TURKEYand the BALKAN STATES DESCRIBED BY GREAT WRITERS THER SINGLETON IS SG/ (^orncll Hnioetaitg Sibrarg 3tl|aca, New ^ork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE JACOB H. SCHIFF ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDIES IN HUMAN CIVILIZATION 1918 fm OATE DUE APR 4194'^- ^ i Cornell University Library DR 15.S61 Turkey and the Balkan states. 3 1924 028 562 167 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028562167 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES BOOKS BY MISS SINGLETON Turrets, Towers, and Temples. Great Buildings of the World Described by Great Writers. Great Pictures. Described by Great Writers. Wonders of Nature. Described by Great Writers. Romantic Castles and Palaces. Described by Great Writers. Famous Paintings. Described by Great Writers. Historic Buildings. Described by Great Writers. Famous Women. Described by Great Writers. Great Portraits. Described by Great Writers. Historic Buildings of America. Described by Great Writers. Historic Landmarks of America. Described by Great Writers. Holland. Described by Great Writers. Paris. Described by Great Writers. London. Described by Great Writers. Russia. Described by Great Writers. Japan. Described by Great Writers. Venice. Described by Great Writers. Rome. Described by Great Writers. A Guide to the Opera. Love in Literature and Art. The Golden Rod Fairy Book. The Wild Flower Fairy Book. Germany. Described by Great Writers. Switzerland. Described by Great Writers. Great Rivers of the World. Described by Great Writers. Dutch New York. Manners and Customs of New Am- sterdam in the Seventeenth Century. TURKEY and the BALKAN STATES As Described by Great Writers Collected and Edited by ESTHER SINGLETON WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS Dodd, Mead and Company 1908 BOOKS BY MISS SINGLETON Turrets, Towers, and Temples. Great Buildings of the World Described by Great Writers. Great Pictures. Described by Great Writers. Wonders of Nature. Described by Great Writers. Romantic Castles and Palaces. Described by Great Writers. Famous Paintings. Described by Great Writers. Historic Buildings. Described by Great Writers. Famous Women. Described by Great Writers. Great Portraits. Described by Great Writers. Historic Buildings of America. Described by Great Writers. Historic Landmarks of America. Described by Great Writers. Holland. Described by Great Writers. Paris. Described by Great Writers. London. Described by Great Writers. Russia. Described by Great Writers. Japan. Described by Great Writers. Venice. Described by Great Writers. Rome. Described by Great Writers. A Guide to the Opera. Love in Literature and Art. The Golden Rod Fairy Book. The Wild Flower Fairy Book. Germany. Described by Great Writers. Switzerland. Described by Great Writers. Great Rivers of the World. Described by Great Writers. Dutch New York. Manners and Customs of New Am- sterdam in the Seventeenth Century. TURKEY and the BALKAN STATES As Described by Great Writers Collected and Edited by ESTHER SINGLETON WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS Dodd, Mead and Company 1908 /\.3?l|oo Copyright, 1908, by DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY Published, December, 1908 PREFACE In compiling " Turkey and the Balkan States," I have con- fined myself to a description of the present and past con- ditions of those European dominions which are still under the Sultan's sway, or have only been separated from the Ottoman Empire during the past generation. At a time when acute unrest in the Balkans threatens further changes, and may even lead to a European war, those who like to read about foreign countries will be glad to know in some detail the past history of the various provinces and the oppression, persecution, massacres, rivalries, and ambitions that have finally resulted in present conditions. I have, therefore, brought down to date the history of the Balkan States, and have devoted more space than in my other books on European countries, to describing the life, manners, and customs of the Montenegrins, Serbs, Bulgars, Turks, etc. In attempting to give a true picture of the country, I have selected passages from the writings of travellers of note, and of keen observation, particularly those who have been re- cently through the lands they describe, rather than citations from the works of merely great writers. At the present moment, when Turkey is trying to adjust herself to a new Constitution, under the guidance of the "Voung Turks, when Bulgaria has taken advantage of her suzerain's domestic difficulties to throw off the yoke and declare herself independent, when Austria has also taken vi PREFACE advantage of the situation to declare herself absolute mistress of Bosnia and Herzegovina without asking the consent of the other signatories of the Treaty of Berlin, w^hen, more- over, Servia and Montenegro show signs of restiveness and jealousy of rival Balkan States, a survey of the present mate- rial, social, and political conditions of the Peninsula may hope to find a welcome. E. S. New York, November, igo8 CONTENTS PAGE The Balkan Peninsula i The Ottoman Turks 5 Edward A. Freeman Fall of Constantinople lo Lord John Russell Turkish History from the Fall of Constan- tinople TO the Battle of Navarino . . i6 Edward A. Freeman Turkish History from 1827 to 1908 . . . 