the arrival of the slavs and their descent—the appearance of the serbs—servia, before the arrival of the serbs—the primitive serbs—serbs and bulgarians in early days—stephen dobroslav and his son michael—the serb dynasty of nemanya—stephen dushan and urosh—knjes lazar marches against the turks—the battle of kossovo—the death of knjes lazar—vuk brankovi? and george, his son—servia subjected by mohammed ii—servia a turkish province—semendria—goluba? and the via trajana—the peace of passarowitz—serbs help turkey—kara george—the treaty of bucharest—milosh obrenovi?—the stern rule of milosh obrenovi?—michael obrenovi? makes way to alexander karageorgevi?—milosh obrenovi? recalled—michael iii murdered at belgrade—king milan—king milan resigns—peter i, karageorgevi?—servia’s war preparations—the servian army—the causes of the war—the montenegrins—montenegro declares war—the opening of hostilities—the progress of the serbs—capture of monastir and ochrida—the serbs march from ochrida to alessio—occupation of macedonia—turkish optimism—alleged servian atrocities—the credit of the servian army.
in those dark ages preceding the fall of the western roman empire, central europe was seething with migrant nations dimly desirous of settling in some more favoured regions than the vast plains and dense forests whence they came. among the divers races thus impelled were the slavs. they came from what is now southern russia, from the banks of the dnyepr, and penetrated far into the german empire of the present day; traces of them have been found in hanover, colonies of slavs still live in that marshy part of prussia called the “lausitz,” and the people of east prussia itself have a strong admixture of that non-teuton race.
the slavs are said to be descended from the ancient{278} scythians, by some mistakenly held to have been mongolians, but it is unlikely that they kept their racial purity before they set out on their wanderings, and were probably much mixed with tartars and other asiatics who had swarmed over their pastures and hunting-grounds.
the hungarians, breaking into europe along the left bank of the danube, then settling in hungary, drove a wedge in between the slavs, separating them into two masses, which by environment and by mixing with other races gradually developed into distinctive nationalities. systematic colonization by the teutons pressed the northern slavs back towards the east, the influx of the bulgarians into eastern europe intercepted communication between the slavs to north-eastward, and so helped to create that branch of the slav race called the serbs. they came in groups of families, so-called zadrugs, out of the east, each group under its chief or zupan, and settled in the country south of the danube and westward of the bulgarians some time in the beginning of the seventh century, and from that time called themselves serbs.
to the romans this country was known as moesia superior; they built here strong castles to shelter flourishing cities, semendria, for instance, with its serried ranks of square towers. but the romans had to make way to successive waves of savage huns, fierce osthro-goths, and langobardi, who left a wilderness behind them where they had passed. emperor justinian reclaimed this land and added it to his empire in the sixth century, but the good he did was undone by the avari, who broke in from the east and left desolation in their wake. the serbs followed the avari and spread beyond the save into bosnia and montenegro.
the family groups united into clans, and each of these rendered service to an elected head sometimes called the{279} great zupan or kralj (king), or again tsar (emperor). the maintenance of discipline was no easy matter, and frequent dissensions among the turbulent tribesmen rendered the serbs an easy prey to their stronger neighbours. such was the state of affairs when christianity was introduced in the eighth century and made the serbs subject to the eastern empire.
from time to time the neighbouring bulgarians would snatch servia from byzant, but when bulgaria’s power was broken by the emperor of the east, servia again became subject to that empire towards the end of the tenth century.
nearly a century later servia produced a strong man, stephen dobroslav, called boistlav by the greeks; he forced the other zupans into submission, assumed full power, and regained the independence of his country. his son michael succeeded and was confirmed in the royal title of kralj by pope gregory, whose aim was to lessen the power of byzant. but herein he failed, for inner dissensions again broke out among the serbs, the country was forced into the eastern empire again and suffered horribly until in 1165 another stephen, zupan of east servia, reunited the scattered tribes.
this stephen founded the nemanya dynasty and welded the broken tribes into a strong empire. it was called that of rassia, after its capital rasha, now in the sandjak novibazar. the house of nemanya flourished, the empire of rassia overflowed its frontiers, and under stephen dushan, 1331-1355, included macedonia, albania, thessaly, epirus, and bulgaria. stephen took the title of tsar. but with his son stephen urosh, a weakling, the house of nemanya died out.
