War and Retribution

War and Retribution BY DR. JOSEPH M. TANNER.

Practically all Europe is today at war. Is it a just retribution? In the year 1878 the European powers that are now grappling for supremacy at arms sat in conference in the city of Berlin, after the Russo-Turkish war. In that war Russia had won the freedom of the Balkan states with the aid of the inhabitants of the Balkans themselves. The Balkan people were mostly kindred to Russia. They were people of the same race, the Slavs. The central and most powerful of the Slavs of the Balkans were the Serbs whose growth and military power might become very objectionable to Austria. The Serbs had fought valiantly for their liberty along with their Russian brethren of the north, and when Russia was about to snatch the fruits of that victory, Europe stepped in and cried, halt ! Russia against all Europe was unthinkable, and the Russians bowed to the inevitable. The Serbs were entitled to their fullest liberty, and deserved the fruits of their national achievements. In that fateful hour Europe stepped in and inflicted an incalculable wrong upon Servia. In those days Germany was the dominating power of continental Europe. Bismarck was anxious to promote the dual alliance between Austria and the German empire, and when Austria insisted that the Servians must be broken asunder, Bismark's dominating influence and the celebrated treaty of Berlin, in 1878. compelled the acquiescence of all the other powers. The western portion of Servia was divided into Austrian protectorates, under the names of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was one of the most cruel strokes of international diplomacy; it was a wicked thing to do. Austria had determined to absorb into that dual empire the Slav race of the Balkans in southern Europe. Russia had given them their freedom by its treasury and its blood. Austria had not lifted a hand in the liberation of the Slavic races to the south of the Danube, and yet what she did was to claim ultimately the best if not all the fruits of the Russian and Slavonic victory. However, Servia was divided, an act which the Servians have always bitterly resented. One of the reasons for such a division of Servia was so to hem that nation in that its growth and development would well nigh be impossible. Servia had no outlets to the markets of the world and for these the Servians have been carrying on against

1068 IMPROVEMENT ERA Austria what has been sarcastically called "the hog and poultry war." The hogs and poultry business of Servia amounted to millions, and gave promise of great wealth to that country. These articles could not be gotten into the markets of the world without crossing Austrian territory. If the Servians sent a hog to London, the Austrians held it up under the most aggravating regulations of quarantine, and such exports under such conditions were made at times wholly valueless. Think of it. Chickens have sold in Servia for five cents apiece and hogs were scarcely worth a dollar, all because Austria, in her anti-Servian policy, wanted to hem in that Slavic people and retard their progress. In time, (1908) Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was in the Austrian program also to take advantage of the first pretext for annexing Servia. During the late war between the Balkan allies and Turkey, Servia gave a good account of herself on the field of battle. She fought her way to the Adriatic and captured the seaport of Durazzo. Again the concert of Europe inflicted a gross wrong upon Servia when, in the treaty of London, they compelled the Servians to surrender Durazzo and withdraw her rights to a seaport that was almost necessary for Servia's existence. Again Europe, at the behest of Austria, showed injustice and crime to their wants; and that mockery, the concert of Europe, is now reaping the whirlwind. Austrian demands, backed by German power and influence, forced these concessions from the unwilling nations of Europe, who have at last stated, "We shall not bow another inch." The refusal of the rest of Europe to bow any farther, and the refusal of Russia, France and England to follow the lead of Germany in Austria's new extension program, is justified no doubt by their present belief that that dual alliance of Germany and Austria cannot force further concessions even at the point of the sword. Why did these nations not resist in 1878 and prevent a gross international wrong ? Why did they not do their duty, and in the recent treaty of London, following the Balkan war, give to the Servians that to which, by every principle of right, they were entitled, and leave the Servians free in the use of the port on the Adriatic which they had conquered from Turkey ? It's the old story the fear of German supremacy ! For forty years the German supremacy has been feared in Europe. For forty years that supremacy has been the controlling factor in the concert of Europe. Today it is disputed and must be settled by the arbiter of war. Is the present war a just retribution for the wrongs of Europe?