Each country wanted to be a friend of the winning side, in order to share in the spoils.  In this way, whenever it looked as if the Quadruple Entente did not need her help Roumania was eager to offer it, at a price which seemed to the allies too high.  When, however, the tide turned the other way, she lost her enthusiasm for the cause of her friends, fearing what the central empires might do to her.

Questions for Review

 1.  What was the motive of Turkey in joining the war?
 2.  Why were the Russians not sorry to have Turkey declare war on
    them?
 3.  What were the feelings of the Italian people?
 4.  What were the Italian diplomats anxious to gain?
 5.  What were the demands of Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria upon the
    Entente powers?
 6.  Why did Bulgaria join the central empires?
 7.  Why did Greece keep out of the conflict?
 8.  What were Roumania’s hopes?

CHAPTER XX

  Back to the Balkans

The troubles of Crete.-The bigotry of the “Young Turks.”—­Venizelos in Greece.—­The pro-German king.—­The new government at Salonika.—­The downfall of Constantine.—­The ambitions of Roumania.—­Pro-Germans in Russia.—­Roumania declares war.—­Russian treachery and German trickery.—­The defeat of Roumania.

Greece

You will remember the name of Eleutherios Venizelos, the prime minister of Greece, who tried to get that country to stand by her bargain from Crete with Serbia (pages 239-240).  Now Venizelos had originally come from Crete, a large island inhabited by Greeks, but controlled by Turkey for many years (see map).  In 1897 the Turks had massacred a number of Greek Christians on the island, and this act had so enraged the inhabitants of Greece that they forced their king to declare war on Turkey.

Poor little Greece was quickly defeated, but the war called the attention of the Great Powers of Europe to the cruelties of the Turks, and they never again allowed Crete to be wholly governed by them.  For over a year Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy had their warships in Cretan ports and the government of Crete was under their protection.

Finally they called in, to rule over the island, a Greek prince, Constantine, the son of the king.  Eight years later he had become very unpopular through meddling with Cretan politics—­on the wrong side—­and had to leave.

The It was at this time that Venizelos came to the front.  The Cretan government was really independent, like a little kingdom without a king, and he was its true ruler.  Now all the Greeks had looked forward to the time when they might be united in one great kingdom.  The shores of Asia Minor and the cities along the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles were largely inhabited by Greeks.  Crete and the islands of the Aegean had once been part of Greece and they never would be content until they were again joined to it.  The Cretan government was ready to vote that the island be annexed to Greece, when in 1908 there came the revolution of the “Young Turks” which drove the old Sultan from his throne (page 186).