FOOTNOTES:

[179] I have also seen this type among Anatolian Greeks. It is observable among Greeks living in New York.

[180] Serbian authorities usually extend the zone of their vernacular to points farther east. Cf. J. Cvijić: Die ethnographische Abspreuzung der Völker auf der Balkan-halbinsel, Pet. Mitt., Vol. 59, 1913, No. 1, pp. 113-118.

[181] Montenegro is peopled by descendants of Serbians who took refuge in its mountains after the crushing defeat of Serbia by Turkey on the battlefield of Kossovo in 1389.

[182] J. Erdeljanović: Broj Srba, i Khrvata, Belgrade, 1911.

[183] E. Haumant: La nationalité serbo-croate, Ann. de Géogr., No. 127, Vol. 23, Jan. 15, 1914, pp. 45-59.

[184] N. Zupanić: Zumbercani i Marindolci, prilog antropologii i etnografiji Srba u Kranjskoj Prosvetni Glasnik, Belgrade, 1912.

[185] E. Haumant: La nationalité serbo-croate, Ann. de Géogr., No. 127, Vol. 23, Jan. 15, 1914, p. 48.

[186] A. Evans: The Adriatic Slavs and the Overland Route to Constantinople, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 47, No. 4, April 1916, p. 251.

[187] G. Blondel: La Bosnie, Bull. Soc. Norm. de Géogr., Jan.-March 1912, p. 18.

[188] C. Diehl: En Méditerranée, Paris, 1912.

[CHAPTER X]
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA

The Serbian linguistic area, noticed in the preceding chapter, is both the political and physical link connecting central Europe with the Balkan peninsula. Beyond Serbia, to the south or southeast, the true Balkan domain is reached. This region is occupied chiefly by Greeks and Bulgarians. The Albanian and Rumanian populations of its western section, although distinct in speech, nevertheless lack the cultural and historical background required in the formation of nationality.

The Albanians inhabit the rugged lands which were known as Illyricum and Epirus in classical times. Secluded within the narrow, trough-shaped relics of ancient mountain folding, the natives had no immediate contact with their Greek neighbors on the south, or with Serbians on the north. Hence Albanian has survived in the most inaccessible portions of the Dinaric rocky country. In its grammar Skip or Modern Albanian is exclusively Aryan in form. Nevertheless only four hundred entries out of a total of 5,140 listed in G. Meyers’ Etymological Dictionary of Albanian can be classified as unalloyed old Indo-European. The intrusion of Tatar modified into Turkish words is considerable and amounts to no less than 1,180 words. Romanic enters into the total to the extent of 1,420 forms, thus predominating. Some 840 words are Greek, while 540 are of Slavic origin.

In the belief of some etymologists the name Albania is related to the old Celtic form Alb or Alp, which means mountain. Comparison with the Celtic form “Albanach,” used in Scotch vernacular to name the mountainous section of Scotland, is of utmost interest and significance. The Albanians, however, do not call themselves by this name. They designate themselves as Skipetars or rockmen, and apply this appellation indiscriminately to all the inhabitants of Upper and Lower Albania who do not use Greek, Serbian or Rumanian as a vernacular. Many resemblances in the language spoken by Albanians and Rumanians point to a probable early association of the two peoples.

Albania is still a land of mystery. Few European travelers have ventured within its inhospitable confines. It is a country without a master, a country where the head of every family is sole ruler of his inherited plot of land. It is scantily populated. Its inhabitants are divided into hostile groups by religion and tribal rivalry. No common aim on which to found nationality exists among them. The only bond that holds them together is perhaps their intolerance of alien authority.

Latitude divides the Skipetars into two main groups. A northern branch is known by the name of Gheks, while the dwellers of southern Albania go by the name of Tosks. The Skumbi river valley, running at right angles to the Adriatic, separates the country into the two sections inhabited by each of these peoples. Each of these branches is further divided by religion into Mohammedans and Christians. The Christian Gheks inhabit principally the valleys of the Drin and the Mati. The powerful Mirdite clan draws its adherents from this group. They are Roman Catholics and strongly under Italian influence, which dates back to the beginnings of Venetian trading on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The Christian Tosks have been affected by the views of the Eastern Church. Almost all recognize the religious authority of the Phanariot clergy. The Mirdites form a compact community to the south of the Drin. The group consists of some 300,000 individuals scattered over a territory about 375 sq. m. in extent. An hereditary chief is acknowledged head of the clan, his authority being even recognized by many non-Mirdite tribes. With their allies the Mirdites number approximately half a million souls while the clan’s sphere of influence extends over a territory about 1,000 sq. m. in area.

Both of the Christian groups of the Albanian people have been mercilessly persecuted by the Mohammedan element, which represents the landed gentry and nobility of the country. The name of Arnaut applies generally to the Mohammedan Albanians. All are descendants of converts who embraced Islam at the time of the Turkish invasion. By adopting the faith of their conquerors, they were allowed to retain possession of their farms and property. The Christians became serfs, and were set to work on the lands under a system of feudal servitude which was exceedingly onerous.

Fig. 51.

Fig. 52.

Figs. 51 and 52—Albanians in native costume. The men shown in the upper photograph are “Arnauds” or Mohammedans. The lower illustration shows two Albanians of the shepherd class.

The inhabitants of Albania are totally devoid of national feeling.[189] Various causes militate against national unity. Primeval patriotism, expressed by love of tribe rather than of country, is one of them. Furthermore the peculiar shape of their country transforms it into a number of compartment-like areas beyond which tribal activity rarely extends. The setting up of an independent state in 1913 was a purely political move undertaken by Austrian statesmen to prevent Serbian expansion to the Adriatic. Within the boundaries determined by the ambassadorial conference held in London in that year strife and dissensions prevail now as intensely as during the Turkish régime. Natives of the northern sections of the country speak Serbian dialects and favor union with Serbia or Montenegro rather than independence. Malisori tribesmen fought side by side with Montenegrin troops in the fall of 1912 as their ancestors had done in the campaign of 1711 against the Turks. The Albanians of Ipek, however, gave assistance to Turkish regulars. The inhabitants of the valley of the upper Morava sent supplies to Serbian troops against which the chieftains of central Albania led their men. The purest type of Albanian found in the vicinity of Elbassan, Koritza and Valona[190] is practically submerged in a sea of Greeks. Under these circumstances, partition of the country between Greece and Serbia might not be incompatible with native aspirations. Political stability could be obtained in this case without paying attention to linguistic unity. Nevertheless Albania is not without national boundaries. The valley of the Drin and the range of the Pindus have left their mark in the development of the Albanian people, while the sea on the west provides the country with a most desirable confine.

