GREECE. 



409 



first class, 8 other gunboats, 4 steam-corvettes, 

 4 cruisers, several torpedo-boats, and about 20 

 other vessels of various kinds, the personnel 

 comprised 2,135 men. 



Mobilization. After the Eastern Roumelian 

 revolution of September, 1885, the Greek and 

 Servian Governments both called out their 

 troops with the intention of securing a com- 

 pensating aggrandizement of territory, but both 

 refrained from action at the favorable moment, 

 when there were not 30,000 Turkish troops in 

 Europe, expecting to secure their demands by 

 the interposition of the great powers. Turkey 

 moved troops from Asia and mobilized her re- 

 difs, and soon had 200,000 troops to guard both 

 frontiers. The Servian invasion of Bulgaria, 

 and its repulse, left only the Greek frontier to be 

 defended. From October, 1885, the Greek Gov- 

 ernment kept in Thessaly an army nominally 

 70,000 strong, but in actual numbers not above 

 40,000 or 45,000. The effort involved the Gov- 

 ernment in financial difficulties. The mortality 

 among the troops from the hardships of camp- 

 life and an unusually inclement season was. 

 fully 10 per cent, during the winter. Themobili- 

 zation was not effective, and was only intend- 

 ed to make the greatest possible military show, 

 in order to stimulate the action of the powers. 

 The Greeks demanded only the frontiers that 

 had been promised them at the Congress of 

 Berlin, and that were indicated in the treaty ; 

 yet they found none of the cabinets disposed 

 to give diplomatic support to their claims. 

 A war spirit was kindled in the nation, which 

 was inflamed by the politicians in control of 

 affairs for the sake of exciting the sympathies 

 of Europe. When the time for military action 

 had been allowed to pass, Delyannis did not 

 dare to order a disarmament for fear of sacri- 

 ficing his popularity. The Greeks themselves 

 were not aware of their military weakness, but 

 imagined that their courage and strength of 

 purpose would atone for disparity of numbers. 

 The Government had even sold transport- 

 mules in order to procure means to make a 

 more imposing military demonstration, which 

 deceived no one in Europe but the Greeks 

 themselves. The territory claimed by Greece 

 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin consists of the 

 province of Epirus, including Janina and Met- 

 zovo. Epirus contains about 370,000 Greek 

 Christians and a small minority of Mussulmans 

 who are also Greeks in race and language. Ja- 

 nina has a population of 105,000 Greeks. 



Interference of the Powers. In the beginning 

 of January the Greek Government addressed 

 a circular note to the powers, saying that, in 

 deference to the exhortations of the powers, 

 Greece had remained quiet for three months, 

 but that the loss of thousands of Greek nation- 

 ality in Eastern Ronmelia was keenly felt in 

 Greece, and praying that the powers, if they 

 concluded to confirm a change in the arrange- 

 ments decreed by the Congress of Vienna, 

 would secure to Greece the boundaries prom- 

 ised in the Berlin Treaty. 



On January 11 the six great powers pre- 

 sented an identical Dote at Athens, Belgrade, 

 and Sofia, proposing a simultaneous disarma- 

 ment. The Greek reply was a refusal to dis- 

 arm. The show of warlike preparations was 

 renewed, although a loan of 100,000,000 francs 

 that the Government sought to raise in Europe 

 found no takers, and others of 35,000,000 and 

 30,000,000 francs, for which it appealed to 

 patriotic Greeks and to the bankers of the 

 country, were but charily subscribed to. In 

 addition to the 70,000 effectives that had been 

 mobilized, new classes were called out, con- 

 sisting of youths eighteen and nineteen years 

 old, numbering 13,000. The Greek fleet was 

 made ready for service, and an intention was 

 expressed of issuing letters of marque to priva- 

 teers. These naval preparations excited the 

 apprehensions of Lord Salisbury, who proposed 

 to the powers to prevent any naval action of 

 Greece against Turkey. He determined not 

 to wait for concerted action, and, having con- 

 sulted the German Government and obtained 

 the assurance of its approval and co-operation, 

 telegraphed to Sir Horace Rumbold, British 

 minister at Athens, to inform Delyannis of the 

 diplomatic steps he had taken, and of the de- 

 termination of Great Britain to prevent by 

 force a naval conflict. Apart from considera- 

 tions of the general peace of Europe, the Eng- 

 lish were commercially interested in prevent- 

 ing privateering and naval warfare in the east- 

 ern Mediterranean. Sir Horace Rumbold had 

 an interview with Delyannis on January 23. 

 After communicating the dispatch, he warned 

 the Greek minister of the danger of his course, 

 and urged him to resign rather than run the 

 risk of bringing upon his country suoh a disas- 

 ter as war, which would result in defeat and 

 national ruin, and probably be followed by 

 revolution and the overthrow of the dynasty. 

 M. Delyannis spoke of his duties to Hellenism, 

 and said that his policy was that of the entire 

 nation. He said that as a constitutional min- 

 .ister he was unable to make any promises on 

 his own responsibility that would stop the 

 presentation of the threatened collective note. 

 The next day the fleet, consisting of 2 iron- 

 clad and 2 other corvettes, 9 gunboats, and 19 

 torpedo-boats, sailed out of the harbor of Sala- 

 mis with sealed orders, under the command of 

 Admiral Canaris. 



On January 25 the Porte sent a circular tele- 

 gram to the powers, calling attention to the 

 sacrifice of territory Turkey had made on the 

 advice of the powers, to secure good relations 

 with Greece, and saying that the undeserved 

 provocation of Greece had necessitated burden- 

 some military preparations that required com- 

 pensation. The powers were requested to in- 

 duce Greece to disarm, otherwise Turkey would 

 be compelled to take active measures. 



On January 26 the collective note of the 

 powers was presented at Athens. It said that, 

 in view of thebsence of any legitimate motive 

 for war against Turkey on the part of Greece, 



