Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-26
BY FRANK II. SIMONDS.

pllCaLeS GElc OOIleSJlC pOlltlCdl QUARTET
between the Croats and the Serbs
consequence of the recent death of
Stephen Raditich Actually the Serb
government was between the devil of
italian demands and the deep sea OF
domestic strife.
OF themselves the Nettuno compactS
have little Importance. They cover the
question of the possession OF land in
Jugoslavia by citizens of Italy. But they
had been a detail in a general process
of adjustment between MusSolinl and
the Slavs and they had become for the
Italian dictator question OF personal
as well as national prestige. The TACT
that for several years the Jugoslav Par
lament had refused to ratify them was
for him a personal grievance.
On the other hand, the making OF
the Nettuno compacts dates back to
time when Jugoslavia and Italy were
seeking to establish friendly relations
and precedes all the quarreling and
pickering which attended the making
of the Tirana treaty between Italy and
Albania and the subsequent treaty of
friendship between Jugoslavia and
France. In a word, since the agree
ments were negotiated the whole stu
alton had changed and the program of
| cOnclllatlon mas IalleO.
Greats Favor Rejection.
For this reason the Croats urged that
| the Nettuno compacts should be re-
| iected. This demand was alike based
| upon the fact that the Croats are far
more bitterly hostile to the Italians than
| the Serbs. and to the further circunn-
| stance that the issue. thus raised. sup
piled Raditich and his followers rea-
son to shout that Belgrade was selling
out to Rome, that the country was be-
| trayed and that the domestic political
opponents of the Croat party we're the
| traitors.
Underlying all this trouble, which re-
| mains grave menace for JugoslaV
unity. lies a condition which has
operated equally TO make trouble all over
| Europe. AS a consequence of the World
| War not only was the map of Europe
revolutionized, but in number Of cases
! fractions of races, which had long beer
| separated and subject to foreign rule,
| were thrown together within the from
| tiers of a new country. Self-determtra-
| ton operating all over the continent
| produced many such situations, Notably
| in Rumania in Poland and in Jugo-
| slavia. Even in Alsace 1t produced
| trouble.
| In the case Of Jugoslavia. the
| Croats the Slovenes and the Dalmatian
Serbs. by their own volition, threw on
! the yoke of the Hapsburgs. They were
equally rebellious against Austrian and
| Magyar domination. But IN the long
centuries during which they had Deen
subjects of Austria they had shared IN
| the DEVELOPMENTS of a modern state. in
dustrially and commercially, at the
| least.
Serbia Primitive.
Serbia. on the contrary, was at once
backward agricultural country ana
industrially primitive. The land was
divided among the peasants and the
population lived almost exclusively In
the rural districts. There were no
really considerable cities, few railways,
poor roads and all the circumstances
which marked of the Balkans from tbs
rest of Europe.
On the other hand the Serbians were
the soldiers. They had maintained the
Slav independence in four centuries OF
struggle with the Turk. To the SlavS
of Croatia, Slovenia, Dalmatia they
bore the same relation that people OF
the Sandman kingdom had borne TO
all other italians in the last century.
Even more striking was the analogy be-
tween the Serb and the Prussian.
Having by their military achieve
ment made possible the liberation and
union of the Southern Slavs, the Serbs
naturally regarded themselves as the
masters in the new state. as they had
been In the old For them Belgrade
was the center of the new nation ana
all their conceptions OF the organlSa-
ton of the kingdom were based upon
itziY
istration, business in Belgrade. ThuS
from the outset 1t was inevitable that
there would be O clash between the
Serbs and their brethren OF the
Austrian provinces, who had welcomed
deliverance from foreign rule. but who
were by no means 10 be reconciled TO
becoming mere spectators In the new
country.
For the Austrian provinces of the
,Jugoslav state the idea of federation
was natural Union with the free SERBS
was equally desirable, because II de-
livered them from Austrian and Magyar
tyranny and protected them against the
ever-present italian danger. But WITH
in this union they not only expected 10
be treated as equals. but. given their
higher degree of civilization, they eN-
pected to take the lead.
When, instead. they saw themselves
reduced to political impotence and their
provinces relegated to the political
status of French departments, their re-
sentiment was inevitable, When theS
saw substituted for an efficient Austrian
and Hungarian administration Sys-
TEN which was backward and even
corrupt. they we're bound TO seek some
means of modifying conditions.
Rumanian Stains Similar
Exactly the same quarrel broke out
between the RumanianS of the old king
dom and those who had been subject To
Austria and Hungary, Even the Ru-
manian majority of Bessarabia found
the systems OF their new fatherland
inferior to those of the Russian they
had gladly quilted,
Thus, today the same situation exists
in both Rumania and JugoSlaVia. IN
both countries the same struggle Is
being carried on between the politicians
of the old state and the inhabitants OF
provinces newly united with Rumania
and Serbia.
To degree the same phenomenon is
disclosed In Poland The Poles OF Posen,
educated In the schools OF Germany and
accustomed to the highly developed
German industrial system. naturally
look with contempt and disgust upon
the primitive and backward condition
of the Russian Poles, and with only a |
little less disfavor upon the more pol
ished but far less energetic habits of
the Austrian Poles. When PtlsudSkt |
seized power by his coup detat. 1t was !
touch and go whether he would not be |
Obliged to make civil war with the |
posen troops, who marched upon War |
saw to overthrow him and restore con- !.
stitutional government
Perhaps the most interesting example
OF all the various poSt~War crises pro-
voked by the union of peoples who have
lived under different governments Is |
supplied IN Alsaee For nearly so years |
the people OF Alsaee struggled against |
(;ern1an domination Never from first |