Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-09-20
|JUGO.SLAVS ARE Fighters
Flocked to Their standard From
Everywhere
VERY FIERCE OPPONENTS they ARE
They Are Now Opposing the Austrians
In Their Native Mountains and They
Are Giving Good Account OF Them

Ibefcrc the United States declared war
against Germany. had 2s active mem
bcrs. II now has four. All the rest
are volunteer fighters for the Allies
along the mountain crest OF the Bal
kan peninsula.
| The Macedonian battle front, quies-
cent so long after the immolation oil
Serbia, seems about TO thrust itseli
once more before the eyes OF the
world. Already the Italian and
French have routed the enemy in Al
Ibania. the British have struck in the
valley of the Shruma. farther east TO-
ward Kavala the Greeks have been
/ winning their victories, while In
the center the French. along the Var
dar and the Cerna. and the Serbs be-
yond the Monastir are holding the
/ body of the Bulgarians in bloody play
until the final hour ripens. With the
Serbian army under Crown Prince
| Alexander there is complete d.
vision Of Jugo- -Slavs-some 22,OOO'
men several thousand OF whom made
their way back to this ancient fight
| ing ground from the United States.
Remember that these are Austrian
subjects. Serbs. Croats. Solvenas-
| were all born beneath the yoke
OF the Dual Monarchy and II Is Just
that yoke they are lighting to throw
off forever Should they he captured
they will probably he hanged. If pre-
cedcnt means anything IN Austria.
And yet they turn TO Serbia with that
same longing for free union which
all Italians felt for Piedmont.
There is no route from Jugo- -SlaHla
TO the Macedonian front. Serbia and
all the great stretches OF southern
Austria and Hungary inhabited by the
South-S -Slavs is in the iron grip OF the
enemy. 1t is impossible to reach the
lines for the Allies. How then do 10000
Jugo -Slavs come to he fighting in the
ranks of the Allies in Macedonia?
That Is one Of the stranGcst wond-
er-stories OF the present war.
When Austria. acting as Germany's
catspaw. brought on the great strug-
gle she depended greatly upon the
Slavic clements in her army. both
Czech Solvaks and Jugo- Slavs. They
were sturdy people and all history
had proved them good fighters. But
single year of warfare showed that
Austria could no longer use them.
The story of the Czech Slovaks, or
Bohemians, is well known. Every
body has heard how they surrendered
to the Russians in great masses.
What happened to the Jugo- -Slavs
is not so well known. At first Rus
sia tried to fling them against Serbia
in fratricidal war. which, just
because blood brother was pit
ted against blood brother. failed dis
astrously. with losses Of some 10000.
Then the Jugo-Slavs were turned
against the RUSSIAN front. 1t is said
that fully 100000 OF them went over
to the Russians. The 22nd regiment OF
infantry, constantly reconstructed by
the Austrians. surrendered three
times. II was found that the only
front on which the Jugo- -Slars proved
dependable was along the Italian
battle line. Up to within q year Ital-
ian pretensions to the Dalmatian
coast have kept up an enmity between
the two people which Austria was
shrewd enough to make use Of. Now.
however. that Italy has given up these
prctensions there Is q Jugo-Slav unit
with the Italian armies along the
Piave. completely equipped and drill
ed and ready TO face service in the
shell craters against the common en-
emy.
But 1t was in Russia that the great.
est body of Jugo-Slav voluntary
prisoners were gathered. Even under
the Cars regime their reorganization
as part of Russia's fighting forces was
begun. They were concentrated near
Odessa and their patriotic officers
worked among them to such effect
that an entire division Of fighting men
was organizcd-the first foreign unit
to fight under the Russian flag.
They were thrown in as an integral
part of the Russian armies defending
the Dobsuda in Rumania during Cen
eral Won Mackensen's famous drive in
1916 How well they fought may be
judged from the fact that entire divi-
slams was annihilated. One officer.
Lieutenant Lovrich, and Is men were
left alive.
This pitiful remnant returned to
Odessa. Sixteen men only. soldiers
who have been through an ordeal
fiery enough to have destroyed the
spirit OF most they nevertheless set to
work Immediately to organize the rest
Of the Jugo- Slavs in Russia. They
became the nucleus of two more COM
plete divisions and General Zivokvich
was sent from Siberia to command
them.
But by this time the Russian rev.
olution had taken place and events
moved so rapidly that within a brief
interval the whole Russian army had
ceased to exist and the Bolsheviki
were in control of affairs. The new
Jugo- Slav divisions were given an
opportunity to fight In Russia. But
they were determined to find the
chance somewhere. In small march
ing units they made their way north
ward clear to Archangel. Thence they
were secretly taken to France by AL
lied transports. Some were landed
there but the bulk were ferried around
TO Salonika there to renew the war
against the detested Hapsburg regime.
1t was thought at that time that all
the Jugo- Slav fighters in Russia had
rejoined the Allies. Not so. Only few
months ago a brief cable dispatch in
the papers announced that 1900 Jugo-
Slav volunteers from Russia with 800
officers had suddenly appeared in the
Suez Canal on their way to battle in