It
is the story of a nation which entered its new home in the Balkans in the
seventh century and became divided geographically and politically, in faith
and written language, and in economic and social life, until at last its
spokesmen could truthfully say that it was divided into thirteen separate
administrative units dependent upon fifteen legislative bodies. [Footnote:
In 1915 the Slovenes inhabiting Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, Istria, and
Goerz-Gradisca, and the Serbo-Croats of Istria and Dalmatia, were under the
direct rule of Austria. Trieste and its district were a part of Austria.
The Serbs of Hungary belonged to Hungary proper for the most part; the
Croats by a fundamental agreement were entitled to autonomy in Croatia.
Fiume, the seaport of Croatia and Hungary, had an administration of its
own. Bosnia-Herzegovina possessed a diet and was under the dual rule of
Austria and Hungary. All the provinces or districts mentioned above were
governed by the two parliaments at Vienna and Budapest. There were, in
addition, two independent Serb states, Serbia and Montenegro. Down to 1912
Turkey ruled over a large number of Serbs.] How did it come about that this
evolution of twelve centuries, beginning with primeval unity and passing
through a political, economic, and social decomposition of a most
bewildering character, has once more arrived at national unity and is even
now demanding the last step--political amalgamation? Is it a doctrine or a
dream or is it a reality?
I
When the Jugo-Slavs first occupied the western half of the Balkan
peninsula, they were one in speech, in social customs and ancestry, and
were divided only into tribes.
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