THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 



By William Joseph Showalter 



WITH an area no larger than 

 that of the State of Maine and 

 a population smaller than that 

 of the city of New York, the little King- 

 dom of Servia has played a role in the 

 recent past the full magnitude of which 

 cannot be reckoned until the end of time. 

 Mayhap it has changed the whole course 

 of human history ! 



Some years ago it was said of the 

 Balkan Peninsula that it was the "pow- 

 der-box" of Europe, and the events of 

 last summer proved the statement true ; 

 and then some one a little later observed 

 that if the Balkan Peninsula were the 

 "powder-box," Servia was the "percus- 

 sion cap." 



How truly he spoke was not realized 

 at the time, even by the speaker ; for 

 while men will ever disagree as to the 

 deep-seated causes that led to the present 

 great war, all the world admits that the 

 bomb-throwing at Serajevo was the "per- 

 cussion cap" that detonated the terrific 

 forces behind the diplomacy of Europe. 



Time was when the Balkan question 

 was unheard of in the chancellories of 

 Europe. Up to the French Revolution 

 all that the rest of Europe seemed to 

 think about concerning that region was 

 a gradual driving back of the Turk into 

 Asia and the possessing of the conquered 

 territory ; for in those times territory was 

 worth no more than its face value in that 

 strip of the earth. 



Then Napoleon entered upon the scene 

 with his invasion of Egypt and his ulti- 

 mate purpose of taking India, and im- 

 mediately the diplomatic world realized 

 that the territory which Turkey held in 

 Europe was indeed the key to southern 

 Asia, both in commerce and from a 

 strategic viewpoint. 



A gIvAnce; at history 



Russia wanted to possess that key, and 

 for a full century tried, both by diplo- 

 macy and the mailed fist, to get it. After 

 the banishment of Napoleon to Elba, the 

 Congress of Vienna was called, and Rus- 



sia then wanted to get through the Darda- 

 nelles, but was denied. Again, in 1828, 

 Russia tried to get through, but was 

 checkmated by another conference of the 

 Powers, which had decided among them- 

 selves that the best way to keep the key 

 to Constantinople and the south of Asia 

 out of Russia's hands was to keep it in 

 Turkey's possession, and the Christian 

 nations lined up on the side of the Turk. 

 Again, in 1854, Russia found a diplo- 

 matic situation which seemed to ofi^er her 

 a bright prospect; so she delivered an 

 ultimatum to Turkey, demanding that she 

 be allowed to protect the Christians liv- 

 ing in Turkish dominions. Under the 

 advice of England and other Powers, 

 Turkey turned down the Russian pro- 

 posal, and the Crimean War resulted. 



One of the terms of the treaty that 

 ended the Crimean War, in which Eng- 

 land, France, Italy, and Turkey were al- 

 lies, was that the Black Sea be declared 

 neutral. This agreement was denounced 

 by Russia at the time of the Franco- 

 Prussian War, history telling us that 

 Prussia agreed to back up the denuncia- 

 tion in return for Russian neutrality in 

 the German war with France. 



Once again Russia, indefatigable in her 

 purpose, started on her quest for an out- 

 let to the Mediterranean, and in 1876 

 found herself at the very gates of Con- 

 stantinople. A treaty with the vanquished 

 Turks followed, and the prize that Russia 

 had coveted for generations seemed now 

 in her grasp. But here again the Powers 

 interfered, and Russia lost almost every 

 fruit of her victory through the combined 

 efforts of her Christian brethren. 



The Congress of Berlin was called to 

 dispose of Russia's pretenses toward the 

 Mediterranean, for under her agreement 

 with Turkey she had been given practi- 

 cally complete domination over the Bal- 

 kan Peninsula. 



The Congress met and proceeded to 

 undo what Russia had done under the 

 treaty of San Stefano. Russia protested 

 bitterly, but Great Britain and Austria 



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