File No. 767.70/44.
The Chargé d’Affaires of Greece to the Secretary of State.
Washington, October 18, 1912.
Mr. Secretary of State: Pursuant to orders from my Government, I have the honor to bring the following information to your excellency’s notice:
The anarchy which is reigning in Turkey and which is so deeply disturbing the repose and security of the neighboring countries having become aggravated recently, the great Powers have deemed it necessary to take into hand the accomplishment of the reforms provided in article 28 of the Treaty of Berlin; in response to this most recent expression of the collective will of Europe, the Sublime Porte resorted to a procedure which has served it more than once; it declared that it would enforce important reforms both in Turkey in Europe and in the provinces of Asia, but that it does not believe that airy foreign interference in the enforcement will be beneficial to the reforms. This promise of the Ottoman Government to enforce serious reforms itself met everywhere that distrust of which Count Andrassy spoke in his note of September 30, 1875; one of the chief causes of this distrust, which the former Chancellor of Austria-Hungary rightly said was deeply rooted, must be sought in the fact that [Page 1343] more than one measure announced in the recent rescripts of the Sultan has been proclaimed without the lot of the Christians being appreciably improved thereby, and for 37 years events have abundantly demonstrated the correctness of this judgment. Therefore, the Royal Governments of Bulgaria, Greece, and Servia, being unable to tolerate any longer the sufferings of their countrymen in Turkey and a situation big with dangers for the future, had decided to ask an efficient supervision for the preparation and accomplishment of the only radical reforms capable of improving the miserable lot of the Christians, and the pacification of the peninsula of the Balkans. This last attempt, the moderateness of which stands in contrast to the provocative attitude of Turkey, which had without serious cause mobilized against the Balkan States, having failed, and the rupture of diplomatic relations having been ordered by the Sublime Forte, the Royal Governments of Bulgaria, Greece, and Servia found themselves obliged, to their great regret, to resort to the force of arms.
Greece being therefore in a state of war with Turkey, addresses to her a formal declaration in accordance with article 1 of the convention on the opening of hostilities of October 17, 1907. The purpose which she is pursuing in declaring war coincides with the interests of all civilized peoples, for the foreigners residing in the provinces whose permanent pacification is the object of the war can not help benefiting by this pacification under a reign of order, freedom, and progress. The interests of the citizens of all countries are sure to be protected, while material prosperity and intellectual development are certain to be the object of constant and enlightened solicitude. Therefore, the Royal Government believes that it may count on the sympathies of friendly nations, and it makes an urgent appeal to the Government of the United States not to refuse it its benevolent neutrality in the arduous task it has just assumed.
Please accept [etc.]