See Doom Of Turkey Sounded.

New York Times 100 years ago today, October 27, 1912:
Europe Staggered by the Balkan States' Successes.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Oct. 26.— Europe realizes to-night that it is face to face with a new situation in the Near East. The old order has changed, giving place to the new. The past week has seen great events and still greater are in prospect.
    The knell of "the sick man of Europe" is being tolled, and other bells, which to some ears have the ominous notes of a tocsin, are ringing out the birth of a young federation, which, clad in shining armor and already strong achievement, may bid defiance to the great powers.
    With the capture of Uskub, following the victory at Kirk-Kilisseh and attack on Adrianople in the two chief theatres of the war, and the uninterrupted, though less important successes in other fields, the armies of the Balkan federation have staggered Europe, if not humanity. Germany and Austria stand aghast at the sorry figure cut by the Turk in the face of these small nations, whose military prowess was unsuspected.
    The Turk stands at bay, and some believe that he may yet retrieve himself. But nothing he has yet accomplished justifies the belief that he can long arrest the progress of the victorious Balkan armies in their eventual march on Constantinople.

Prepare to Defy the Powers.
    The dream of a reconstituted Byzantium is assuming the semblance of a reality, and the cross may again crown the basilica of St. Sophia instead of the crescent.
    This is the new situation which confronts Europe. The great powers have declared that whatever the outcome of the military campaign in the Balkans, the status quo must be maintained, and no territorial aggrandizement will be permitted to the allied States, regardless of the cost in blood and money which their victory may involve.
    Already the authorized spokesmen for the Balkan States are intimating that these declarations of the great powers are so many idle words, and that the allies must have a voice in the settlement which will follow the war.
    Chedo Miyatovich, formerly the Servian Minister in London, said in an interview to-day:
    "This is war to the knife between Turk and Christian. The members of the European concert may say that whatever the result, there can be no alteration in the status quo in the Near East, but they are wrong. This is a territorial war, and we of the Balkans are fighting for territory. Why is it necessary to endeavor to obscure this fact from the public? Why cannot diplomacy be honest and say right out that such are the desires of the Balkan allies in the event (and I think the probable event) of the allies emerging victorious from the titanic struggle now raging?

Have Agreed to Divide Turkey.
    "I believe I am right in saying that an agreement has already been reached by the monarchs of the respective countries — Servia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro, as to the division of territory.
    "Servia aspires to the territory once occupied by Old Servia, with rather extended frontiers, and Bulgaria to Macedonia."
    This plain speaking is corroborated from various sources, and is generally accepted as an exact statement of the situation. How can the great powers enforce their decision and maintain the status quo? Clearly, the Balkan allies are unlikely to submit to diplomatic dictation. Only by force of arms could the great powers compel them to stand by, while the conference sits to debate what shall be done with the enemy, whom after centuries of oppression they have at last laid low.
    And how could the great powers, whose conflicting interests and ambitions and mutual jealousies make their agreement even upon the terms of a diplomatic note a matter of extreme difficulty and protracted negotiations, come to an arrangement whereby a joint force shall be employed in the task of coercion?

Austria May Make Trouble.
    On the contrary, when the terms of a settlement come to be discussed, the rivalries of the powers are bound to emerge from a dormant into an active stage. In this connection the following dispatch, just received from The New York Times correspondent in Vienna, is important:
    "According to an excellent authority, Austria is assuming the attitude of a cool bystander concerning the question of intervention. She declares she will willingly adhere to M. Poincaré's programme, supported by Russia, which involves maintaining the status quo in the Balkans and territorial integrity, and also introducing reforms in Macedonia, but Austria will demand a free hand if the status quo cannot be maintained, which is now almost certain. This opens a very gloomy prospect."