498 The Review of Reviews. 



this ideal seemed on the point of being he was able to convince the Southern 



achieved, but always at the eleventh Slav statesmen that his country was 



hour the influence of Russia or Austria both ready and able to take part in the 



prevented its consummation. The con- liberation of the Christian provinces of 



stant difficulty which divided two Turkey. February, 1912, saw the 



nations, so closely bound in every other Balkan League united, and able to 



way as Servia and Bulgaria, was the place some three-fourths of a million 



impossibility of delimitating the spheres men fully equipped into the field, 



of interest in the Balkan Peninsula Servia alone was able to mobilise with- 



outside of the frontiers of the States, out any serious difficulty 340,000 men. 



The work of the devoted few who, by and with not only a definite programme, 



scientific research and by political but with every point of possible friction 



effort, gradually eliminated one after dealt with in advance. It is no exag- 



the other of possible points of difference geration to say that by this time there 



was finally crowned with success in was born in Europe a new Power, 



February of this year. By this time all greater in positive possibility than any 



questions, even those of detail, had of the existing Great Powers, which 



been settled definitely between Bulgaria, has shown conclusively that although 



Servia, and Montenegro. The principal six Great Powers may declare for the 



worker in this welding together of the status quo, four smaller States united 



Southern Slav States was King Ferdi- may destroy it utterly. A very signi- 



nand of Bulgaria, who brought to the ficant point in connection with the 



task the inherited ability in state- Balkan League is that it has not been 



craft drawn from his long line of made simply for the purpose of wresting 



Bourbon ancestors. The Balkan League her European provinces from Turkey, 



was formed with no definite idea of war but for a fixed period, as much as was 



at any fixed date; it was rather a the Triple or Dual Alliance. During 



definite and co-operative insurance this difficult time the League acts as 



against the ever-increasing arrogance of one Power in the common interests, and 



Austria and Russia ; but before the before the period for which it was 



signature of the Treaty of the League, made shall have elapsed, the actual 



each of the nations severally had been power of the Balkans will have 



preparing steadily in armaments and doubled or trebled from a military 



financially, with the result which has as well as from an economic point of 



been seen. Until the advent of M. view. 



Venezelos in Greece there had been Ideals and an adequate 



no real effort to include Greece in the ideais versus Riches realisation of them are 



Balkan League save as a sleeping DTveiopmTnt. an essential part of the 



partner. But this able Cretan, who equipment of every 



became the greatest of modern Greek " nation. Success is to the race or nation 



statesmen, so transformed his country — which has clearly before it some goal 



which had sunk into a state of semi- towards which to strive, some ideal 



atrophy, thanks to the attitude of those which must be reahsed. The success of 



responsible for her government — that the allied armies in the Balkan War has 