On the east and south, the limits of Albanian language and nationality become indefinite owing to the intermingling of foreign populations. In the Ipek district, along the northeast corner of the country, two centuries of Albanian invasions have failed to insure preponderance of the Albanian over the Serbian element. Nevertheless at the London ambassadorial conference in 1913 Albania was awarded the only available road between Montenegro and Serbia. The route, cut in the mountainous tangle which characterizes this region, follows the Clementi gap, a district settled by shepherds of the tribe of the same name. The Prokleita mountains allotted to Albania form here a natural boundary. The inclusion of this uplift within Serbian territory would have enabled the Serbians to maintain communication with their Montenegrin kinsmen. Albanians would have lost little in the transaction, as can well be inferred from the name of the mountain, which is Serbian for “accursed.”

A small strip of Montenegrin territory which extends from Podgoritza to the sea at Antivari and Dulcigno is peopled almost exclusively by about 10,000 Albanians. This district was annexed to Montenegro by the treaty of Berlin in exchange for the districts of Plava and Gusinje which were then awarded to Turkey in view of the predominantly Mohammedan religion of their inhabitants.

Montenegrin covetings of the Lake Scutari area are based on economic grounds. The eastern shore of this inland body of water contains broad agricultural tracts which can supply the small state with food products unobtainable from its rocky surface. The award of a small strip of the old sanjak and a portion of the Ipek district, at the end of the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, failed to meet Montenegrin requirements. The new districts are separated from the country proper by a tangle of well-nigh impenetrable mountains. At Podgoritza, the commercial center of Montenegro, it is still possible to buy cereals from Albania more advantageously than from the Ipek region. Furthermore the acquired territory is relatively densely populated and hence unfit for settlement or colonization. Under the circumstances the economic advantages secured by Montenegro by the increase of its territory in 1913 were slight.

The area claimed by the highland country comprises the shore district of Scutari Lake and the Boyana valley. To satisfy Montenegrin aspirations the Albanian boundary should follow the Drin valley to the point of confluence of the Black and White Drin and extend along the Drinassa river. Thence, passing through the coast ranges, it should attain the Kiri river by way of a canal connecting this waterway with the Boyana. Beyond, the line might appropriately be carried to Bredizza and the Adriatic between San Juan de Medua and the mouth of the Boyana.

Such a revision of Montenegro’s frontier would provide the soil which the country needs for tilling. The valley of the Boyana and the drained lake district would soon be taken up by Montenegrin colonists who, now that the Turkish danger is over, are eager to descend into the lowland from their mountain fastness. The connection between the coast and inland districts would likewise be favored by the changed course of the boundary line.

In southern Albania Greek claims to Epirus are not without foundation. Hellenic language and customs prevail throughout the province. The hopes entertained at Athens originally aimed at the establishment of a northern boundary which would have included Valona. In order to satisfy Italian demands, however, a less comprehensive line was advocated, beginning at Gramala bay and extending to the Serbian frontier in the center of the western shore of Lake Okrida. It comprises the districts of Kimara, Argyrocastro, Premeti, Koritza and Moskopolis. According to official Turkish statistics, published in 1908, the region was peopled by 340,000 Greeks and some 149,000 Mohammedans.

The Greek proposals laid before the London ambassadorial conference suggested the following delimitation of the line between Greece and Albania. Starting from Gramala bay on the Adriatic sea, the frontier was to extend to Tepeleni and thence to Klisura. From this point the line was to coincide with the crest of the Dangli mountains and, crossing the basin of the middle Devoli river, attain Lake Okrida, thus connecting with the eastern boundary of Albania.

The thwarting of these Greek aspirations was followed by an insurrection of the Epirote inhabitants of Albania in 1914. The movement aimed at annexation with Greece. Rebel troops lost no time in occupying the region of Greek speech between Kimara and Tepeleni, comprising the coast and the northern extension of the wide valley of Argyrocastro. On February 25, 1914, the autonomy of Epirus was solemnly proclaimed by the inhabitants of Kimara assembled in their cathedral. In the fall of 1914 the Hellenic government, taking advantage of the European war, despatched regular troops into the territory claimed by its citizens. As a result of this invasion the Albanian area of Greek speech was brought under the direct authority of the Greek government.[191]

The determination of the boundary between the Albanian and Greek languages presents little difficulty. The upper course of the Voyussa and the road from Delvino to Ostanitza passing by Doliano mark the divide approximately. North of this line the prevailing language is Albanian. To the south it is Greek. On the Albanian side the village schoolhouse maintained by Greeks is no longer found. Delvino itself is a town in which the two peoples are equally represented. The language of commerce however is Greek and as a rule the Albanian townsmen speak the rival tongue with high fluency, while the knowledge of Albanian possessed by the Greek inhabitants is restricted to the few phrases needed in daily contact.

History, legend and myth, as well as language, testify to the Hellenic character of the Epirote land. These ties are too strong to allow the Greeks to relinquish complacently any portion of Epirus to Albania. Greece’s dawning consciousness of nationality was nursed in the mountains of Epirus long before the Christian era. Every step in the rugged country raises the dust of Hellenic antiquity. Among the fateful oaks of Dodona the land is aglow with tradition. At a short distance from Filiates, at the junction of the Kalamas and the Oremnitza, shepherds feed their flocks about the thick walls of Passaron. Near Delvino may be seen the remains of the once prosperous city of Phoenike. Every mountain and stream in the Epirote districts of Albania is part of the foundation on which Hellenism was built. The annals of modern Greece also are replete with the heroism of Greeks who claim Epirus as their native country. The land which produced so daring a leader of men as Pyrrhus in ancient times, later counted Miaoulis, Canaris and Botzaris among its sons.