22 The Old Regime and the New .... 28 Angus Hamilton Conflicting Ambitions 49 J. Ellis Barker Turkey in Europe 57 Sutherland Menzies Character of the Turks 69 Lord John Russell Constantinople 72"" G. C. Curtis The Old Seraglio and Other Imperial Palaces 85 William J. J. Spry Turkish Women . .101 Margaret Macgregor The Bazaars of Constantinople . . . .110 William J. J. Spry Ramazan . ..... .., :„ . .119 Theophile Gautier vii viii CONTENTS PAGE Al Kadr — ^The Night of Power .... 124 William J. J. Spry Feast of the Bairam 128 William J. J. Spry Macedonia . 132 H. F. Tozer Adrianople, Salonika, and Mon astir . . .142 John Foster Fraser Albania and the Albanians 160 Sutherland Menzies In Albania . 168 John Foster Fraser Bulgarian History . . . . . . .180 Bulgaria and the Bulgarians .... 183 Edward Dicey Sofia 198 Harry De Windt Philippopolis 204 John Foster Fraser Tirnova and the Shipka Pass 212 Harry De Windt Servian History . . 221 Towns and Country 227 Herbert Vivian Belgrade and the Servians 237 John Foster Fraser Montenegrin History 254 In Montenegro . 257 Lady Thompson CONTENTS ix PAGE The Capital and the Prince 261 /. D. Boufchier PODGORITZA AND RlJEKA ...... 27I Mary E. Durham Herzegovinian History .,..«. 278- A. J. Evans Bosnian History ....«.« 286 Mostar and Sarajevo ....... 290 Harry De Windt Roumanian History ....... 298 Bucharest 306 Harry De Windt Life in Roumania . ...«■. 316 Helene Vacaresco Statistics . . . « r n « m . 324 E.S. ILLUSTRATIONS Mihrab and Minber in Suleyman the Mag- nificent's Mosque Bulgarians Gallery and Arcade in Saint Sophia Servian Soldier The Troops and Court Facing Hamidieh Mosque New Bridge Valideh Sultan Keuprisi Servian Peasant Pera and Galata Docks The Fortress Roumeli-Hissar . The Fountain of Sultan Ahmed The Grand Divan .... Turkish Lady Wearing Yashmak Street Pedlers Gipsy Houses in Stamboul . Croatians and Albanians . Albanians Peasant with Market Cart Bulgarians in the Square at Sofia Krushevo Peasants Washing Clothes Near Sofia Cathedral, Sofia . . , . . Bulgarian Fruit Vendor . Court of Rilo Monastery, Bulgaria . King's Bodyguard, Bulgaria Servian Women Frontispiece acir gpage 2 ti lO it 20 ■ a 30 « 40 <( 50 (C 60 (I 68 i( 76 it 86 a 102 tt no tt 120 (( 154 <( 164 « 174 « 180 <( 186 i< 192 « 198 (t 204 (1 (( 210 « (( 216 tt tt 222 xu ILLUSTRATIONS Principal Street, Belgrade . Belgrade Church in Belgrade .... Church, Belgrade .... Montenegrin Soldiers Drilling . Monastery, Cettinje .... Taking Hay to Market, Herzegovina Winnowing Wheat, Bosnia Mostar Sarajevo Roumanian Gipsies .... Postoffice, Bucharest .... Market Scienes, Bucharest . Belgrade, with View of Palace . King Ferdinand's Palace, Sofia . Facing page 230 238 244 250 254 262 278 286 292 296 300 306 316 324 332 THE BALKAN PENINSULA The Balkan Peninsula is generally hilly and undulating, traversed by a mountain system which has its origin in the Alps, whose eastern extension, the Julian Alps, enters the country at its northwest corner, runs in a southwest direc- tion as the Dinaric Alps, keeping parallel to the coast-line, and after entering Albania, where it becomes Mount Pin- dus, assumes an almost southern direction till it reaches the Greek frontier. This range, which forms the watershed between the Adriatic and ^gean Seas, has its culminating point in Mount Diara (7458 feet) and sends out numerous offshoots over Montenegro and Albania. Its great eastern offshoot is Mount Hasmus, or the Balkan range, which branches off in the northeast of Albania, and runs almost due east to the Black Sea, where it terminates in a bold promontory; this range, which forms the southern boundary of the Danube basin, sends a branch northwards through the east of Servia; two others, the Despoto-Dagh and the Little Balkan, southeastwards ; and numerous smaller branches over Macedonia. The great river of Turkey is the Danube, which, with its tributary, the Save, forms the northern boundary, and receives in Turkey the Bosna and Drin from Bosnia, the Morava from Servia, and the Isker and Osma from Bulgaria. The Maritza, whose basin is formed by the Great Balkan and its two southeastern branches, and the Strumo and Vardar in Macedonia, are also considerable a TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES rivers; but those which are situated to the west of the Din- aric-Pindus range are, from the proximity of that watershed to the sea-coast, insignificant in size; chief of them are the Narenta, Drin, and Voyuta^. The primitive rocks pre- dominate in Macedonia; the secondary group in the western provinces and to the north of the Balkan; and tertiary deposits in the basins of the Save and Maritza, and in Suli. On the high lands, the cold is excessive in winter, owing to the northeast winds, which blow from the bleak and icy steppes of Southern Russia; and the heat of summer is almost insupportable in the western valleys. Violent cli- matic change is, on the whole, the rule; but those districts which are sheltered from the cold winds, as the Albanian valleys, enjoy a comparatively equable temperature. The soil is for the most part very fertile; but owing to the positive discouragement of industry