The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1914-08-07

! Before flags and religions men knew
friend from foe by the language test.
More than half of the wars OF Eu
rope have been fought by parties mu.
tually unintelligible.
Broadly speaking, ali European Ian
guages belong to the Aryan group.
The most important exception is the
Magyar, a dialect Of the same Ian
guage spoken by Turks and Firms
How Divided by Language.
or he Aryan tongue there are three
great general divisions in Europe-Ro-
nance, Teutonic, Slavic. We are III
terested only IN the latter two. And
of the Teutonic German is spoken by
$4,000, 900. of which 100000 are in
Austria and 100000 in Hungary.
There are lao, 0OO, 900 Slavs in Eu-
rope.
From this 1t appears that the pres
ent political boundaries are not cOter-
minous with linguistic groups.
Right here in this fact we have the
seed of present and future trouble
and a clue TO the cause Of most Of
the wars in eastern Europe through
1000 years.
Slav Situation in Europe.
To get before US the full signih-
canoe of the fact suggested by the
map let us consider the linguistic com
plexiou of these countries.
Russia is a veritable h~odgepodge Of
tongues, but of her Slav population
alone we have at least two distinct
elements today bitterly opposed to
each other, with the possibility, if not
the probability, of a third. which will
seek recognition.
AS against Russians proper there
are over 10000, 900 Poles, and of the
remaining Slavs there are 5000, 900
Ruthenians, or Little Of White Rus
slams, rs they are sometimes called.
OF the general Polish situation | shall
speak later.
In Germany there are over 5000. 900
Slavs, chiefly Polish.
OF Austria's 10000, 900 population
only about a third is German, the re
mainder being Slay, OF which there are
over 5000, 900 Czechs or Bohemians,
5000, 600 Poles, $500, 900 R|uthenians,
and a million and a quarter Slovenes.
Many Tongues In Hungary.
Hungary is even more diversified
in tongue. The Magyar element
10000, 000) is equaled by the non
Magyar made up roughly Of 1000, 900
Germans. 1000, 900 Sloyaks, one-half
a million Ruthenians, 5000, 600 Serbo-
Creates, all of the Sldvonic tongue,
and about 5000, 900 Roumantans who
do not speak Slav at all. but a Ro-
name language.
We need not here consider the lin
guistic afHnities of the Balkan states.
1t is enough to say that Servia is pure
ly Servian and Slav, Bulgaria is Bull
gar and Slay Though the basis Of
blood OF Bulgars is, like that OF the
Magyar, Asiatic).
The population of Montenegro. about
half a million, are Slavs Of the Ser
Wan branch. R-oumanians are of
mixed origin, but the Roumanian
tongue is spoken by q, 1000. 900 people,
Of which five and a half million are
in Roumania (92 per cent of its total
I population, the remaining millions
are found in the Duel Monarchy, Ser
via, Bulgaria and Russia.
People Develop Languages,
Millions Of people today speak Pol
ish whose ancestors a few generations
ago weren't conscious OF the act that
they spoke any language at all. To
day there is a Slavonic literature;
80 years ago no one even thought Of
such a thing. The millions of Bohe-
mians had become almost entirely Ger
mans, and never before have they
been so thoroughly Slavonic as today.
Bohemian hostility to Germany has
been called a passion. 1t was not so
very long ago that the language Of
the Hungarian parliament was Latin;
Magyar was held fit only for peasant
talk. Today the bitterness between