It is said that the Greeks are not likely to obey the wishes of the Powers, and that the King of Greece intends to refuse, and then to take his own course.
It is said that King George has declared himself quite ready for a war with Turkey, and that he does not intend to allow the Powers to tell him what he is to do.
Greece is making preparations for war, has called out her army reserves, and is massing her troops all along the Turkish frontier, expecting that the war will be on the mainland, and not on the island of Crete. Greece expects that should war be declared Turkey will at once try to cross her borders and conquer her. If Turkey does not attempt this, Greece will cross into Turkish territory, and endeavor to reconquer the various ancient Greek provinces which are now under the rule of Turkey. The Servians, Bulgarians, and Montenegrins are also arming and rising, and will side with Greece in case the war breaks out.
If you look these little countries up on the map, you will find that they lie on the Northern side of European Turkey, while Greece is on the Southern side. If these countries do really come to the aid of Greece, Turkey will find herself between two enemies, and will have a difficult war to fight.
It is not true that Russia is at the bottom of this Cretan trouble.
She has evidently been acting sincerely this time. She has warned Greece to stop her quarrel with Turkey, has sent word to her that she very much disapproves of the way she is behaving, and as Greece has not listened to her protests, she has finally broken off all diplomatic relations with her. This, you remember as in the case of Venezuela, means that Russia and Greece are no longer on speaking terms.
Russia is very angry with Greece for refusing her advice, and Greece feels very bitterly toward Russia for helping in the bombardment of the Greeks at Akrotiri.
So deep is the feeling between them, that when the Russian court sent the appointment of Honorary Admiral of the Russian Navy, as a compliment, to Queen Olga of Greece, she returned it indignantly, saying she could not hold any rank in a navy that had fired upon Greeks and Cretans.
Europe is still looking around for some one on whom to cast the blame for the Cretan muddle. The present idea is that England is the guilty party. This last report may not have any more truth in it than that about Russia, but it is now, said that England is bent upon conquering the Transvaal, and securing South Africa for herself, and that she has stirred up all this Cretan mischief, so that Germany and the other European Powers may be too busy at home to look after her abroad.