by the oppressive system of taxation, little progress has been made in the art of agriculture, and the most primitive implements are in com- mon use. The cultivated products are maize in the south; rice, cotton, rye, barley in the centre, and millet in the north ; the natural products are the pine, beech, oak, lime, and ash, with the apple, pear, cherry, and apricot in the Danube basin; the palm, maple, almond, sycamore, walnut, chestnut, carob, box, myrtle, laurel, etc., in the provinces south of the Balkan; large forests of fir and pine in the northwest; the olive, orange, citron, vine, peach, plum, and other fruit- trees in Albania, and abundance of roses in the valley of the Maritza. The mineral products are, iron in abundance, ar- gentiferous lead ore, copper, sulphur, salt, alum, and a little BULGARIANS THE BALKAN PENINSULA 3 gold, but no coal. The wild animals are the wild boar, bear, wolf, wild dog, civet, chamois, wild ox, and those others which are generally distributed in Europe. The lion was formerly an inhabitant of the Thessalian Mountains. The following are the states which until recently con- stituted the European part of the Ottoman Empire. Area in English square mUes Turkey in Europe £5)350 Roumania ........ 50,720 Bulgaria (including Eastern Roumelia, now called South- ern Bulgaria) ....... 38,390 Servia 18,630 Montenegro (including town and district of Dulcigno, ceded by Turkey in 1880) 3,630 Bosnia-Herzegovina ...... 19,702 The oldest inhabitants of the peninsula, the Illyrians, are now represented by the modern Albanians; the Greeks are also represented, speaking a modified form of their ancient tongue ; the Dacians, who adopted the Roman speech, are the Roumanians of to-day. The Slavonic peoples form a large and important section of the population. Of the Turanian settlers, the Bulgars have become thoroughly Slavonic, and the Ottoman Turks, who first gained a footing in 1355, conquering nearly the whole of the peninsula before the close of the same century, reduced Greece to subjection between 1455 and 1473; and remained masters of the present century. According to Reclus, the present territory of the penin- sula may be divided into four ethnological zones: (i) Crete and the Archipelago, the seaboard of the ^gean, the eastern 4 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES slope of Pindus and of Olympus are peopled by Greeks; (2) the region lying between the Adriatic and the Pindus is the country of the Albanians (Kipetar) ; (3) in the northwest, the region of the lUyrian Alps, is occupied by Slavs, known under the different names of Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Herze- govinians, and Chernagorans (Montenegrins) ; and (4) the two slopes of the Balkan, the Despoto-Dagh, and the plains of Eastern Turkey, belong to the Bulgarians. The Turks themselves are scattered here and there, chiefly around the cities and strongholds, but the only tract of which they are, ethnologically speaking, the possessors, lies in the south- eastern angle of the pensinsula. THE OTTOMAN TURKS EDWARD A. FREEMAN The Turks are one of the most widely spread races in the world, and it is only with a small part of them that we have now anything to do. Those Turks who dwelt be- tween the two great rivers which run into the Caspian Sea, the Oxus and the Jaxartes, played an important part in the affairs of the Saracenic Empire. They pressed in as slaves, as subjects, as mercenaries, and at last as conquerors. In the end the greater part of the Asiatic dominion of the Caliphs was practically divided among Turkish princes, who owned a mere nominal supremacy in the successor of the Prophet who reigned at Bagdad. Of these dynasties the only one that we need speak of is that of the Seljuk Turks, who in the Eleventh Century became the greatest power in ' Asia. These were the first Turks who had anything to do with the history of Europe. They never actually passed into Europe, but under their Sultan Alp-Arslan they won the greater part of the lands which the Eastern Roman Empire still kept in Asia, leaving to the emperors only the sea-coast of Asia Minor. The capital of the Seljuk sultans was now at Nikala, threatening Europe, and especially Constantinople. But then came the Crusades. The Turks were driven back; the emperors recovered a large part of their territory, and the Turkish capital fell back to Ikonion. 5 6 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES It was in the Thirteenth Century that the Turks, with whom we have specially to do, the Ottomans, were first heard of. Their power arose out of the breaking-up both of the Seljuk dominion and of the Eastern Roman Empire. It will therefore be necessary to give a short picture of the state of those parts of Europe and Asia with which the Ottomans had to do, as they stood at the time the Otto- mans were first heard of. In 1204 the Eastern Roman Empire had been altogether broken in pieces. Constantinople was taken by the Latins or Franks — that is, the Christians of Western Europe — and the Empire was divided into a number of powers, Greek and Frank. Among these the commonwealth of Venice got a great share. In Asia, Greek princes reigned at Nikaia and at Trebizond, both of whom called them- selves