The Greek occupation of Janina and the district surrounding the city raised difficulties of a practical nature. As is generally the case in conquered countries land was found to be held by the dominating element, that is by Mohammedans, whether Albanian, Turkish or Greek. The Christian Greeks forming the majority of the population constituted the working, peasant class. The end of Turkish rule in Europe placed Mohammedan landholders in the unenviable situation of suppliants before a people whom they had mercilessly maltreated. Many were ruined and their land taken over by Greeks without compensation. A general disturbance of the economic life of the region ensued as agriculture had been its most important industry.

Geographically—as well as economically—the nation holding Janina is entitled to Santi-Quaranta. This harbor is likewise the outlet for the products of the district surrounding Argyrocastro. In fact access to the sea for the entire Greek-speaking inland districts of southern Albania is obtained through Preveza or Santi-Quaranta. The latter harbor alone however is safe for large vessels.

The importance of Albania in European politics is largely due to the commanding position of the country’s seaports at the mouth of the Adriatic. Austrians, Italians, Serbians and Montenegrins covet them equally. South of the Montenegro frontier the first of these harbors is San Juan de Medua, situated on the northeast corner of the Gulf of Drino about 11 miles southwest of the mouth of the Boyana river.

This port, which is in reality a bay of restricted dimensions, is considered by the natives as the most favored on the Albanian coast. A bank extending to the south of the bay affords shelter from high seas. The region is the resort of local fishermen and is especially favored during winter months. In summer the swampy nature of the environing country converts it into a malarial district. Small vessels of the coastwise trade find shelter at the extreme inland extension of the bay. Ocean-going steamers anchor in the middle of the bay between the mouth of the Drin and San Juan Point.

San Juan de Medua is the harbor of the Montenegrin town of Scutari. It is also the proposed sea terminal of a railway to be built between the Danube and the Adriatic. As such it might in time become Serbia’s economic outlet to the Adriatic. But the construction of a railroad connecting the valley of the Danube with the Adriatic presents well-nigh insurmountable difficulties on account of the mountainous character of the intervening country. The bay of Rodoni, in the southern part of the Gulf of Drino, is one of the safe anchorages. A commodious harbor could be provided here by modern engineering devices. The southern shore of the bay could be converted into a long wharf at no great cost. A jetty thrown out on the northern side would afford protection from the “bora” or northern wind.

Between the bay of Rodoni and Durazzo the two roadsteads of Lales and Pata intervene. Both are resorts of fishermen and petty freighters seeking refuge from the vehemence of the bora. The shallowness of the waters in both preclude their utilization as western terminals for central Balkan traffic. Beyond however, to the south, the spacious bay of Durazzo offers ample harbor facilities to Adriatic shipping.

Durazzo has undoubtedly the most commodious harbor of northern Albania. From Cape Durazzo to Cape Laghi the bay is about 11 miles long. Shoals and banks protect its northern entrance. Engineers would find little difficulty in deepening the bay in conformity with the requirements of modern navigation. This accomplished, Durazzo might again become the naval station and port of commerce which gave fame to its name in ancient times.

Its site is hallowed to history. To the Corcyreans by whom the first town was founded it was known as Epidamnus, the “far away.” The Romans changed its name to Dyrrachium. In classical times the port was the point of transshipment for merchandise en route from Italy to Macedonia or northern Greece. At the height of Venetian commercial supremacy, the seaport fully retained its ancient prosperity. The wharves to which Venetian galleys were moored are still intact. Although the city is the modern commercial center of Albania it has lost much of its ancient activity.

None of these Albanian harbors are comparable in strategic importance to Valona, which is situated opposite Brindisi and on that portion of the Albanian coast nearest Italy. The holders of this seaport will control the strait of Otranto and thereby have mastery of the Adriatic. From a military standpoint, the bay facing the town is eminently suited to become a strongly fortified naval station. It is provided with a number of safe anchorages. The island of Sasseno facing the entrance affords shelter from the roughness of the open sea and forms at the same time a natural outpost. Italian and Austrian statesmen, the former especially, are fully aware of the importance of this Albanian harbor in the Adriatic question. The aim of each is to plant their country’s flag on the crenelated remnants of the ancient forts which overlook the bay. Greece also aspires to the possession of the seaport. In her case the claim is made that the majority of the inhabitants are of Greek descent. An attempt to obtain mastery of the position was made by Greece in the spring of 1913 when she landed in Sasseno. An energetic protest from the Italian government forced Greece to recall her troops. The island was occupied by Italian troops in the fall of 1914.

Valona is the outlet of a region whose population consists mainly of Mohammedan Albanians. Its commercial insignificance is largely due to the character of its inhabitants. Had it been peopled by a majority of Greeks, or even Christian Albanians, its influence might have been felt in the midst of international rivalries. Whatever destiny is in store for Albania, it seems as if, in view of the non-Greek character of the Valonian population, Italian or Austrian claims would stand greater chance of being heeded.

Of the 8,000 or 10,000 inhabitants of Valona over one-half are Albanian Mohammedans who adhere to the use of their vernacular. Greek is spoken extensively by Orthodox Albanians and Greeks, who together form the next largest religious community. Among Catholics the cultural influence of Italian prevails. In fact most of the Albanian Catholics residing in the town have forsaken their native language for Italian. Through the medium of these Catholics the only sphere of Italian influence in Albania deserving mention is found in Valona and the environing district. This western influence is hardly felt, however, beyond a distance of about 35 miles inland from the harbor or by more than 20,000 souls. Albanian anarchy holds sway to the north. Southward Greek influence is strongly exerted through the agency of the Orthodox church.

