Chapter XCVI: Section 29 (16)

"Outside of the capital and a few commercial seaport towns,
the bulk of this large American element is found in the
interior of Asia Minor and Syria, remote from the few consular
establishments maintained by this Government in that quarter,
inaccessible except by difficult journeys, and isolated from
each other by the broken character of the mountain country and
the absence of roads. Under these circumstances and in the
midst of the alarming agitation which for more than a year
past has existed in Asia Minor, it has been no slight task for
the representative of the United States to follow the
interests of those whose defense necessarily falls to his
care, to demand and obtain the measures indispensable to their
safety, and to act instantly upon every appeal for help in
view of real or apprehended peril. It is, however, gratifying
to bear testimony to the energy and promptness of the minister
in dealing with every grievance brought to his notice, and his
foresight in anticipating complaints and securing timely
protection in advance of actual need. The efforts of the
minister have had the moral support of the presence of naval
vessels of the United States on the Syrian and Adanan coasts
from time to time as occasion required. …

"While the physical safety of all citizens of the United
States appears up to the present date to have been secured,
their property has, on at least two recent occasions, been
destroyed in the course of local outbursts at Harpoot and
Marash. The details of the Harpoot destruction have so far
been only meagerly reported, although it took place about the
middle of November. It is stated that the buildings at that
place were set on fire separately by Kurds and citizens, in
the presence of the Turkish soldiery, during an Armenian riot.
Besides the chapel, girls' theological school and seminary
building, the ladies' house, boarding house, and residences of
three American missionaries were burned, the aggregate loss on
the buildings, personal property, stock, fixtures, and
apparatus being estimated in the neighborhood of $100,000. The
United States minister has notified the Porte that the Turkish
Government will be held responsible for the immediate and full
satisfaction of all injuries on that score. The American
Missionary School of Science at Marash was burned during a
sanguinary outbreak on November 19. The value of the property
destroyed has not been ascertained, but after prompt
investigation the minister will make like demand for adequate
indemnity."

_United States, 54th Congress, 1st Session,
Senate Document, Number 33._

"On November 9 one of tho Foreign Consuls arrived at
Constantinople from Erzeroum on leave, and he reported the
scene on his journey as heartrending. 'The whole country
between Trebizond and Erzeroum was devastated. He counted 100
dead bodies lying by the road near one town. Nearly all the
villages were burnt, and in many cases the male population
entirely wiped out.' At last, on December 13, 1895, Lord
Salisbury received the following telegraphic despatch from Sir
Philip Currie: 'It may be roughly stated that the recent
disturbances have devastated, as far as the Armenians are
concerned, the whole of the provinces to which the scheme of
reforms was intended to apply; that over an extent of
territory considerably larger than Great Britain all the large
towns, with the exception of Van, Sassun, and Moush, have been
the scene of massacres of the Armenian population, while the
Armenian villages have been almost entirely destroyed. A
modest estimate puts the loss of life at 30,000. The survivors
are in a state of absolute destitution, and in many places
they are being forced to turn Mussulmans. The charge against
the Armenians of having been the first to offer provocation
cannot be sustained. Non-Armenian Christians were spared, and
the comparatively few Turks who fell were killed in
self-defence. The participation of the soldiers in the
massacres is in many places established beyond doubt.'

"Of the appalling horror of this account I wish it were
needless to speak. … [It] would be none the less horrible if
the whole of the people massacred and outraged, ruined, and
starved, and driven to the snowy mountains in the middle of
winter, had been all the rudest villagers of the most rustic
village communities. But when we know that many thousands of
the victims have been people educated at Christian schools and
colleges, and who had acquired there, in addition to the
ineradicable virtues of their native and ancient faith, much
also of the refinements and activities of civilised life, we
may reach some true conception of the agonies which have been
inflicted on such a people in the face of Europe and of the
world by the cruelty and brutality of the Turks.
{540}
It is, indeed, right that our first indignation should be
directed against the infamous Government of Turkey. … Let us
remember that this is not a Government with which we have had
nothing to do, or for which we have had no responsibility, but
a Government which the European Powers, and we especially,
have been protecting and nursing for half a century. … Then we
may indeed begin to think, with remorse and shame, of our
handiwork, and of its results. In this particular case,
indeed, the immediate blame lies almost alone with Russia. By
a complete departure from all her previous great traditions
she deliberately refused to join the other Powers of Europe
for the purpose of compelling the Sultan to act with decent
humanity to those of whom she had been the declared defender.
She had the physical power and the geographical opportunity
which others had not; and there can be no doubt whatever that
a joint occupation of the waters of Constantinople by the
fleets of the European Powers would have secured the very
moderate demands that Europe made upon the Porte."

_The Duke of Argyle,
Our Responsibilities for Turkey,
pages 116-122._

TURKEY: A. D. 1896.
Conflict in Crete between Christians and Mussulmans,
and its preceding causes.