Emperors; and in 1261 the princes of Nikaia made good their right to that title by winning back Con- stantinople. Thus the Eastern Roman , Empire in some sort began again, but with a greatly lessened dominion. It now took in little more than Thrace, part of Macedonia, and the western coast of Asia Minor; besides which the emperors also won back some outlying dominions in Greece itself. In Europe, Greece and the neighbouring lands were cut up into various small states, and to the north of the Empire lay the kingdoms of Bulgaria and Servia. In Asia, the Emperors of Trebizond kept part of the north coast of the "Euxine, but all the inland parts were held by the Turks. It is said that in the middle of the Thirteenth Century, a Turkish chief, Ertoghrul, came into Asia Minor from the THE OTTOMAN TURKS 7 East, at the head of a wandering tribe; he entered the service of the Seljuk Sultan, and received from him a grant of land, which grew into the Ottoman Empire. Under Ertoghrul and his son Othman, or Osman, the wandering band was swelled by crowds of recruits, and the grant of land was increased at the expense both of the Christians and of other Turkish chiefs. From Othman his followers took the name of Osmanli, or Ottoman; and he died in 1326, having just before his death established his capital at Brusa. His son, Orchan, made himself independent of the nominal Seljuk Sultan; he united most of the Turkish principalities in Asia Minor, and left to the Christian em- perors of Constantinople and Trebizond nothing but a few towns on the coast. Under Orchan came the first settlement of the Turks in Europe. They often ravaged the European coasts, and they were often foolishly called in as helpers by contending parties at Constantinople. At last, in 1356, they seized Kallipolis, or Gallipoli, in the Thracian Chersonesos; and the dominion of the Turks in Europe began. Their power now steadily advanced. Orchan died in 1359. Their next prince, Murad, or Amurath, fixed his capital at Adrianople in 1 36 1. He thus left to the Empire nothing but the lands just round Constantinople and some outlying possessions in Macedonia and Greece. Murad also made Bulgaria tribu- tary, and was killed in 1389, after the battle of Kossova, which made Servia tributary also. Then came Bajazet, the first Ottoman prince who bore the title of Sultan. Under him the great crusade from the West, which had come 8 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES to help Sigismund, King of Hungary (who was after- wards Emperor of the West), was altogether de- feated at the battle of Nikopolis. Wallachia became tributary; Bulgaria became a direct Ottoman possession; Philadelphia, the last city in Asia which cleaved to the Empire, was taken, and Constantinople itself was for the first time besieged. But Bajazet was himself overthrown at Angora by the Mogul conqueror Timur, and his dominions were broken up and disputed for by his sons. A breathing-space was thus given to the Christians of South- eastern Europe. But the Ottoman power came together again and, under Sultan Murad or Amurath the Second, from 1421 to 1451 it again made great advances. His power was checked for a while by the great Hungarian captain Huniades; but Murad restored the Ottoman power in the Danubian lands and took Thessalonica, though he too failed in an attack on Constantinople. Then, from 1 45 1 to 1 48 1, reigned Mohammed the Conqueror, who may be looked on as finally establishing the Ottoman dominion in Europe. The Eastern Empire was now confined to a small district round Constantinople, together with Pelopon- nesos, lying far away. On the 29th of May, 1453, Moham- med stormed the Imperial city itself; the last Emperor ' Constantine fell in the breach ; the New Rome became the capital of the Ottoman power, and the great church of St. Sophia became a Mohammedan mosque. In the remaining years of his long reign, Mohammed consolidated his dominion on every side. He conquered all Greece and Albania, save a few points which were still kept by Venice, THE OTTOMAN TURKS 9 and some of the islands, especially Rhodes, which was held by the Knights of St. John. Servia and Bosnia were brought into complete bondage; the Empire of Trebizond was destroyed, and the Ottoman Sultans extended their supremacy over the Tartars of Crim, or Crimea. TkE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE LORD JOHN RUSSELL With the fall of Constantinople was extinguished for ever the last vestige of the majesty of Rome. Hovrever little the intrigues of the Greek court and church might resemble the magnanimous daring and plain wisdom of the Roman people, yet the name of Augustus, the law, and the army of Rome carried on a species of identity; and the fall of the Empire, which once extended from the mouth of the Tagus to the banks of the Euphrates, is universally dated from the capture of the city of Constantine on the banks of the Bosphorus. It would be difficult to vouch for the truth of any nar- rative of the assault of Constantinople. The Greeks have endeavoured to make up by the rancour of their pens for the weakness of their swords; the Turks, on the other hand, paid little attention to the sufferings of a refined but cowardly people, whom they destroyed as men crush in- sects, with little effort and no sympathy. Hence the Greek historians are eloquent in their descriptions of merciless carnage, while the Turkish annalists speak only of forbear- ance and generosity. From these contradictory accounts, however, it may be gathered, that the triumphant assault of the city was not greatly stained with blood. Those who fought in the streets indeed were slain without mercy; Gallery and Arcade in Santa Sophia THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 1 1 neither age nor infancy was spared in the confusion of battle, but the resistance soon ceased, and with the resistance the slaughter ceased likewise.