As for M. Krajewsky, the French Consul, he now "outjuggered" the

Jugoslavs. "Never," he declared, "would France allow independent

Albania to exist." The Russian Consul Miller, on the contrary, said

he had written the strongest possible report against Montenegro to

his Government, saying "that the Montenegrins by their disgraceful

conduct in war had forfeited all right to it." His report did much

to save the town.

The Dalmatian doctor, who had cured me of my long illness in 1910,

was also most emphatically anti-Serb and Montenegrin, though a Slav

himself, declaring them to be a set of savages who should not be

allowed to take Albanian lands. This was the more noteworthy, as he

had previously been by no means pro-Albanian.

On June 12th Mr. Nevinson arrived with Mr. Erickson, an American\

missionary who had done much work in Albania, and on the 15th we

started to ride through the country to learn the state of things. As

little has been written of Albania at this period I give a rsume of

my diary.

June 15th.--Rode to Alessio, past the villages burnt by the Serbs.

Found the Albanian flag flying on the bridge of Alessio, and

Albanian guards. Town dead, inn ruined. District patrolled by Ded

Soko's men. Perfect order. Heard tales of Serb brutality to

prisoners.

Tuesday, 17th.--Provisional government of Kruja welcomed us in grand

old house. The government, with old Kadi at its head, hoped

anxiously for appointment of a Prince. Full of fear of Essad. Told

sad tale of suffering. When war began they determined not to help

the Turks, and declared independence in November, hoping thus to

escape complications and take no part in the war. When the vanguard

of the Serb army arrived they believed that, as there were no Serbs

in the district, there was no danger. It is pathetic to note that

the luckless Albanians at first believed that the Serbs and

Montenegrins spoke truth when they said the war was in order to

liberate their brethren. That whole districts of solid Albanian

population would be seized, did not occur to them. They sat up all

night and made bread for the Serb army, and treated them as guests.

Later, they found their mistake. The Serbs treated them as

conquered. . . . People were arrested by the wayside and hanged

without trial. Three women were brought from villages to Kruja and

hanged there. In all fifty quite innocent people suffered. The two

Serb officers responsible for these atrocities were Dragoslav

Voinovitch (artillery) and Dragoljub Petrovitch (infantry). . . .

Left Kruja. Stopped at wattled shed for coffee. Han burnt by Serbs.

Folk gathered and told how Serbs had swooped on village, robbed and

arrested innocent people, taken them to Kruja and hanged them. All

said they had expected the Serbs to be allies and not foes.

At Tirana (18th) we visited Essad Pasha, and were struck with the

number of troops in the town. Essad explained they would leave by a

Turkish transport. He spoke with contempt of Ismail Kemal and the

provisional governmental Liter, at the house of Avdi bey, a number

of refugees from Dibra arrived and told of the sufferings in the

villages annexed by the Serbs. They asserted five hundred burnt-out

destitute persons had been prevented by the Serbs from receiving

help from the agent of the Macedonian Relief Committee. We arranged

to send maize.

At Durazzo folk were very nervous about Essad Pasha, who alone had

an armed force and was said to be in constant communication with the

Greek Bishop at Duiazzo, a notorious intriguer.

The Italian consul reported: "Perfect order prevails, but the delay

of the Powers must make for unsettlement." This, alas, was what

certain Powers intended. At the time the journey had the glory of a

plunge into a freed land rejoicing in liberty won after centuries of

anguish.

At Kavaia and Pekinj we heard of the massacre of prisoners by the

Serbs and the relief of the people that the invaders had gone, they

hoped, for ever.

At Elbasan admirable order was being kept by Akif Pasha. Here we

heard how the Serbs had imprisoned Albanian patriots. All hoped a

Prince would soon come and suppress Essad, who was feared as a

possible danger. The Americans were buying land and planning a big

college, to which the people looked forward as a means for national

regeneration. Parents were already refusing to send children to the

Greek school, in spite of the fulminations of the Greek priest.

A young man arrived from Starovo and told how he and two others had

been taken prisoners by the Serbs and offered their lives for a

heavy ransom. Only he had enough to pay. Both the others were

killed. A rumour came that the Serbs and Bulgars had begun to fight

for the possession of Monastir. It had been allotted by agreement to

Bulgaria, but the Serbs were in possession and refused to yield it.

We decided to push on to Ochrida to learn what was happening.

Arrived at Stiuga we found Serb officers in possession. We had left

free Albania and were in a conquered land under military rule. They

at once started "propaganda," and had the impudence to say that

the dialect of Struga was as pure Serb as that of Belgrade. But an

officer bent on annexation will say anything. Poor old Jovan

Golubovitch, the innkeeper at Podgoritza, was a native of Struga,

and was known always as Jovan Bulgar.

We visited the uniquely interesting fishtraps on the Drin, built

like a prehistoric lake-village. These, said our Serb escort, would

be a source of great wealth when modernized. "But," we objected,

"perhaps this will not be yours. The question has to be arbitrated."

They retorted they would accept no arbitration, and cared nothing

for agreements. What Serbia had taken, Serbia would keep. The

Bulgars should never recover one kilometre.

Friday, 27th.--At Ochrida--after ten years. Town most melancholy. A

tablet on the big plane tree commemorates the "liberation" of the

town. But there are no signs of joy. Even in 1904, after the Bulgar

revolution and under Turkish military rule, the town was not so dead

and hopeless as now under the Serb. All seems crushed beneath an

iron heel. Then the Bulgar population hoped for union with Bulgaria.

Now the Serb was dominant. The Bulgar school was closed, and

soldiers were at the door. The Bulgar churches were shut, and their

priests had disappeared. So had the bishop. Some people recognized

me. An old woman rushed up and told me things were worse than under

the Turk, but we dared make few enquiries lest our informants should

suffer. Only the great lake was the same as before in its marvellous

beauty. I felt like a ghost among the shadows of all we had striven

for ten years ago.