In 1868, the Cretans, for the second time, were thrust under
the Turkish yoke. "By way of solace the Powers exerted
themselves feebly in inducing the Porte to concede the
so-called 'Organic Statute'

_See (in volume 3)
GREECE: A. D. 1862-1881.
Organic Regulation._

… As the Charter remained a dead letter, the Cretans seized
the next favourable opportunity to rise in 1877. Their case
was brought before the Congress of Berlin; but the only relief
the Powers could extend to them was a fresh promise on the
part of the Porte, recorded in the XXIII Article of the
Treaty, to observe scrupulously that Organic Statute, which
had been proved to be unworkable. Meanwhile, the Cretans had
remained under arms during the whole of 1878, the island being
again almost completely devastated by the half-naked and
famishing troops which had survived the Russo-Turkish War.
Ultimately, through the mediation of England, the Porte was
induced, in November of that year, to concede the Pact of
Halepa, so named after the village near Canea where it was
negotiated, and signed under the supervision of the British
Consul, Mr. T. B. Sandwith—this fact being expressly recorded
in the preamble of the document. The arrangement was accepted
by the Cretans as a compromise, in spite of its many and
manifest drawbacks. Nevertheless, it brought about, at the
outset, certain beneficial results. Political parties were
formed in which the Mohammedan Cretans blended, irrespective
of religious differences, with their Christian countrymen; and
the unprecedented phenomenon of a Christian Vali completing
his four years' tenure of governorship was witnessed in the
person of Photiades Pasha.

"But this tendency to conciliation of the conflicting elements
in the island was by no means to the liking of the Porte. The
presence of a Mussulman military governor was therefore
discovered to be necessary; and as his grade was usually
superior to that of the Vali, and the Mussulman sub-governor
was the official whose recommendations were of weight with the
Porte, nothing was easier than to create insuperable
difficulties for the Christian Vali. Thus successive Valis
were compelled—often by private wire from Constantinople—to
tender their resignation; while, at the same time, the Porte
took care not to fulfil the financial engagements prescribed
by the Pact. By these means an acute crisis was brought about
under the Governorship of Sartinski Pasha, a Pole, in 1889,
when a preconcerted plan of deception and treachery was
carried out by the Porte with consummate skill.

"The Cretans, as it is but natural, are guided in critical
contingencies by the advice they seek at Athens. The Porte
therefore promised to the Greek Government, as soon as things
began to assume a threatening aspect in Crete, to satisfy the
demands of the islanders, provided they were prevailed upon to
abstain from occupying certain important positions. In spite
of the transparent perfidy of the proposal, M. Tricoupis, the
then Greek Premier, fell into the snare. While the Cretans
were held back, troops were poured into the island, and the
strategical points having been seized, the Greek Government
and the Cretans were defied. An Imperial firman, issued in
November of that year, abrogated the Pact of Halepa and the
British Government, under whose auspices it was concluded, was
now powerless to exact respect for what was virtually an
international arrangement. There was no longer any question of
a Christian Vali with a fixed tenure of office, or of an
Assembly of Cretan representatives. Shakir Pasha, the
commander of the Turkish troops, was invested with absolute
civil and military authority; Mussulman Albanians occupied the
Christian villages as gendarmes, and Crete continued to submit
to this kind of martial law up to 1894. When, however, Mahmoud
Djelaleddin Pasha, the then Mussulman Vali, surpassed even his
predecessors in arbitrariness, and actually dictated to the
tribunals decisions in favour of Mohammedan litigants, the
Cretans began to lose patience and another outbreak appeared
imminent. It was only then that the Great Powers moved in the
matter and prevailed upon the Porte to revert partly to the
pre-existing order of things, by appointing Alexander
Karatheodory Pasha, a Christian and a Greek, as Governor.
Beyond this, however, the Pact of Halepa was not observed.
True to its traditional tactics, the Porte took with one hand
what it had given with the other. The Mussulman Deputy
Governor and the military commander frustrated every effort of
the Vali, the very funds necessary for the maintenance of the
gendarmerie being denied him. Karatheodory was consequently
forced to resign. Complete anarchy now reigned in the island."

_Ypsiloritis,
The Situation in Crete
(Contemporary Review, September, 1896)._

"Occasional skirmishes between the Christian inhabitants and
the soldiers kept the excitement simmering and ushered in the
sanguinary scenes that finally followed. Turkhan Pasha, taking
time by the forelock, armed the Cretan Moslems for the combat
with the approval of the commander of the troops, and the
city of Canea prepared for a blood bath. The Mohammedan Lent
(Ramazan) was drawing to a close, and the three days of
rejoicing which invariably follow (Bairam) were supposed to be
fixed for the attack on the Christians. These anticipations
were duly realised, and on the 24th May, 1896, at 1 o'clock P.
M., the Turks fired the first shots, blowing out the brains of
several Christians to make that Moslem holiday.
{541}
Forearmed, however, is forewarned, and the Christians defended
themselves to the best of their ability on that day and the
25th and 26th, during which every house in Canea was
barricaded, and neighbours living on opposite sides of the
absurdly narrow streets fired at each other from behind stone
heaps piled up in the windows of their bedrooms. The streets
were deserted, all traffic suspended, and it was not until the
27th that the thirty Christian corpses (including two women
and four children) and the twenty lifeless Turks were removed
for burial.