* The rich dresses, the magnificent furniture, the ornaments of the churches, the gold and silver which everywhere abounded, seem so strongly to have excited the rapacity, as to have blunted for a time the ferocity of the Turks. It may be remarked, likewise, that the assault of a great city is seldom so bloody as that of a small town ; mas- sacre grows tired of its office, and the band of conquerors dispersing themselves in various parts, dilute their rage in the volume of a vast and peaceful population. But although not many lives were sacrificed, the calami- ties suffered by the Greeks were neither few nor slight. The Cross was trampled under foot, and the statues of saints, no less objects of abhorrence to the Turks than of veneration to the Christians, were dragged through the streets with every insult which barbarous triumph could imagine. The convents were forced open, and virgins violated at the altar. Nor did the misfortunes of the Christians end with the assault. Sixty thousand Greeks were led away captive; and families which a few weeks before had been living in the enjoyment of luxurious splendour or domestic ease, were now widely scattered ; the old to pass the remainder of their days in the labours of slavery, and the young to fill the harems of their victorious and voluptuous masters. Mahomet made his entrance into the town at about two o'clock in the day, and alighted from his horse at the church * Even Leonardus Chiensis aays : " Obsequentibus vitam parcunt." 12 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES of St. Sophia. Observing a soldier busy in an attempt to tear up the marble of the interior, he called out: " Be con- tent with the booty I have given up to you ; the tow^n and all the buildings belong to me." He then ordered an Imam to ascend the patriarchal pulpit and give out the hymn of thanksgiving, thus dedicating the church to the Mahometan worship. Fjom thence he went to the imperial palace, and, struck with this visible proof of the vicissitudes of human affairs, repeated as he entered it a Persian distich, signifying: " The spider hath woven her web in the palace of emperors. And the owl hath sung her watch-song in the towers of Efrasiyab.'' He afterwards visited and comforted the wife of Luca Notara, the great duke and admiral, who was ill with terror and grief. These actions seem to betoken a polished and generous conqueror. But the Greek and Latin historians affirm that on the same day he stained his victory at once by debauchery and cruelty; that he celebrated his triumph by a drunken banquet, and amid the excesses of the table ordered the execution of Luca Notara and his two sons, with circumstances disgraceful to his fame. This story may or may not be true: there are other relations credulously re- ported by Knolles, such as that of the conversion of St. Sophia into a stable, and the massacre of thousands of the Greek inhabitants while the Sultan was feasting, which may be safely disbelieved; the latter indeed is quite inconsistent with the care which Mahomet showed to preserve the population of the city. He allowed a term of three months for those who had fled to return to their homes, promising, THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 13 on this condition, the restoration of their property; he ran- somed many of the Greek captives from his soldiers ; allowed them the free exercise of their religion, and appropriated a portion of the churches for the performance of Christian worship. Some historians indeed have affirmed that half the city was surrendered by capitulation while the other half was taken by assault ; and that the churches of the capitulat- ing half were religiously preserved to the Christians by Mahomet; but this relation is in no way entitled to credit. In order to repeople the deserted part of the city, Mahomet commanded ten thousand families from different provinces to come and establish themselves at Constantinople. The fall of Constantinople was regarded with various sentiments by the contemporaries of that event. Many of the Greeks considered it as the destined retaliation of the people of Asia for the capture of Troy. The priests of the Church of Rome pointed it out to their congregations as the natural consequence of the schism of the Greek people and their obstinate refusal to embrace the orthodox faith and sub- mit to the authority of the Roman pontiff. The chivalry of Europe again saw in the fall of the Greek capital a grievous stain on their honour, and sighed to restore the fame of Christian knighthood over Saracen and Turk. Placed at a long distance of time from the event, our views differ widely from them all. The remainder of the reign of Mahomet was dis- tinguished by a series of successful enterprises in which the fraud of the Turkish Sultan was not less conspicuous than his force. Historians have reckoned that he conquered two 14 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES empires, twelve kingdoms, and two hundred towns.