during the reign of this last tsar dissensions had broken out again. vukashin the voivod rose in rebellion, rendering{280} his country an easy prey to a new foe, more formidable than any the serbs had yet encountered, the turk.
leaving the emperor of the east trembling in his purple throne-room, amurath i was moving over eastern europe with a vast, well-disciplined army, conquering where he went. on the amselfeld at kossovo the serbs first met in battle this enemy whom they have frequently met since, whom they met again so recently, perhaps for the last time in the history of europe.
in vain had the greek emperor appealed to catholic europe for assistance as the horns of the crescent closed in upon byzant. but the serbs responded to the call. reunited once more under knjes lazar, the chivalry of servia, then of high repute, joined with albanians, bosnians, bulgarians, to stem the full-flowing tide of moslems. the armies met at kossovo and battle raged with varying fortunes till evening, but the ranks of the christian forces were thinning rapidly. vukashin had fallen, knjes lazar was captured, and amurath’s son bajazet, called by his men yilderim (lightning) struck swift and sure. milosh kabilovitch, a servian knight, dashed out from among the hard-pressed chivalry and galloped forth as if deserting from the servian ranks. he sought the presence of amurath, alleging that he had important intelligence concerning the plans of the allies. kneeling before amurath he suddenly leapt up and buried his dagger in the sultan’s heart. his astounding strength and agility enabled him to reach the place where he had left his horse, but here he fell under the sabres of the janissaries. amurath survived but to the close of the battle; his last act was to order the death of lazar, the servian king, who, standing in chains, regaled the dying eyes of his conqueror.
bajazet succeeded to the throne of othman on the field of battle and divided servia, forced to pay tribute to the{281} sultan and render military service, between stephen, son of lazar, and vuk brankovi?. the latter’s son george, assisted by hungarians, made a last effort to restore servia’s independence, and succeeded; the peace of szeggedin in 1444 gave servia a few more years of freedom. but after fifteen years mohammed the conqueror marched through servia and put an end to its existence as an independent kingdom for many centuries. the osmanli forced the serbs into subjection by all the cruelties their ingenuity in that direction suggested. nearly all the best families were extirpated, though a few managed to escape to hungary and others took refuge among the black mountains, whence their descendants came down the other day, only a few weeks ago, to meet their old enemy the turk.
the old nobility of servia ceased to exist after mohammed’s conquest, and those who were allowed to remain in time embraced islam, without doing which no one under turkish rule in those days need expect justice or chance of promotion; of the common people two hundred thousand were sold into slavery by the osmanli soldiery, and servia became a turkish province, a sandjak, a purely military terrain d’occupation.
there are still some ancient monuments left standing which tell of the days when servian chivalry hastened to the rescue of constantinople and the cross. semendria, called smederovo by the serbs, once the residence of george brankovi?, who fought for freedom by the side of hunyadi janos. this old roman castle, strengthened by the servian champion, semendria, throws the reflections of its ruined battlements on to the waters of swift-flowing danube.
some way further down the river yet another castle rises sheer above the banks where the mountains close in on either side to form the pass of kazan. the danube narrows down to one-third its width on entering here, it{282} swirls round the base of a steep promontory from which the broken towers of goluba? seem to grow as out of the living rock. crumbling walls and towers, turrets tottering on the brink of a precipice above the swirling waters, such is goluba?, the castle built by vuk brancovi? to guard the entrance to the pass of kazan. an important place, too, in its time, for it controlled the road hewn by trajan’s orders out of the rock through this pass to the iron gates connecting dacia trajana with moesia superior.
for centuries these monuments to servia’s former greatness stood awaiting the rise of servia rejuvenated, goluba? tumbling into ruins, the road it guarded falling into neglect, semendria a stronghold of the osmanli. but during these centuries the serbs lost neither faith nor language nor hope of freedom. songs and epics kept fresh the memories of former days, while the serbs went about their daily business, tilling the soil, watching their herds of swine, living in close family union despite the storms that tore over their land as the hosts of othman pressed westward and towards the north into hungary, up to vienna, or returned flushed with victory or savage because of some defeat.
