The Passing of the Turkish Empire in Europe

by B. Granville Baker

I have heard the absence of a Chinese man-of-war commented on during my recent stay in Constantinople.

CHAPTER XVII

The arrival of the Slavs and their descent—The appearance of the Serbs—Servia, before the arrival of the Serbs—The primitive Serbs—Serbs and Bulgarians in early days—Stephen Dobroslav and his son Michael—The Serb dynasty of Nemanya—Stephen Dushan and Urosh—Knjes Lazar marches against the Turks—The battle of Kossovo—The death of Knjes Lazar—Vuk Brankoviç and George, his son—Servia subjected by Mohammed II—Servia a Turkish province—Semendria—Golubaç and the Via Trajana—The Peace of Passarowitz—Serbs help Turkey—Kara George—The Treaty of Bucharest—Milosh Obrenoviç—The stern rule of Milosh Obrenoviç—Michael Obrenoviç makes way to Alexander Karageorgeviç—Milosh Obrenoviç recalled—Michael III murdered at Belgrade—King Milan—King Milan resigns—Peter I, Karageorgeviç—Servia’s war preparations—The Servian Army—The causes of the war—The Montenegrins—Montenegro declares war—The opening of hostilities—The progress of the Serbs—Capture of Monastir and Ochrida—The Serbs march from Ochrida to Alessio—Occupation of Macedonia—Turkish optimism—Alleged Servian atrocities—The credit of the Servian Army.

IN those dark ages preceding the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Central Europe was seething with migrant nations dimly desirous of settling in some more favoured regions than the vast plains and dense forests whence they came. Among the divers races thus impelled were the Slavs. They came from what is now Southern Russia, from the banks of the Dnyepr, and penetrated far into the German Empire of the present day; traces of them have been found in Hanover, colonies of Slavs still live in that marshy part of Prussia called the “Lausitz,” and the people of East Prussia itself have a strong admixture of that non-Teuton race.

The Slavs are said to be descended from the ancient Scythians, by some mistakenly held to have been Mongolians, but it is unlikely that they kept their racial purity before they set out on their wanderings, and were probably much mixed with Tartars and other Asiatics who had swarmed over their pastures and hunting-grounds.

The Hungarians, breaking into Europe along the left bank of the Danube, then settling in Hungary, drove a wedge in between the Slavs, separating them into two masses, which by environment and by mixing with other races gradually developed into distinctive nationalities. Systematic colonization by the Teutons pressed the northern Slavs back towards the east, the influx of the Bulgarians into Eastern Europe intercepted communication between the Slavs to north-eastward, and so helped to create that branch of the Slav race called the Serbs. They came in groups of families, so-called Zadrugs, out of the east, each group under its chief or Zupan, and settled in the country south of the Danube and westward of the Bulgarians some time in the beginning of the seventh century, and from that time called themselves Serbs.

To the Romans this country was known as Moesia Superior; they built here strong castles to shelter flourishing cities, Semendria, for instance, with its serried ranks of square towers. But the Romans had to make way to successive waves of savage Huns, fierce Osthro-Goths, and Langobardi, who left a wilderness behind them where they had passed. Emperor Justinian reclaimed this land and added it to his Empire in the sixth century, but the good he did was undone by the Avari, who broke in from the east and left desolation in their wake. The Serbs followed the Avari and spread beyond the Save into Bosnia and Montenegro.

The family groups united into clans, and each of these rendered service to an elected head sometimes called the Great Zupan or Kralj (King), or again Tsar (Emperor). The maintenance of discipline was no easy matter, and frequent dissensions among the turbulent tribesmen rendered the Serbs an easy prey to their stronger neighbours. Such was the state of affairs when Christianity was introduced in the eighth century and made the Serbs subject to the Eastern Empire.

From time to time the neighbouring Bulgarians would snatch Servia from Byzant, but when Bulgaria’s power was broken by the Emperor of the East, Servia again became subject to that Empire towards the end of the tenth century.

Nearly a century later Servia produced a strong man, Stephen Dobroslav, called Boistlav by the Greeks; he forced the other Zupans into submission, assumed full power, and regained the independence of his country. His son Michael succeeded and was confirmed in the royal title of Kralj by Pope Gregory, whose aim was to lessen the power of Byzant. But herein he failed, for inner dissensions again broke out among the Serbs, the country was forced into the Eastern Empire again and suffered horribly until in 1165 another Stephen, Zupan of East Servia, reunited the scattered tribes.