The bazar, once full of Moslems, was half deserted. The

intransigence of the Serb officers was here as blatant as at Struga.

They were eagerly waiting the declaration of war on Bulgaria. And

would accept no form of arbitration that did not give all to

themselves. We spoke strongly of the wickedness of fighting their

allies. They said they cared for no treaty, and meant to fight--the

sooner the better. All they had taken they would soon Serbize. They

--the military--had the power, and would do what they chose.

That the policy was a deliberate one we now know from published

documents.

On February 4, 1913, the Serb Minister at Petersburg telegraphed:

"the Minister for Foreign Affairs told me Serbia was the only state

in the Balkans in which Russia had confidence, and that Russia would

do everything for Serbia." Serbia felt quite safe in tearing up her

Bulgarian "scrap of paper." The Serb officers were, in fact, most

explicit, and told us they had all their plans laid and expected

soon to be back in Durazzo, and to keep it.

So set were they on fighting Bulgaria that had the Bulgars waited

but a few hours the Serbs would probably have saved them the trouble

of firing the first shot. The whole guilt rests with Serbia, for it

was she who broke her pledged word and threw down the glove.

Kosovo Day was a melancholy spectacle. Nothing is more dolorous than

a people forced "to rejoice" by an army of occupation. All shops are

shut, and the population summoned to church to celebrate the

"freeing" of the land. Once how pleased I should have been. Now I

have seen and know too much! The people of Ochrida had to officially

rejoice that their nationality was destroyed, though it had survived

some six centuries of the Turk.

At Pogradech we again found the Serbs. Here the whole population is

Albanian. There was no doubt of their sentiments. They asked

anxiously as to the fate of their town, and dreaded lest the Serb

occupation should be permanent. Wanted news of free Albania, and

asked when the Prince would arrive. At the han, when paying for my

horse, I asked for Turkish money as change, for we were leaving the

Serb zone. The hanjee and those in the inn burst into sudden joy:

"Ah, she too does not want anything Serb!" I was alarmed lest a

prowling Serb should overhear and make them pay dearly for

patriotism.

We arrived at Koritza on June 30th and found it

"in a state of great tension." "Persons afraid of arrest. A sort of

silent terror in the air. Great Greek propaganda going on, and Greek

troops everywhere. People called on us and said many wished to come,

but dared not. They prayed us to save Koritza. Called on the

Commandant, Colonel Condoulis, to whom Mr. Nevinson had an

introduction." I learnt what a mistake the Americans had made in

1903, when they put the mission under Austrian instead of English

protection. The Greeks now, in consequence, pretended that the

Albanian school was an Austrian school, and declared there was no

Albanian movement. The Albanian Nationalists, on the other hand,

were in bitter trouble, for, through the years of Turkish rule, they

had with danger and toil kept this school "the beacon light," open.

They now found the Greek more oppressive than the Turk. The American

missionaries had been expelled from the town at twenty-four hours'

notice. The school was closed. The Turkish troops had behaved well

in the town, and never entered a private house. The Greeks had shown

themselves as conquerors bent on pillage, and behaved with cruelty

and violence.

Colonel Condoulis did not even pretend to be out for anything but

wholesale annexation. He showed on a map frontiers which should

include even Tepeleni. I exclaimed, horrified: "But that is half

Albania!" Condoulis did not deny it. He merely said: "There is a

French proverb which says--appetite comes with eating. We have

eaten; now we must eat more and more." I replied: "Monsieur, those

that eat too much get bellyache." Which annoyed him.

I have met few things more repulsive than a military man bent on

conquest, for lust of conquest brings a man lower than the beasts.

The beasts eat for hunger. Condoulis wished to eat for sheer greed.

May the day come when such men will be looked On as mad dogs to be

destroyed painlessly before they have time to inflict misery upon

peoples.

What with the Serbs at Ochrida and tijle Greeks at Kctitza, I

began to regret that I had ever wished to send the Turk from Europe.

While he was there, there was yet hope. These "Christian"

conquerors were a hundredfold worse.

They showed their devilry by arranging a meeting that should cause

Mr. Nevinson to write to his paper that Koritza wished to be Greek.

The arrival of a well-known journalist was a chance to be exploited.

Unluckily for Condoulis, we were not in the Balkans for the first

time. The visit arranged for us at the Bishop's therefore missed

fire. We found his Grace seated at a table, at which there were some

fourteen local shopkeepers, who, when told to do so by the Bishop,

stated to us that they wanted to be Greek. It would, indeed, have

needed some courage to say in the presence of Greek officials that

they did not want to be Greek! "You see," said our guide, "the

Christians of Koritza want to be Greek!"

We were trotted off to the house of an old Moslem, who also replied

obediently. What else could the poor man do?

An unarmed population faced with a big army is helpless. Many an

English village would declare itself Choctaw if five thousand armed

men bade it do so--or be extirpated.

We lunched with Condoulis, and learnt that the Greeks were as

anxious to fight the Bulgars as were the Serbs. "Death to Bulgaria"

was their cry. Not a metre of land to be ceded to those "cochons de

Bulgares." "We went," they said, "willingly to fight the Turk. We go

with ten times more joy to fight the Bulgars; they are our worst

enemies." And they would listen to no remonstrance. So strong were

they on this that I could only think Greece and Serbia had a secret

understanding on the subject, and that Greece, like Serbia, knew

that Russia had no use for a Big Bulgaria. And so indeed it was.

The Greeks next invited us to a mass meeting, which was to be held

to ascertain the wishes of the population. We accepted, and on

returning to our quarters learnt that Greek soldiers and priests

were going from house to house ordering every one to attend the

meeting and close their shops. It was intended to make use of us,

for the women were told to come and hear what an Englishwoman had to

say to them. The Greek authorities, aware that we knew no Greek,

would have been able to interpret bogus messages from us.

