726 



SERVIA. 



gendarmerie, recruited by re-enlistment, was 

 added in 1884. In time of peace the perma- 

 nent army consists of 5 regiments of infantry, 

 6 squadrons of cavalry, 5 regiments of field 

 artillery, 1 regiment of mountain artillery, and 

 fortress artillery, pioneers, pontonniers, en- 

 gineers, and train, mustering altogether 13,213 

 men of all ranks, with 132 guns. The war 

 effective of the field army is composed as fol- 

 lows: Staff, 1,582; infantry, 45,240 ; cavalry, 

 3,696; artillery, 4,142, with 264 guns; engi- 

 neers, 1,598 ; gendarmerie, 1,238 ; train, 2,000 ; 

 sanitary troops, 500 ; total, 60,286 men of all 

 ranks. The permanent cadres also supply of 

 reserve troops, 15 battalions, 5 squadrons, 6 

 batteries, and 7 sections of engineers, with a 

 total strength of 12,856 men of all ranks, with 

 34 guns. The reserve army, or Landwehr, 

 comprising the men of the second ban, counts 

 60 battalions, 10 squadrons, 20 batteries, etc., 

 with an effective of 58,415 men and 120 guns. 

 Every able-bodied Servian is liable to serve 

 from his twentieth to his thirtieth year in 

 the first levy, then till his thirty-seventh year 

 in the second levy, and from then till his fif- 

 tieth year in the third levy. All that are unfit 

 for service pay a war-tax of one tenth of 

 their annual taxes. The period of service with 

 the colors is two years. The infantry are armed 

 with the Mauser ritie, improved by Major Mi- 

 covanovich, of 10*15 millimetres calibre. The 

 De Bange gun has been adopted for the ar- 

 tillery, but it is at present armed with muzzle- 

 loaders of home manufacture and Krupp guns 

 taken from the Turks. 



Railroads. In 1884 the line of railroad from 

 Belgrade to Nish, 153 miles, was open to traf- 

 fic, and the continuation to Vranja, 56 miles, 

 was under construction. 



Internal Polities* Servia was in a critical po- 

 litical condition when the Eastern crisis was 

 precipitated by the revolution in Philippopolis. 

 The weight of taxation caused general discon- 

 tent among the agricultural population. The 

 new military service was not willingly sub- 

 mitted to, and the financial burden that it en- 

 tailed exceeded the tax-paying powers of the 

 people. The construction of the railroad to 

 connect with the Turkish lines, in accordance 

 with the convention of the four powers, aggra- 

 vated the financial crisis. The intimate rela- 

 tions with Austria, antagonistic to the politi- 

 cal sympathies and traditions of the people, 

 brought economical distress instead of the 

 promised prosperity. The financial accounts 

 for 1884-'85 showed a deficit of 3,500,000 di- 

 nars. The land of many peasants was sold in 

 execution for arrears of taxes. The cruel se- 

 verity with which the late disturbances had 

 been suppressed, and with which the Govern- 

 ment sought to root out seditious elements, 

 multiplied the enemies of the King. The ad- 

 herents of Peter Karageorgevich and the Pan- 

 slavist committees made the most of the popu- 

 lar discontent and distress, and endeavored to 

 precipitate a dynastic revolution. Proclama- 



tions were circulated. To further their designs, 

 bands of brigands were organized in Usica and 

 other parts of the country, recruited from dis- 

 possessed farmers, Montenegrins, and political 

 malcontents, which were strong enough to 

 defy the authorities. 



The pro-Russian party in Servia, represented 

 by the former Prime Minister, Ristics, resented 

 the Austrian control, and sought to direct the 

 national ambition to the acquisition of Bosnia 

 and Herzegovina and of Dalmatia and other 

 provinces in the Austrian dominions inhabited 

 by Serbs. 



There were dissensions in the Progressist 

 party on financial and military questions in 

 the spring, which occasioned a ministerial 

 crisis and the abrupt adjournment of the 

 Skuptschina on May 5. On the 15th of May 

 the Cabinet was reconstituted by the admission 

 of three new members. 



Relations with Bulgaria. The Servians have 

 been exceedingly jealous of Bulgaria, fearing 

 that the younger state would absorb Macedonia 

 and shut off Servia from territorial extension, 

 from the recovery of the ''holy places" of 

 Servian history, and from future access to the 

 sea. The Government and the press encour- 

 aged the feeling of antipathy. "When the Bul- 

 garians harbored the banished Servian Radicals 

 and raised the Tiraok boundary question in 

 1884, the new army was eager to give the Bul- 

 garians a proof of Servian prowess and vindi- 

 cate the national claims to supremacy in the 

 Balkans. The soreness against Bulgaria was 

 aggravated by the neglect of the principality 

 to build its part of the railroad and give an 

 outlet to the line constructed with sacrifices 

 by the Servian Government. Another cause of 

 animosity against Bulgaria was the restrictions 

 imposed upon Servian commerce by Bulgarian 

 tariff duties. Servia was excited in the spring 

 over the Macedonian question. Bulgarians 

 were busy preparing an agitation for the 

 throwing off of Turkish rule. They were not 

 of the party that overthrew Gavril Pasha and 

 declared the union of the two Bulgarias, but 

 were Russophile Bulgarians, who were insti- 

 gated by the Slav committees. The movement 

 was connected with the ferment that was 

 stirred up in Servia about the same time. 

 The northern part of Macedonia and adjacent 

 districts, the territory lying between the 

 borders of Bosnia and the Schar mountains, 

 about 7,000 square miles in extent, is ethno- 

 graphically and historically a part of Servia, 

 and is known as Old Servia. In the center of 

 Macedonia Bulgarians predominate, in the south 

 Greeks, and in western districts Zinzars, or 

 Wallachs. 



After the revolution in Philippopolis took 

 place and Prince Alexander accepted the fait 

 accompli and headed the movement, the Ser- 

 vian Government was the first to demand the 

 restoration of the status quo, and to raise the 

 argument of the balance of power. 



Diplomatic Position of Servia. On Sept. 22 the 



