LEADIXG ARTICLES. 



2.6-] 



HOW THE BALKAN LEAGUE BEGAN 



The anonymous author has had his 

 day, but we presume that diplomatic 

 etiquette will extend his period while 

 public policy pursues its subterranean 

 courses. " The History of the Forma- 

 tion of the Balkan League" appears in 

 The Fortnightly under the signature of 

 a mysterious " M," and we must assume 

 that his knowledge is extensive and 

 peculiar. 



The inception of the Lea lue came 

 first from Sofia and the jirelimmaries 

 are very clearly sketched : — 



" As might have been expected, the 

 first thought of the Bulgarian Govern- 

 ment, after it had become awake to the 

 necessity of a change ni its policy, was 

 to ascertain whether conditions in Bel- 

 grade were propitious to an under- 

 standing between Bulgaria and Servia 

 as regards their future conduct towards 

 Turkey. The co-operation of Servia was 

 indispensable, not only on account of 

 the military assistance which she could 

 bring in the event of an armed con- 

 flict, but also in order to prevent the 

 Porte from exploiting the mutual jeal- 

 ousies of the two nations. It was this 

 latter consideration which originalh' 

 weighed most with the Bulgarian Gov- 

 ernment ; for, when the question of an 

 alliance was first mentioned, the possi^ 

 bility of a \.-ar did not seriously enter 

 into the calculations of the contracting 

 parties. 



"The mission of sounding' the views 

 of Dr. Milovanovich, the Servian Prime 

 Minister, was entrusted to the Bulgarian 

 representative in Rome, who happened 

 to be in Sofia on lea\e of absence. M. 



Rizoff had spent several )-ears in Bel- 

 grade, as Bulgarian Envoy, and had 

 taken an active part in the Zollverein 

 negotiations. His instructions were to 

 observe the strictest incognito, and to re- 

 port results to M. Gueshoff, who was 

 then on his way back from France. To- 

 wards the beginning of October, 191 1, 

 they met in Vienna, and, as M. Rizoff's 

 story sounded most encouraging, a 

 secret interview between Dr. Alilovan- 

 o\ich and M. Gueshoff was at once ar- 

 ranged, and took place on October 11, 

 in the train from Belgrade to Nisch. 



" For several hours on end the two 

 statesmen discussed /?■ ca^iir evert the 

 political situation in the Balkans, the 

 hopeless plight of the Macedonian 

 populations, and the urgent need of an 

 understanding between Servia and Bul- 

 garia as the sole means of ameliorating 

 the lot of their compatriots in Turke)-. 

 They had no detailed scheme before 

 their m nds, and conversation turned on 

 generalities, but the conclusion to which 

 they both arrived was that no serious 

 differences existed between their stand- 

 points. This meeting may be said to 

 form the opening chapter in the history 

 of the Balkan Leai^ue, and wi^h it the 

 question emerged from the domain of 

 speculative talk into the regions of prac- 

 tical ]jolitics." 



From these \'ery ordmary pour parler<: 

 " yi " traces the strengthening of the 

 bond until the Allies ventured on their 

 supreme stroke of defiance not only 

 against Turke)% but against the junta 

 humorously labelled " The Concert of 

 Europe." 



WHAT IS RUSSIA'S OBJECT? 



In an article on " Russia m the East- 

 ern Crisis," in the Oesterreich'ische 

 Rundschau Flerr Alexander Ular writes 

 on Russia's future expansion in Asia. 



THROUGH ARMENIA TO THE MEDITER- 

 RANEAN. 

 After explaining that the Russian 

 Government fears the new Pan Slavism 

 with greater cause than does Austria, for 

 the simple reason that it is at the jjresent 

 time the onlv serious menace to the con- 



tinuance of the Tsar's system of gov- 

 ernment, the writer discusses the atti- 

 tude of Russia towards Asiatic Turkey. 

 He points out that Russia ma)- be asked 

 to protect the Armenians, and that she 

 may intervene either in the name of 

 humanit)' or " in the name of Europe." 

 In cither case the result will Ijc the same. 

 Prom the Russian fortress of Kars to 

 Mersina on the Mediterranean, the dis- 

 tance is scarcely greater than that be- 



