The Balkan Peninsula

contests of races-on the path from the cold north of Europe to the warm south; on the path from Asia to Europe; and each great campaign left b

may try to think that they are friends with others; but all have something of ha

est and the worst of them. I have been an unofficial member of a Bulgarian court-martial; the guest of a dozen and more Bulgarian and Serbian army outposts, dependent often for food and shelter on the kindness of peasant soldiers; for days have held at the mercy of Balkan peasants my life and my property; have been mistaken for a wandering Turk twice, and have never suffered violence, rudeness, or the loss of a pennyworth. For the peasants, the commonfolk of all the Balkan peoples, I have come thus to a hearty liking; their priests and politicians (with a few exceptions), a different feeling. Knowing that the massacre is the national sport in many districts of the

od & Un

AN TRI

the Turkish occupation a Bulgarian mother finding herself with child after violence by a Turk brought up the child with her family, w

r up to five francs for a loaf without tempting him to sell it. Finally I had to get bread as a charity by declaring that I was actually in want of it for food. Later, travelling between Silivri and Chatalja, I encountered four Bulga

officers. Nearly always I had the same experience, that I was made free of the stewed goat and rice, or the dish of eggs and flour, or the bread and cheese of the Bulgarians, and when I wished to add from m

a sort of an education-often abroad-and becomes the lawyer, politician, official. In very many cases he carries with him into a higher stratum of society few of his peasant virtues and all of his peasant faults. He gets an overweening pride in his own acuteness. He becomes arrogant, "too-clever-by-half," and intrigue teaches him cruelty. I can contrast vividly two Bulgarian types in a noted diplomat, who fancied himself a Bismarck

that I was with the main army I saw no trace of outrage or cr

y's march. A vedette outpost of five men held the bridge. They took me-as I judged from their gestures rather than from their language, of which I understood only one word, "Turc"-for a Turk. But they let me stay unmolested at their camp fire for an hour until an officer

page

K IN

ause most of the trouble when the Turk lives by the side of a Christian population); much addicted to sweetmeats-his shops were full of Scotch lollies and English biscuits. Certainly most of the Turks I have encountered were prisoners or dwelling in conquered country. But, making all allowance for that, the traditional fiery Turk of martial fame no longe

of joy, as he had been without it for long. The horses carried the cart a gallant thirty miles that day, and we camped at a burned-out village. Mr. Turk set himself to enjoy a smoke over the fire. My own supper I prepared, and gave him some to eke out his bread and cheese, and then told him to water and feed the horses. Because the well was 400 yards away and the tobacco was sweet and the fire comforting, the Turk had no wish to do this, but was ready to le

e, no water supply (I was not in Adrianople). Except for a few agricultural peasants I found nowhere the Turk doing any useful work. In a characteristic Turkish town the shops were kept by Greeks, the industries carried on by Greeks, Macedonians, and Bulg

u will understand from the first glance at the men more of the interminable Balkan difficulty than newspapers and books can ever teach you. These are the fellows who swoop down from their peaks on the mixed races of the plains and carry fire and slaughter through village and valley. Their natural aptitude for

ad letter. It is the most strongly marked and salient type I have ever met with. There is the Moslem walk, the Moslem scowl, the Moslem courtesy, the Moslem dignity, the Moslem carriage and attitudes and features, the Moslem composure, and the Moslem fury. All thes

ty. Every race goes through a time when the virile estimate of life and the splendour of self-assertion seem the finest things possible. It is at this time it is open to the attack of El Islam. The Moslem religion answers all its needs at this stage, and lays good hold of it, and havin

anople-the Bulgarians found it necessary to burn a village for strategic reasons. The chance was offered to the Press photographers of seeing this, if it were represented in their pictures as the atrocious burning of a village by the Turks. I believe that the offer was accepted by some. The "atrocities" by Turks, regularly recorded by the Bulgarian Press B

e for long in Europe. As a matter of hard fact th

ulgarian would supply incomparable infantry, the Serbians be superior in artillery and cavalry. In social life the Serbian is convivial and hospitable. Whilst the Bulgarian wishes to go to bed early that

nd the two camps was great. The Serbian men were smarter, better equipped, their quarters cleaner, and from their m

then already existed in the Serbian mind a desire to modify the territorial partition arrangement they had with Bulgaria and this request for aid might have been taken as a good opportunity for raising that question. I believe those to be the facts, but since in Balkan diplomacy it is always a matter of finding out the truth of comparing and weighing and deducing from a series of lies, I cannot state them wi

ng salt into her bare carcase. The Turkish delegates approached the Serbians-whose territorial demands as far as Turkey was concerned were satisfied, but who had a pending controversy with the Bulgarians-hoping to get some moral support against Bulgaria and being prepared to offer something in return. Th