We decided, therefore, to arrive so late as not to be put on the

platform and made use of, and went for a walk lest an officer be

sent to fetch us. One was--but we had already left. We arrived late

at the meeting. Surrounded by Greek military, the populace had had

to consent to the sending of a telegram to the Ambassadors'

Conference in London, stating that Koritza voted unanimously for

Greece.

So soon as it was dark, people came to visit us. Sixty Moslems

outside the town sent an emissary to know if they could speak with

us. We dared do nothing that would subject them to arrest. We had

heard too much of the fate of prisoners. We were prayed to send a

counter telegram to London, but there was no nearer telegraph

station than Berat. The wire controlled by the Greeks was, of

course, useless. The crisis was acute, and the prayers of the

Koritzans pressing. We gave up our plan of travelling further South,

and started for Berat so soon as mules and guide could be prepared.

The Greek authorities prepared a strange pantomime at Moskopol, our

first halting-place. They sent up overnight a number of people who

danced out to meet us like stage peasants, crying: "Welcome to a

Greek town!" Moskopol is, in fact, inhabited by Vlachs and

Albanians. The imported gang went everywhere with us to try to

prevent our discovering this fact. It was clear they were imported,

for they seemed to be in the town for the first time. One spoke

Albanian to a woman as we passed. I asked how he had learnt it. He

replied: "From my mother."

"Then you are half Albanian," I said.

"No," he answered, much vexed. "My mother is Greek, but there were

no Greek schools when she was young, poor woman, so she never learnt

to speak [i.e. she only knew Albanian] properly!" This is a fair

sample of Greek propaganda. We reached Berat, and were received with

great enthusiasm. The telegram was sent, and, we hope, helped to

save Koritza. At Valona, where our journey ended, we met a number of

refugees from Chameria, splendid mountain men, who had been till now

under local autonomy with their own old Albanian law. They were

threatened with Greek annexation, and prayed us piteously to save

their Fatherland.

We visited the Albanian provisional government. A small assembly in

a poor house. But it represented the hopes of a little nation. Its

members were earnest and anxious. War had broken out between

Serbo-Greek against Bulgar. They feared that Bulgaria could not

stand against the combined forces, and the victory of Greek and Serb

would spell ruin for Albania.

I returned to Scutari and resumed relief work. Things were going

badly. The Powers who wished to ruin Albania had arranged that the

international control should not have jurisdiction beyond ten

kilometres from the town, and gave no signs of appointing any form

of government for the country, nor recognizing a native one.

The two gallant tribes of Hoti and Gruda begged hard not to be

included in Montenegro.

In Montenegro I learnt there was disgust at having been dragged into

the second Balkan war Montenegro could not refuse to take part as,

then, if the Serbs won, she would lose all her war-spoils. I noted

in my diary: "The Powers are making a damned mess of everything by

their shilly-shally. . . . What rot it is for five Powers to be

spending the Lord knows what on these warships, admirals, soldiers,

etc. hanging about Scutari while the people up-country are dying of

hunger." The suffering in the burnt villages was terrible. People

were cooking grass for their starving children, and the death-rate

from diarrhoea was high. Anything the Belgians suffered in

1914 was child's play in comparison. Meanwhile Roumania entered into

the second Balkan war and stabbed Bulgaria in the back. History

records few dirtier actions, nor need we waste pity on Roumania for

the punishment which has since fallen upon her.

That the destruction of Bulgaria was early planned by Greek and Serb

seems likely, for, as early as April, the Serb Minister at Bucarest

proposed a Serbo-Roumanian alliance against Bulgaria, and the

Serbian General staff began fortifying Ovtchepolje. Bulgaria fell,

and the Treaty of Bucarest was signed on August 10, 1913. Albania

was deadly anxious. The victorious Serbs and Greeks were drunk with

blood, and thirsted for hers, too. And still the Powers made no move

to send a Prince.

At the end of August I went up to the Shala mountains, where

refugees from the Gusinje district seized by Montenegro, came in

misery; survivors of the massacres which, in the name of

Christianity, were going on. I examined witnesses. Four battalions

of Montenegrins were carrying on a reign of terror. Moslems were

given choice of baptism or death. Praying in Moslem form was

forbidden. Men were slaughtered, and their wives unveiled and

baptised, and in some cases violated as well. I was prayed to ask

the King of England, who has many Moslem subjects, to save these

hapless Moslems from extinction.

To Scutari came similar news of the hideous cruelty, by means of

which Great Serbia was being created. An Ipek man, well educated and

of high standing, told of what happened there: "Every day the telal

cried in the streets 'To-day the Government will shoot ten (or more)

men!' No one knew which men they would be, or why they were shot.

They were stood in a trench, which was to be their grave. Twelve

soldiers fired, and as the victims fell the earth was shovelled over

them, whether living or dead. Baptisms were forced by torture. Men

were plunged into the ice-cold river, and then half roasted till

they cried for mercy. And conversion to Christianity was the price."

Many, terrorized into baptism, came to me. One man with tears in his

eyes assured me he had consented only to save his wife and children,

but that he felt now that he was defiled and wished he were dead.

The International forces did nothing. They had no jurisdiction

outside Scutari.

Unfortunately, also, the British staff knew no language but English,

and the most reliable dragomans knew only French, Italian, or

German. England was thus more heavily handicapped than the

representatives of the other Powers, and the Albanians asked with

wonder: "Are there, then, no schools in England?" And, in general,

Scutari's high idea of European civilization shrivelled and shrank.

By the end of September the conduct of the Serbs in the Dibra

district was so bad that the maddened populace, profiting by a

moment when the garrison was reduced, revolted, drove out the Serbs

and retook Ochrida, where they were welcomed by both Bulgars and

Albanians. As I wrote at the time: "It is criminal of the Powers to

delay the frontier commissions. Both Serb and Montenegrin are

working to clear off the Albanians from the debatable districts so

as to show a Slav majority to the Commission." The ill-timed revolt

gave them a chance of doing this. The Serbs fell on the Gostivar

district, burning the villages with petroleum, and throwing such

people as could not escape, back into the flames with their

bayonets. An urgent appeal for bandages and medicaments came from

Elbasan, into which refugees were pouring. Our naval force was not

allowed to supply any, but I begged two cases of stores from the

Italian consulate and started across country to Elbasan to the

horror of the International control, who had the idea that

travelling in Albania was dangerous. As I soon got beyond their

zone they could not interfere. At Tirana and at Elbasan I found

thousands of destitute creatures pouring in, footsore and exhausted.

