Evening star., 1943-10-20
Seeds of Balkan Chaos

idly more confused. Two current
developments throw an ominous
light on its disturbing complexities.
One of these developments is a pro-
test by General Tito and other men,
bers OF the Yugoslav Partisan regime
against a recent act by President
Roosevelt. The Partisan leaders
say the President "blundered" when
he presented four Liberator bombers
to Yugoslav combat unit, attached
to our air forces but recognizing the
Yugoslav government in exile, whose
fighting head in Yugoslavia is Cen
eral Mikhailovitch. General Tito's
pronouncement, delivered over his
Free YugoSlav" radio station, &C
cuSes General Mikhailovitch of
openly serving the enemy" asserts
that the Partisans are doing all the
fighting against the Germans, and
says of the Presidents action: I'VE
consider this was blunder that
cannot be allowed to happen. The
Yugoslav people have every right to
expect that supplies of arms will in
the future be handed over to the
Yugoslav Peoples Army of Libera-
tion Partisans), which, indeed, is
alone fighting the enemy"
Obviously, the feud between Tito's
Partisans, looking to Moscow, and
Mikhailovitch's Patriots loyal to
the Yugoslav government in exile,
which is recognized by London and
Washington, is as bitter as ever,
thus dashing the hope voiced by
some optimistic observers that a
working agreement between the two
factions had been established. The
persistence OF factional strife among
the Yugoslavs likewise renders sus-
pect all reports from both camps
regarding events inside that un-
happy country, torn not merely by
the Patriot-Partisan feud but also
by the activities of Croats, Moslems
and Quisling Serbs In the German
interest.
Equally disturbing Is the latest
news from Greece. Until recently,
the general impression abroad was
that the Greeks were united In pa
triotic resistance to the Germans and
Bulgarians who occupy that coun-
try. Current press dispatches, how
ever, reveal that actual fighting has
started between Partisan" fac
ton and Patriot" faction ac-
knowledging the Greek government
in exile, headed by King George.
Thus the same split has happened
in Greece as in Yugoslavia, between
Nationalists loyal to the exile gov
ernments supported by the western
powers and "Partisans" with extreme
radical or openly Communist lean
1ngs who look to Moscow. Those
Greek factions, like the -Yugoslavs,
expend at least part of their energies
fighting each other instead Of the
common Axis enemy If this be so
while Greece and Yugoslavia are
still under Axis occupation, what is
likely to happen when the Axis yoke
is broken and factional feuds have
free rein?
The prospect Is not a pretty one,
especially when it Is realized that
similar factional tendencies exist in
the other Balkan nations. Bulgaria
is known to have a strong Commu-
mist minority which has already
made considerable trouble despite
harsh repression by the pro-German
Nationalist regime. Rumania is a
veritable hotbed of intrigue by
several facNions, all of them hostile
to one another. Indeed, factional-
ism extends beyond the Balkans. All
the countries Of Central and East
ern Europe are similarly affected,
the chief split being between Ma
tionalist and Communist factions.
Surveying the entire Eastern and
Central European scene, the general
impression is one of embittered fac
tionalism seething with volcanic
fury, whose eruption might spell at
least temporary chaos in the wake
OF Axis tyranny. This is not a pleas
ant nicture hut Saap,ipo ro.1;+;n.