"These events provoked a new administrative change of scene:
Turkhan Pasha was recalled, and Abdullah Pasha, at the head of
four battalions from Salonica, came to take his place. These
troops laid waste the villages and fields of the provinces of
Apokorona, Cydonia, and Kissamo, burning houses, huts, and
churches on the way. The best soldiers in the world, however,
run terrible risks in the interior of Crete, and Abdullah was
repulsed with the loss of two hundred men at the town of
Vamos. The foreign consuls at Canea, having verified these
facts, strongly blamed his conduct in a joint verbal note, and
the Porte shortly afterwards recalled him, and appointed
Berovitch Pasha [Prince of Samos] in his place. This was the
beginning of the end. The Christians of the island meanwhile
met, and through their delegates formulated certain demands,
which the foreign consuls referred to their ambassadors at
Constantinople, and the famous 'Modifications of the
Convention of Halepa' were framed in consequence. The sultan,
too, yielding to tardy pressure, graciously conceded the
nomination of a Christian governor-general in the person of
Berovitch, the summoning of the National Assembly, and other
demands. … The questions of the tribunals and the gendarmerie
[for the enforcement of peace and order in the island] were to
be arranged by international commissions; but weeks and months
passed away before they were even appointed. … At last the
commissions arrived and began their work in December [1896]."

_E. J. Dillon,
Crete and the Cretans
(Fortnightly Review, May, 1897)._

TURKEY: A. D. 1896 (January-March
Turkish opposition to English and American measures
for relief to Armenian sufferers.
Work of Miss Clara Barton and the Red Cross Society.

For some time the distribution of supplies from England and
America to the sufferers in Armenia was forbidden by the
Turkish government, for reasons stated by the Turkish minister
at Washington as follows: "The collections are made on the
strength of speeches delivered in public meetings by
irreconcilable enemies of the Turkish race and religion, and
on the basis of false accusations that Turkey repudiates.
Besides, the Sublime Porte is mindful of the true interests of
its subjects, and, distinguishing between the real state of
things and the calumnies and wild exaggerations of interested
or fanatical parties, will under its own legitimate control
alleviate the wants of all Turkish subjects, irrespective of
creed or race." The Red Cross Society, of which the American
branch had prepared to send its President, Miss Clara Barton,
with a small corps of assistants, to the scene of the
suffering, was especially excluded, by the order of the Porte.
Miss Barton and her staff sailed, however, from New York, in
January, and Mr. Terrell, the American minister at
Constantinople, succeeded in obtaining permission for them to
do their humane work as private individuals, not in the name
of the obnoxious society, and without displaying its insignia:
The single-mindedness, the prudence, the patient energy with
which Miss Barton pursued the one object of giving relief to
the suffering, overcame all opposition and all obstructions,
so that, in April, she was able to report:

"The way is all made clear for sending supplies. The suitable
agents all along the route are now known, and have been
arranged with for service, so that heavy supplies can be sent
at any and all times as they are needed. I feel my breath come
lighter as I think of these poor scourged and fever-stricken
towns without even one doctor, when our sixteen strong,
skilled men, with twenty-five camels' burden of supplies,
shall carry some light of hope and help into their night of
hopeless woe. I am happy to be able to say for the comfort of
contributors, that I hold the written word of the Porte,
officially given through the minister of foreign affairs from
the grand vizier, that not the slightest interference with any
distribution within the province will be had. This official
document was addressed and delivered to Sir Philip Currie, the
British ambassador, and by him passed to me. The decision is
general and final, without question or reservation, and
settles all doubt."

In September Miss Barton returned home for rest, and to bear
her testimony to America of the immensity of the need still
existing in the Armenian provinces and calling for help. Her
departure from Constantinople was reported by the newspapers
to have been the occasion of a remarkable demonstration, by
cheers, flags and salutes, from ship and shore, of the
estimate put upon the work she had done.

TURKEY: A. D. 1896 (August).
Attack of Armenian revolutionists on the
Ottoman Bank at Constantinople.
Turkish massacre of Armenians in the city.

In the spring of 1896, the Armenian revolutionists, encouraged
by the outbreak in Crete, made fresh appeals for attention to
the sufferings of their country, with threats of some
desperate action if no heed was given. In August, the
desperate act was undertaken, at Constantinople, by 30 or 40
madly devoted men. This reckless little band of misguided
patriots made a sudden attack on the Ottoman Bank, a British
institution which controls finance in the Turkish empire,
gained possession of the building, made prisoners and hostages
of two of its directors and some 80 of its clerks, and were
fully prepared with dynamite to destroy everything within its
walls, including themselves, if certain reforms which they set
forth were not instantly decreed. Their theory was, that "the
Ambassadors would force the Sultan to grant the reasonable
reforms which they demanded for the Armenians, rather than
permit the destruction of the Bank and its staff. It was a
scheme borrowed from the theatre, absurd in itself, and made
ridiculous by the way in which they failed to carry it out.
They went in bravely, and nothing hindered their destroying
the Bank, but they allowed themselves to be talked out of it
by Mr. Maximoff, the Russian dragoman, and would have been the
laughing stock of the world if its attention had not been
absorbed by the massacre which followed.

{542}

"The real heroism of that day was displayed in another quarter
of the city, by another small party of Russian Armenians, men
and women, who took possession of two stone houses and fought
the Turkish troops to the death, the survivors killing
themselves when they could fight no longer. There was no
serious fighting anywhere else, although dynamite bombs were
thrown from the windows of houses and khans upon the troops in
a number of places, showing that some preparation had been
made for a more extended outbreak. There is nothing to be said
in justification of this attempt of the revolutionists. They had
provocation enough to justify anything in reason, but there
was nothing reasonable in this plan, nothing in it to attract
the sympathy of the Powers or to conciliate public opinion;
and if the statements are true which have been made by
Armenians as to certain unexecuted parts of the plan, it was
diabolical. This only can be said on behalf of these
revolutionary committees. They are the natural outcome of the
treatment of the Armenians by the Turkish Government during
the last twenty years. When oppression passes a certain limit
and men become desperate, such revolutionary organisation
always appears. They are the fruit and not the cause of the
existing state of things in Turkey, and if we can judge by the
experience of other countries, the worse things become here,
the more violent will be the action of these committees,
whether Europe enjoys it or not.