Their accounts of Serb brutality up-country was amply confirmed by a

letter of a Serb in the Radnitchke Novina (see Carnegie Report): "My

dear friend," writes a Serb soldier, "appalling things are going on.

I am terrified of them. . . . I dare not tell you morer but I may

say Ljuma (an Albanian tribe) no longer exists. There is nothing but

corpses and ashes." A Franciscan, who went there, told me of the

bodies of the poor little bayoneted babies. "There are villages of

100, 150, 200 houses where there is literally not a single man. We

collect them in parties of forty to fifty and bayonet them to the

last one," The paper says it cannot publish the details, "they are

too heart-rending."

Nothing could make the luckless refugees believe that the Powers had

really given them to the Serbs. They asked piteously when the Prince

was coming to drive the Serbs out. And still the Powers did nothing.

Some Bulgars among the refugees told that life under the Serbs was

impossible. The only time they had been free from persecution was

when the Serb army was busy fighting the Bulgar army.

It was feared the Serbs would descend on Elbasan, and I carried away

a whole mule-load of valuables to save them from being pillaged, and

rode with it across country without an escort or weapon. I learnt

from the refugees that twenty-six villages had been wholly or

partially burnt and pillaged by the Serbs. Few of the refugees had

any weapons. I reported all this in vain in Scutari. Not a Power

would move. The Serbs, grown impudent, then entered strictly

Albanian territory in defiance of the International forces, and

camped in Mirdita while the Montenegrins devastated the Gashi and

Krasnichi tribes.

At last the Commission for delimiting the northern frontier started.

The Russian, troubled doubtless by a guilty conscience, had feared

to start without a strong military escort, and lack of forage made

this impossible. Hence much delay. Our military attache from Rome

represented England, but it was reported that France and Russia were

out to grab all they could for the Serbs, regardless of the

nationality of the population, and were furious whenever he

protested, for, as England belonged to the Entente, they considered

it his duty to support them on every point, regardless of fact and

justice.

More attacks of the Serbs on the Albanians in the annexed lands

brought more misery. "October 21st.--Thousands of refugees arriving

from Djakovo and neighbourhood. Victims of Montenegro." My position

was indescribably painful, for I had no funds left, and women came

to me crying: "If you will not feed my child, throw it in the river.

I cannot see it starve."

I decided to return to England after three and a half years'

absence, to try and rouse help and action there.

And I said goodbye with sorrow to Scutari, beautiful and sorrowing,

which had been my most kind home for so long.

On arriving in London I packed up the Gold Medal given me by King

Nikola and returned it to him, stating that I had often expressed

surprise at persons who accepted decorations from Abdul Hamid, and

that now I knew that he and his subjects were even more cruel than

the Turk I would not keep his blood-stained medal any longer. I

communicated this to the English and Austrian Press. The order of

St. Sava given me by King Petar of Serbia, I decided to keep a

little longer till some peculiarly flagrant case should occur, and

this I expected soon.

So apparently did Austria, who, exasperated by the repeated outrages

of the Serbs, and aware of the activity of Hartwig at Belgrade,

realized she was marked down as Russia's next victim on the

proscribed list, and that the hour was arriving when she must kill

or be killed.

Austria's position was now perilous. Russia had come to an agreement

with Japan, and had her hands free for the Near East. Hartwig was

pre-eminent in Belgrade. Roumania had been roped in, and had dealt

the stab in the back to Bulgaria, which had assured the Serbo-Greek

victory. Bulgaria was "put in the corner." France, the financier of

the Near East, refused her a loan. Italy it is true, took Tripoli

with the consent of the Powers, and France, tied as she was to

Russia, could not object. But she viewed with great jealousy any

increase of Italian power on the Mediterranean, and began therefore

to build up Greece as a naval counterpoise.

When Bulgaria approached Paris for a loan, Greece protested: "Do

not finance our most hated rivals." France refused the loan.

Bulgaria turned to England, who looked very favourably on the plan,

recognizing Bulgaria's industry and capability. Those who are in a

position to know, state that almost the whole sum had been arranged

for when France heard of the transaction and requested that England,

as a member of the Entente, would not finance a loan that France had

thought fit to refuse. England drew back, and Bulgaria had to go to

Germany for the necessary money. Russia had no use for Bulgaria.

Therefore France had none. And England, or the section of it bitted

and bridled by The Times, went the way it was driven. Or, perhaps,

like a certain animal, was induced that way by dangled carrots. The

Times' supplements, full of praise of Tsardom, must have cost some

one a pretty penny. Meanwhile Russia was assuring the Serbs that the

Balkan war was but a first step, and that Bosnia and the Herzegovina

would soon be theirs. Ristitch, Serb Minister at Bucarest, states on

November 13, 1912: "The Ministers of France and Russia advise, as

friends of Serbia, that we should not 'go the limit' as regards the

question of an outlet on the Adriatic. ... It would be better that

Serbia . . . should strengthen herself and await with as great a

degree of preparation as possible the important events which must

soon make their appearance among the Great Powers."

December 27, 1912.--The Serb Minister in Petersburg telegraphs: "The

Minister for Foreign Affairs replied that in view of our successes

he had confidence in our strength, and believed we could give a

shock to Austria. For that reason we should feel satisfied with what

we were to receive and consider it as a temporary haltingplace.

