The American Geographical Society of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, Pl. III
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AUSTRIA–HUNGARY AND PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE SHOWING LANGUAGES
In one sense Austria’s mission of protecting Europe ended as soon as the Ottoman Empire ceased to be a source of danger. To consolidate Danubian nationalities in a single group capable of withstanding the Turkish advance had constituted Austria’s most glorious part in modern history. With the elimination of the Turkish danger, the necessity of political union among the peoples occupying the valley of the Danube was removed. The chief reason for the maintenance of an Austrian state thereby ceases to exist. Events of our own times reveal the natural working out of these international problems. As long as Mohammedanism threatened to absorb Christianity in southeastern Europe, the various peoples of the Austrian Empire stood shoulder to shoulder against a common foe. The sense of security now induces them to turn their thoughts on themselves and effectively hasten the growth of national consciousness based on ideals and aspirations which can be expressed in a common language.
The passing of Austria’s usefulness as a nation has been marked by the country’s growing vassalage to the leading Teutonic power. At Berlin, the center of Imperial Germany, the aim of every leader is to further the easterly expansion of the Empire. Austria, commanding the natural route to the southeast, figures as a precious asset in these imperial estimates. But success to German ambition spells defeat to the dreams of political independence cherished in the minds of the peoples of Austria-Hungary. A conflict of vital importance to each contestant is raging. The struggle is likely to be maintained wherever more than a single language continues to be spoken.
The mastery of the Adriatic, claimed by Italy at present, has been contested in the past twenty-five centuries by every people which succeeded in gaining a foothold on its shores. Illyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Turks each in their day acquired maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean, and naturally aspired to control this waterway. The prize was worth fighting for. It was part of the lane of traffic between the rich valley of the Po, the lands beyond the Alps and eastern countries. In the present century eastern trade generally runs in different channels. A sufficient tonnage, however, finds its way to the great harbors of the Adriatic to excite Italian ambitions. Moreover Italian manufacturers are looking forward to the establishment of crosswise trade relations with the Balkan peninsula. These are economic considerations which impart definite aim to the policy of Italian statesmen.
The most satisfactory picture of Italian desire to annex Dalmatia appears on maps of the Adriatic, which show the contrast between the opposite coasts. On the Italian side, the coastline runs with monotonous uniformity. It is devoid of the headlands, gulfs or islands which impart economic, strategic and scenic value to Dalmatia. Barring short stretches in Puglia the entire Italian coast is shallow and sandy. Its well-known ports hardly deserve the name. Mariners are well aware of the obstacles to navigation along the whole western Adriatic shore. At the head of this sea, especially, the situation for Italian shipping is most unfavorable, owing to the large number of rivers which discharge material collected from practically the entire eastern watershed of the Alps and that of the northern Apennines. From west to east some among the most important of these rivers are the Po, Adige, Piave and Isonzo. This piling of material, added to the process of land emergence going on at the head of the Adriatic, impairs the value of the Gulf of Venice to modern navigation.