The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-18
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At the same time another was per-
mitted to take the first steps in the
same path. This State was formed of
the. combined provinces of Moldavia
and Wallachia, inhabited by IA re-
markaDle little people. After being
buried loo years III an alien world
they were Romans who had been
planted on tho Roman Scythian from
tier by TraJan as an outpost Of the
they called themselves Roumanians
and .christened their new nation Rou-
mania.
ing of semi-independeucc and then
Bulgaria grew restless under the Sui
tan's yoke. The resultant struggle
was the occasion of the Bulgarian
| atrocities and eventually of Russia's
intervention in the Russo Turkish
war of 1S71-1S.. At the close of that
war the victorious Russians dictated
the peace of San Stefano. There the
Sultan acknowledged the complete in
dependence of both Serbia and Rou-
mania and promised government
10 Bulgarian priucipality which wa.
TO include nearly all that remained
of European Turkey.
Sowing the Wind.
That WAS the proposed solution of
, the Balkan problem, which the Brit
, ish ministry under Hcaconsfield de-
! feat"d, and the question was referred
to the congress of Berlin. In aiding
the fcIterS of the Turk and in going
/ to the rescue OF the RulEarians the
I Russians insisted that they were only
acting the part of a generous big
. brother to their CorcliGioniSts or fell
/ low -Siavs in distress England and
I other powers. however. not unnat-
/ urally viewed with suspicion the dis
| interested bennvOlence of the bear
! Phey feared. for instance. that Bull
: Saria might become merely pathway
/ 'or him TO the warm waters of Con-
! StantinODlC
The Berlin congress. therefore. cut
IN two thr Bulgarian state. which
/ Russia had created at San Stefano.
and restored to Turkey 4 large part
of hcr lost lands. BY that act the wise
men az t.urnp" s"w"d the seed Of tho
! terrible Balkan wars of 1a1o-I3. which
/ were fought 10 wrcst from the Sultan
| hat very territory.
The statesmen about the council
! buffer i'll tho south. but in their wis
dom they whitfield out another in the
, Northern Balkans. There they gave
! Bosnia and Herzegovina to tho Hans
hurSs under the prctense of mere
occupation of those provinces for the
purpose OF pHcifEinE them. but really
/ power on the peninsula. After thirty
I six years thai act cvcntuated only
! last summer. when Slav shot down
! the Austrian crown prince in the cap
! i'al Of BOSNIA Herzegovina and there
/ by set the world afire.
Setting Up Throue..
IN Inc meantime inc balkan nations
had become entirely independent king
! doms. Although they were rated only
as DrlnCipalities by the congress of
Berlin. that treaty weighed al lightly
on them as on the great powers that
made II only to break it.
1 The Rouma MIA Sprince was the first
TO proclaim himself king in 1881.
when he put on a steel crown made
! from a Turkish gun captured at
Plevna: The next year Serbia declared
herself kingdom. With surprising
] "a hnNNavHr pt1 ario
until her overload was in the chaos
Of the Turkish revolution. Then i'm
lS ,Sb she he set IT,, up a, IkSinEd9m' but to
boast of Slavonic origin, she adopted
for her ruler the title of Car. Finally,
even little Montenegro had a crown
Those Balkan sovereigns were fear
fully and wonderfully made. Serbia
bestowed the honor on a descendant
the heir to her old line of ruling
bishops, and in Roumania patriot
colonel received the crown. Greece, on
prince to be her King. and Bulgaria's
chosen ruler was cc-year-oId Ger
man Of the House of Rattcnberc. who
had the added advantage of being a
kinsman of the Russian Car.
OverturnInE Thrones.
All the little nations except Monte |
negro proved to be wild horses and
every one of the poor princes was
thrown from his saddle. The exper-
fence of each of those royalties is a !
ready-made scenario for comic |
opera. a melodrama or tragedy.
When the Crimean War came it |
brought on crisis in Greece like
that to which the present war has |
given rise The Greeks were eager |
then. as apparently they now are, to |
take hand and pick up the pieces
of shattered Turkey. England and |
France: however, then We're the al
lies Of the Sultan. and their fleets
Because the Bavarian King Otto did
not defy the guns of those ships, the
eager spirits turned upon him. and
while he was off in n remote corner of |
the Peloponessus they took his throne
away from him. Ultimately the Greek
crown was bestowed upon n Danish
prince. and the son of that King
George now reigns.
The Roumanians next wearied of
their native prince colonel and sue
in 1866. Thereupon prince of
branch house of the Hohenzollerns
was chosen and this family has held
the throne ever since.
The Bulgarians found their Batten-
berg prince. Alexander, not sufficient
ly impetuous for the national temper
carrying him over into Russia, where
he was abandoned. The prince came
back and the people seemed to relent.
but soon he threw away the thorny
crown and fed the country. The empty
throne then sought another young
German. prince and Ferdinand OF
Sake -Coburg has contrived to hold 1t
down for twenty-eight years.
500 Year. OF ReEicides.
Serbia has been the hardest horse
10 hold. j do not assume that the
Serbians are any more prone to COM
nit assassination than any other or
the highly explosive nations of the
Balkans. Yet assassination seems to
be one of the oldest institutions in
that little land.