Elsewhere in the Balkan peninsula linguistic groupings now conform largely to the political divisions which ended the wars of 1912-1913. The future will undoubtedly afford an increasingly satisfactory perspective of the results which followed this attempt to eliminate totally the Turk from this portion of the European continent. Racial siftings followed close on territorial readjustments. Turks from all parts of the former Turkish provinces transferred their lands to Christian residents and emigrated to Asia Minor. Special arrangements for this exodus were provided by the Turkish government. Greeks who were settled in the newly acquired Bulgarian and Serbian domain similarly sought new homes within the boundaries of the Hellenic kingdom. A heavy flow of Bulgarian emigrants was also directed to Bulgaria from Bulgarian-speaking territory allotted to Serbia.[192]

But pressing need of further boundary revision on the basis of language is felt in the peninsula. Resumption of hostilities in this part of Europe in 1915 was due principally to the moot case of the nationality of the Slavs of Macedonia. Serbs and Bulgars both claim them as their own. In reality the Macedonians are a transition people between the two. They occupy a distinctive area formed by the twin valleys of the Vardar and Struma and surrounded by a mountainous bulwark assuming crescentic shape as it spreads along the Balkan ranges and the mountains of Albania and the Pindus. For centuries this Macedonian plain has constituted the cockpit of a struggle waged for linguistic supremacy on the part of Bulgarians and Serbs. The land had formed part of the domain of each of the two countries in the heyday of their national life. To this fact in part the present duality of claim must be ascribed.

The entire northwestern Macedonian highland was under Serbian rule until the fall of 1915. East and south of the mountains Bulgarian speech predominates in districts peopled exclusively by Macedonians. The Greek element is practically entirely absent here; Serbians begin to appear in small numbers; south of Monastir and Okrida offshoots of the Pindus Rumanians are found; but the Macedonian element is present everywhere in overwhelming majority.

Fig. 53—Sketch map of the western Balkans. The dotted area represents the northern area of Greek language. Black dots show Rumanian settlements of the Pindus mountains and adjoining regions.

Physically Macedonia is the region of the basins of the Vardar and Struma. Under Turkish rule it was divided into the vilayets of Monastir, Uskub and Salonica. The area is isolated from the rest of the peninsula by a practically continuous line of mountains, which, starting with the Pindus, Grammos and Albanian ranges on the west, extend through the Shar, Suhagora, Osogov and Rilo uplifts on the north and connect on the east with the Rhodope massif. Macedonia is thus well defined on the surface. Within these natural boundaries, it may be divided into an elevated region extending over its northwestern portion and a lowland spreading thence to Ægean waters. The Bistritza valley forms a convenient feature to mark the beginning of the modern Hellenic area.

In a restricted sense physical Macedonia may be defined as the southerly extension of the Serbian mountain belt whose drainage leads to the Ægean. Thus it consists first of a mountain belt extending between the upper valleys of the Black Drin and Struma. To this zone must also be added a hill country which forms its continuation to the Ægean Sea. The Vardar valley is entirely within this area and divides it into equal east and west sections. The northern boundary of the area is found at the central watershed north of Uskub. Four important basins lie within these boundaries. The Tetovo basin, west of Uskub, lies close to the watershed. Southward the Monastir and Strumitza basins occupy approximately homologous positions with respect to the Vardar cut. The twin basin of Serres and Drama extends over the southeastern portion of the country. These basins have been the only important centers of Macedonian populations.

The Macedonian highland is peopled by shepherds and woodcutters. The lowlanders are husbandmen. All are generally bilingual, speaking either Greek and Bulgarian or Bulgarian and Serbian. A knowledge of Turkish usually prevails among all classes. Occupation generally affords a reliable national clue. As a rule the Macedonians, and by this term we shall hereafter denote the Bulgarian-speaking element of Macedonia, are tillers of the soil. The Greeks are traders and control a large share of the commerce of the entire region. Land is held by the Macedonians or the former ruling Turkish gentry. It is worked however by the Macedonians.

The inhabitants of Macedonia may be divided into four groups according to their vernaculars. The number of individuals in each group is estimated as follows:[193]

Bulgarians1,172,136or 81.5%of the total Christian population.
Greeks190,047“ 13.22 “ “ “ “ “
Rumanians63,895“ 4.44 “ “ “ “ “
Albanians[194]12,006“ 0.84 “ “ “ “ “

The Bulgarians form a compact mass containing slight admixture of alien elements in northern and central Macedonia. Many of the occasional Greek communities encountered within this area are former Slav or Albanian centers having passed under the sphere of the Greek religious propaganda which has been actively carried on as a means of increasing the Hellenic domain. The instrument of Hellenization was the Patriarchate at Constantinople. The Patriarchs, bearing the title of Œcumenical, considered themselves as apostles of the Greater Greece idea. After the fall of Byzantium, and notably after the closing of the Bulgarian Patriarchate of Okrida, the Œcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was the only official church established in Turkey for Christians. Its influence, directed through schools and churches, aimed above all to Hellenize Christians. The clergy was directed to convert to Orthodoxy the greatest possible number of Christians of alien denomination and, at the same time, attempt to enforce the use of Greek speech among non-Mohammedans.

The Greeks of Macedonia are as mixed a people as can be found on the surface of the earth. Inhabitants of cities are strongly mixed with Albanian and Slav populations. Strains of Tatar blood can even be detected among them. The Mediterranean type becomes more pronounced as Thessaly is approached. In unfrequented villages, however, the tourist will not uncommonly find living impersonations of the sculptor’s classical conception of the human form. This Greek element predominates in the valley of the Bistritza, which, regionally, should be considered as the northeastern boundary of the area of the Greek speech.

The Slavs of Macedonia are, in many respects, distinct in character from the other Slavs of the Balkan peninsula. National feeling among them is less strongly developed than with the rest of the southern Slavs. They are industrious and frugal—even grasping. Yet there are marked exceptions which seem to prove that these qualities are not natural to them but have been acquired under the stress of circumstances. Macedonia is a land of poverty. It may rank with southern Greece as the poorest land in the Balkan peninsula. Of little fertility, extensively deforested and without particularly good pasture land, the country cannot support its relatively numerous population, and therefore an important occupation with the Macedonians is the taking of service in menial capacity in foreign countries—“Petchalba,” as it is called.

