F. Scott Fitzgerald - "The Beautiful and Damned"

E. Cohen Brewer - "Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama"

P.A. Sheehan - "My New Curate"

Frances Parkinson Keyes - "The Old Gray Homestead"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Current History, A Monthly Magazine

N >> New York Times >> Current History, A Monthly Magazine




_On Sept. 27 a Turkish destroyer having been stopped by a British
destroyer outside the Dardanelles, the Turkish Government ordered the
straits closed to all shipping._

_The Turkish Government tried to justify in the official press of
Constantinople the measure of closing the straits by declaring that
this important step was undertaken only after a Franco-British fleet
had established an actual blockade of the straits to the detriment of
Turkish commerce and neutral navigation. The Government organ, The
Tasfiri-Efkiar, said:_

The powers are trying to justify the mobilization of Switzerland, and
are making a great case of Belgian neutrality, but meantime they
consider our mobilization as having no other purpose than an
aggression against our neighbors.

Now, if the neutrality of Switzerland, which is guaranteed by all the
powers, is likely to be endangered, how is it possible for us to
remain calm and undisturbed in this universal upheaval, so long as we
know that to annoy and continually harass Turkey according to the
fancies of Europe has well-nigh become a sort of fashion?

Those powers that are dissatisfied at our mobilization are eager to
find our anxiety as without foundation for the mere reason that our
territorial integrity remains under the guarantee of all the powers.
But where was that guarantee when Tripoli and Cyrenaica were attacked
in a way little differing from open brigandage? And was it not the
same powers who forgot their guaranties in the Balkan Peninsula when
they abolished the famous status quo? With such facts before us is it
not ridiculous to speak of European guaranties? While we have now
before us what happened to Belgium, why should our mobilization excite
such widespread indignation? All we are trying to do is to safeguard
and protect our interests and protect ourselves from aggression on the
part of the Balkan States.


WAR DECLARED.

_On Oct. 29, 1914, the attack of the Turkish forces upon Russia and
England was delivered. Following is the official Turkish version of
the events leading to the rupture of diplomatic relations between
Turkey and the Triple Entente, contained in the first Turkish
communique of the war, appearing in the Turkish press on Oct. 31,
1914:_

While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet was
manoeuvring in the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first
confined its activities to following and hindering every one of our
movements, finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began hostilities by
attacking the Ottoman fleet.

During the naval battle which ensued the Turkish fleet, with the help
of the Almighty, sank the mine-layer Pruth, displacing 5,000 tons and
having a cargo of 700 mines; inflicted severe damage on one of the
Russian torpedo boats, and captured a collier.

A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-Millet sank the
Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish torpedo
boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage on a Russian
coastguard ship.

Three officers and seventy-two sailors, rescued by our men and
belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken vessels of the
Russian fleet, have been made prisoners. The Ottoman imperial fleet,
glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the battle is
progressing favorably for us.

The Imperial Government will no doubt protest most energetically
against this hostile action of the Russian fleet against a small part
of our fleet.

Information received from our fleet now in the Black Sea is as
follows: From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners and from the
presence of a mine-layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered
that the Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosphorus
with mines and destroying entirely the imperial Ottoman fleet after
having split it in two. Our fleet, believing that it had to face an
unexpected attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun
hostilities without a formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered
Russian fleet, bombarded the port of Sebastopol, destroyed in the city
of Novorosiysk fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports,
some granaries, and the wireless telegraph station.

In addition to the above, our fleet has sunk in Odessa a Russian
cruiser and damaged severely another. It is believed that this second
boat was likewise sunk. Five other steamers full of cargoes lying in
the same port were seriously damaged. A steamship belonging to the
Russian volunteer fleet was also sunk, and five petroleum depots were
destroyed.

In Odessa and Sebastopol, the Russians from the shore opened fire
against our fleet.

The officers and crews of the mine-layer Pruth were subjected to a
rigid examination.

Eight or ten days ago the Pruth, lying in the roadstead of Sebastopol,
received a cargo of mines and was put under the command of officers
who for a number of years past had been training on board the Russian
depot ship in Constantinople and therefore had become familiar with
the ins and outs of the Bosphorus.

