Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



THE FUTURE OF TURKEY. 



I.— BY THE MAX WHO TRAINED 

 HER AR-MV. 



General Field-Marshal von der Goltz 

 contributes a long article on the present 

 position and the possibility of regenera- 

 tion of Turkey to the Deutsche 

 Rundschau. 



NO TIME TO TRAIN THE ARMY. 

 The suddenness and unexpectedness 

 of events in the East, he says, have 

 brought about a complete transforma- 

 tion m the development of South-Eas- 

 tern Europe, not a formal close of the 

 great Eastern Question, but something 

 approaching it. Only last summer tra- 

 vellers from Turkey reported how zea- 

 loush' the ami)- was working ; such zeal 

 had not been known for thirteen vears. 

 With the introduction of the Constitu- 

 tion the army was to be reconstituted. 

 It was a herculean task, but it was taken 

 up enthusiastically and it would have 

 achieved its object had Turkey been 

 permitted ten years of peace. But there 

 was no oreparation for war in the 

 modern sense. It is seventeen \ears 

 since Field-Marshal von der Goltz left 

 Turkey, and in iSgs the army was very 

 different from that of to-day. 



THE EMPIRE IX ASIA. 

 As to the possibilit)- of regeneration, 

 F]eld-]\larshal von der Goltz says the 

 position of Turke\' will henceforth be 

 greatly simplified. Relieved of Albania, 

 Alacedonia, etc., but retaining Constan- 

 tinople and a small portion of Euro- 

 pean territor\-, Turke}' can remain united 

 to European civilisation. In .Anatolia, 

 where risings are less to be feared and 

 where European policy will be less irk- 

 some, the needed quiet for regeneration 

 may be found. If Turke}- succeeds in 

 developing Anatolia, she can become 

 stronger than before. A well-thought- 

 out and careful l\--prepared home colo- 

 nisation would render immense service. 

 It is of the greatest importance to in- 



crease the ]\Iahommedan population of 

 Asia Minor by fugitives from the Euro- 

 pean provinces. An increase of ioo,000 

 should not be impossible. There is 

 plent)' of unoccupied land m Anatolia 

 In Kurdistan, ancient ^lesopotamia and 

 Babylonia, and even in Syria, there are 

 whole districts inhabited by an inde- 

 pendent population who bear none of 

 the burdens of the State. Towards the 

 south a vast territory awaits further ex- 

 pansion. One thing is necessary — the 

 permanent reconciliation of the Arabian 

 half of the Empire with the Caliphate 

 of the Ottoman Sultan. Latterl}- the 

 Arabs have regarded the Caliph as a 

 usurper, and only in the recent war in 

 Tripoli, in which Turks and Arabs 

 fought unitedly, did the old enmity dis- 

 appear, at least external 1\-. Peace has 

 long reigned in Arabia ; a wise domes- 

 tic- policy could build upon that. The 

 common bond of Islam, which has been 

 gro\\'ing stronger and stronger, can be 

 adapted to the furthering of reconcilia- 

 tion and the fusion of the half-Euro- 

 pean and the half -Asiatic Empire into 

 one Islamic State This would necessi- 

 tate the removal of the capital. Con- 

 stantinople is the strongest position 

 for the army and the nav)-, and ma\- 

 remain the residence of the aristocracy. 

 But the seat of government must be else- 

 where, for Constantinople is no place 

 for work. Alep])o or Damascus is sug- 

 gested. 



IS MIGHT RIGHT]' 



Ihe most, dangerous eneiu)- which 

 Young Turke\- has had u]) to the pre- 

 sent is herself. The conception and the 

 judgment of State affairs from a purely 

 personal standpoint must disappear and 

 give ]ilace to an objective one. The 

 State is might, and not an academy for 

 the development of human virtue. Slates 

 do not act from goodwill, but according 

 to interests. Consideration for the 

 weakness of neighbours can only be de- 