The language of the Macedonians is intermediate between Serbian and Bulgarian. Its affinity with the latter, however, is sufficiently pronounced to have led generally to merging. Travelers in the land of the Macedonian Slavs soon learn that a knowledge of Bulgarian will obviate difficulties due to ignorance of the country’s vernaculars. Serbian, however, is not as readily intelligible to the natives. This relation has favored the Bulgarian side whenever controversy arose and compilers of linguistic or ethnographic maps have generally abstained from differentiating the Macedonian from the Bulgarian area.[195] The impossibility for Bulgarians to regard the terms of the treaty of Bucarest as final is, therefore, obvious. Extension of the Rumanian boundary to the Turtukai-Black Sea line was also an encroachment on soil where Bulgarian was the predominant language.[196]

The area of Bulgarian speech awarded to Greece by the treaty of Bucarest in 1913 attains the Albanian boundary near Lakes Prespa and Kastoria. The upper valley of the Bistritza river crosses a region peopled by Macedonians. The former Turkish caza of Kastoria contained a majority of Bulgarian-speaking inhabitants. The domain of Greek speech begins south of Lapsista and extends eastward halfway between Kailar and Kochana. Greek predominance is maintained around Karaferia. The environs of Salonica contain a slight excess of Greek inhabitants over Bulgarians, but the Greek element is not as closely attached to the land as the Bulgarian. The line of lakes on the north of the Chalcydic peninsula forms the boundary between Greeks and Bulgarians, the latter element extending north of these inland waters to the present Bulgarian frontier.

The loss of Macedonia was bitterly resented by Bulgarians, not only on account of the racial ties which bind them to Macedonians, but also because their country’s economic development is hampered by the want of the harbors which constitute the natural sea outlets for the rearlands under Bulgarian rule. The industrial and commercial development of southwestern Bulgaria is handicapped at present by the necessity of shipping the products of the region over a devious stretch of railroad through Sofia-Philippopoli-Dedeagatch. The alternative via Serbia or Greece is equally costly. The population of a considerable portion of the country is, therefore, unable to compete with rival producers of the two neighboring countries.

In the first half of 1913 negotiations between the Greek and Bulgarian governments were in progress for the division of lands conquered from the Turks. At that time the Greek government was willing to recognize Bulgarian sovereignty over the cazas of Kavalla, Drama, Pravista, Serres, Demir-Hissar and Kukush. This was done on Mr. Venizelos’ understanding that these districts were sparsely inhabited by Greeks,[197] and that Kavalla was the natural seaport of the districts of Strumnitza, Melnik, Jumaya, Nevrokop and Razlog.

Many of the districts thus offered to Bulgaria were peopled mainly by Turks. According to Turkish statistics the caza of Kara-Shaban does not contain a single Christian village. Its population consists almost entirely of Turks numbering about 15,000. The caza of Kavalla, having a population of 30,000, is likewise largely Turkish. The Greek element is reckoned at about 4,000, while some 3,500 Pomaks or Bulgarian Mohammedans are scattered in many villages.

Of the 50,000 inhabitants of the caza of Drama fully one-half were Turks, the number of Greeks hardly attained 4,000, while the Bulgarian element consisted of 20,000 inhabitants divided into equal numbers of Exarchists and Pomaks. In the caza of Serres, the Bulgarians number approximately 40,000, while the Greek population comprises 27,000.[198] The caza of Demir-Hissar contains 33,000 Bulgarians out of a population of 50,250. The Greeks number about 250. In Kukush there are no Greeks at all. The population of this caza consists mainly of 20,000 Turks out of a total of 23,000 inhabitants. It should be remembered that the Turks emigrated en masse from this district after the treaty of Bucarest and that, barring forcible expulsion by the Greeks, the population of all this section of southeastern Macedonia is now overwhelmingly Bulgarian.

Prior to Philip’s time, Macedonia was a little-known mountainous province constantly overrun by Thracians and Illyrians. Soon after the overthrow of the Macedonian Empire by the Romans in 168 B.C. the region took its place among Roman provinces and eventually formed part of the Byzantine Empire. Rapacious Goths under Alaric brought havoc to the land after its fortunes were bound to that of the dominant eastern state. The Slavs made their appearance during the reign of Justinian. Their colonies had attained importance while Heraclius was on the throne. In the tenth century, Macedonia became part of the great Bulgarian kingdom, but gravitated later towards Byzantium, though not without having been the scene of disastrous struggles between Byzantine hosts and their barbarian foes. Turks and Tatars first overran the country in this period and even founded colonies. The two invasions from the east, of the Slavs and of the Turks, must have wrought profound changes in the Macedonian populations. A short period of Serbian rule was undergone in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth, Macedonia became an integral portion of the Ottoman dominions and preserved this political status until its rescue during the Balkan wars of 1912-1913.

Ethnically Macedonians and Bulgarians consist of mixed European and Asiatic elements. The oldest layer in the population is Thracian. This local stock peopled the land at the time of the Roman conquest and was strongly Romanized during the subsequent centuries. Slavs overran the country in the sixth century. The Bulgarians made their appearance in the seventh. Turks, or rather Mongol and Tatar hordes, began their invasions in the eighth. These Asiatics were nomads. They made excellent soldiers but poor settlers. Their settlements, which were made at strategic points, can be recognized today by their commanding sites.

It is hard to determine how much of the Slav or of the Tatar exists in the average Bulgarian of our day. The history of the land during the second half of the first Christian millennium is a record of constant invasions from the east. The invaders appear at first to have been Slavs from the southern steppes of western Russia. As time goes on, however, Bulgaria is seen to absorb wanderers proceeding from more and more distant districts in the southern belts of the steppeland which forms the continuation of Europe into Asia. Slavic culture and speech preserved by the Bulgarians seem but the veil that hides their strong Asiatic affinity.

The fundamental difference between the temper of the Serbian and the Bulgarian is apparent to travelers in Balkan lands. The former are true Slavs. They are lighthearted and always ready to make merry. Their mountains re-echo with folk songs of the genuine Slavic type. The Bulgarian on the other hand is inclined to silence. Both peoples are equally industrious, but in the Serbian the mobile and restless spirit of the west is discernible, while the Bulgarian is as slow and ponderous a thinker as ever was bred on the vast and open stretches of Eurasia’s central lowlands.

