Evening star., 1915-09-19
RIVALSF0R BUK0WINA AND BANAT

A dispatch from Athens reports, be-
sides q conflict between Bulgarian and
Greek patrols. that
Turkish Supplies IAN aeroplans route
BY Asroplanes. has I'd sssn ssom ''.a or.ov..
Hungary. to Adrianople. and that these
aeroplanss, passing over Serbian and
Bulgarian territory. carry supplies for
the Turks"
The Balkan powers, Greece, Rumania.
Bulgaria and Serbia, have 50 many dis
sentiments that It Is dimcult to emu
msrats them. There 10 = question af-
fscting Rumania and Serbia OF which
there is little, II any mention made. yet
the rivalry for Bukowina and Banat
NJ Take Jonesco. q distinguished
Rumanisn. has recently addressed the
Balkanio states the following note OF
warning:
we should not entertain illusions,
at neither Nish. Sonia, Bucharest nor
Athens. Our destiny is to live all free
and Independent or to perish one after
another in an odious slavery. Our des-
tiny does not depend upon any one
other than ourselves. So much the
worse for US II we cannot forget our
rancors and in q large and generous
gesture recognize the rights of each
one and establish to their satisfaction
2 loyal. Just and definite understand
Among the dissensions between the
Balkanics let US consider the dissen-
sions over Bukowina and Banat-dis-
sensions which have been limited until
now by discussions between Petrograd
and Bucharest over the disputed ter
ritories.
Bukowina and Banat have been the
scenes Of recent battles and are marked
still for future conflicts. and they may
be thus interjectsd in the plan OF any
prospective Balkanic union.
Bukowina is described as q country
of Austria situated north of ancient
Moldavia. with a population of 64S.70O
Inhabitants. The capital, Czernowitz,
with a population of 62,346, is situated
on the Pruth. Bukowina is an ancient
Rumanian province taken from Ru-
mania in 1775 by Austria. one of the
consequences Of that "rapacious en-
tente" between Austria, Prussia and
Russia that led to the dismemberment
of Poland.
Austria, it should be said, encouraged
on the familiar principle Of
AustYia'S divide in order to reign"
p.,: In Bukowina the penetra-
A"AAeJ' ton OF the Slav Ruthenians
was favored at Vienna, so that after
1s4S their language was substituted for
Rumanian in the schools of the region
comprised between the Pruth and the
Dniester. Because of the religious
monuments and the souvenirs centered
therein. Suczava. the ancient capital
Of Moldavia, is considered as a sort of
natural sanctuary of the Rumanian ma
tion.
question still more discussed and
more difficult Of solution is the posses
sion Of Banat. which the Serbs claim
in part as a protection for their capi-
tai. The Rumanians. on the other
hand, claim Banat as properly belong
ing to them for the following reasons:
From a historical point of view Banat
is Rumanian country. The serp
penetration dates only from the end OF
the eighteenth century In the time OF
the Emperor Joseph II. who would re-
people his territories devastated by
Turkish domination. Also because OF
Ottoman oppression strong current
Of Serb emigration was encouraged @ eg W
exploit the territories which had been
delivered of the Tartars.
From an ethnographical point of view
half of the population Is Rumanian, the
remainder being formed of the Serbs.
come next after the Rumanians (about
25 per cent of the totaD. and there
are countries where the Serbs have
progressed at the expense of the Ru-
manian population. But Austria's policy
of divide in order to govern is ap-
parent in the Banat, where Serbs have
since many years been the allies Of the
Magyars in the economical as well as
political domain. The electoral. cam
paigns in the Banat have presented the
singular phenomenon of an alliance of an
oppressed the Serb with the oppres-
sor (the Hungarian) against the Ru-
manian and the German.
From a geographical and straregical
point of view Banat, like all Balkanic
countries, con flutes a
Banat unity-the Danube and the
Thesis are natural frontiers.
oNSy' 1t is scarcely comprehen-
sible what defensive value a strip of
land would have for Belgrade on the
other side of the Danube in the Banat
in case of war with Rumania: but such
a frontier might be favorable for
Serb offensive against the Rumanians
and unfavorable for the security of the
Rumanian territory. But what of the
principle of nationalities? If Banat
should belong entirely to Rumania then
the principle Is sacrificed at the ex-
pense Of the Serbs. 1t is claimed, how
ever, that there is compensation.
In the valley of the Timok. in an
cient Serbia, there is a population of
two to three hundred thou
sand in numbers, maintaining Ian
guage. songs and customs.
Rumanians of Austria Hungary. as
those of Russia, have furnished ,lisci-
plined and valiant soldiers on all the
war fronts. How many dramatic
scenes have been enacted and how
mny more will be enacted yet in the
battles in Bukowina and in Galica!
of Austria Hungary fought
furiously against the Russians. because
they had been sent to the front in
trains bedecked with the tricolors of
the flag of Rumania, to the sound of
the evolutionary Ruman!an hymn.
They were told that they were going
to defend the kingdom of free brothers