The conference which the signatory powers of the Treaty of Lausanne have been invited to attend at Mon~ treux raises questions regarding the international treatment of the Straits and in 20. doing. illustrates how amazingly even the passage of ten years can completely alter the aspect Of. political problem. Incidentally, it's equally curious to find how sistently. the strategic and geoigraphleal importance of certain places {mpress themselves on world atten tion whether the period be ancient or modern, The question of the Straits was originally raised by the foundation of the powerful state fon the Aslatle shore of the Dardan-tiles towards the end of the Bronze Age, with Troy as its capital, and having carried the history of the Stvalts og for back as that it is probably not necessary to elaborate its antiquity or stress the vicissitudes of the famous waters through the histories of Rome, Greece, the great days of Turkey, down to Napoleon and Mustapha Kemal himself. The Treaty fof Lausanne, which was signed in July" 1923, provided for the devil iarization'of territory adjoining the common frontier of Greece and Turkey and Bulgaria and Turkey, and also It comprised a separate chapter. constituting a convention governing the international position of the Straits. The principle of freedom of transit through the Straits was rec-agnized and this included the Sea of Marmora, Merchant: vessels and flvil alrerafi were to have complete freedom of passage in time of peace. So, too, were warships and military aircraft, subject to certain restric tions, among them being one which prescribed that the maximum force of any one power entering the Black
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.