Proof of the Altaic origin of some of the Bulgarians is derived from philology. To be sure, the Bulgarian and Turkish languages, as now spoken, prevent mutual understanding, even though a number of Turkish words have crept into Bulgarian in the course of the centuries of Turkish rule. These are mostly modern words, however, which did not exist at the time of the Asiatic migrations. On the other hand, a deeper etymological bond is found in the words for both wild and domestic animals, which are very similar in the two languages. In the same way the old stock of words relating to agricultural or pastoral pursuits are very closely akin in Turkish and Hungarian. An interesting feature of the peopling of Bulgaria is the modern tendency of the Bulgarian to abandon his ancient home in the Balkan mountains and seek the fertile lowlands of the country’s main valleys. A steady emigration from mountain to plain has been going on since the Turks withdrew their garrisons from Bulgaria. This movement reflects a sense of security which followed the expulsion of the Turks. It is not yet ended. The fertile basins of southeastern Bulgaria are still sparsely populated. The reason is clear. They were peopled largely by Turks who preferred to retire on Turkish soil after the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. The Bulgarians have not yet had time to occupy the territory abandoned by the Turks.

After the Turkish conquest Turkish historians, particularly Evlia Tchelebi and Sa’aeddin, constantly refer to the Macedonians as Bulgarians. This belief was held by the Turks until the end of their rule of the province. The first Bulgarian bishop authorized by the Turkish government was appointed for the diocese of Uskub and southern districts. This appointment followed census-taking in the district which indicated Bulgarian predominance.

In southwestern Macedonia the inhabitants of the districts of Kastoria, Florina and Kailar are generally Bulgarians. Even in the Mohammedan villages, as, for example, Grevena and Nedilia, nothing but Bulgarian is heard. The fundamental Bulgarian character of the entire region is furthermore established by place names which are Bulgarian in spite of secular infiltrations of Greeks, Albanians and Turks.

This portion of Macedonia along with the Vodena, Yenije-Vardar and Salonica districts which were lately allotted to Greece, constitute an interesting linguistic zone. Here alone, of all Bulgarian-speaking regions, have been preserved forms peculiar to the old Bulgarian language. The speech of the inhabitants of Kastoria in particular reveals antiquated styles which are found only in the first manuscripts prepared for the use of Christian Slavs.

At the ambassadorial conference of Constantinople in 1876 the cazas of Kastoria and Florina were included within the boundaries of the proposed autonomous province which was to have Sofia as its capital. The treaty of San Stefano likewise comprised the districts under the newly created Bulgaria. These considerations suffice in themselves to demonstrate the Bulgarian nationality of the inhabitants of the present northern confines of Greece.

The Serbian claim on portions of Macedonia acquired after the Balkan war of 1913 rests largely on a relatively short term of military occupation at the height of the Serbian might in the fourteenth century. This is made the basis of an historical plea. The crowning of Dushan, their most renowned ruler, in the city of Uskub however did not change the national character of the inhabitants of the city or the districts surrounding it. Furthermore, Serbian rule in Macedonia was preceded by Bulgarian sovereignty and was followed by Byzantine supremacy over the land. Greeks and Bulgarians may therefore buttress their claims on equally valid historical contentions. Samuel, one of the Bulgarian Czars, had extended his domain as far west as the Adriatic. His success in adding the seaport of Durazzo to his land, however, failed to change the Serbian nationality of the western districts he managed to conquer.

Only in recent years have Serbian claims on Macedonia been set forth by Serbian scholars. Historians like Raitch, Solaritch and Vouk Karadjitch formerly concurred in setting southern Serbian frontiers at the Shar mountains. In 1860 Serbian scientific societies had joined in the publication of Macedonian songs collected by Verkovitch under the title of “Bulgarian Songs.” Serbian writers of the period around 1870 describe inland inhabitants of Thrace, Rumelia and Macedonia as Bulgarians, while they recognized the coast dwellers as Greeks.[199]

A transition dialect between Bulgarian and Serbian is spoken by the inhabitants of the Krajste and Vlasina valleys in eastern Serbia. The Krajste, an ill-known region, skirts the Serbo-Bulgarian boundary and spreads eastward to the basins of Tren and Kustendil. The Vlasina upper valley is known to Serbians as containing the most important peat bog in their country. The two districts are characterized by seasonal migrations of their inhabitants which acquire decided intensity in the Vlasina valley.[200]

In its westernmost area the delimitation of a Bulgarian linguistic boundary is greatly hampered by the relatively large Serbian-speaking element on the north and a corresponding mass of Greeks on the south. Reliable statistics are still unavailable. Figures supplied by rival nationalist propaganda institutions are for obvious reasons open to suspicion. The region where the determination of this linguistic boundary is most difficult is found in the neighborhood of Pirot and Vrania. Here the language of the Slavic natives departs equally from the Bulgarian and Serbian. This region, however, lies north of Macedonia proper. At the same time there appears to be little room to doubt that the area of Bulgarian speech attains the zone of the eastern Albanian dialects and that it attains the Gulf of Salonica. But the seafaring population of the Ægean coast is largely Greek.

Salonica itself is by no means a Bulgarian city, but an excellent type of the polylingual cities of the Near East. Out of a population of 160,000 inhabitants, it contains 20,000 Greeks and an equal number of Europeans and Turks respectively. Its Bulgarian population is negligible. The most numerous element is made up of Jews who, it is estimated, constitute about one-half of the population. Next to Constantinople, Salonica is the best harbor in the Balkans. It is coveted by the Bulgarians on the plea that the population of the country environing Salonica is mostly Bulgar.

