ght side by side with the Turkish
troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in
the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berlin, had saved for
Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and the
fear of the British power which had prevented Russia from taking
possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The English had
always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the
beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned.
There is reason to believe that the average Turk had little sympathy
with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the
popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been
sent against either the Englishmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of
German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was
greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon the
Turkish people by German tools and German bribes.

CHAPTER XII

RESCUE OF THE STARVING

The sufferings of Belgium during the German occupation were terrible,
and attracted the attention and the sympathy of the whole world. To
understand conditions it is necessary to know something of the economic
situation. Since it had come under the protection of the Great Powers,
Belgium had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing countries
in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed in the
great industries, and one million two hundred thousand on the farms. She
was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on account of the fact that
more than one-half of her citizenship earned their living by daily labor
she found it impossible to produce foodstuff enough for her own needs.
Seventy-eight per cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her
own fields she could hardly supply her population for more than four
months.

The war, and the German occupation, almost destroyed business. Mines,
workshops, factories and mills were closed. Labor found itself without
employment and consequently without wages. The banks would extend no
credit. But even if there had been money enough it soon became apparent
that the food supply was rapidly going. The German invasion had come
when the crops were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not
been reaped, but had been trampled under foot by the hated German.

One feature of Belgian industrial life should be understood. Hundreds of
thousands of her