"Revolutionists are the same all the world over, but the
Turkish Government is unique, and it is not the attack on the
Bank which interests us but the action of the Government which
followed it. As we have said, the authorities had full
information of what was to be attempted and did nothing to
prevent it, but they made every preparation for carrying out
their own plan. Bands of ruffians were gathered in Stamboul,
Galata, and Pera, made up of Kurds, Lazes, and the lower class
of Turks, armed with clubs, knives or firearms; and care was
taken that no one should kill or plunder in the quarter to
which he belonged, lest he should be recognised and complaint
made afterwards by the Embassies, with a demand for
punishment. A large number of carts were in readiness to carry
off the dead. The troops and police were in great force to
prevent any resistance, and to assist the mob if necessary. It
was a beautiful day, the streets were crowded, and few had any
idea of what had happened at the Bank, when suddenly, without
any warning, the work of slaughter and plunder began,
everywhere at once. European ladies on the way to the
Bosphorus steamers suddenly found themselves surrounded by
assassins, and saw men beaten to death at their feet. Foreign
merchants saw their own employés cut to pieces at their doors.
The streets in some places literally ran with blood. Every man
who was recognised as an Armenian was killed without mercy. In
general, the soldiers took no part in the slaughter and
behaved well, and this somewhat reassured those in the streets
who were not Armenians; but in a few moments the shops were
closed and a wild panic spread through the city. The one idea
of everyone was to get home; and as the foreigners and better
classes live out of the city in summer they had to go to the
Galata bridge to take the steamers, which ran as usual all
through the three days of massacre. This took them through the
streets where the slaughter was going on, and consequently we
have the testimony of hundreds of eye-witnesses as to what
took place. The work of death and plunder continued unchecked
for two days. On Friday there were isolated outbreaks, and
occasional assassinations occurred up to Tuesday.

"The number killed will never be known. The Ambassadors put it
at 5,000 or 6,000; the official report to the palace at 8,750,
besides those thrown into the sea. Thousands of houses, shops
and offices were plundered, including a number belonging to
Greeks and foreigners. Everything was done in the most
systematic way, and there was not a moment of anarchy, not a
moment when the army and police had not perfect control of the
city during all these days. … The majority of those massacred
belonged to the working class—especially the hamals
(porters)—but a large number of gentlemen, merchants and other
wealthy men, were killed, together with about fifty women and
children. The savage brutality of the Moslem mob was something
beyond all imagination, and in many cases the police joined in
beating men to death and hacking others to death with knives,
in the very face of Europeans. … In may cases European
officials appealed to the officers in command of the troops,
who were looking on at the slaughter of helpless, unarmed men,
to interfere and put a stop to it. The reply was 'We have
orders.' It was an officer who killed the clerk of the British
Post-office on the steps. And some of the most cold-blooded
and horrible murders took place in front of the guard house,
at the Galata end of the bridge, in the presence of officers
of the Sultan's household of the highest rank. They also had
their orders.

"Happily for the honour of the Turkish people, there is
another side to the story. It was the Government and not the
people that conducted this massacre. And although the vile
instruments employed were told that they were acting in the
name of the Prophet, and freely used his name, and are
boasting to-day of what they did for Islam, the Sheik-ul-Islam
forbad the Softas taking any part in the slaughter, and many a
pious Turk did what he could to protect his neighbours. … It
is not the people, not even the mob, who are responsible for
this great crime. It was deliberately committed by the
Government. The Ambassadors of the six Powers have declared
this to be an unquestionable fact in the Joint Note addressed
to the Porte.

"Since the massacre this same Government has been carrying on
a warfare against the Armenians which is hardly less inhuman
than beating out their brains with clubs. There were from
150,000 to 200,000 Armenians in Constantinople. They were
merchants, shopkeepers, confidential clerks, employés in banks
and offices of every kind—the chief business men of the city.
They were the bakers of the city, they had charge of the khans
and bazaars and the wealth of the city; they were the porters,
house-servants, and navvies. … Now the Government has
undertaken to ruin this whole population. They are hunted
about the city and over the hills, like wild beasts. …
Thousands have been sent off at once to the Black Sea ports,
to find their way as best they can without money or food to
their desolated villages in the interior. … Thousands have
fled to foreign countries."

_The Constantinople Massacre
(Contemporary Review, October, 1896)._

{543}

TURKEY:A. D. 1897 (January-February).
Fresh conflicts in Crete.
Attitude of Christians and Mussulmans towards each other.
Reports of the British Consul-General and others.