As soon as it became known that a small part of the Turkish fleet went
out to the Black Sea, the Russian fleet sailed from Sebastopol,
leaving only an adequate squadron for the protection of the city, and
on Oct. 27 put to sea, taking a southerly direction with the rest of
its forces. On the next day the mine-layer Pruth left Sebastopol and
steamed southward.

The Russian fleet, acting in different ways, intended to fill with
mines the entrance of the Bosphorus, attack the weak squadron of the
Ottoman fleet, at that time on the high seas, and cause the
destruction of the rest of the Turkish fleet, which, being left in the
Bosphorus, would rush to the assistance of the light flotilla, and,
encountering the mines, would be destroyed.

Our warships manoeuvring on the high seas met the mine-layer Pruth as
well as the torpedo boats accompanying her, and thus took place the
events already known from previous communications.

The rescued Russian officers are five in number, one of them a
Lieutenant Commander. The prisoners have been sent to Ismid.

This successful action on the part of our squadron, which only by
chance came to be on the high seas at the time of the naval battle, is
itself one of the utmost importance for us, as it assures the future
of our fleet.


THE SULTAN'S PROCLAMATION.

_As soon as war was declared against Russia, England, and consequently
France, the Sultan issued the following proclamation to his troops:_

To my army! To my navy!

Immediately after the war between the Great powers began, I called you
to arms in order to be able in case of trouble to protect the
existence of empire and country from any assault on the part of our
enemies, who are only awaiting the chance to attack us suddenly and
unexpectedly as they have always done.

While we were thus in a state of armed neutrality, a part of the
Russian fleet, which was going to lay mines at the entrance of the
straits of the Black Sea, suddenly opened fire against a squadron of
our own fleet at the time engaged in manoeuvres.

While we were expecting reparation from Russia for this unjustified
attack, contrary to international law, the empire just named, as well
as its allies, recalled their Ambassadors and severed diplomatic
relations with our country.

The fleets of England and France have bombarded the straits of the
Dardanelles, and the British fleet has shelled the harbor of Akbah on
the Red Sea. In the face of such successive proofs of wanton hostility
we have been forced to abandon the peaceful attitude for which we
always strove, and now in common with our allies, Germany and Austria,
we turn to arms in order to safeguard our lawful interests.

The Russian Empire during the last three hundred years has caused our
country to suffer many losses in territory, and when we finally arose
to that sentiment of awakening and regeneration which would increase
our national welfare and our power, the Russian Empire made every
effort to destroy our attempts, either with war or with numerous
machinations and intrigues. Russia, England, and France never for a
moment ceased harboring ill-will against our Caliphate, to which
millions of Mussulmans, suffering under the tyranny of foreign
domination, are religiously and whole-heartedly devoted, and it was
always these powers that started every misfortune that came upon us.

Therefore, in this mighty struggle which now we are undertaking, we
once for all will put an end to the attacks made from one side against
the Caliphate, and from the other against the existence of our
country.

The wounds inflicted, with the help of the Almighty, by my fleet in
the Black Sea, and by my army in the Dardanelles, in Akbah, and on the
Caucasian frontiers against our enemies, have strengthened in us the
conviction that our sacred struggle for a right cause will triumph.
The fact, moreover, that today the countries and armies of our enemies
are being crushed under the heels of our allies is a good sign, making
our conviction as regards final success still stronger.

My heroes! My soldiers! In this sacred war and struggle, which we
began against the enemies who have undermined our religion and our
holy fatherland, never for a single moment cease from strenuous effort
and from self-abnegation.

Throw yourselves against the enemy as lions, bearing in mind that the
very existence of our empire, and of 300,000,000 Moslems whom I have
summoned by sacred Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your
victory.

The hearty wishes and prayers of 300,000,000 innocent and tortured
faithful, whose faces are turned in ecstasy and devotion to the Lord
of the universe in the mosques and the shrine of the Kaabah, are with
you.

My children! My soldiers! No army in the history of the world was ever
honored with a duty as sacred and as great as is yours. By fulfilling
it, show that you are the worthy descendants of the Ottoman Armies
that in the past made the world tremble, and make it impossible for
any foe of our faith and country to tread on our ground, and disturb
the peace of the sacred soil of Yemen, where the inspiring tomb of our
prophet lies. Prove beyond doubt to the enemies of the country that
there exist an Ottoman Army and Navy which know how to defend their
faith, their country and their military honor, and how to defy death
for their sovereign!