* He expired in the fifty-first year of his age, at a time when he was preparing to make war at once upon the Persians and the Christians. He ordered these words to be engraved upon his tomb : " I intended to conquer Rhodes and subdue proud Italy." Thus, insatiate of glory, he struggled with death itself for an addition to his fame. Mahomet left a flourishing empire; the capital adorned with new buildings, and two palaces of his own erection. One of them is now the Eski Serai, where the concubines of the deceased Sultans reside, or rather are imprisoned. Bajazet the Second, the son and successor of Mahomet, continued to augment the Turkish dominions, In the Morea, on the Danube and on the Dniester, he captured for- tresses and strengthened his frontiers. Selim, his yOunger son, in a reign of seven years, was crowned with much more brilliant success. He defeated the Kurds and Turco- mans, and by the decisive battle of Meritz Dabik gained possession of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. He died in 1519, leaving a great name as a conqueror, but loaded with the epithet of the Cruel. Thus in two centuries from the time when Othman was at the head of four hundred families, the Turks had possessed themselves of some of the fairest regions of the globe, and acquired the richest parts of that empire which the Romans had called the World, and whose subjugation they esteemed the proof of their superiority in valour and wisdom over all the nations of the globe. The dominions of the Turks * The two empires were Constantinople and Trebizond. THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 15 comprehended Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Caramania, Greece, Albania, Bosnia, Servia and Macedonia; they con- tained Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Constantinople: they were watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Volga and the Danube. TURKISH HISTORY FROM THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO EDWARD A. FREEMAN Just before his death, Mohammed's troops had taken Otranto, as the beginning of the conquest of Italy. Under the next Sultan, Bajazet the Second, Otranto was lost again, and but little progress was made anywhere, except by the winning of a few points from Veni(;e. The next Sultan, Selim the Inflexible, did little in Europe; but he vastly ex- tended the Ottoman power elsewhere by the conquest of Syria and Egypt. He was the first Sultan who gave him- self out as Caliph or religious head of all orthodox Moham- medans. The real Caliphs of Bagdad had long come to an end; but a nominal line of Caliphs went on in Egypt, and from the last of them Selim obtained a cession of his claims. The Ottoman princes from this time, besides being Sultans of their own dominions, have deemed themselves also to be the spiritual heads of the Mohammedan religion. It was as if in Western Europe a prince who was already emperor should also become Pope. Lastly, in the reign of Selim's son, Suleiman (that is, Solomon) the Lawgiver, the Otto- man dominion reached its greatest extent of power in Europe. He took Rhodes; but the Knights withdrew to Malta, and he failed in an attack on that island. But he conquered the greater part of the kingdom of Hungary and i6 TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO 17 even besieged Vienna. Buda now became the seat of a Turkish pacha, as well as Belgrade. Thus under Solomon the Turkish Empire reached its greatest point. Some im- portant conquests were made afterwards ; but, on the whole, the strength of the Turks began to fail at home and abroad. After the reign of Solomon the Lawgiver, the Ottoman power began, on the whole, to go down. In the reign of his son Selim, known as the Drunkard, the Turks won the island of Cyprus from the Venetians, but their fleet was defeated at Lepanto by the fleets of Spain and Venice. No positive advantage followed on this victory, which did not even save Cyprus ; still, it broke the spell of Turkish success, and taught men that the Turk could be defeated. More- over up to the Sixteenth Century, the Turks had better and better disciplined soldiers than any of the European nations with which they had to strive. But from that time the discipline of Western armies grew better and better, while that of the Turks grew worse and worse. And, though several of the later Sultans were brave and able men, and were served by able ministers, yet many of them were quite of another kind. The almost unbroken succession of great rulers ends with Solomon. Thus, on the whole, notwith- standing occasional victories and conquests, the Turkish power now began to go down. In the Seventeenth Century the Turks had many wars with Venice and with the em- perors of the house of Austria, who were also Kings of Hungary. Towards the end of the century they had also wars with Poland^ and at last with Russia, which was be- ginning to become a great power under Peter the Great. 