help came at last, though slowly, and from the side of hungary as it had done three centuries before.
the power of turkey was already on the wane, and the treaty of carlowitz had begun to curtail othman conquests west and north of belgrade. later came the peace of passarowitz in 1718, which promised well for servia, but in reality sowed the seeds of discord between that country and the house of habsburg. a large part of bosnia, formerly in the kingdom of greater servia, was annexed to austria. austrian officials in the newly acquired territory failed to establish good relations between themselves and the serbs, so the latter sided with the turks when emperor charles vi began his unhappy{283} campaign against the sultan in 1738. this service was repaid by the cruelty and excesses of the janissaries, driving the serbs to assist the austrians when emperor joseph ii and catherine ii of russia went to war with sultan mustapha iii. again no advantage accrued to servia, and it was not till 1804 and by her own exertions that freedom came nearer to this downtrodden country.
in that year, stung into action by increased oppression at the hands of the turks, the serbs rose in revolt led by george petrovi?, commonly called czrini or czerny george (kara george by the turks); belgrade was stormed on december 12th, and after some successful fights the country was swept clean of the janissaries. the revolt continued, and as austria had refused assistance in 1804 servia called on russia for help, promising to recognize that empire’s suzerainty in return. the help offered by russia was not very liberal and the serbs gained many successes by their own unaided efforts in the years 1809 and 1810.
in spite of all their successful endeavours, the serbs were unkindly treated by the powers at the treaty of bucharest in 1812; they were granted a general amnesty and self-government of internal affairs, but continued to pay tribute to the sultan and were made to surrender all captured fortresses. as a special favour the porte allowed all those who were discontented with the results to emigrate. turkish troops entered servia again and wore down the forces of kara george till he gave up the struggle and crossed over into austria.
the struggle was taken up by milosh obrenovi?, who defeated ali pasha and was eventually proclaimed hereditary prince when kara george had been murdered on returning to his country. the porte acknowledged milosh obrenovi? and granted servia independent jurisdiction,{284} free inner administration by the treaty of akkerman, which ended the russo-turkish war, and further confirmed the treaty at the peace of adrianople in 1829.
by bribery and corruption milosh managed to obtain letters from the porte in 1830 restoring six former districts to servia. then milosh, feeling secure with a well-trained bodyguard, chose to rule as despot, inflicting arbitrary punishment with many cruelties on those who displeased him. already well used to revolts the servians rose against their chosen ruler under avram petronijevi? and thoma vuci?, and obliged milosh to grant a constitution. milosh resigned in favour of his son milan. milan lived only a short time and was succeeded by his brother michael obrenovi?, who made himself unpopular by levying a tax on acorns when prepared as food for pigs. pigs are still fortune-makers for the serbs as they were in those days, so the people revolted again. michael fled to austria and a son of kara george, alexander karageorgevi?, was elected in his stead.
even alexander, a peaceful sovereign, did not please the people for long; he had a leaning towards austria, and for this reason was called upon to abdicate. instead of going quietly he appealed to the porte, whereupon the servian parliament, the skuptshina, recalled milosh obrenovi?, now seventy-eight years of age, and placed him on the unsteady throne of servia for a second time.
followed the son of milosh, michael iii obrenovi?; he reorganized the militia forces of servia and forced the turks to abandon the remaining fortresses they held in the land, belgrade, saba?, and semendria, and by 1867 the last osmanli had left the country. yet there was dissatisfaction among the serbs, for michael iii was murdered the following year in topshida park at belgrade, his new capital.{285}
milan obrenovi? was then called to the throne and took sovereign rights and title in 1878, after plevna fell and the serbs had retrieved defeats suffered during that war against turkey by taking nish, pirot, and leskovo? from the already badly beaten osmanli. milan obrenovi? became king in 1882 and sought to add to his dignity by invading bulgaria what time that principality was occupied with a revolt in east roumelia. the serbs were very badly beaten at slivni?a and pirot, by a man who knew his business thoroughly, alexander von battenberg, prince of bulgaria. this ill-success, possibly other motives, led to the resignation of king milan, who was succeeded by alexander i, his son. of that monarch’s personality, his life, and ghastly death, i decline to say anything; the papers in june, 1903, were full of it—too full of it.