Right and loyalty are on our side, and hatred and tyranny on the side
of our enemies, and therefore there is no doubt that the Divine help
and assistance of the just God and the moral support of our glorious
Prophet will be on our side to encourage us. I feel convinced that
from this struggle we shall emerge as an empire that has made good the
losses of the past and is once more glorious and powerful.

Do not forget that you are brothers in arms of the strongest and
bravest armies of the world, with whom we now are fighting shoulder to
shoulder. Let those of you who are to die a martyr's death be
messengers of victory to those who have gone before us, and let the
victory be sacred and the sword be sharp of those of you who are to
remain in life.

MEHMED-RESHAD.

On the 22 Djilhidje, 1332.
Or October 29, 1914.


VERBATIM TERMS OF THE FETWA

(Sultan's Proclamation of a Holy War.)

_The issuance by the Sultan of the Fetwa, or proclamation, announcing
a holy war, called upon all Mussulmans capable of carrying arms--and
even upon Mussulman women--to fight against the powers with whom the
Sultan was at war. In this manner, according to Constantinople
newspapers, the holy war became a duty not only for all Ottoman
subjects, but for the 300,000,000 Moslems of the earth. The Turkish
newspaper Ikdam called upon the people as follows:_

Mussulmans, open your eyes! Grasp your weapons; trust to God. Hurl
yourselves with full might against the foe! As the Caliph has said,
the Divine help will be with us. Forward! Sons of Islam! There is no
longer a difference of nationality; there is no longer a difference of
culture. All Mussulmans are united and have but a single wish--to
destroy our foes!

_The wording of the Fetwa itself, however, is less fiery in tone than
the impassioned newspaper appeal. The Fetwa reads as follows:_

First Question--If lands of Islam are subjected to attack by enemies,
if danger threatens Islam, must in that case young and old, infantry
and mounted men, in all parts of the earth inhabited by Mohammedans,
take part in the holy war, with their fortune and their blood, in case
the Padisha declares the war to all Mohammedans? Answer--Yes.

Second Question--Since Russia, England, France, and other States
supporting these three powers against the Islamitic Caliphate have
opened hostilities against the Ottoman Empire by means of their
warships and their land troops, is it necessary that all Mohammedans
also who live in the countries named shall rise against their
Government and take part in the holy war? Answer--Yes.

Third Question--Under all circumstances, since the attainment of the
goal depends upon the participation of all Mohammedans in the holy
war, will those who refuse to join in the general uprising be punished
for conduct so abhorrent? Answer--Yes.

Fourth Question--Mohammedans who live in lands of the enemy may, under
threats against their own lives and the lives of their families, be
forced to fight against the soldiers of the States of Islam. Can such
conduct be punished as forbidden under the Sheriat, and those guilty
thereof be regarded as murderers and punished with the fires of hell?
Answer--Yes.

Fifth Question--Inasmuch as it will be detrimental to the Mohammedan
Caliphate of the Mohammedans who live in Russia, France, England,
Servia, and Montenegro fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary,
which are the saviors of the great Mohammedan Empire, will therefore
those who do so be punished with heavy penalties? Answer--Yes.


BRITAIN'S ANSWER.

[From The London Times, Nov. 6, 1914.]

_A supplement to The London Gazette published yesterday morning
contains the following:_

NOTICE.

Owing to hostile acts committed by Turkish forces under
German officers, a state of war exists between Great Britain
and Turkey as from today.

Foreign Office, Nov. 5, 1914.

Following this notice is a proclamation extending to the war with
Turkey the Proclamations and Orders in Council now in force relating
to the war, other than the Order in Council of Aug. 4, 1914, with
reference to the departure from British ports of enemy vessels which,
at the outbreak of hostilities, were in such ports or subsequently
entered the same.

The Gazette also contains an Order in Council, dated Nov. 5, annexing
the Island of Cyprus.