1 8 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES In 1669 the Turks won the Island of Crete from the Venetians, after a war of twenty-four years. But in 1684 the Venetians conquered all Peloponnesos and kept it till 1 7 15. In 1683 the Turks again advanced from their Hun- garian province, and besieged Vienna, but they were driven back by John Sobieski, King of Poland, and all Hungary was presently freed from them. Throughout the Eighteenth Century there were many wars between the Turks and the emperors as Kings of Hungary. The frontier changed several times according as the Turkish or the imperial armies were successful, till the boundary was settled in 1 79 1. Then Belgrade, which had changed hands more than once, was again given up to the Turks. The wars of the Turks with Venice and Hungary were continuations of wars which they had begun to wage soon after they came into Europe. But in the latter years of the Seventeenth Century the Turks found still more dangerous enemies north of the Euxine. Here the great powers were Poland and Russia. Against Poland the Turks had some successes; they gained the province of Pedolia and the strong town of Kaminiec, which, however, they had to give back in 1699. This was the last time that the Turks won any large dominion which they had never held before. But the wars of the Turks with Russia, which began at this time, form an important series. It will be remembered that the peninsula of Crimea and the neighbouring lands now forming Southern Russia were held by the Khans of Crim asvassals of the Sultan. Russia was thus cut off from the Euxine, but, as soon as Russia became a great power, TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO 19 she could not fail to seek an opening to the sea in this quar- ter. Peter the Great first won the port of Azof in 1696; and it was lost and won more than once till It was finally confirmed to Russia hy the peace of Kainardji in 1774. Catherine the Second was now Empress of Russia, and her policy was steadily directed to advance at the cost of the Turk. By the peace of Kainardji, Russia acquired a kind of protectorate over the dependent principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, which grew into a right of remonstrance on behalf of the Christian subjects of the Turk. The Tartars of Crim were acknowledged as an independent power, a state of things which could not last. In 1783 the land of Crim was added to Russia, which thus gained a great sea- board on the Euxine; and in 1791 the Russian frontier was advanced to the Dniester. All these were heavy blows to the Turk. It was a heavier blow still when Russia ac- quired a right of interference in the internal concerns of the Ottoman Empire. Now it will be asked. How did all these changes affect the condition of the subject nations? That is, after all, the main point. The increasing weakness of the Ottoman power affected the subject nations both for evil and for good. It made their actual state harder; but it gave them more hopes of deliverance. The subject nations were used as tools by various Governments who were at war with the Turks, and they were too often thrown aside, like tools, when they were done with. Still, by every failure of their tyrants, by every advance of every other power, they gained indirectly ; they gained in heart and in hope. 20 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES At last the time came when the subject nations were really able to do something for themselves. First Servia was freed, then Greece. A large part of the Servians had for a while been subjects and soldiers of Austria, and had learned the difference between civilized and barbarian rule. When they were given back to the Turk, the power of the Sultan in those parts was altogether nominal. The land was overrun by rebellious chiefs, who were, of course, worse oppressors than the Sultan himself. In 1804 the Servians rose against their local enemies, and for a while the Sultan favoured their enterprise. But such an alliance could not last. Men who had risen against Mohammedan rule in its worst form were not likely willingly to submit to it again, even in a form which was not quite so bad. Servia was delivered by Czerny or Kara (that is Black) George, It was conquered again in 1815. It was delivered again by Milosh Obrenovich. It became a principality, independent in its internal affairs, though it was still obliged to receive Turkish garrisons in certain fortresses. This last badge of dependence was taken away in 1862; since then Servia has been an independent state in everything but paying a tribute to the Turk. Many causes meanwhile led to the revolt of Greece. In the wars of the French Revolution the commonwealth of Venice was overthrown. Her Greek possessions, consisting of the Ionian Islands and some points on the Adriatic coast, were portioned out in a strange way. The Turk was to take the points on the coast, while the islands were to be made into a commonwealth, tributary to the Sultan, but SERVIAN SOLDIER TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO ai under the protection of Russia. The points on the coast were gradually won