Early in January, 1897, while proceedings for the organization
of the new gendarmerie were under way, and while the
discussion of candidates for the National Assembly, to be
elected in March, was rife, fresh hostilities between
Christians and Mussulmans broke out, and there seems to be
good evidence in the following report, by Sir Alfred Biliotti,
the British Consul-General at Canea, that responsibility for
the state of things in Crete should be charged upon one party
hardly more than upon the other. The despatch of the
Consul-General to Lord Salisbury, written January 9, 1897, is
partly as follows:

"In the afternoon of the 3rd instant a great panic occurred in
the town owing to a wounded Christian having been conveyed to
the hospital, where he died of his wounds in the night, and to
a rumour that two Mussulmans had been killed or wounded at the
same time on the road between Canea and Suda Bay. All the
shops were shut up as usual, but there was no general 'sauve
qui peut,' Christians especially having congregated in the
square near the hospital in the hope of finding out further
information. Happening to be in the town, I took a carriage
and drove towards Suda. When at about a mile distant from
Canea I came upon a number of Mussulmans, who told me that
four Christians going to Apokorona had, without any
provocation whatever, discharged their revolvers on three
Mussulmans, two of whom had been severely wounded. I saw one
of them in his cottage hard by the road with a bullet wound in
the abdomen; the other had been conveyed on horseback to the
village of Tsikalaria (southeast of Suda Bay), 2 miles from
where he had been wounded, of which he was a native. The four
Christians fled across the fields, leaving on the road a horse
and an overcoat, and took to the mountains.

"Between half and a quarter of an-hour after this incident
another Christian, a native, like the Turk, of Tsikalaria, was
passing on the road when he was fired upon by Mussulmans in
retaliation for the wounding of their two co-religionists. Not
having been hit, the Christian jumped from his mule and ran
for his life along the Suda road, being pursued by armed
Turks. He was overtaken by three of them about half-a-mile
farther down, and was shot at and mortally wounded at 20 paces
in front of Commander Shortland, of Her Majesty's ship 'Nile,'
who was coming on foot from Suda Bay to Canea. The wounded
Christian was taken charge of by the Albanian corporal
stationed in a Christian monastery close by, and was
subsequently put in a carriage by the Russian Consul, who was
returning from Suda Bay at that moment, and sent to the town
hospital, where he died. While I was making inquiries on the
road a brisk fusillade was heard towards Tsikalaria, and as I
was about to return to Halepa a young Turk was seen at a
distance running towards us with a letter in his hand. It was
a message sent by the Albanian corporal stationed at
Tsikalaria asking for assistance. This messenger had hardly
arrived when a gendarme was seen coming down in great haste.
He said that the fight between Christians and Mussulmans
having become general, and there being only another gendarme
with the corporal, armed assistance was immediately required.
I took both these messengers and conveyed them to the gate of
the town, from whence I drove to Halepa to acquaint the Vali
with what was taking place. It was getting dark when I met on
the road his Excellency accompanied by the Italian Consul
going on foot to Canea, having found no available carriage,
and I drove back with them. The position was rather
perplexing. There was no available gendarmerie, and no
soldiers could be sent out, as they would have been fired upon
by the Christians. …

"Early on the day following, that is, on the 4th instant, the
Governor-General visited the village of Tsikalaria and the
villages westward of it in order to ascertain the truth with
regard to the numerous reports which were in circulation since
the preceding evening. It would seem that on hearing of his
son having been killed on the Canea-Suda road, the father of
the wounded Mussulman opened fire on the Christians. Other
Christians maintain that this wounded Mussulman, after having
shot at the Christian on the road, hastened to Tsikalaria, and
together with his father, began firing on the Christians. In a
very short time all the Christians rushed towards the heights,
and the Mussulmans towards the plain. During this evolution a
Christian was killed, it is said, by the father of the wounded
Mussulman, who had been arrested and is in prison. The same
night the women and children took refuge in the villages on
the mountains, while a contingent of 150 armed Christians came
down from Campos and Keramia in order to assist the male
population of Tsikalaria to defend their property. On the
other hand, armed Mussulmans flocked from all parts of the
plain to defend their co-religionists. The Mussulmans at
Perivolia, where they are of nearly equal numerical force,
tried to surround the Christians in order to keep them as
hostages for the safety of their co-religionists in other
villages where the Christians are more numerous. In so doing
they shot down a Christian, on whom they also inflicted
numerous knife stabs, finally cutting his throat. This was
followed by an emigration to, and armed assistance from, the
mountain villages as at Tsikalaria. "In the village of
Varipetro the Mayor, assisted by the corporal of gendarmerie,
a Mussulman Albanian, was doing his utmost to prevent a
conflict between its Christian and Mussulman inhabitants, when
a Christian from Lakkos, whose brother had been murdered two
years ago by a native Mussulman, stealing behind the corporal,
shot him dead. The Christians of Varipetro, with whom the
corporal was popular, having tried to arrest his murderer, the
Lakkiotes, who had come there in order to defend their
co-religionists, turned their arms against them, and prevented
them from carrying out their intention. In consequence of this
murder all the Christians of Varipetro emigrated to the
mountains, and all the Mussulmans to the town of Canea. Nearly
1,000 Christians from the plains of Cydonia and Kissamo came
to defend the inhabitants of Galata and Darazzo, and for a
time blockaded the Turks in the village of Kirtomado, Aghia, &c.
{544}
But the inhabitants of Galata, who are all Christians, have so
much confidence in the Mussulman Albanian Lieutenant called
Islam, who is stationed in their village, that they begged
their co-religionists to withdraw, which they did. …