The order, after reciting the Convention of June 4, 1878, the Annex
thereto, and the Agreement of Aug. 14, 1878, by which the Sultan of
Turkey assigned the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered
by England, and affirming that by reason of the outbreak of
hostilities with Turkey the Convention, Annex, and Agreement have
become annulled, asserts that it has seemed expedient to annex the
island. His Majesty, with the advice of his Privy Council, has
therefore ordered:

From and after the date hereof the said island shall be
annexed to and form part of his Majesty's dominions, and the
said island is annexed accordingly.


EGYPT'S NEW SULTAN.

_The New Sultan of Egypt, Hussein I., made his State entry on Dec. 20,
1914, into the Abdin Palace, in Cairo. The streets were lined with
troops and the progress of their new ruler was watched by thousands of
enthusiastic spectators. The King of England sent a telegram to the
Sultan, to which his Highness replied thanking his Majesty for the
promised British support. A new Cabinet had already been formed.
Rushdi Pasha retained the position of Prime Minister and the portfolio
of the Interior. Following is King George's telegram to the Sultan:_

On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I
desire to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere
friendship and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding
the integrity of Egypt and in securing her future well-being and
prosperity.

Your Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities
of your high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt,
and I feel convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of
your Ministers and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to
overcome all the influences which are seeking to destroy the
independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty, and happiness of its
people.

GEORGE R. AND I.


_The Sultan telegraphed the following reply:_

To his Majesty the King, London.

I present to your Majesty the expression of my deepest gratitude for
the feelings of friendship with which you see fit to honor me and for
the assurance of your valuable support in safeguarding the integrity
and independence of Egypt.

Conscious of the responsibilities I have just assumed, and resolved to
devote myself, in entire co-operation with the Protectorate, to the
progress and welfare of my people, I am happy to be able to count in
this task on your Majesty's protection and on the assistance of your
Government.

HUSSEIN KAMEL.




Servia and Her Neighbors

The utterances of Servia's statesmen and people since the
war began have not appeared in English. Only accounts of
fighting by the nation from which the great conflagration
started have been printed. How Servia has judged the issues
while conducting her struggle against annihilation, and how
the neighboring Balkan States regard her, are
authoritatively presented below.


_Premier Pashitch spoke in the Skuptschina, or Servian Parliament, on
Aug. 4, 1914, and made the following declaration given to the press by
the Official Servian Bureau:_

Mr. Pashitch laid stress on the fact that the Serajevo affair was used
as pretext for the war, desired long ago by the Austrian Monarchy,
which did not look on Pan-Serbism with a favorable eye, while the
aspirations of other countries of Rumania, Germany, and Italy were
tolerated. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy wished to crush Servian
aspirations by curbing the Servian prestige.

In answering the Austrian note, Mr. Pashitch said, we reached the
extreme limits of submission to her demands. We did everything in
order to avoid the conflict and prove that we were peaceful. Now, all
united, we will defend our rights.

We rely on the sympathy and support of great and sisterly Russia, who
knows that our foes have been conspiring against our independence and
our progress, and who will not permit our prestige to be crushed. At
the side of Russia we have other friends.

(Long live Russia! Long live England! Long live France! Long live the
Triple Entente!)

I thank the Opposition--continued Mr. Pashitch--because she has united
with us in these critical moments, forgetting in the face of danger
party lines and the dissension of opinions.

_From Nish the following official communication was telegraphed to the
foreign press by the Government Bureau on Aug. 9, 1914:_

The Servian mobilization was effected with marvelous order, and once
more it proved the good military organization of Servia, and how much
the country can rely on the patriotic devotion of her soldiers.

Notwithstanding the erroneous statements of a part of the foreign
press, notwithstanding the speedy development of events,
notwithstanding the season of work in the fields, fully 80 per cent.
of the reserves presented themselves on the first day of mobilization,
which was completed amid general enthusiasm.

For a long time the Servians knew that the main struggle would be
turned against Austria. The Montenegrin and Servian peoples enter the
war against the common foe with an equal confidence in their armies.
The enthusiasm of these two countries is all the stronger from the
fact that they are fighting simultaneously with the aid of the
Russians, French, and English. Numerous manifestations have taken
place in Servian and Montenegrin cities in favor of Russia, France,
and England.


THE BULGARIAN MENACE.