by the Turks, by force or surrender; but as they were very unwillingly transferred to his rule, a stronger feeling began to be felt in favour of them, and of the subject people generally. On the other hand, though the island commonwealth could have no real freedom, it was something like acknowledging the possibility of Greek free- dom. Then the islands were conquered by France; then, after the great war, they were again made a commonwealth under a British protectorate which really was British dominion. Still the name of commonwealth went for something; and, in any case, the rule either of France or England was better than that of the Turk. All this then joined with other causes to stir up the spirit of the Greek people, and in 1821 they rose in every part of the Turkish dominions where they could rise. In most of the outlying parts the revolt was easily put down; but in the greater part of Greece itself, the Greek and Albanian inhabitants with some help from volunteers both from the other subject nations and from Western Europe, were able to free the land from the Turks. Then the reigning Sultan Mahmud got help from his vassal Mohammed AH in Egypt, who had made himself independent of the Sultan, but who was ready to help him against Christian insurgents. Then the European powers stepped in. In 1827 the fleets of England, France, and Russia crushed the Turks at Navarino; the French cleared Peloponnesos of the Egyptians, and Greece became an independent state. TURKISH HISTORY FROM 1827 TO 1908 The rulers of the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century as a rule have been extremely able men. The ex- ceptions were very quickly removed and assassinated. Mah- mud II. (1808- 1 839) was a great reforming Sultan despite the misfortunes and crimes of his reign, -and though his dominions were curtailed by the loss of Greece, which es- tablished its independence, and of the country between the Dniester and the Pruth, which, by the treaty of Bukharest in 1 8 12, was surrendered to Russia, the thorough reformation he effected in all departments of the administration checked the decline of the Ottoman Empire and produced a healthy reaction, which has been attended with the most favourable results. Egypt, during his reign, threw off the authority of the Sultan, and is now merely a nominal dependency. His son, Abdul-Medjid (i 839-1861), a mild and generous prince, continued the reforms commenced in the previous reign; but the Czar, thinking, from the losses of territory which the Turks had lately sustained, and regardless of the changes which the last thirty years had wrought, that the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was at hand, constantly interfered with its internal administration ; and by a strained interpretation of former treaties (none of which, it may be remarked, Russia herself had ever faithfully observed, although she stringently enforced their observance on the part of the Porte), tried to wring from the Sultan some FROM 1827 TO 1908 23 acknowledgment of a right of interference with the internal affairs of the country. It was an attempt of this sort to obtain the exclusive protectorate of the members of the Greek Church in Turkey, that brought on the Crimean War of 1853-1855, in which, for the first time after a long lapse of years, the Turks were victorious over the Russians. By the peace of Paris, Turkey regained a portion of territory north of the Danube, between Moldavia and the Black Sea, and extending along the coast to within twenty-three miles of the mouth of the Dniester; and was, to some extent, emancipated from the subservience to Russia into which she had been forced by previous treaties. In 1861, Abdul- Aziz succeeded his brother. Meanwhile the nominally subject peoples of Moldavia and Wallachia ventured to unite them- selves into the one State of Roumania and in 1866 the Em- pire, becoming more and more enfeebled through its corrupt administration, had to look on while the Roumanians ex- pelled their ruler, and, in the hope of securing western sup- port, chose Prince Charles of HohenzoUern to be hereditary prince (domnu) of the united principalities. The rebellion of Crete in 1866 threatened a severe blow to the integrity of the Empire, but was ultimately suppressed in 1868 — in spite of active help from Greece. Servia, already auton- omous within her own frontiers, demanded the removal of the Turkish garrisons still maintained in certain Servian fortresses; and in 1867 Turkey saw herself compelled to make this concession. In the same year the Sultan dis- tinguished the vali of Egypt by granting to him the unique title of Khedive. The vassal king drew down the wrath of 24 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES his suzerain in 1870 by negotiating directly with foreign courts, and was compelled to give formal tokens of vassalage. But later concessions have made the Khedive virtually an independent sovereign. The Russian government took the opportunity of war between Germany and France to declare, in 1871, that it felt itself no longer bound by that provision of the Paris treaty which forbade Russia to have a fleet in the Black Sea; and a London conference sanctioned this stroke of Russian diplomacy. Between 1854 an