"As is always the case, each party claims to have been
attacked by the other party, and the truth is not likely to be
ever discovered. Be this as it may, both Christians and
Mussulmans remain under the unshaken conviction that they are
wronged by the other party; this increases the animosity of
one sect against the other, and each member of the two races
will act on this conviction. This is the inevitable
consequence of the absolute want of confidence between the two
elements, and there is not the least hope that this feeling
will disappear, nor even slightly decrease, so long as they
are left to themselves. In the present instance it may be that
the Mussulmans, or some of them, may have considered
themselves bound to retaliate for recent murders committed on
their co-religionists by Christians. … The Christians are
convinced, and all their proceedings are marked by that
conviction, that all the incidents which trouble the public
peace are devices of the native Mussulmans to prevent the
execution of the promised reforms. I do not deny that the
attitude of the authorities at Constantinople may have such an
effect on the low class of Cretan Mussulmans; but it is far
from being so with the educated class who are as, if not more,
anxious than the Christians that the intended reforms should
be carried out without delay. In fact, they know that they
have nothing to hope from Constantinople, and that the only
protection of the minority to which they belong lies in the
promised reforms. On the other hand, I have observed with the
greatest pleasure that the Christians laid down their arms at
the first recommendation of the Consuls to do so, which proves
a sincere desire on their part to live in peace. When the
Christians were taking up arms in former times they used to
remain for weeks, even for months, on the mountains in spite
of the entreaties of the Consuls. Therefore, the Christians
and the Mussulmans are respectively well disposed, but there
is such an insuperable distrust on both sides, that they can
never come to a mutual understanding. Whether the incidents
which cause disturbances or disorders on the island are the
work of the Turks or of the Christians or of both is quite
immaterial to me. The important fact to be taken into
consideration is that an exchange of a few shots between one
or two Christians and as many Mussulmans is sufficient to
cause several districts, four in the present instance (Canea,
Apokorona, Sphakia, and Kissamo), to take up arms, and also
that there can be no doubt that such scenes will be repeated
on every recurrence of such incidents."

To the same effect, Captain Custance, of the British ship
Barfleur, reported on the 15th to Admiral Hopkins: "The
general situation, as I understand it, is, that the Cretan
Christian leaders, urged on by certain interested people at
Athens, have been preparing for some time to make an attempt
to drive the Turkish authorities out of the island in the
spring, if a favourable opportunity offers. The Mussulmans
would not be sorry to see the last of the Turkish Government
if they could only be sure that their lives and property would
be safe under the new regime, which, owing to the bitter
hatred existing between the Christians and Mussulmans, cannot
be expected. The two parties are face to face, armed to the
teeth, with long-standing feuds and wrongs, and with no force
between them capable of maintaining order."

On the 27th of January the Consul-General reported by telegram
to Lord Salisbury: "An outburst of terror, such as has not yet
occurred in Candia, has been caused by the commencement of a
fresh immigration of Mussulmans into the town, and by the
murder, within a week, of two men of that faith, and a few
minor outrages." The next day he reported: "Telegraphic news
from Candia, dated to-day, reports murder of a Mussulman, and
wounding of two others, and murder of seven Christians; murder
of further Mussulmans is rumoured. The Mussulman Military
Commissioner, and the Austrian Military Attache, now in
Candia, report that they met about 1,000 armed Mussulmans
moving inland, and numbers of Mussulman families moving
towards the town." Again, on the 2d of February: "Murder of
four Mussulmans last night, following on wounding of Christian
by Mussulman on the 31st January near Canea. Panic ensued in
Canea and Suda Bay this morning. Shops all closed. Shots fired
in town and Halepa, which resulted in death of two Mussulmans.
Four mixed villages, one large Christian village, and several
farms in environs are in flames." On the 4th, Colonel
Chermside, of the gendarmerie commission, sent the following
statement to Lord Salisbury: "The most that we have been able
to attempt to-night is to get a cordon to separate Christian
and Moslem quarters. Patrolling was tried, but the fire from
the Christians was too heavy to maintain it. Several Turkish
soldiers have been killed and wounded."

_Great Britain,
Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command:
Turkey, Number 10, 1897, pages 15-45)._

TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (February-March).
Greek interference in Crete.
Greek forces in the island.
Demands for annexation of Crete to Greece.
Action of the Powers in the "Concert of Europe."
Pacific blockade of Crete.

Early in February, the difficulties of the attempt which the
leading European powers, acting in what was known as "the
Concert of Europe," were making to settle affairs in Crete by
reforming its Turkish government, were complicated by
interference from Greece. The Greeks, in ardent sympathy with
their Cretan kinsmen, were eager to take up the cause of the
Christian inhabitants of the island, and their government was
driven into independent action to that end, hoping that
Christian sentiment in Europe would constrain the Powers to
give it a free hand. A Greek squadron was sent to Crete, to
bring away fugitives—women and children especially—and to
prevent the landing of Turkish reinforcements. This was
quickly followed by an expedition of 2,000 men, Colonel Vassos
in command. An instant stimulation of the insurrection
occurred, and declarations demanding the annexation of Crete
to the kingdom of Greece began to appear; while the Greek
government represented in a note to the Powers that no
possible solution of the Cretan problem could be found without
concession to that demand. The Greek troops, considerably
increased in number, were landed on the island, joining the
insurgent Cretans, and beginning operations against the Turks.