The city occupies a dominating position on the Ægean coast halfway between Piraeus and Smyrna and has always been a meeting-point of Europe and Asia. In a sense it is the eastern terminal of continental lines with which it is connected by the railroad which passes through Nish and Uskub. In this light the city may be likened to one of the piles of a gigantic bridge thrown across the Ægean to connect Europe and Asia. It is the natural outlet of the greatest part of Macedonia. Inland towns all the way from Ipek, Prizrend and Mitrovitza to Monastir, Ishtip and Serres obtain the goods which they need through Salonica. The products of the fertile valleys of the Vardar and the Bistritza are almost exclusively directed toward this harbor. The exchange of commodities between Salonica and its rearlands reaches a yearly value of about $100,000,000.

Whatever be the prevailing language spoken in this city, its greatness depends entirely on the degree of freedom with which its inhabitants can maintain trade with the districts extending north and northwest. To maintain its size, or grow, the city must continue to be the receiving point of manufactured goods shipped into Macedonia as well as parts of Serbia and Albania. It must also remain the shipping point for the natural products from those same districts. To separate Macedonia from Salonica, its natural harbor, is to create an unnatural condition. The city draws its life from the resources of Macedonia. Its prosperity is therefore directly related to the political fate of that country.

Bulgaria was independent during three different periods of its history. The first kingdom was founded in 679 when Bulgarian bands led by Asparush crossed the Danube and conquered the Slavs who had previously occupied Bulgaria. Conquest carried his successors to the very gates of Constantinople. At the end of the ninth century under the reign of Simon, the second Christian ruler of the country, the kingdom comprised all of Hungary, Rumania, Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus and Serbia in addition to its present territory. Preslav was its capital. Bulgaria had then an area of 233,300 sq. m.

The Byzantines conquered Bulgaria in 1018 and maintained their supremacy until 1186. The second kingdom was reëstablished in that year with Assen I as its sovereign. In the reign of Assen II (1218-1241), Bulgarian territory reached the Adriatic, Ægean and Black seas and the Danube formed its northern frontier. Tirnovo was the capital of the second kingdom. Bulgaria was at that time one of the great European powers. Its area was then 113,100 sq. m. The third kingdom dates from the year 1877.

Several attempts have been made in the past to create a Bulgaria which would extend as far as the country’s language was spoken. Towards the end of 1876 an international conference was held in Constantinople to put an end to the intolerable condition of the Christians inhabiting this portion of the Balkan peninsula. The delegates decided to form two new Turkish provinces, the boundaries of which would coincide with the ethnographic limit of the Bulgarian people. Sofia and Tirnovo were selected as the chief towns of the new provinces. The Sultan’s government succeeded in blocking the execution of this project. War with Russia followed and Russian victories forced Turkey to sign the memorable treaty of San Stefano on February 19, 1878.

The boundary then decided upon was practically identical with that provided by the ambassadorial conference of Constantinople. Bulgaria however obtained in addition a band of territory in Thrace and access to the Ægean through the seaport of Kavalla and the mouth of the Vardar. In exchange, the principality lost the Dobrudja to Rumania and a portion of the sanjak of Nish with the towns of Nish and Leskovatz to Serbia. Russia at San Stefano had, therefore, merely enforced execution of the agreement reached jointly by the representatives of European powers. The treaty she imposed on the Porte was from the linguistic standpoint an improvement on the ambassadorial plan elaborated at Constantinople.

Unfortunately for Bulgaria, the unity of the nation failed to receive the sanction of Europe at the treaty of Berlin in spite of the sound scientific basis on which it was founded. Political and strategical considerations, on the plea of which many international blunders have been committed, prevailed. After this act of injustice Bulgarians organized themselves to reclaim the land of which they had been despoiled. Thirty-five years were spent in preparation. On February 19, 1913, Bulgar guns and bayonets, backed by Bulgar determination, had almost reëstablished the national unity for which they had striven. This new effort was not to be crowned with success. Only in the winter of 1914-1915 were the Bulgarians able to occupy with their arms the territories of Bulgarian speech which had been allotted to Serbia by the treaty of Bucarest. The permanency of this occupation is, needless to state, subject to international approval.

The extreme southeastern angle of the Balkan peninsula, east of the Maritza river, is probably the most polyglot region in Europe. The valley of the Maritza is mainly Bulgarian. Numerous colonies of Greeks settled along the coast between the Dardanelles and the Black Sea entrance of the Bosporus ply their trade as fishermen or sailors. The petty coastwise traffic is almost entirely in their hands. The Bulgarians are mainly farmers. Their properties are scattered east to the very walls of the world-metropolis which brings fame to the region. Within Constantinople itself truck gardens are generally owned and exploited by Bulgarians. Bulgarian and Greek languages are therefore common in this peninsula extremity of Europe. The latter however is in constant use by most of the inhabitants, whereas Bulgarian is restricted to the Slavic element.

The Turkish masters of the land were never able to impose their language on the Christian population. Many of the Greek and Bulgarian inhabitants of the region cannot speak a word of Turkish. The fact is particularly observable among Greeks. The language of the conqueror hovers over the land as the medium of administration. Its function ceases then, as far as the Christian element of the region is concerned. The Turkish population in this bit of the Balkan peninsula is numerous, owing to the attraction exerted by the capital. Reliable census figures are unavailable. Thanks to the presence of a strong garrison and a host of civil-service officials the Turkish population of Constantinople, added to the Turks remaining in the strip of European Turkey still owned by the Sultan after the treaty of Bucarest of 1913, probably musters as many individuals as those to whom Greek is vernacular. An important Armenian colony is centered at Constantinople and radiates in settlements without the capital. These Christians also have held fast to their native speech, although most of them can claim proficiency in Turkish. This familiarity with the language of their conquerors betrays their Asiatic origin, in contrast with the ignorance of Turkish found among the Greeks, who never forget their European affinities.

In Europe the Turk, child of the ungrateful Asiatic steppeland, has always been the heartily despised intruder. He has shown himself incompetent to follow up the task of conquest by assimilating the peoples he subdued. Perhaps his lack of national ideals lies at the root of his failure. The language he imposed on his Christian subjects never replaced their vernacular. It was spoken only by the males of the subdued populations. Only in rare instances did it penetrate within their households. Hence, Turks never felt at home in Europe. They knew that their nomad’s tent was pitched only for a while on the continent in which they sojourned as conquerors and as strangers. They were emigrants who had lost all memory of their land of origin and who nevertheless could not adapt themselves to the land which their bravery had won. The state they founded had a weak head and no heart whatever. Under these conditions the expulsion of Turks from Europe could always be foreseen in spite of the weary years it took to accomplish it.

