Hans, you really should brush up on your history. The history of the Byzantine Empire is very interesting. Most of the western Europeans did not worry too much about the Turks because Byzantium was a buffer zone. The Turks were trying to punch through the Byzantines for about 500 years. In the end, it was only their hatred of the Byzantines that kept the various sultans united. Once Constantinople fell, the coalitions broke up and the factions started squabbling amongst themselves. That is why the border of modern Turkey is only slightly past Constantinople, or Istanbul, as the Turks renamed it. As far as the other countries you mentioned, the grew from the wreckage of the Byzantine Empire. Even the Russians, which is why they used the title CZAR (or TSAR) for their ruler. It is a corrupted form of CAESER, which of course was actually pronounced KAISER. Lots of interesting stuff ...
__________________
"Gee, Wally,
Eddie Haskel's mom puts out!"
Am I thinking of events later in history, like the 1300's to the 1700's re the Turkish invasion of Europe? I thought the Turks made a point of "probing" European defenses at least once a year ever since the fall of Byzantium, until the ascent of the Hapsburgs in Austria, then they kind of just fizzled out with no military activity until they clashed with the Russians in the Crimea...
Anyway, Thanks for the conversion from grams to grains!
Hey, I almost forgot...the Turks DID invade Europe...The Balkans!
So that's why most Bosnians and Kosovars are muslim!
On a related note, I read that the Turks took orphaned Serbian boys and raised them to be the Sultan's personal guards...they were highly esteemed was valiant warriors in the eyes of the Turks...
Yes, that was a later time period. The eastern European countries rose from the ruins of the Byzantine empire after it was destroyed by the Turks.. I said they did not successfully invade western Europe, which arose from the "Holy Roman Empire". The Holy Roman Empire collapsed due to economic ruin and intense political rivalry. Technically, Vatican City can still be considered part of the Holy Roman Empire.
__________________
"Gee, Wally,
Eddie Haskel's mom puts out!"
Yes, I'm afraid that this kind of hatred lasts a long time because the animosity seems to be passed on from generation to generation...Sadly, there's no easy answer or fix for this, and this kind of thing happens all over the world, as we all know.
I guess that's why America is so special, that even with all our differences, we can still stick together in the worst of times...
Hey Guys, I found the catalog I was looking for, but the phone # is out of service, with no forwarding number. The bussiness name was Jack L Martinez, INC (M.A.R.S) out of Bakersfield Calif. I tried to look him up in the computer yellow pages but no luck. Maybe somebody can find a good Phone # for him, he had parts for everything under the sun. If somebody finds a good # please post it here.
__________________
Remember, the easy path IS ALWAYS Mined...
Anybody Here? 
Anybody Here? 
