Evening star., 1942-09-20
Balkan Unrest


The Balkans, that traditional
cauldron of nationalistic rivalries
and hatreds, is seething ever more
violently and threatens to blow of
the heavy lid of Axis control. The
paralyzing effect of the German vic
tories which smashed the regular
armies Of Yugoslavia and Greece in
the spring of 1941 seems to be wear
ing of, and the oppressed peoples are
not only resisting locally but are con-
certing their efforts in organized
guerrilla warfare.
The center of resistance, from the
first has been the tangled mountains
Of Western Yugoslavia, where
heroic struggle has been successfully
waged by large bands under the able
leadership of General Draja Mikhail-
ovitch. From this well-organized
center, harassing guerrilla opera
tions spread to virtually all parts of
Yugoslavia. The latest of these op-
erations is an uprising in Yugoslav
Macedonia, centering around Skoplie,
an important city in the Vardar VAL
ley which is the main line of rail and
road communications from Central
Europe to Greece and the Mediter-
ranean.
Macedonia is an ominous name in
Balkan annals. There center all
those mutually irreconcilable ma
tionalistic claims which have made
the Balkans a perennial field of
strife. Under Turkish rule, 1t was a
veritable mosaic of peoples, with
Albanians, Bulgarians. Greeks, Serbs,
and even Rumanians "Kutzovlachs'D
iostling and hating each other under
the universally detested Turkish
yoke. The Balkan wars of a genera
tion ago somewhat simplified the
local situation. Most of the Turks
emigrated. The Bulgarian element
likewise was much reduced when Bull
garia was beaten in the second war
by Greece and Serbia, who thereupon
divided the Macedonian prize be-
tween them and Systematically COL
onized their respective shares with
their nationals. But the exiled Bull
garians Schemed for revenge and
fomented local terrorist organiza-
ton, the famous IMRO, which made
chronic trouble. Twice, Bulgaria has
reached out for Macedonia; once in
the First World War, when it joined
the Central Powers, and again in the
present struggle, when it joined the
Axis. Today, both Yugoslav and
Greek Macedonia form a "protec-
torate" occupied mainly by Bull
garian troops. But the shoe is now
on the other foot, for the local Greeks
and Yugoslavs have their terrorist
organizations with the same ruthless
methods.
Last winter, General Mikhailovitch
held a secret council of all the anti
Axis elements. At that meeting plans
were laid for synchronized guerrilla
warfare throughout the Balkans.
This campaign seems to have been
stimulated in recent months by Rus
sian agents, dropped with arms and
propaganda by parachute in many
regions. Even Bulgaria has its dis
affected elements, mostly Commu-
nists, who sabotage and seek to
undermine the proAxis government.
On the other hand, Yugoslavia has
it's pro-Axis factions which aid the
occupation authorities against the
guerrilla patriots. The upShot is d
welter of repression and reprisals,
wherein local vendettas take a fear
full toll.
The immediate aim of the guer-
rillas is to keep the Balkans so dis
turbed that the Axis will be unable
to exploit natural resources and will
be compelled to divert first-line
troops from the major fronts AS
yet, this objective has been only part
ly realized. Most of the towns
and open country seem to be under
effective Axis control, and the bulk
of the occupying forces are Bull
garians, Magyars and local pro-Axis
legions. But the Balkans remain
like a smoldering volcano, ready to
stage major eruption the instant
the Axis grip weakens. 1t is another
big headache for the architects OF
Hitler's new order"