Every boundary revision that marks the successive shrinking of Turkish territory in Europe has been attended by wholesale emigration of Mohammedans from lands reclaimed by Christians. Immediately after the Balkan wars of 1913 about 50,000 Turks voluntarily departed for Asia Minor from territory allotted to Greece. An equal number left sections of Macedonia taken over by Serbia, while about 25,000 abandoned land annexed by Bulgaria.

The historical fact is that Turks have never consented to live in a land governed by Christians. In 1882 Thessaly was annexed to Greece by a decision of European powers. No armed conflict between Greece and Turkey took place on that occasion and racial hatred had not been increased by the horrors of war. The Greek government at that time offered special inducements to the Turkish inhabitants of the ceded territory to remain on their land and continue their agricultural pursuits. The Turks, however, preferred to emigrate to the Sultan’s domain.

When Crete was awarded to Greece over 50,000 of the 80,000 Turkish inhabitants of the island abandoned their homes and decided to settle in Asiatic Turkey. This exodus took place in spite of the perfect security of life and property that had prevailed in the island since its administration was taken over by a committee of Europeans in 1877. This tendency of Turks to forsake Christian countries is observable even in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Austrian government has shown decided favor toward Mohammedan inhabitants, considering them more loyal than other elements of its southeastern population.

The Turk’s last stand in Europe marks the final stage of his colossal struggle to retain mastery over the Dardanelles and Bosporus to which the highways of Europe and Asia lead. The Bosporus is the junction of two important world routes. One of these connects the peoples of central Europe with the crowded settlements of British India. The other is the line of communication between the commercial ports of the Mediterranean and the caravan terminals on the Black Sea coast. Each of these highways has constituted a channel through which the trade between eastern and western lands has been directed from the very beginnings of commerce. The narrowness of this Eurasian waterway permitted continuous travel between two continents, while the straits allowed uninterrupted maritime travel from Black Sea harbors to distant seaports of the western world. Modern railway communications have benefited by the former circumstance. The sea commerce of medieval days thrived on the latter.

The entire European coast of the elongated waterways which connect the Ægean and Black seas is inhabited by peoples speaking languages each of which symbolizes conflicting aims and aspirations without being strong enough to silence its rivals. From the political standpoint the linguistic factor appears to be of slight value in this case. Economic needs, to the exclusion of other considerations, will probably determine the destiny of this region.

The relation of a region to the world depends in general upon its economic value. The importance of this southeasterly strip of the Balkan peninsula is therefore affected by its central location with reference to the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Between Paris and Bagdad, or the Cape of Good Hope, the overland route is continuous save for a short mile of water at the Bosporus and an equally insignificant crossing at the Isthmus of Suez, in the case of African travel. Herein lies the economic relation of this portion of the Balkan peninsula to the rest of the world. But the European coastland of the intercontinental strait separating Europe from Asia does not constitute a complete region. The Asiatic coast of the waterways must be taken with the European and a single district formed out of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus with their coasts and shores. This region is the threshold of Asia and conversely the entrance to Europe from the east.

A Balkan zone of depression extending west and south of the Balkan uplift affords natural access between the valley of the Danube proceeding from the heart of Europe and the Dardanelles-Bosporus passage. This convenient gap is provided by the wide valley of the Morava and the narrower Nishava course which lead to the Sofia basin, whence penetration into the Thracian plains is obtained by the Maritza valley. The corresponding function for the Asiatic shore is performed by the valley of the Sakaria and in a less degree by the Pursak river depression—both trending westward from the high plateau of western Asia.

The main roads from the Bosporus and the Dardanelles to the Sakaria river valley skirt the shores of the straits of the Marmora, as they follow a coastal lowland which fringes the Dardanian and Bithynian heights. At Panderma however the old highway strikes inland slightly south of east to Brusa in order to avoid the elevated plateau intervening between the Marmora and Lake Abullonia. Thence, still following a line of least elevation, it winds towards the small harbor of Ghemlik (the Cius of Graeco-Roman times) until beyond Isnik (ancient Nicaea of ecclesiastical fame) it debouches into the waters of the Sakaria.

These natural features connect the heart of Europe with the high plateaus of western and central Asia as well as with the fertile Mesopotamian lowland and the Indian peninsulas. The silk sent to Europe from eastern Asia in medieval days followed this road. The route has declined since the construction of the Suez waterway. Railway lines planned to connect Channel ports with the Gulf of Persia will restore the commercial value of the region. The value of the Bosporus as an avenue of trade remains unimpaired in modern days. It is the only maritime outlet for the export of the cereals and farm products of southern Russia and the oil of the Caucasus.

Hence the commercial importance of Constantinople. The city is a huge caravanserai—the meeting place of traders from the world’s remotest corners. Control of its commanding position is coveted by every nation whose citizens depend on industry and trade for their welfare. The commerce of three continents lies within its grasp. The political status of the extreme southeastern corner of the Balkan peninsula, together with that of the extreme northwestern corner of Asia Minor, therefore affects the interests of the entire community of European nations.

We have in this a factor which may exert greater weight than language in the eventual formation of an independent political unit comprising the elongated zone of coastland inclosing the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus. A convenient boundary for this territory in the Balkans might start at the Gulf of Saros and, coinciding thence with the heights overlooking Rodosto, might reach the course of the Chorlu. From here to the Black Sea coast the administrative boundary of the vilayet of Constantinople might be converted into an international frontier. This delimitation would leave the valley of the Maritza in Bulgarian hands. This award is justifiable not because the beauty of the river banks is proclaimed in the Bulgarian national hymn, but rather on the grounds of Bulgarian linguistic preponderance in this valley. Substantial coincidence between Bulgarian political and linguistic boundaries on the southeast would then have been obtained.[201]