Evening star., 1947-07-13

that of complex trouble~spot In Il
distinct and historically discordant
internal stability. So 1t has tempt'
powers who have used the Balkan n
schemes, envenoming local rivalries
has tended to make bad matter
worse and has been a fruitful source
Of conflict, from which the Balkan
peoples themselves have been the
worst sufferers.
It should not be forgotten that
World War I started over a Balkan
souabble; that Hitler and Stain
fell out over a division Of the Balkan
spoils, and that today the Balkans
are a diplomatic battle-ground be-
tween Soviet Russia and the west
ern powers, including the United
States.
When a given situation tends to
repeat itself over generations or
even centuries it ceases to be a
matter of mere chance coincidence.
And it is not necessary to delve
very deeply into the matter to see
why the Balkans are breeding
ground of trouble.
Long Divided
A glance at a Typographical or
relief map shows that the very day
Of the land hinders the attainment
of Balkan unity. The Balkans are
a rugged peninsula consisting OF
mountain ranges running every
which way and ending at the tip
of Greece which reaches far into
the Mediterranean. Its logical
northern boundary is the great
Danube River, which cuts across
from west to east and thus plays
little part in Balkan economics,
though Romania, lying north OF the
Danube, is usually classed as Bal
kan state.
A schcolboy knows that the reason
the ancient Greeks never got to-
gether, but were divided into many
small units which fought and ulti-
mately ruined each other. is that
Greece Is split up into many sec
tions by its mountains and broken
coastlines. The same is true OF the
rest of the Balkan Peninsula, on a
somewhat larger scale. So, from
the earliest times, the Balkans have
been politically and economically
divided.
only twice have the Balkans been
fairly unified; both times as the re-
suit of outside intervention. The
first of these was under the Roman
Empire, when the Balkans enjoyed
a long period of peace and order.
But when Rome declined, the Bal
kans underwent a series OF bar
barian invasions that laid the foun-
dstions for Its modern national
makeup. The most numerous and
persistent of these invaders were
the Slavs, who destroyed or absorbed
the older populations except in
Greece and around Constantinople,
then the seat of the Greek Byzan-
tine Empire.
Threw Off the Turks
But those Slavic tribes them
selves evolved differently according
to the influences they encountered
and the physical barriers which sep
arated them. The result was a
number of Slavic states which
fought each other during the Middle
Ages. The Byzantine Greeks re-
manned along the coasts. In the
western mountains a remnant of
the older population. the modern
Albanians, preserved their identity
Another remnant were the Ro-
manians. descended from Roman
lied provincials, who survived in
the high mountains north of the
Danube.
So matters went until the second
instance Of imposed unity, this time
at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Invading from Asia Minor at the
close of the Middle Ages, the Turks
rapidly conquered the whole Balkan
Peninsula, together with other lands
to the northward. But the unity
imposed by the Turks was not bene-
fetal, like that of Rome. The Turks
destroyed the national lives of the
Balkan peoples, but they never con-
verted the bulk of the inhabitants
to their Islamic religion and way of
life. The Turks remained alien con-
querors, camped amid enslaved yet
rebellious peoples. primitive and
backward. clinging to their Chris
tian faith and nursing the remnants
of their cultures, but unable to
progress in any way.
Then, two centuries ago, Turkish
power waned and the oppressed Bal
kan peoples began to throw off the
Ottoman yoke. They did this in
part by the aid Of the neighboring
European great powers. especially
Austria and Russia. But, as already
remarked, they had to pay the price
Of being treated as pawns in great
power rivalries and conflicts.
Peasant Movement
Once free Of the Turks, the liberated
Balkan peoples tried to re-establish
their national lives, taking as mod
els the forms of Western civilization.
But the forms did not work very
we'll in those primitive Balkan en-
vironments. So the Balkan States
fell prey to political inefficiency
and corruption on the part Of their
half-educated ruling classes, while
their natural resources were for the
most part exploited by foreign capi-