The Washington herald., 1922-06-25
JUGOSLAVIA LOOMS AS GREAT
POWER IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE

ern Slav regions OF Hungary. The
collapse OF the Hapsburg Empire,
which followed closely upon the
desertion Of the Buigsrians and the
surrender of the Turks, left the
pathway clear for the realixat tion OF
the age long dreams of the South
ern Slavs, dreams which had been
for a moment realized in large part
under Stephan Dushan and then ex-
tinguished upon the fatal held OF
Kossovo.
At Paris the Southern slavs. DOM
mated by the Serbians. sought to
include within their frontiers all OF
the regions peopled by Southern
Slavs from Gorizia. on the italian
frontier, to Monastir. near the new
Hellenic boundaries. Immediately
they found themselves involved In
disputes with all their neighbors.
Italy demanded not only Gorizia but
the hinteriand of Trieste. which
sheltered half a million of Slovenes.
and at the same moment invoked
her treaties with her allies which
gave her FIRST claim to Dalmatia.
where the population was. save for
an Insignificant fraction. wholly
Serb. In addition. she denied to
the Slavs the right to take Fiume,
the one available port on the Adrl-
attic.
Has Foe In Italy.
Italy thus came at once to take
the place vacated by the late Haps-
burg Empire. She became the Bit
ter enemy of the new Slav state and
she has remained the uncompromis-
ing foe ever since. The long dis
pute over Fiume. with it's D'Annun-
zio episode led finally to the crea-
tion of the state OF Fiume. with
italian influence plainly dominant.
Meanwhile Italy successfully main
tained her claim II all the Slav-
inhabited regions back of Trieste to
the crest of the mountains and by
the treaty of Rapallo, which put Q
temporary check upon the quarrels.
acquired title to lara, while sur.
rendering her claims to the rest OF
Dalmatia.
At the same time the italians sup
ported the Albanians about Scutari
and thus successfully blocked
Serbian approach to the Adriatic by
the Drin Valley. Finally, the Mon
tenegrln dynasty, which had been
disloyal to the allied cause. having
been expelled and Montenegro hav-
ing been united with Serbia. the
Italians began an agitation in favor OF
a free Montenegro which continues
and an be discovered in Rome
dispatches almost every day
There were not lacking Italians
who, remembering the words OF
MaZzini advised against such Q
course of hostility to the Southern
Siavs. But the makers of Italian
public opinion and policy were un-
able TO lay aside the old fear or
an ultimate Russian advance to the
Adrlatic as a detail in the general
Pan-Slavic movement which would
unite all the European Slavs in a
single state. Thus the seeds were
sown for a permanent hostility be-
tween Latin and Slav along the Adri-
attic, which may have evil conse-
quences in the future when the
Southern Slavs have recovered theii
strength and achieved complete racial
solidarity. The refusal Of the Haps-
burgs to permit the Serbs to have a
free road to the Adriatic led inevitably
to the conflict in which the Hapsburg
empire was destroyed. and even before
that time Austrian intrigue kept the
Balkans In an uproar for a quarter
of a century in a vain effort to block
the rise Of the Serbs.
Backs Hungarians Against Serbs.
Italy has followed the same path
way. In addition to her efforts to
check Slav expansion to the sea
and to control the ports by which
the commerce of the new state
would reach the outer world. Italy
has steadily intrigued against the
Jugo-Slav state both in Middle Eu-
rope and within the frontiers of
Jugo-Slavia itself. Thus she has
steadily backed the Hungarians
against the Serbs and the Szechs
and supported the separatists with
in the new southern Slav state.
All things considered. the great
est danger for the new King Alex
anderIis is from within. His whole
people are united in a common ha-
tired of the 1talian-indeed this Is