. . . The future remained to us. . . . Bulgaria, meantime, would

bring her ethnic mission to a close." Small wonder that in May 1913

the Montenegrins boasted to me: "We, the Serb nation, are a danger

to Europe. We have all the Russian army with us, and shall take what

we choose." Small wonder, too, that Austria, realizing she must soon

fight for her very existence against a very strong combine,

approached Italy in September 1913 and asked what would be her

attitude in case of an Austrian war with Serbia. Italy, who was

already dabbling with the Entente, though nominally a member of the

Triple Alliance, replied: "Such a war would be a most dangerous

adventure." Austria knew then that Italy could not be reckoned on.

We now slide into 1914, and Yougourieff's date, for "our great war"

approaches. Russian preparations went on apace, and France, under

Russian pressure, extended her term of military service to three

years.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

1914

DURING the winter of 1913-14 I gathered funds for Albania, and the

American missionaries worked hard at feeding the refugees of

Gostivar and Dibra. General Phillips, in command at Scutari, did all

his funds would allow for the refugees there, but reported that the

Serbs' victims were dying of hunger in the Gashi mountains at the

rate of twenty a day. But the Mansion House refused to start a fund.

Mr. Willard Howard took cinema photographs of the starving people in

their burnt ruins, hoping to rouse public feeling against the Serbs

and stop their further war plans.

At the Foreign Office I begged protection for the Balkan Moslems,

who were being barbarously exterminated, and stated that until it

was seen that the Balkan conquerors were capable of just rule, the

Capitulations should remain in force. Those with whom I spoke

admitted that the consular reports from Uskub and Monastir were very

bad, but that it was not advisable to publish them. In truth, we

were hopelessly tied to Russia and could say nothing about her pet

lambs, even though the truth of the accusations had been proved up

to the hilt by the Carnegie Report. The laws signed by King Petar in

October 1913 for the purpose of crushing the annexed regions are

alone enough in their barbarity to condemn Serbia. They are

published in the Carnegie Report, which should be read by all

interested in forming a just and lasting Balkan peace.

It was also made clear by the Carnegie Commission that the

accusation that the atrocities were planned and carried out by the

Serb "Black Hand" society were true. Damian Popovitch, the leader of

the regicides, led the massacres of Kosovo. All was part of a

prearranged Great Serbian plan. "The Serbs," I overheard two

Montenegrins say in the inn at Rijeka, "are right. They put these

gentry (non-Serb population) to the sword as they go, and clean the

land." As the Black Hand was a "government within a government," and

unofficial, Belgrade could always pretend to be ignorant of its

doings. Both the Tsrna Ruka (Black Hand) and larodna Odbrana

(National Defence) societies had a free hand. The Carnegie Report

tells: "The population at Uskub called their station the Black

House, from the name of the League itself, The Black Hand. The worst

crimes were committed by this organization, known to all the world,

and under powerful protection. It was of distinct advantage to the

regular government to have under its hand an irresponsible power

like this, which soon became all powerful, and could be disowned if

necessary. . . . Our records are full of depositions which throw

light on the activities of these legalized brigands. Each town had

its captain. . . . Where complaints were made to the regular

authorities they pretended to know nothing, or, if the person were

obscure, punished him. If he were a personage, as for example the

Archbishop of Veles, the bands were sent from the town down to the

villages, only to be replaced immediately by bands from Uskub."

In February 1914 I received a letter from Monastir, from my former

dragoman of 1904. Since then he had worked for years for a

well-known Greek firm in India, and returned invalided home to

Monastir just before the first Balkan war broke out From him I had

heard of the first joy of the populace when the Turkish army fled

before the invading Serb, and then of the speedy revulsion of

feeling when they found that the Serb came not as a liberator, but

as a conqueror. In January 1914 he wrote: "Hardly a year has elapsed

since Monastir fell into Servian hands, and this very short period

has been enough to turn it into a desert city." And he detailed the

reasons.

In February, 1914, he wrote: "I write from Monastir, or I should

say Bitoli, for there is no city of the name of Monastir in the vast

Serbian Empire whose Emperor, Peter Karageorgevitch is daily wheting

(sic) his sword sharp in order to be able to inflict a death-blow on

the old Austrian Emperor. The conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina and

the creation of a vast and powerful Serbian Empire, even mightier

than that of Dushan, is occupying the minds of all army men. . . .

Travelling from Salonika to Monastir one is struck with the fewness

of the passengers . . . where have all these people gone? The

average number does not exceed ten, against hundreds in Turkish

times. It is roughly estimated twenty thousand persons have

emigrated from Monastir. . . . Taxes are tremendous; this city must

pay a war tax of 1,000,000 francs. We see we have only exchanged a

bad rule for a worse rule. This amount will go to the War Office,

for in Serbia the army has twofold duties--to rule and to fight.

There is hardly any other country in the world where military men

have concentrated such a great power in their hands. The King and

the civil authorities, needs must comply with the wishes of the

officers. The Serbian officer has no respect for any one, and

Albanian subjects, natives of Elbasan and Koritza, are enlisted by

force in the army. And when Mr. ----- interfered on behalf of a man

from Koritza, saying that they compelled people to complain to the

foreign consuls, the recruiting officer replied: 'We shall imprison

every blessed man who steps over the threshold of a consulate. You

mean to say you will go to that big idiot the British consul. That

fool of a consul must think himself very lucky for England is a

friendly power, otherwise we would have killed him!'" He had, in

fact, reported their conduct, and they seem to have been aware of

this. The letter continues: "You cannot but pity us who are ruled by

such men. . . . The only thing they are interested in is to collect

taxes and to send gendarmes from house to house telling people that

if they do not send their children to Serbian schools they will be

punished. Of vino and beer they drink abundance. 'Bozhe, Bozhe, bez

vino ne se mozhe!' . . . Corruption in all branches of the

administration Is the essence of Serbian rule."

This picture, corroborating as it does the Carnegie Report of the

"government within a government," is the more valuable, as it is

evident that early in 1914 the writer had heard the plans for a

"death-blow to the Austrian Emperor" discussed. Possibly his death

and not that of his heir was first intended. The Serbs seem to have

been so sure of Entente support that even the adverse reports of a

consul had no terrors for them.