_Following is the account of the declaration of the Servian Minister
of Commerce, Mr. Paul Maringovich, published in the Bulgarian
newspaper Mir of Sofia in November, 1914:_

Mr. Maringovich's declarations are characteristic of the
Serbo-Bulgarian relations. This Servian statesman at first spoke of
the trials of the Servian Nation on account of the war, and then
expressed the belief that these trials will pass and Servia will see
better days with the realization of her ideals. Mr. Maringovich
predicts that the differences between Servia and Bulgaria will be
settled in the future and that the two peoples will live in perfect
harmony.

Regarding the Serbo-Bulgarian relations Mr. Maringovich said in the
Mir:

"I am sorry to hear that Bulgaria demands concessions from us. In
exchange for her friendship she demands concessions in Macedonia. But
in this case that cannot be called friendship.

"Bulgaria demands this today because we are at war with Austria, and
we cannot accordingly oppose her. But in doing this she simply betrays
her weakness because it is a certain proof of weakness to strike one
from behind while he is struggling with another. If Bulgaria is proud
and strong she can measure herself with us as soon as the war with
Austria is over. A strong Bulgaria must measure herself with the
strong and not with the weak.

"Why do people in Bulgaria today insist on concessions? Do you know
how many difficulties there are today in the granting of such
territorial concessions? You felt the pain of similar action.
Silistria was taken from you while your army was victoriously marching
on Constantinople. Do not insist on implanting deep in the Servian
heart a mortal hatred against yourselves.

"Do not ask the reason of our dissensions of today, in a difference of
interests, because such difference does not exist, but try to find it
in the arrogance and the conceit of the two nations. We do not
recognize you as a nation. But this recognition must be made with the
understanding that you drop your conceit.

"In Bulgaria people think that at this moment we have the support of
Russia. But there is a mistake even in this, as we are further than
you from Russia. If today Russia offers to us her support she is doing
that because we are struggling against Austria and preventing her from
invading the Balkans.

"To this argument you oppose the treaty of Bucharest. But that treaty
is not our work. By not accepting the Czar's wish in his telegram of
May 5, (18,) 1913, you lost his support. This example from the past
can show you how far you can go when you oppose Russia. But in no case
are you entitled to blame those who are not guilty of your misfortune.

"When Russia undertakes to do something for the Slavs, she always does
it in a way beneficial to the party to which she promised her support.

"When this war is over, when the whole of Slavdom shall be freed, when
in a special congress all the interests of the Slavs shall be
discussed and the services rendered by each and every one of them
shall be weighed, Bulgaria must fear that decisions will be taken
which will be contrary to her and that her interests will be
sacrificed.

"A country must not act always according to her interests. Does not
the Bulgarian people have any obligations toward Russia? Duty always
stands above mere interest.

"When the war is over an entirely different atmosphere will rule in
the souls of the peoples, and it will then be possible to weigh the
actual interests with more equanimity and more calm. At least we
Servians have this opinion."

_The following statement was made by the Servian Minister at
Petrograd, Mr. Spalaikowich, in the Russkoye Slovo:_

What is Bulgaria going to do in the present circumstances? To which
side will she cling? Is not her people going to take the arms against
their secular enemy, the Turks?

This solution would be the most satisfactory for Bulgaria. Now a
chance is given her to fulfill her obligations to Russia, who made her
free. Let the Bulgarian sword be thrust against the secular enemy of
Slavdom and the petty differences be forgotten.

Bulgaria, under the Russian wing, will enter the Slav family united,
strong, and beloved. If she remains inactive she will drag herself
poor and forgotten by all and full of regrets.


A PEASANT'S ANSWER.

_As illustrating the popular feeling in Bulgaria the following letter
from a peasant to Mr. Maringovich appeared in the official organ of
the Bulgarian Government, Echo de Bulgarie, published in French:_

Your Excellency: I am a plain peasant from the Danube country. While
born on the shores of the beautiful blue Lake of Ochrida, and really,
I cannot understand what is the meaning of your factum, (sic.) What
have you come to do among us? Nobody knows you any more in Sofia. You
are Servian and consequently a foreigner to us Bulgarians. There are
certain pains that nothing can alleviate, nor heal, and there are
wounds that nothing can cicatrize.

Copyright (c) 2007. topboookz.com. All rights reserved.