. Venizelos arrived from Crete. He firmly resisted a proposal that the As- 

 sembly should assume constituent powers, and that body at his suggestion formally 

 invalidated the election of the Cretan deputies. On October i3th M. Dragoumis 

 resigned, and M. Venizelos became Prime Minister. 1 The leaders of the old political 

 parties at once combined against him, with the result that King George 

 Premier. dissolved the Assembly (Oct. 25th). The political leaders responded by pro- 

 claiming the abstention of their followers from the ensuing elections, which 

 took place in December and resulted in an overwhelming majority for M. Venizelos, 

 who was now in a position to carry out his programme of reform. 



During the summer and autumn of 1910 the Young Turk Government proceeded to 

 carry out its programme of disarmament in Macedonia. The measure was practically 

 enforced against the Christian population only, the Moslems, with the 

 severities exception of the Albanians, being allowed to retain their arms. The dis- 

 io Macedonia: armament was carried out manu militari by Shefket Torgut Pasha and 

 fl'a/Aafl 11 the ^ s troops after the suppression of an Albanian insurrection in the spring. 

 states. The villages were blockaded by the troops during the search for arms, and 



some 10,000 peasants were beaten or otherwise maltreated. At the same 

 time armed Bosnian colonists were settled in many districts hitherto inhabited by 

 Christians. These proceedings, with regard to which complete reticence was maintained 

 by foreign governments and the greater part of the European press, produced great 

 indignation in Bulgaria, where large numbers of refugees congregated, as well as in 

 Servia and Greece, and gave an impulse to the movement for joint action on the part 

 of those states against Turkey. In the autumn Rumania, apparently prompted by 

 Germany, declared to Turkey that in the event of hostilities between Turkey and Bul- 

 garia Rumania would mobilize all her forces on her Bulgarian frontier. 



1 Eleutherios Venizelos was born at Cerigo in 1864, his family tracing their origin to 

 the Florentine dukes of Athens in the middle ages and claiming a patron saint in St. Philo- 

 thea Venezcla, who was beaten to death by the Turks in 1589 and buried in the Cathedral 

 at Athens. His father having been expelled from Crete by the Turks, Eleutherios studied law 

 at Athensand inGermany. Although an Hellenic subject, in May 1899 he became Minister for 

 foreign affairs in Crete after the island obtained autonomy, but resigned in September 1901 

 owing to differences with Prince George. In opposition however he played a strong part, 

 and from 1906 onward he was the most powerful man in the island. 