It was the last letter I had from the writer. He is dead, the bright

and honest boy who used to discuss endlessly to me the happy land

that Macedonia would be if once "freed from the Turk." From

Montenegro news was no better. I learnt of the boycott of the

Albanian population of Podgoritza--the people who, in fact, carried

on most of the trade of Montenegro, and heard: "As to the Moslems

there is a regular exodus of them from the 'liberated' country. Four

thousand have gone, four thousand five hundred are in process of

going, and two to three thousand more are to go as soon as

possible." The unfortunate tribes of Hoti and Gruda been handed over

to Montenegro and devastated.

It was reported that Prince Mirko was out of his mind, and Princess

Natalie had definitely left him and claimed the children

--Montenegro's only heirs.

Meanwhile the Powers could not longer delay the election of a Prince

for Albania.

The combined efforts of France and Russia had whittled down Albania

to nearly half her size, and had made a very cruel frontier, whereby

all the populations of a wide mountain tract were cut off from their

market town, Djakovo. The Dibra refugees were still camped in

Albania, and the Prince hoped for as a Messiah still did not come.

Prince Arthur of Connaught was the desire of the Albanians. "Give us

even your King's youngest son," they said, "and we shall be safe. No

one will dare attack us."

Essad now insisted on being a member of the provisional government.

All feared him. None wanted him. He started a government of his own

at Durazzo. In February the British and German Commissioners went

there. Sir Harry Lamb worked hard on Albania's behalf, and did all

he could to establish her safely. "The Albanians," he once said to

me, "are the only Balkan race which ever tells the truth." He and

the German tried to persuade Essad to resign, but he refused, and as

he had an armed force at his command, the Commission' thought it

risky to press him. He undertook to meet the Commission later at

Valona. Ismail Kemal asked the Commission to take over the

government till a Prince should arrive, and resigned. Essad then was

induced to resign by being promised he should be president of the

delegation which was to meet the newly-elected Prince, of Wied.

After months of squabbling the Powers in their united wisdom had

chosen this man. Why, it is hard to see. The feelings of the

Albanians were not considered. Even Sir Edward Grey said: "The

primary thing was to preserve agreement between the Powers

themselves." The infant state of Albania was to be flung to the

wolves to save its elders.

It was decided that Albania should be governed by a Prince elected

by the Powers; that it should enjoy perpetual neutrality under the

collective guarantee of the Powers, and that these six Powers should

be represented in Albania by an International Commission, with one

Albanian on it. Dutch officers were to train the gendarmerie. On

paper it looked well. But France raised Albania's worst enemy,

Krajevsky, from Vice-consul to International Commissioner. France

was represented thus by a Levantine Slav. Italy, too, selected a

Levantine, Aliotti, to carry out her schemes at Durazzo. Only

England and Germany were acting honestly.

Essad Pasha began to move soon. He demanded that the provisional

government should be removed to Durazzo, where it would be in his

power, and where he had two partners, the Montenegrin Gjurashkovitch

and the Greek bishop. The International Commission chose Valona as

its seat.

Meanwhile Scutari was ruled by the International force separately.

The Powers had thus given two international governments to Albania.

One with plenty of force and very limited jurisdiction, and the

other with wide jurisdiction and no force. And there was also the

little provisional Albanian government. The Prince was an officer

with a limited military mind, and without experience of the Near

East. His one qualification for the post was that he was "the nephew

of his aunt," Carmen Sylva of Roumania, and she pressed his

candidature. The true reason for his unanimous selection was

probably that the Powers who had planned Albania's destruction knew

him to be a man of little ability, and therefore the more easily to

be got rid of. France and Russia were combined to overthrow him,

even while agreeing to his election.

When Greece and Bulgaria were respectively liberated and put under a

foreign Prince, he was given in each case sufficient military force

to maintain order till a native army should be organized. In the

case of Albania it was arranged that he should be provided with no

armed force--otherwise he would be difficult to evict. The

International forces in Scutari were to squat there and look on.

Essad Pasha was the agent of the Italians, Serbs, and French, and

intrigued, so soon as the Prince was appointed, to obtain power over

him. He bargained to be one of those who went to invite the Prince

to Albania, and, accompanied by a party of Albanians, many of them

better men than himself, he went to Neu Wied. How he contrived to

worm himself into the Prince's confidence is a mystery. But he did,

and in a luckless moment for the Prince, induced him to make Durazzo

his capital. There he would be completely in the hands of Essad. He

was welcomed at Durazzo by rejoicing Albanians, who knew nothing of

the sinister plots of the Powers. But his fate was already sealed.

The tale of William of Wied is among the most sordid that the Powers

have woven.

Only an extremely able man could have forced his way through the

mesh of intrigue which surrounded him. Already, in February, he had

been warned in Austria to have no dealings with Essad. The "end soon

began."

A Prince having been appointed, the Powers notified the Greeks they

must evacuate South Albania within the limits drawn by the Frontier

Commission. Members of this Commission told of the amazing series of

tricks by which Greek agents had tried to hoodwink them. Wherever

the Greeks had a school they dragged out a cartload of little

children bidden to sing or shout in Greek. They tried to steer the

Commission away from places which knew no Greek, and in one place

actually shut up the women in a house for they could speak nothing

but Albanian. Greek soldiers, while pretending to tell people not to

make a noise, threatened them with punishment if they did not shout

for Greece. They even imported Greeks, and dumped them on the path

of the Commission. And ordered people, under threat of flogging, to

paint their houses blue and white--the Greek colours. But they

overacted the part so badly that in many cases they succeeded only

in disgusting the Commissioners. At Borova a number of school

children were sent to play in front of the house where the

Commission was, and ordered to speak Greek only. Signor Labia, the

Italian commissioner, threw out a handful of coppers. In their rush

to pick up the money the poor children forgot their orders, and

disputed aloud in their mother tongue--Albanian, to the amusement of

the Commission, which, disgusted by these tricks, drew a frontier

which gave the Albanians less than they had hoped for, but very much

more than the Greeks had intended. These hastened to make another

grab at the land, and sent Zographos, formerly Greek Minister for

Foreign Affairs, and a gang of Greek officials to South Albania to

claim it as Greek, and appoint themselves as the "Provisional

Government of Epirus." A Greek colonel was made War Minister to this

so-called government, and a Greek member of Parliament, Karapanos,

was its Minister for Foreign Affairs. An American called Duncan, who

had a Greek wife and went about dressed mainly in bath towels,

collected much money, incited the people to resist Wied, armed them,

and urged them to a fratricidal war. The Greek Government denied all

connection with this "provisional government," just as the Serb

Government has always denied responsibility for and knowledge of the

deeds of the Black Hand.

