The course actually pursued by Mr. Venizelos in this predicament he
himself explained to the parliament in the speech delivered at the
close of the war against Turkey from which I have already quoted. He
declared to his astonished countrymen that in his desire to reach a
close understanding with Turkey he had arrived at the point where he
no longer demanded a union of Crete with Greece, "knowing it was too
much for the Ottoman Empire." What he did ask for was the
recognition of the right of the Cretan deputies to sit in the Greek
chamber, while Crete itself should remain an autonomous state under
the sovereignty of the Sultan. Nay, Mr. Venizelos was so anxious to
prevent war with Turkey that he made another concession, for which,
he frankly confessed, his political opponents if things had turned
out differently would have impeached him for high treason. He
actually proposed, in return for the recognition of the right of the
Cretan deputies to sit in the Greek chamber, that Greece should pay
on behalf of Crete an annual tribute to the Porte.
Happily for Mr. Venizelos's government the Young Turk party who then
governed the Ottoman Empire rejected all these proposals. Meanwhile
their misgovernment and massacre of Christians in Macedonia were
inflaming the red Slav nations and driving them into War against
Turkey. When matters had reached a crisis, the reactionary and
incompetent Young Turk party were forced out of power and a wise and
prudent statesman, the venerable Kiamil Pasha, succeeded to the
office of Grand Vizier. He was all for conciliation and compromise
with the Greek government, whom he had often warned against an
alliance with Bulgaria, and he had in readiness a solution of the
Cretan question which he was certain would be satisfactory to both
Greece and Turkey. But these concessions were now too late. Greece
had decided to throw in her lot with Servia and Bulgaria. And a
decree was issued for the mobilization of the Greek troops.