page

PON THE ALBA

ll were wrong. The Greeks did exceedingly well in the field, even allowing that they sometimes shaped their campaign quite as much by considerations of jealousy of their allies as of hostility to the common enemy. But it is a fact that the Greek has usu

be urged to support autonomy for Thrace. Well, the Turks are back at Kirk Kilisse, and I suppose my Greek friends are happy. Eloquent, courteous, kind folk they were. I stayed in the house of one for some days, and will remember always the gracious kindness of the man and his wif

horses and to stock up my provisions, the permission was withdrawn because Bashi-Bazouks were raiding along the line of communication. I mi

ly, "he is a Greek.

owed to borrow a rifle and some ammunition. We met no Bashi-Bazouks: but whilst the Bulgarian palpably was quite content to enter into a plan to give the Bashi-Bazouks a chance of showing themselves at nightfall, the Greek l

aps. Others held to the fez, but had marked on it with white chalk a cross. I formed the opinion that if by the fortune of war the Turks came back, those crosses would be rubbed out. The Greek can be very pliant undoubtedly, when he is in

d-looking race, and Roumanian girls are sought after in marriage a great deal. A Serbian politician explaining to me what he called "a nice national balance," pointed out that the Serbians rather despised trade and f

he Greek and the Roumanian are very keen traders with an inclination to escape from manual work as soon as they can. The Bulgarian is a trader and also

ander" of the Serbian and shares Serbian language, customs, and character with such modifications as the conditions of his mountain life impose. But the Albanian, the largely Mohammedan mountain type to which the jealousies of Europe have agreed to give a separate nationality and a separate kingdom, calls for some attention. The Albanian is the wildest of the Balkan types, and his country the most primitive. It has had no period of civilisation, and can hardly be said to promise to have. Its existence as a nation in 1914 was due to the fact that the German Powers wished to have a footing in the Balkans for intrigue. "The creation of Albania dealt a death-blow to the Balkan League," said a cynical Austrian diplomatist recen

a to the Adriatic coast during the

wild and uncultivated! Prishtina, Jakovitsa, and Prizrend are in every respect behind Mirigevo [a village some miles outside Belgrade]. There are neither bridges nor roads, nor decent dwellings to be met with in the Sanjak. Of the dirt I cannot trust myself to speak. The "Ujumat"

sure to kill them, so they were hidden indoors. The first use they made of the liberty we gave them was to hunt the pigs into the open air, and how the poor beasts enjoyed it! One could not help laughing at their antics as they chased each other, while the children ran to keep them from escaping to the woods. But the cows and oxen defy description. They are like our calves, only the shape is queer. I saw no vegetables anywhere. The staple diet is maize. From our frontier to the sea it is the same tale of misery, he

same. And for all practical purposes they are right. The Christian Albanians are called by their race brethren "Catholics," and are hated and persecuted by them just as the Serbians are hated and persecuted. The "Catholics" loathe the Mohammedans and deny that they are of the same nationality. But the fact remains that they speak the same language. The Catholics welcomed us with joy, rendered us every possible service, and often refused to accept payment. They are eager to assist in our operations, acted as scouts for us, and brought us precious information. So

h ammunition is sometimes scarce, but the Montenegrin can better spare bread than shot. He will do nothing but fight, and ships often remain unladen here for days, because there are few Albanians in the place to do the work. My soldiers carry sacks and burdens of all kinds to and from the ships, and the Montenegrins laugh at them and say: "Is that how you fight, Brother Shumadi

of Serb intolerance in that letter, bu

elements create: for there is no fact more clear than that the general interest of the countries could best be served by a wise policy of compromise and co-operation, bringing its differen

an victories), now commanding a Russian army; M. Venizuelos, Prime Minister of Greece; M. Take Jonescu, of the Roumanian Cabinet. All men of power, none seemingly has sufficient strength to

rear of his army during the 1912 campaign against Turkey. But whatever the cause, his absence from the front showed a serious weakness of character in a man who aspired to carve out an empire for himself. The Bulgarian authorities, deceiving the Press almost as assiduously for the purpose as for the false representation that all the destruction of the Turkish forces was ascribable to the Bulgarian arms, gave to Europe inspiriting pictures of His Majesty following close on the heels of his soldiers in a military train which served him as a palace. The fact was that the ambitious but timid king kept very well to the rear, at Stara Zagora first and afterwards at Kirk Kilisse, with a great entourage of secret police. And when armistice negotiations were in progress he kept separate from his Cabinet as well as from his army. Affable in manner, industrious, pertinacious, well aware of the advantage of advertisement (my first m

