ge. Ceux-la ne sont pas seulement germanophiles. Ils
sont Boches de la tete aux pieds! . . .
The good order, the low cost of living, the high value of the drachma,
the excellent condition of the army, the enhanced prestige of the Greek
nation after the war, all testify to the ability of Venizelos.
Venizelos won for Hellas territory which extends from Salonica all the
way to the Black Sea, and brought her almost to the gates of
Constantinople. The role of neutrality which King Constantine affected
would have left Greece without the coveted war-glory, and, of course,
without the dangerous responsibility she has now. Thanks to Venizelos,
Greece is almost an empire. And the Greeks are glad to have this extra
sway. No sentiment has stood in the way of Constantine's Government
retaining what its arch-enemy had won. "We may fall out in politics,
but where our material interests are concerned you will find complete
solidarity," said an Athenian journalist. And it seems true.
Not many signs of altruism are visible in Greece. There are few
Germanophiles. "Do not fear for us," said M. Kalogeropoulos, to the
French. "Greece will not ally herself to a corpse"--meaning Germany.
In fact, there is among the Greeks only Graecophilism. If superlative
and clamorous love of country is a virtue--they have it. For Greece,
when you are down, you are down. As for fallen Germany, so for Russia
in her humiliation Greece has no extra thought or care. Not a
humanitarian and philanthropic nation! One wonders how a Greek mind
would interpret the "big-brother-love" of the Americans, which prompts
the marvellous rescue-work now being done by the United States in all
the stricken countries of Europe. There, however, the indolence of the
Greek mind and the half-closed eye intervene. There is no curiosity
about philanthropy. But it is a Greek word by origin.
One longs to see some sort of love towards the neighbour. There is a
mortal enmity towards the Bulgar, a cool reciprocity of Italian
dislike, a non-comprehension of the Serb, traditional hatred of the
Turk--all these are intensified by egoism. New Greece, with her
hazardous northern frontier, needs to cultivate friendship, and will
have to employ all her strategy to gain any. Her mainstay is, of
course, England. For us Greece has the natural respect which a weak
country pays to a strong friend, but she has also a curious covert
regard for us as one nation of sailors for
|