Birdseye Views of Far Lands

by James T. Nichols

Now the time had arrived when something must be done to provoke a war with Servia and annihilate her. The self-appointed world ruler of Germany had decreed it. As he was dictating the policy of Austria she must find some excuse to do the job. Then came the fateful day, July 29, 1914. On that day the Crown Prince of Austria and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo by a Servian youth.

Not a thing was done openly for twenty-four days. At once on the assassination of the Austrian Grown Prince, the Kaiser called in his war lords and financiers and other great men of his coterie. He asked if all were ready for war. The army and navy men said they were ready instantly. The financiers said they could be ready in two weeks. They were told to get ready. While this was being done the Kaiser with the Austrian war lords worked out a plan by which the act of this Servian youth could be laid upon the nation and be made an excuse for war. So on the twenty-fourth day after the assassination came the ultimatum from Austria. It came as a thunderclap out of a clear sky.

The little country was only allowed forty-eight hours to concede the unheardof demands. Diplomats tried to get Austria to extend the time, but she refused to do so. Sir Edward Grey of England led in an effort to bring about arbitration after Austria had declared war, and he all but succeeded for Austria and Servia both agreed to submit their differences to arbitration and Russia agreed to this. But just here Germany openly butted in and declared that she would not arbitrate anything and thus the war went on until it had involved nation after nation and practically the whole world was into it either directly or indirectly.

When the declaration of war came to Servia, their old king was in bad health and was at a sanitarium. He had appointed his son to the regency. But at the word of war, old King Peter left the watering-place and started for the front. With flag in hand he came to the troops and addressed the men saying: "Soldiers, your old king has come to die with you; if there be any who are afraid let him turn back." It is easy to imagine the result. Not one of them turned back, and they easily routed the enemy and swept all before them. But the story of these terrible years can only be mentioned. The year 1914 was a year of victory for the Servians. But later on came the tremendous reverses, the awful typhus fever and the heroic retreat over the mountains. This retreat is one of the saddest and yet one of the most heroic pages of history. Finally France was able to come to the rescue and the Servians found a refuge on the island of Corfu. Had it not been for France the Servian nation would have been all but annihilated.

While Servia has never made a contribution to civilization as has Belgium, she has played such a noble part that she will always have a large place in the heart of mankind. She has kept the Turk from invading Europe for centuries and it is hard to realize just what that means. The Turk has always been a plunderer and has cursed everything he touched. But his cup of iniquity has been filled to overflowing and the death rattle is in his throat.

Providence has thus used Servia in a most wonderful way. Her great vision has been a united country with all the Servians included, where they can work out their own problems and live in peace and harmony. These people are devoutly religious, most of them belonging to the Greek Orthodox church. They have great respect for learning. They are a most hospitable people and any foreigner is always made a welcome guest. They are well read in history but have never been favorably inclined toward either German education or language. They admire and love the French and invited the French Government to open a school in Belgrade. They have their own literature and folklore, their own popular music and national songs. The following are some of their bright proverbs of which they have a great many:

"It is better to serve a good man than to give orders to a bad man.

"It is better to suffer injustice than to commit it.

"It is better to die honestly than to live dishonestly.

"It is better to have a good reputation than a golden belt.