y small group of correspondents who had got through to the front. His personal staff worshipped him, and told with pride that most of the staff work with him on the battle-field was under fire. When it was clear that the attack at Chatalja had failed, General Demetrieff neither attempted to tell falsehoods nor shut himself off from visitors. He ascribed the cessation of the attack to the outbreak of cholera in the Bulgarian lines (and the statement was probably in his mind not only the tru

est. M. Daneff was a more virile man, and his force of character, with little guidance from experience, of liberal education, or from wise purpose, had much to do with the downfall of Bulgaria. Of the Balkan Peace Conference which met first in London in December 1912, M. Daneff attempted from the outset to be dictator. He never lost a chance of being rude to an opponent or fulsome to a supporter. He diplomatised by pronunciamento and made a vigorous use of the minor newspaper Press with the idea of overawing the chancelleries of Europe. I am sure that the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, had

have made the chances of peace better; and probably he had an expectation of being chosen as being the senior in official rank of all those present. But the jealousy and distrust of Greece was great: and M. Venizuelos did not prove himself the man of genius who could overcome th

the Balkan States. As the Minister of a Balkan Union to a great Power he would be admirable, for he has tact and wit, and a knowledge of the value of truth. When it was made plain that Austria was to have her way and Serbia no territory on the Adriatic, the disappointment of Serbia was bitter: and there was some special blame of Great Britain

ying the tenets of "The Prince" with cold precision, and marks its author as the master mind of the Balkans to-day. Give such a man a good soldier people to follow him and an honest purpose, and a Balkan Confederation might be achieved

ow to ensure internal peace and freedom from outside interference. A great man could build up a greater Switzerland, perhaps, of the Slavs, the Greeks, and the Roumanians in the Balkan Peninsul

N

, Empe

4, 65, 68 des

occupati

coast, 15

slands,

i, t

17, 62 cond

cter, 173, 193

tain

tenberg. See Ale

of Bulgaria, 47

er the

ar corresp

, Sultan o

, Sultan of

tectu

nli,

eni

163, 164 mod

nd cra

r, invasi

invasion

yri

akha

and Serbia

e Balkans, 45, 46, 49 wa

he Christian

Sultan of

5, 53, 55, 57, 59, 74, 174

in the war, 87,

tee, t

opmen

macy,

on, 75

ains,

1912, 75, 78, 80, 81, 176

esma

, 176 peoples a

ician

sts,

smen,

912, 46,

esume

en,

c Sea

ng, 1

uks, 26, 3

e Bulgar-

cultiva

6, 124, 146

arab

or E. T. F.,

ylas of Mo

3, 5, 120 l

mist,

ia,

dical Detachmen

ss Hosp

eons

est, 3

-Pes

37 an autonomous

ten

es of (1

influenc

nment

ation

erbian

h provin

ersal su

r, 12

To-day, extr

itions, 61 ar

of 19

citi

s in Mace

nomy

ers,

ip. See

ter, 1

rch

riat, 69

ps,

cy, 85-

ic intri

chat

ce, 6

rals

mony

ital

stry

service,

y tacti

tion, 59

egotiat

ants

ess for w

Bure

of 1875

Servi

land ten

Liberat

en,

3, 4, 9

r. Noel,

rt, 164 tra

és,

ets,

sus,

98, 100, 101, 115, 12

econd

inje

ng of Rouma

a, 61,

rso

sone

dysenter

rlu

. See Ar

of Berl

14, 15, 20, 26, 43, 61,

-spinn

cier syste

excavat

War, 32,

ers, t

c chara

ans,

f, M.

King of Mon

2, 3, 7,

elles,

the e

the you

General, 67,

ravages

er Ri

ter R

ossac

Rive

chy, probl

igno

azz

n Chur

n Rume

n influ

ideri

ation

r correspo

os

oi, 136,

agrah,

Zagor

tal, 174 dipl

y and Ro

anc

cy,

in 1912

intere

nterventi

ine

e Christ

ia, 47, 49, 50, 108, 152,

burg. See Ferdi

King of t

ugric

Martyrs of

cidal

k Barbar

r corresp

, Peninsu

ical pos

ida

Power

r corresp

See D

8, 9, 13, 20 i

an disunion,

urkish

ece

in Macedonia, 51

rch

isati

st,

omac

11, 12, 13,

, fall

s in Rou

al rep

archa

otism

ster. See

tions

indepen

eks

r Edward

a Redo

off,

es. Se

provinc

resor

dotu

ovina,

y, Ear

n, Mr.

