Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/18

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A POLITICAL RETROSPECT ON GREECE.

sent their fleets and an army of occupation to Crete, drove back the Greek vessels, bombarded the Christian positions, and established a strict blockade in order to reduce them to obedience by starvation. Equity, justice, and international law were ignored, or, to speak more plainly, were superseded by brute force, by might against right. The Christians did not lay down their arms, but Turkey, encouraged by at least one of the great powers, massed a large army of one hundred and fifty thousand on the Greek frontier, ostensibly under the command of Edhem Pacha, but practically conducted by German officers, with one hundred and fifty Krupp guns. Against this formidable force the Greeks under the Crown Prince could only oppose thirty-five thousand men, half of whom were raw recruits, full of enthusiasm it is true, but poorly drilled and half disciplined.

The result could be easily foreseen. The Greek army was defeated and forced to evacuate Thessaly, the German Emperor sent congratulatory telegrams to the Sultan, a heavy war indemnity and a curtailment of her frontiers were imposed on Greece, and a foreign control was established over her finances. The diplomats of the great powers are now