it was left to another karageorgevi?, peter i, the present king, to march once more against the old oppressor of the serbs, and to take lands, once part of greater servia, from the hands of those who had so long misruled them.
while the rest of europe was comforting itself with the disproved statement that trouble in the balkans is always deferred till the snow melts under the rays of a spring sun, the balkan kingdoms had entered into an alliance against their old enemy the turk. notwithstanding the fact that many of those whose business it is to know such things were well aware of the preparations made by the allies, european diplomacy lulled itself to sleep by reiterated formul?, mumbling something about status quo. in the meantime bulgaria, chief of the allies, had for years been training its hardy sons to a winter campaign, and had, moreover, a most excellent secret intelligence department with its feelers all over thrace and those parts of the peninsula likely to be immediately affected by a war. servia had been carefully preparing for the grand coup{286} by reorganizing its military forces. few people elsewhere in europe took them seriously, remembering the ease with which bulgaria defeated her ally some years ago, and also the ineffective clamour raised when austria-hungary annexed bosnia and herzegovina. nevertheless it was made possible to extend the army of servia from a peace footing of some 35,000 men to a field army of 160,000. this was accomplished out of a population of 3,000,000 inhabiting 18,800 square miles, and the total annual cost of that army is only ￡1,200,000. compare this with great britain’s idea of insisting on her voice being heard among the armed nations of europe on the continent with an expeditionary force of 100,000 men out of a population of over 45,000,000! but then the serbs have not yet had time to wax fat and indifferent to their country’s needs. every serb is obliged to serve his country and does so willingly. thus the cadres of the servian standing army swelled as townsmen and sturdy countrymen flocked to join the colours, singing as they marched out armed and eager, “rado ide srbin u voinike”—“gaily the serbs go to war.”
while britons were enjoying the autumn holidays great things were preparing among the balkan states, and they passed unnoticed. the tension always existent between the allied kingdoms and their former conqueror and master became acute in consequence of several incidents. turkey, dimly realizing that the state of affairs was becoming more and more difficult, thought fit to seize some war material en route to servia, via saloniki and üsküb. again, turkey declined to punish those who had joined in the kochana massacres; macedonia was roused to fury and its voice found echo in sofia. turkey also insisted on carrying out the man?uvres round adrianople, planned by field-marshal von der goltz, to show in{287} mimic warfare what shortly after happened in stern reality. servia protested strongly, so did bulgaria. servia mobilized with astounding rapidity, bulgaria was ready, as every one would suppose who knows that country, its strong ruler, and efficient people. still western europe said, “it is all talk, let us enjoy our holiday,” till suddenly the world was made aware of the balkan alliance and heard of turkey’s declaration of war against bulgaria and servia.
in the meantime another of the allies, the smallest, probably fiercest of them, had begun the dance, the montenegrins. for centuries these people have been longing to avenge former wrongs done them by the turks. it was the turks who drove the remnant of slav nobility into the inaccessible black mountains when the hosts of islam swarmed over the danube lands, servia, bosnia, herzegovina, murdering and plundering, destroying an ancient civilization.
secure among their mountains the montenegrins remained untouched by those influences which have kept their neighbours the albanians under the dominion of the sultan. they held firmly to their religion, the greek orthodoxy, this kept them united against their enemy the turk, and they developed along their own lines. their princely family the balshas kept turks and venetians at bay, and when that dynasty died out their quite natural quarrels were kept down by a line of priestly princes, vladikas; the prince-bishop being celibate was less likely to be dragged into family feuds. by degrees the sovereignty became hereditary, passing from uncle to nephew, until danilo ii relinquished the ecclesiastical side of his dignity. he was assassinated in 1860 and succeeded by prince nicholas, now king of montenegro.
