Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXII SOME HISTORY AND A FEW POSSIBILITIES The "Bulgarian atrocities" of 1875-) centred the attention of Europe on the Balkans: There had been previous instances of murder and rapine, on a wholesale scale, in the Sultan's dominions, but the awful slaughter at the village of Batak, not far from the town of T'Barzardjeck, was the culmination of all. It was more than the world could stand, and within a few months, the regiments of the Czar were pouring across the Pruth, and the thunders of cannon awakened the echoes of the Rhodope passes. Plevna fell, after one of the most heroic defences in history; nothing could stand before the victorious Russians. They took Adrianople, and the road to Constantinople was open to them; their battalions were in position on the Bosphorus. It seemed as if no power could prevent the absorption of European Turkey by the "Colossus of the North." Then England stepped forward. It is difficult, nowadays, to realise the heat of resentment and nervous dread, with which the English people watched Russia's final succession of triumphs. Englishmen saw Constantinople turned into a Russian outpost, the Mediterranean a Russian lake, the road to India threatened. Led by Disraeli, a strong war-party dominated the nation's councils. English warships were ordered through the Dardanelles, and notice was served on Russia that she must be prepared to remit her demands. For a span of hours, the peace of the world hung by a hair. In the end, Russia backed down. The Treaty of San Stefano, dictated by Russian might, at the gates of the Ottoman capital, was abrogated, and Bismarck summoned the Congress of Berlin to consider an entire rearrangement of Balkan affairs. It is not necessary to deal at length with the results of the...