At the command of the Powers the Greek regular army was obliged to

evacuate the occupied districts. It departed from Koritza, but left

a so-called hospital of wounded "not fit to be moved," and joined it

to the Greek frontier by a telephone. Much of the army, however,

remained in out-of-the-way spots, removing and concealing their

insignia, so that the Greek Government might be able to deny that

they were soldiers.

Formally the Greeks handed over Koritza to the Dutch gendarmerie

officers under the International Control, on March 1, 1914. Had the

Powers meant honestly by Albania they would have sent a force to

clear the land of the lurking Greek bands of soldiery. But in spite

of several questions asked in the House of Commons, Cretan and Greek

komitadjis continued to land at Santa Quaranta, the Greek Government

persistently denying all knowledge. "There are none so blind as

those that won't see."

Such was the state of things when Prince zu Wied landed at Durazzo

on March 7th. Had he at once made a journey throughout his domain,

gone to Koritza via Berat and Elbasan, and claimed it as his, he

might have triumphed. But it was Essad's business, as agent of

Albania's enemies, to keep the Prince in Durazzo till the plans for

his eviction were matured.

The International Control Commissioners handed over their authority

to the Prince, and he, to the general dismay of the Albanians,

appointed Essad War Minister, thus putting the armaments into his

hands.

All this news seemed to me very bad. I was detained in London. My

book on the war, The Struggle for Scutari, was finished, but my

publisher was bent on keeping it for the autumn publishing season. I

stood out for immediate publication in May. He said: "You know

nothing about publishing." I said: "You do not know the state of the

Near East. Anything may happen by October."

I offered to risk having no payment at all for it. It came out in

May, and the thing that happened before October (Yougourieff's date)

was bigger than even the shouts of the Montenegrins in 1913 had led

me to expect.

Meanwhile the Greek "wounded" at Koritza telephoned for medical

comforts, and the Greek Bishop sprang his plot. The "medicine"

arrived in the form of armed bands and weapons. The Greek "wounded,"

the Bishop's servants, and a band of Grecophile students made an

attack within the town on the night of April 11th, and the bands of

lurking Greek soldiers attacked from without. Koritza was taken by

surprise, was not well armed, and had but fifty newly trained

gendarmes, commanded by the Dutch officers. Nevertheless the town

put up a gallant resistance. Reinforcements arrived, and the

Albanians "rushed" the house of the Bishop and carried him off a

prisoner to Elbasan, along with a number of Greek soldiers, who

readily gave their names and regiments, and told of the orders they

had received. They had long been kept in readiness on the frontier.

The Greek Government, as usual, declared the men must all be

deserters, over which it had no control, which, at best, was a poor

compliment to the Greek army, and did not explain how the

"deserters" became possessed of artillery and ammunition.

The Greeks, furious at being beaten out of Koritza, avenged

themselves on their retreat by committing outrages and burning

villages. The Albanians drove back the Greeks to Argyrokastro, and

would have chased them over the border had not the Greek General

Papoulias come to the aid of his compatriots with large

reinforcements and artillery. The Greek Government still "knew

nothing" about the actions of its officers.

It is to be hoped that a future League of Nations will be in

readiness to investigate at once similar occurrences, and that

"ignorance" on the part of a government shall not be accepted as

innocence without full inquiry. In this case the Albanians had no

tribunal before which to present their case. The invading Greeks

burnt and sacked numbers of villages, and destroyed the town of

Leskoviki, committing at the same time terrible atrocities.

The International Commissioners went to Corfu to meet the Greeks and

arrange peace. The Greeks were told to evacuate the district

delimited by the Frontier Commission, and certain privileges were

accorded to the very few Greeks it contained.

I learnt from Dr. Totirtoulis and others the following facts about

the so-called "Epirote" government of Zographos. The plan was made

in Paris, for, as Krajevsky had declaimed, France did not mean

Albania to exist. The Greeks brought some Greeks from America and

presented them to Cambon, and, it is believed, to Sir Edward Grey

also, saying that they were "Epirotes." The Greek society in Paris

was a strong one, and pushed them. Cambon, in November, advised them

to form an independent government, which was done, as we have shown.

Mr. Lamb (now Sir Harry) told me that at Corfu he told Zographos to

his face that most of his "Epirotes" were Cretans, and that the mere

fact that a Greek ex-minister of Foreign Affairs was running this

"independent government" and trying to dictate terms, was enough in

itself to "give the whole show away," but for the fact that certain

Powers were determined not to see.

The Albanians in the defence of their land had been much hampered by

shortage of ammunition, though quantities had been sent from

Durazzo. It never reached Koritza, for Essad, who was Minister of

War, diverted if for his own purposes. He was in league with the

Serbo-Greek combine, and did not mean the Albanians of the South to

win. He was hated by all the South for his conduct when commanding

gendarmerie in Janina, and also for betraying Scutari. He knew that

a victory for the South meant ruin for him.