montenegro soon found sufficient pretext for declaring{288} war, and did so in all solemnity on october 8th. immediately after this act the sons of the mountains were pouring down from the heights over the turkish border. by a series of sharp, well-contrived attacks they gained numerous advantages over their enemies, had joined hands with the servian army by october 25th in the sandjak of novi bazar, had captured s. giovanni di medua by november 18th, then assisting general yankovitch’s servian division in an attack on the fortress of alessio, which was captured after fierce fighting.
in the meantime montenegro’s southern army was investing scutari, assisted by the northern force moving down from tuzi. since the young turks came into power in 1908 the natural advantages for defence proper to scutari have been greatly enhanced, for hilmi pasha made this the head-quarters of his action against the albanians. the garrison of scutari, computed at some ten thousand men, was well armed and well provided for, and has held out against superior odds. it proposes to hold out till the end, whenever that may be, in spite of all the desperate attacks by night and day to which montenegrin impetuosity subjects it. scutari is still holding out, and so far the montenegrins have poured out their blood before its strong defences in vain. the commander of the fortress absolutely declined to recognize the armistice.
on october 17th the porte issued a formal notification to the powers that “a state of war exists to-day between the turkish empire and the kingdoms of bulgaria and servia.” a revolt of serbs in the districts of üsküb, kumanovo, and others had already broken out during the first days of october, and fighting on the frontier was reported some days before the declaration of war at vranja and near ristova? on the morava. servia declared war{289} on turkey on the same day as the turkish notification was issued, bulgaria and greece did likewise; so four kings at the head of their armies crossed the borders of their realms to concentrate in an attack on their old enemy.
king peter of servia made vranja his first head-quarters, and from here followed the progress of his armies. they marched down from the mountains in three columns, beating down fierce resistance, gaining victory on victory at enormous cost. by october 21st the serbs had won a victory at podujevo, and captured nova varosh in the sandjak. at the same time the second army corps, under general stephanovich, was forcing its way to egri palanka, capturing the important position of carsko selo and sultan tepe, marching towards üsküb, where the three armies were to meet eventually.
servian arms were victorious elsewhere. led by the crown prince in person, the serbs attacked kumanovo; the fighting lasted with varying fortunes for two days, the turks offering desperate resistance and making furious counter-attacks. after hard fighting in the teresh pass, prishtina fell to the serbs, and shortly after the western column captured mitrovitza, vuchitra, and gilan. the serbs then marched on üsküb and took it, king peter entered the town, once a royal residence of the kraljs of greater servia, in solemn triumph, amidst the rejoicings of the populace. there was desperate fighting near kossovo, on the amselfeld, where amurath broke the chivalry of ancient servia in the fourteenth century, and with his dying eyes watched the death agonies of knjes lazar, king of the serbs. here on the amselfeld, the scene of milosh kabilovitch’s daring deed, young servia vindicated its honour, and proved the metal of a nation united in arms to some great purpose, inspired by a high ideal.{290}
then the servian armies marched on towards monastir, but were able at the same time to detach troops to reinforce their allies the greeks, and the bulgarians before adrianople. monastir was closely invested, and fell on november 19th. the crown prince held his solemn entry into the town, captured in face of many great obstacles. besides turkish regulars, the inhabitants of the town offered desperate resistance, the latter attacking with great ferocity. it was largely bayonet fighting, the servian infantry carrying one position after another at pas de charge, sometimes wading through water breast-high. finally the turks attempted a desperate sortie, which ended in a complete rout, during which many who escaped from the sabres of the pursuing servian cavalry managed to make for ochrida. this latter city, formerly a royal residence of the serbo-bulgarian tsars, was captured by the serbs on november 24th.
tenedos an island close to the asiatic side of the entrance to the dardanelles. it served as a base for greek torpedo-boat destroyers. here one of these held up the ship i was sailing in.
tenedos
an island close to the asiatic side of the entrance to the dardanelles. it served as a base for greek torpedo-boat destroyers. here one of these held up the ship i was sailing in.
