Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-26
Jugoslav Unity Lies Ahead, Declares
Count Sforza in Analysing Problems

Slovenia, around Lubljana. we find one
Of the most perfect developments Of
modern proletariat while Serbian
Montenegro brings us back TO the class
system as in pre-French Morocco.
AS rule. all of the JugoslavS who
until 1918 belonged to the Austrian
Monarchy had become Western Euro
peanS-or. at least. they looked so. The
/ Serbians of the Obrenovich and Kare-
georgevich kingdom are still patriarchal,
with the fatal result that the Serbian
peasants, who are the great majority
of the Serbians, constitute one of the
healthieSt, most honest and most de-
serving collectivities l know of, while
the politicians. the State officials. gen.
orally returned from hasty university
studies abroad. understand and appre-
ciate only party struggles; they have
lost all the qualities of their peasant
fathers and have acquired very few OF
the moral forces of a bourgeoisie.
! Natural enough that, the two parts
OF the nation being so different, the
Croats say more and more of the
Serbians; They are Balkanics. they
are Orientals.' while the Serbians,
proud Of their war record. look with
contempt on the Croats and call them
! Austrian"
Union Proclaimed.
Different they were and are also in
their political conceptions OF the state.
Serbia had been. as an independent
principally first and later as a king
dom. a highly centralized state. To
understand the recent errors Of the
Serbian dictatorship one must keep in
mind that the later acquisitions Serbia
had made in tire East in 1878 and 1912
had given her the impression that any
territories inhabited by SlsVs were ready
to acquiesce in the Belgrade hegemony
The National Council OF the Slavs Of
the Hapsburg monarchy adopted on
November "a, 1918, the following proud
resolution:
The National Council OF Slovenes
Croats and Serbs. In accordance with
! its former opinions and in accordance
with the announcement of the govern
ment Of the Kingdom Of Serbia, pro-
claims the union of the sovereign state
of the Slovenes Croats and Serbs. or
ganiZed on the complete integral Jugo-
slav territory Of the former AuStro-
Hungarian monarchy. with the king
one single country Of SloveneS, Greats
and Serbs"
Proclamation Read Two Ways
The proclamation which Alexander,
then Prince Regent. issued on Deem
Der l, 1918, was considered by the
CroatS as q simple acceptance of their
resolution, since it ran as follows:
Your coming in the name Of the
National Council that worthy repre-
sentative Of our broad national thought
and your announcement of its thought
and your announcement of its historic
decision of November "a. by which the
unification of our whole nation and of
our whole. dear, tormented fatherland
is declared, fills me with deep Joy. Ac-
cepting that declaration, proclaim. in
the name of his majesty, King Peter I,
the union of the Kingdom Of Serbia
with the lands of the independent state
of SloveneS. CroatS and Serbs into
single kingdom of Serbs Croats and
| SloveneS."
But while the Croats read union"
the Serbs understood annexation"
Under the cloak of the Kingdom of
the Serbs, Croats and SloveneS" and
later on of Jugoslavia, too many Serb
ians had remained faithful TO the old
pan-Serbian idea.
Serbians Failed to See Danger.
Among the old Serb politicians only
one, Protich, seemed to understand
what was necessary for q sound union.
Being the first prime minister OF the
new, enlarged kingdom, he tried to
create an administration based on wide,
Self-governing autonomies.
But the pan-Serb ideas OF old
Pachich finally prevailed and the new
state was divided into provinces, hav-
ing no more governing power than
French department
When Pachich, on July 20, 1921,
submitted his project to the Constituent
Assembly, 161 out OF the 4l9 members
did not vote-an extreme form OF pro-
test. Most of them were Croats. OF
the 258 who voted IS were against. and
OF the 22S who voted in favor only 10
were Greats.
The crystalized minds Of the old
Serbian politicians did not see the dan
ger. With his oriental fatalism. OLD
Pachtch proved unable tn change the
ideals Of his whole life. Probably Alex
ander did, II only because he was young,
and brought up abroad.
The 10 years of common LIE between
Serbians and CroatS, from 19l9 until
King Alexander proclaimed himseH
dictator, are but long and dreary storV
of misunderstanding and complaints.
Figures-all the fgures-spoke lor inc
CroatS; while in Serbia land IN MONT
enegro, which Is essentially Serbian
taxation amounted only to 81 olnars .
head, In Croatia it was 1874 dlnarS ana
279 In Slovenia. The proportions 10.
expenditure on public works were Siie
same, but inverted.
In the Psychological heid the Wfons