{545}

On the 13th of February the admirals commanding the foreign
naval forces at Canea joined in sending a warning to the Greek
commodore, requiring him to "desist from all hostile acts and
to conform with international law." On the 15th a mixed force
of British, French, Russian, Italian and Austrian marines was
landed for the protection of the town. On the same day, from
Colombari, Colonel Vassos, the Greek commander, issued a
proclamation, saying: "In the name of His Majesty, George I.,
King of the Greeks, I occupy the Island of Crete, and proclaim
this to its inhabitants without distinction of sex or
nationality. I promise in the name of His Majesty that I will
protect the honour, life and property, and will respect the
religious convictions, of its inhabitants, bringing them peace
and equality rights." On the 17th, the Turkish forces at Canea
were attacked by the Greeks and insurgents, and the attack was
renewed on the 21st; whereupon, after warnings from the
foreign admirals in the harbor, the Russian, German, Austrian
and British ships opened fire on the attacking troops. In the
meantime, considerable bodies of Mohammedans were being
besieged by superior forces at other points in the island,
with great danger of massacre if overcome.

On the 2d of March, the representatives of Great Britain,
Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, at
Constantinople, arrived at an agreement of action, and jointly
addressed notes to the governments of Turkey and Greece. To the
Porte they wrote: "The Great Powers, animated by the desire to
assure the maintenance of peace and to see the integrity of
the Ottoman Empire respected, have sought for the means of
ending the disorders that have led to their armed intervention
in Crete, as well as of putting an end to the presence of the
Greek forces in the island. They have recognized that in
consequence of the delay in applying them, the reforms
contemplated in the Arrangement of August 25, 1896, no longer
correspond to the requirements of the present situation, and
they have agreed upon the following points:

1. Crete can in no case be annexed to Greece in the present
circumstances.

2. The island will be endowed by the Powers with an autonomous
administration ('régime').

In notifying these decisions to the Sublime Porte by order of
their Governments, the Representatives of the Great Powers at
Constantinople think it their duty to communicate the
resolution which has been taken by their Governments to
address to Greece a summons to withdraw her troops and naval
forces from Crete."

To the Greek government the same announcement was made, that
"Crete can in no case, in the present circumstances, be
annexed to Greece," and the communication was more explicit in
the further statements, as follows:

"In view of the delays caused by Turkey in the application of
the reforms agreed upon in concert with the Powers, and which
now make it impossible to adapt those reforms to a changed
condition of affairs, the Powers are resolved, while
maintaining the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, to endow
Crete with an absolutely effective autonomous administration
(régime), intended to secure to it a separate government,
under the high suzerainty of the Sultan. The Cabinets are
convinced that these views can only be realized by the
withdrawal of the Greek ships and troops now in the waters and
on the territory of the island which is occupied by the
Powers. We accordingly confidently expect this decision from
the wisdom of His Majesty's Government, which cannot wish to
persist in a course opposed to the decision of the Powers, who
are determined to carry out an early pacification, which is as
necessary for Crete as it is for the maintenance of general
peace. I will not, however, conceal from your Excellency that
I am instructed to warn you that, in case of a refusal of the
Royal Government, the Great Powers have arrived at the
irrevocable decision not to shrink from any measure of
compulsion if, on the expiration of six days, the recall of
the Greek ships and troops from Crete has not been effected."

The Turkish government replied on the 6th: "The Sublime Porte
has had the honour to receive the note which the Ambassadors
of the Great Powers were good enough to address to it on the
2nd of March relative to Crete. The Imperial Government takes
note with satisfaction of the assurances which the Great
Powers are good enough to give it as to their desire to
respect the integrity of the Empire and of the decision which
they have taken to obtain the withdrawal of the Greek ships of
war and troops from Crete. Relying upon their friendly
sentiments, and upon their firm resolve not to impair the
Sultan's rights of sovereignty, the Sublime Porte, which is
itself desirous of assuring the maintenance of peace, accepts
the principle of an autonomy to be accorded to Crete, while
reserving to itself liberty to discuss with the Ambassadors
the form and the details of the administration ('régime') with
which the island is to be endowed."

Two days later, the Greek government replied at greater
length, imploring the Great Powers "not to insist upon the
system of autonomy decided on, but to give back to Crete what
it already possessed at the time of the liberation of the
other provinces which form the Hellenic kingdom, and to
restore it to Greece, to which it already belonged in the time
of the Presidency of Capodistria," and appealing against the
demand for the withdrawal of the Greek military forces from
the island. "Since, in our opinion," wrote M. Skouses, the
Greek minister, "the new autonomous administration ('régime')
condition could not fulfil the noble object of the Powers, it
is clear what would be the condition of the unfortunate island
from now until the establishment of that administration, if
the Great Powers decided to persist in their resolve.

"In this connection, and in the name of humanity, as also in
the interest of the pacification of the island—a pacification
which is the sole object of the solicitude of the Great
Powers—we do not hesitate to appeal to them in regard to the
other measure, relative to the withdrawal of our military
forces. … The presence in the island of the Greek army is …
demanded by the dictates of humanity, and is necessary in the
interest of the definitive restoration of order. It is, above
all, our duty not to leave the Cretan people at the mercy of
Mussulman fanaticism, and of the Turkish army, which has
always intentionally, and by connivance, been a party to the
acts of aggression of the populace against the Christians.

