164 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



April 1, 1913. 



during the past weeks in the country be- 

 tween the Maritza River and the Tchat- 

 aldja lines. What the result might have 

 been had the Turkish army been as well 

 prepared as the Bulgarian is no doubt 

 a problem occupying the Kriegspielers 

 and the war departments of Europe ; 

 and the students of tactics are undoubt- 

 edly working out new methods of at- 

 tack if an offensive war in the future 

 is to be crowned with victory. 



The Bulgarian success has been pur- 

 chased at terrible cost, some of their 

 best regiments having been almost en- 

 tirely wiped out, among them the First 

 and Sixth Regiments, composed prm- 

 cipally of the elite of Bulgarian society 

 and a great number of officials. 



As an object lesson in favour of the 

 e:^ercise of reason instead of arms in the 

 disputes between nations, there can be 

 none to compare with that of the recent 

 war. 



WHO ARE THE ALBANIANS, AND WHAT DO 



THEY WANT? 



The question most difficult of definite 

 settlement in the Balkan situation, as it 

 presented itself in the deliberations of 

 the peace negotiators at London in De- 

 cember and January, was what to do 

 with the Albanians. It is probable that 

 to-day the largest element in European 

 Turkey is of native Albanian stock. 

 This is undoubtedly true, although its 

 truth may not be admitted by the Turk, 

 the Greeks, the Italians, the Bulgarians, 

 or the Servians. 



Who are the Albanians, and what 

 do they want ? An Albanian exile in 

 the United States, an educated man, 

 and a student at Oberlin College, Mr. 

 Kristo A. Anastas Dako, who is a mem- 

 ber of the Albanian Nationalist Com- 

 mittee, furnishes some interesting data 

 to the American Review of Reviews in 

 answer to these questions. He says : — 



The name, " Albanians," was given first in 

 the eleventh century by the Creeks of the 

 lower empire to the tribe inhabiting Albasan 

 (Elbasan). Later it was ext-ended to all 

 those who spoke the saniB language or dia- 

 lects of the same language as that of the 

 original inhabitants of Albasan, from whom 

 the Italians derived the word " Albania," 

 and gave it to the rest of Europe. Those 

 names " Albania " and " Albanians " are not 

 known among the descendants of the early 

 citizens of Albasan. Those whom the world 

 calls Albanians know themselves as Shki- 

 petar, and the country in which they live 

 Shkiperia or Shkypnia. These people are 

 generally and in all i^robability accurately 

 identified as the result of the combination of 

 the ancient Illyrians, Macedonians, and Epi- 

 rotes, who were all the descendants of the 

 more ancient Pelasgians. In 168 b.c. Illyria, 

 Epirus, and Macedonia became provinces of 

 the Roman Empire, but the Roman Con- 

 quest seem to have wrougjht little change 

 in the s<X!i>al condition of the Albanians. 



They still retained their language, their 

 national manners and usages, and still re- 

 mained a distinct and peculiar people. At 

 the end of the seventh century central and 



SimplicUsimus.'\ [Munic-h. 



IN THE ALBANIAN REGISTRY OFFICE. 



"You want ai king? I have something that 

 will suit yoai very well : for example, there is 

 Mr. Mianuel. He wa« formerly employed in that 

 capacity; of course, he was discharged without 

 notice, and so can bring no . character. But 

 perhaps you might prefer Mr. Bonaparte? He 

 comes from a good house, and his circumstances 

 permit him to look rather for good treatment 

 than hi-gh wages." 