services,

ans, 11

11, 13 invas

n of,

onal Socia

letter-

ros

ula, 1 war cor

ack, of Mon

i, batt

ina

e censo

e?e

Czar of B

Hunya

gos, Emperor

M. Take

, Colon

lism,

rge." See

isse, 42

ea,

21 battle

endi

endj

ing of S

t, th

progress s

uani

rds,

rning Pos

sbury's pr

as, 68 ba

74 atrocities

re o

res in

ple. See

o Boli

za Ri

Sea of, 6

St. Sof

he national

al spri

ean littor

Czar of B

Brave, of

Pasha,

ia,

attachés,

enovic of

sources in

civilis

sia

medan

ia, 13

ter, 173, 193 prin

e of Turk

th Aus

th Tur

8, 32, 33, 37, 46

ost, the.

os, monas

natio

eon,

strategy, 1

ast, t

tern cha

ef, Dr

eff, Ge

n Riv

ch, M.,

43, 12

c tri

knigh

man

vasions, 13

h Se

Sagor

-Baz

ssa

sso

bi

Serb

l Expre

ogot

n. See

ons, 1

ate Chris

rence. See

f Bucha

f Londo

ians

Great of

, George

of Ma

is, 8, 44 c

Roman E

aisin

ot,

na,

aks

toric

nfluenc

ive tar

cart

proselyt

the, 151

ds,

ch, 16 civ

1, 2,

, decline of

tions

ns,

ltivati

22, 29, 37 Gree

dent princ

of, 4

ion of,

garris

gatio

sh prov

acter, 191, 19

enden

respond

en,

ania

ne

e Balkans, 44, 45, 49 g

at Kirk K

in Bulg

rs of Bu

er,

respond

ese War, ef

manian al

r of 1828, 32 of

, 46, 62

ments, absence o

ns, 4,

General,

uml

ri, 7

ia, 5

resorts,

stop

niki

c inva

26, 37 as a Eu

vernment

rrisons wi

sh prov

r, 186-188 conte

omac

on to Au

ire

, fall

sts,

ander

of terr

rati

resour

tain

Austria

en,

ans,

garian Al

s. See

Pass,

stri

of Bulg

raditi

vs,

a, battl

5 the Militar

av Art Exhi

48 assassin

Zago

King of Serbia

Great, of

en,

erlan

tries

s, 4,

Lieutenant

orl

ra Riv

ic kni

nenus, Czar

ssa

, 44, 51 an

ampaign, 5

o-Dac

-Illyr

Macedon

urch of the Fo

cultivat

ssibilitie

, Ear

jan

ylvan

ities, 155-1

Adrianople

Berlin,

ucharest (1

of Lond

aris (1856)

Stefano, 43,

ches

lliance,

ussian

-in-Eu

6 atrocities, 19

ter, 1

upti

lty,

at the Con

in Bulgaria

chment

on, fi

ion, 17

of ref

urope, dec

oner

at the Peace C

ly,

ulgaria,

n Serb

ncide

ann

ages

, 13 before

-Seve

ra

kans. See Ba

s, Empe

dal

rn

tian

ice

M., 83, 19

109 sieg

es, th

goth

la Ri

paler, of W

a Ri

s. See

nga

chia,

ns. See R

98, 99, 102, 103, 107,

ol, 107,

g of t

nal rec

Liberat

sport

i, 42,

battle

lac

E

R. Clark, Limi

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tist shows us a land in which civilisation is evident and art not unknown. The Australian author (who was with the Bulgarian Army as correspondent for the London Morning Post during the former Balkan War) writes of a people whom he found usu

By Fr

s the cradle of Christian civilisation. Whether to tourists who contemplate a visit to Italy or to those who cannot hope for that pleasure, Italy will be welcome. The author has left to the vivid pictures the main task

AND. By

ands of both heroes and waiters, which is celebrated alike for generous hospitality to refugees and the most strictly commercial hospitality to tourists, has a paradoxical aspect whatever way it is regarde

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e his attention drawn to the features of her life which are most characteristic: residents in England will find interest in studying an impression of their country from a sympathetic

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y, architecture, the doctor, the priest, the midinette, the constitution, the great rivers, the watering-places, hunting, vine-growing, and school life are a few of the many topics that come in orderly sequence in the book. After reading the

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is well worth considering. Its story of romance, its scenery is not behind any in Europe, though, except for the Tyrol and the Dolomites, it is far from well known. In the reconstruction of politica

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OF THE AL

S OF ES

r of the Romance Languages

Ex-member of th

fessor of English Literature

ofessor of Japanese in t

ew College, Oxford; Author of T

ial and Colonial History, King's College, London University;

troduction and App

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ost,

d certainly no patriot, should hesitate to rea

g to the negotiations preceding the war and

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"country-side" and "countrys

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ossovo, Nova Zagora, Chorlu and Zablak are indexed as "Kossova", "Nova Sagora",