then the serbs set out on yet another desperate venture, in pursuit of an ideal, a window on the adriatic. let us hope that a full account of this march of a servian column over the mountains, from the lake of ochrida to alessio, may be recorded in detail by some of those who took part in it, for the venture is reminiscent of pizarro’s march across the andes. communications with head-quarters could only be maintained by means of couriers, and naturally became less frequent as the gallant column disappeared among the mountain passes. the way led along the edge of yawning chasms, the track so narrow that pack animals, hardy mountain ponies, could be loaded on one side only; then again, down some winding ravine, toiling ten miles to advance one; again, amid rocks and boulders, over a pass swept by an icy wind, or through a valley two or three feet deep in snow. guns and ammunition had to be dragged along, for though the heights were{291} generally deserted, yet now and again hostile albanians would have to be dispersed before an advance was possible. rations were very short, yet in spite of hunger, fatigue, and the enemy’s attention, the force won through with trifling losses until the waters of the adriatic gleamed at their feet. and so the serbs arrived on the sea-coast at alessio, where they were met by their allies, the montenegrins, who had taken s. giovanni di medua. at yet another point on the adriatic, at durazzo, the serbs emerged from the mountains, to emphasize their claims to an outlet on the sea, while austrian cruisers looked on jealously.
thus by the end of november all macedonia had been lost to the ottoman empire. yet the people of constantinople seemed, for the most part at least, indifferent to outside matters, and continued the even tenor of their way. only in cafés, and places where men of leisure congregate, would you hear the war discussed, or chiefly the rumours afloat about it, and from these many pot-valiant turks deduced that, far from all being lost, the osmanli armies were about to begin the war in earnest. the beaten remnant of ottoman power in europe, huddling behind the lines of chatalja, was to emerge from hiding, march over the bulgarians up the valley of the maritza, relieve famine-stricken adrianople, and enter sofia in triumph. yet another ottoman army was to march south through thessaly, retake saloniki, cross into epirus, and dictate the sultan’s terms to greece in athens. this has been told me seriously by several turks, those who are interested in the war. what is more, they are firmly persuaded that this can and will happen. with such a people, the majority completely apathetic, a minority wildly optimistic, it is difficult to see how anything like a common-sense view of matters is likely to obtain, and{292} without such common sense turkey’s place in the comity of european nations will probably be filled by people with a better-adjusted sense of proportion.
of course, reports of servian excesses, atrocities, are spread about, chiefly disseminated by continental papers. that soldiers flushed by victory are liable to break away from strict discipline is a lamentable fact. i know of few armies of which the same cannot be said with more or less justice. the continental press spread reports of this kind about the british army in south africa, and lowered the status of journalism by these vicious falsehoods. it must also be borne in mind that many continental papers are to a certain extent used by the governments of their respective countries for the purpose of creating a tendency. this was distinctly the case during the south african war, when a strong organization poisoned the minds of european nations against great britain by means of the press, in order to justify interference with our affairs. they were ably seconded by a section of the press in this country. the movement failed of its result owing to the strength of great britain and the solidarity of the nation. it seems to be probable that much the same tendency inspired the recent recitals of servian atrocities. on the whole the press has not distinguished itself particularly during the balkan war, and certainly the restrictions placed on war correspondents added to the difficulties of news-getting. yet this is no reason for substituting fiction for facts, for there are many who still believe what they see in the papers, and among them were a number who suffered considerable anxiety when reading of the state of constantinople during the last stage of the war. some accounts were not even remotely connected with the truth.
whatever the truth about servian atrocities may be it is certain that the servian army did its work uncommonly{293} well. thorough preparedness and good leadership enabled it not only to sweep the turks out of macedonia, but also to assist the other allies, for instance, in detaching eighty thousand men to help the bulgarians in the siege of adrianople.
how many of those who read their daily paper realize the work done by the servian army? in a country where roads are few, and in wet weather only serve to indicate the general direction and not to carry heavy traffic, the servian troops, especially the infantry, daily covered a surprising amount of ground; what is more, the transport managed to keep up with the marching columns. and it was not all simple marching; there was severe fighting to be done, and heavy ammunition trains had to keep up with the operations in progress.
great credit is due to those who reorganized the servian army and fitted it for the task it took in hand. their names have not been lauded by the press, their portraits do not constantly figure in the illustrated papers, but they have served their country well, and helped to bring about lasting changes in the state of europe, changes which will yet cause great anxiety to the people of those very superior great powers who sit in judgment on matters which many of them cannot understand.