{546}

"Above all, if our troops in the island, who are worthy of the
full confidence of the Great Powers, were intrusted with the
mandate of pacifying the country, their wishes and intentions
would at once be completely satisfied. It would then be
possible, after order had been restored, to obtain a free
expression of the wishes of the Cretan people, with a view to
decide their lot. Not only are the horrors which during
several decades have occurred periodically in Crete, not
committed without profoundly agitating the Hellenic people,
but they also interrupt the social activity, and seriously
disturb the economy and finances of the State. Even if it were
possible for us to forget for a moment that we are
co-religionists of the Cretan people, that we are of the same
race, and allied by blood, we cannot conceal from the Great
Powers that the Hellenic State is unable to resist such shocks
any longer. We therefore appeal to the generous sentiments
which animate the Great Powers, and beg them to allow the
Cretan people to declare how it desires to be governed."

_Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Turkey, Numbers 4 and 5, 1897)._

The position taken by the Greek government in this reply was
firmly maintained. Its troops were not withdrawn from Crete,
and the Powers of "the Concert," thus practically defied, had
difficulty in agreeing upon the next steps they would take.
France, England, and Italy would not consent to strong
measures of coercion proposed by Russia, Germany and Austria,
and the decision reached finally was to establish what is
known as a "pacific blockade" of the Cretan coast, to begin on
the 21st of March. This was announced on the 18th by the
admirals commanding on that coast, who gave notice: "The
blockade will be general for all vessels flying the Greek
flag. Vessels of the Six Powers or of neutral Powers will be
allowed to enter the ports in the occupation of the Powers and
land their merchandise there, but only if it is not intended
for the Greek troops or for the interior of the island. The
ships of the international fleets may visit these vessels."
The Greek government was notified to recall its men-of-war
still in Cretan waters, with the warning that "they will be
retained there by force if they have not left by 8 A. M. on
the 21st March."

On the day previous to this announcement of blockade the same
admirals had published a proclamation as follows:

"The undersigned, Commanders-in-chief of the naval forces of
Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, and
Russia, in Cretan waters, acting under instructions from their
respective Governments, solemnly proclaim and announce to the
people of the island that the Great Powers have arrived at the
irrevocable decision to secure the complete autonomy of Crete,
under the suzerainty of the Sultan. It is well understood that
the Cretans are to be free from all control on the part of the
Sublime Porte as regards their internal affairs. The principal
aim of the Powers being to provide a remedy for the evils
which have afflicted the country, and to prevent their
recurrence, they are drawing up in concert a scheme of
measures intended to regulate the working of the autonomous
régime, to restore peace, to assure to everyone, without
distinction of race or religion, liberty and security of
property, and to facilitate, by the resumption of agricultural
work and trade, the progressive development of the resources
of the country. Such is the aim of the Powers. They wish this
to be understood by all. A new era is commencing for Crete;
let all lay down their arms. The Powers desire peace and
order. They will, if it be required, have the necessary
authority to make their decisions respected. They count on the
co-operation of all the inhabitants of the island, Christian
and Mussulman, to assist them in accomplishing a work which
promises to secure concord and prosperity to the Cretans."

To the promise of an autonomous government for Crete the
insurgent Christians appear to have given no heed; but a great
number of the Mohammedan inhabitants of the island united in
sending telegrams to the British minister at Constantinople,
which were all of the tenor of the following: "Your Excellency
knows that the Christians of Crete, forming the numerical
majority of the population, but incapable of properly
administering the former privileges they enjoyed, have now
again been emboldened to massacre, destroy, and ruin, in the
same way that in the past they have always made ill-use of
their liberties in the country by the treacherous destruction
and ruin of their Moslem fellow-countrymen. Therefore, if the
people are left irresponsible for the government of the
country, which is the very breath of human life, it will
facilitate the completion of their bloodthirsty designs, and
hasten the ruin of the Mussulmans. We are quite sure that this
state of things will not recommend itself to the sympathy of
the Great Powers, the propagators of civilization.

"We therefore beg, in the name of the Mussulman population,
that the internal affairs of the Christian inhabitants of
Crete who have not yet reached even the first step on the path
of civilization, and are led away by the seditious designs of
Greece, may not be removed from the direction of the Sublime
Porte; if this be impossible, we beg that the internal affairs
of the island may be placed under the continual control of the
Great Powers in conjunction with the Porte; and we finally beg
that the necessary measures may be taken for the protection of
the life, honour, and property, as well as the rights of the
20,000 Mussulman inhabitants now living in Turkey, whose
interest in property is greater in value than that of the
Christians, and who are occupied with commerce and other
pursuits, besides those who live In the island, who, if
necessary, are prepared to undergo a census, and who exceed
100,000."

The situation of the Moslem population of the island was
represented a little later by Colonel Chermside, in a despatch
to Lord Salisbury, as follows:

"Over 49,000 Moslems are assembled in Candia and within cordon
area, comprising 25 square miles, viz., about two-thirds of
Moslem population of Crete. Of these, 29,000 are refugees from
central and eastern districts of island. Doles of flour are
issued to 39,000 persons; issue up to date 18 lb. per head; no
other food issued. The mass of the people have no buying power
and no work, but since arrival of British troops, armed
individuals are rare in streets; distress is supported with
great fortitude, in spite of insufficient food and ravages of
small-pox. Population hopes for future foreign protection
against Christian compatriots. "

_Great Britain, Papers by Command:
Turkey, Number 10, 1897, pages 153-178._

{547}

TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (March-September).
War with Greece.
Success of the Turkish arms.
Peace sought by the Greek Government.