268 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



tween St. Petersburg and Moscow. 

 Everywhere there exist masses of Ar- 

 menians to protect, and it would be 

 only too easy to arrange everything so 

 that the lesser should involve the 

 greater. The enormous industries and 

 the whole petroleum industry of Russia 

 are thirsting to take the rich oil regions 

 ■on the slopes of the Mesopotamian and 

 Persian mountains. Troops have al- 

 ready been concentrated in disquieting 

 numbers. From Kars to beyond Urmia, 

 round the Turkish Armenians, there are 

 well over 150,000 men. Does the Rus- 

 sian way to the Mediterranean lie here? 

 That is the great question. It is the 

 question of natural compensation which 

 Russia seeks for the loss of all her 

 Balkan aspirations. It is the question 

 of Asiatic Turkey. 



THE REAL DANGER. 



The important thing is that every 

 advance of Russia in Armenia, esj^ec- 

 ially from Persia, represents a direct 

 attack on the spheres of interest claimed 

 by Germany, and complications would 

 at once arise by the side of which the 



Moroccan conflict was child's play. Here 

 lies the real danger. Russia cannot em- 

 bark on a conflict with Austria, but she 

 can, without any difficulties at home, 

 venture on expansion through Armenia. 

 For this would be an enterprise of 

 Tsarism and not of the Russian people, 

 and if this expansion should be hin- 

 dered, an attack on Germany is not im- 

 possible. No one believes Russia is 

 seeking such a conflict, but that she may 

 run risks of becoming engaged in it on 

 her circuitous route to Asia Minor is 

 certain. Russia has now lost her old 

 illusions about the Balkans. Were she 

 a modern national State she would un- 

 doubtedly try to find compensation in 

 Europe. Being dilatory, and possibly 

 for domestic reasons, she will renounce 

 everything, for she also knows that 

 sooner or later others will be open 

 to her to realise splendid practical ad- 

 vantages. And how is Austria-Hungary 

 to emerge from the crisis |:)eacefully and 

 advantageously ? She must learn a les- 

 son from Tsarism, and, conscious of her 

 purpose, with endless patience wait and 

 ])repare for future opportunities. 



AN INTIMATE SKETCH OF THE SERVIANS. 



Mr. Herbert Vivian, who some years 

 ago spent some time in Servia, contri- 

 butes to the English Illustrated Maga- 

 zme an article on the Servian character. 



A PATRIARCHIAL SURVIVAL. 

 The Servian people, he writes, are al- 

 ways ready to express their views on 

 any subject with the utmost frankness. 

 But the villagers are more reserved than 

 the townsmen, and do not so readil\' 

 give themselves away as townsmen do. 

 You may spend a whole day in a Zad- 

 ruga apparently on the most intimate 

 terms, and yet not gain so much insight 

 into a man's character as you may in 

 half-an-hour's acquaintance in Belgrade. 

 The Zadruga is a peculiarly Servian 

 institution. Wherever it exists it is safe 

 to conclude the population is Servian. 

 We are asked to imagine a household 

 consisting of eighty or a hundred per- 

 sons, arbitrarily governed by one man, 

 having all things in common, and un- 

 able to bu}' or sell or plant or reap or 



marry without permission from the head 

 of the family. Originall)' a family 

 grc>up, it has grown until it embraces 

 distant cousins. It perpetuates the 

 family tradition and authority, it unites 

 all the benefits of small and great pro- 

 perties, and jirovides for the jjoor in 

 sukness and old age. Nevertheless the 

 Zadruga is beginning to die out, but a 

 clannish feeling is bound to remain, 

 and consequent 1\' the people are apt to 

 care more for local than for national 

 affairs. 



AN EASY LIFE. 



The only political topic which in- 

 terests the Servian peasants is the ques- 

 tion of taxation. If taxes could be paid 

 in kind they would not be grudged, but 

 a money payment seems to the peasants 

 out of all proportion to the amount of 

 food and clothing which it represents. 

 The fertility of the soil makes it un- 

 necessary for them to work very hard, 

 but they are not lazy, and the\- have a 



