December 4, 2005

 

The Fall of the House of BUSH II ?
IRAQ : NOBLE'S MYSTIC SHRINE

"a mighty Spanish chestnut, bare now of leaves, but in summer a noble tree"

NOBLE : Nobilis. A gold coin formerly used in England, worth half of a mark. Quakers. "What poor an instrument/May do a noble deed!"

nebulae : In ASTRONOMY, a hazy patch of LIGHT visible in the sky. Some nebulae are clouds of GAS within the MILKY WAY; others are distant GALAXIES.

incunabula : infancy, swaddling clothes, cradle, blank slate.

Botswana triphibian's tribulation : Great affliction, trial, or distress; An experience that tests one's endurance, patience, or faith.

mystic : 1. Of or relating to religious mysteries or occult rites and practices. 2. The Eastern Question; MYSTERY.

The Eastern Question refers to the diplomatic problems associated with the decline of the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. The once-mighty Turkish empire had achieved its highest point of power and prosperity during the 16th century, but by the late 18th century it was experiencing pressures from inside and outside its borders that threatened its continued existence.

The interested parties could not agree on a solution to the Eastern Question. The European powers recognized two major courses of action as feasible: They could agree on maintaining a weak Ottoman Empire, or they could conspire together to partition it. It was feared that the latter solution would alter the European balance of power to the extent that new diplomatic disputes would arise and threaten peace. Another complicating condition was the emergence of nationalism among the subject peoples of European Turkey. During the 19th century the Serbs, Greeks, Romanians, and Bulgarians struggled against their Turkish rulers to establish their own nation states--not always with the approval of all the European powers.

Having neither the potential nor the resources to resist strong pressures, the Ottoman Empire skillfully exploited international rivalries. While Austria and Russia, in particular, sought to expand southward into the Balkans at the expense of the weak Turks, Britain generally sought to counter these advances by supporting the Ottoman government in its diplomatic and, on occasion, its military struggles. The British wanted especially to prevent Russia from acquiring control of Constantinople and the strategic Straits, which would have threatened Britain's lucrative trade ties with Turkey, its Mediterranean naval power, and its dominant position in India.

The Greek War of Independence (1821-29), the crises provoked by Muhammad Ali Pasha's wars with the Turks (1831-33 and 1839-41), the Crimean War (1853-56), and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 were conflicts associated with the complex Eastern Question. It receded into the diplomatic background only after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I.

"peace with honor"