A rumour rose soon that the ammunition had gone up to Essad's town,

Tirana, and that there was unrest at Shiak, a village on the road

leading there. Mr. Lamb and the German commissioner hastened to

Durazzo. The foul play over the munitions convinced the Nationalist

Albanians that Essad was brewing mischief. Unless he was preparing a

coup against the Prince, he could have no need of a private munition

store. Information was given to the Prince, who had him arrested by

the Dutch gendarmes and a band of Nationalists on the night of May

18th. A few shots were fired amid shouts of "Down with the

tyrant." He was arrested by the Dutch officer in command, and taken

first to the palace, and then to the Austrian battleship Szigetvar.

Essad was, as most folk knew, the agent of the combine against

Austria and Germany. Italy was ready to partition Albania between

the Greeks and Serbs, rather than let Austria gain power there. Now

she has realized that the Slav is her enemy, but then, in May 1914,

she was furious at Essad's arrest, and demanded his release. The

correct course was to try and, if guilty, execute him. But trial

would have meant conviction, and Italy would not hear of it. The

Italian and Austrian battleships cleared for action, though the

Powers had neutralized the Albanian coast. For twenty-four hours the

position was precarious, but Austria once more swallowed her pride

and yielded--this time to Italy. The Prince surrendered Essad to the

Italians on condition that he did not return to Albania. With

amazing effrontery the Italians took him to Rome and feted him in

such a way as to make it clear they were rewarding him for his

action.

Italy's conduct as a member of the Triple Alliance was in the

highest degree insulting to her allies, and can be explained only by

supposing that for the sake of the Adriatic she was ready to stab

them on the first opportunity.

It was soon plain that the report of a prepared rising was true.

Armed men were concentrating at Shiak on the road to Tirana.

The ignorant Moslem inhabitants had been told that the Prince meant

to abolish Islam and promote incestuous marriages, and bidden to

demand his immediate withdrawal. There were also the mass of

refugees from Dibra and Gostivar. They had passed the winter

wretchedly enough, and were told that if they would combine and

drive out Wied the Serbs would restore to them their lost lands. In

vain the American missionaries warned them not to believe this.

Dibra was their one hope and desire.

A party of armed men, led by one of the Dutch officers, went to

parley with the insurgents, and took a machine gun. Unluckily,

Captain Saar was ignorant of local customs. He and his party were

unduly nervous, for when an Albanian has given his "besa" (peace

oath) he keeps it. Alarmed unnecessarily, he ordered his men to fire

at a group of three armed men. One escaped, fled to Shiak, and

spread the alarm that the Prince had begun to massacre Moslems. A

number of people rushed to aid the Shiak men, and a fight took

place. How much foreign influence was behind it all it is hard to

say. That Italy was not unconcerned in it seems proved by the fact

that the Italian representative at Durazzo at once hurried to

convince the Prince that he was in imminent danger, and persuaded

him to go on board an Italian battleship. The Italians may have

believed that the plot, engineered by Essad, was sure of success.

Other members of the International Control persuaded the Prince to

return to land. But by his flight he had hopelessly compromised his

position.

That Italy was mixed in the affair appeared a little later. Red

signal lights were seen flashing to the insurgents from a house in

Durazzo by many persons, among them the British Vice-Consul.

Lieutenant Fabius, of the Dutch gendai'merie, entered the house and

caught an Italian officer, Colonel Muricchio, red-lamp-handed. Again

no trial was allowed. It was pleaded that the Capitulations had not

been abrogated! And the officer was released. We may blame Wied for

incompetency, but only a man of unusual force of character and

intimate knowledge of the land could have made headway against the

Powers combined against him.

All this I learnt from members of the International Control, from

the Dutch officers, from the Albanians, from the American

Missionaries, and from some private individuals.

That the rising was planned and the ammunition embezzled by Essad

and his gang hardly admits of doubt.

On June 8, 1914, I reached Trieste. Here our vice-consul, M.

Salvari, himself an Albanian, was very anxious about the situation.

I had intended going to Scutari, but he begged me to go to Durazzo,

where I arrived on June 11th. On board the boat I met Mr John

Corbett, who had lately been in South Albania, and said it was

nonsense of the Greeks to pretend no Greek troops had remained there

as he had seen parties of them in many places, and had seen money

being collected in Corfu to aid Zographos's enterprise. Durazzo was

crammed with people of all races. Fighting had ceased, but a large

force of armed men was some miles outside the town and negotiations

were going on. Dr. Dillon, the well-known correspondent, was there,

and his strong Russian proclivities caused much anxiety, more

especially as he and his young wife had been staying with Essad

shortly before his arrest. The Russian agents were suspected of

taking active part in the anti-Wied intrigues, and the correspondent

of the Birzhevije Viedomosti was in Durazzo and on friendly terms

with Dr. Dillon. The Russian, Olghinsky, I had met in Andrijevitza

in 1912, when the Montenegrins were making ready for the Balkan war.

He then complained to me freely of the apathy of the Russians, and

said he and his paper were doing all they could to rouse the country

to war. His paper (Birzhevije Viedomosti) had already, in March

1914, blown the war trumpet loudly:

"Until now the Russian plan of military operations had a defensive

character; to-day it is known that the Russian army will, on the

other hand, play an active part. . . . Our artillery possesses guns

which are in no respect inferior to foreign models. Our coast and

fortification guns are even superior to those of other states. Our

artillery will no longer have to complain of want of ammunition. The

teachings of the past have fallen on fruitful soil. Military

automobile service has reached a high degree of perfection . . . all

our military units have telephonic appliances."

More details are given, and the writer says: "It is important that

Russian public opinion be conscious that the country is prepared for

all possibilities." Yougourieff had given October as the date when

"we should be ready for our great war." The Birzhevije Viedomosti

said all was ready in March. To find Dr. Dillon, an avowed partisan

of Russia, in company with a correspondent of Birzhevije Viedomosti,

supporting Essad in Durazzo, was a sinister omen. He protested

Essad's innocence to me, but had no proof to offer save that Essad

was in bed when arrested, and that no documentary evidence was

found. The first proved only that the rising was not timed for that

night. The second was valueless in a land where few could write and

messages go from mouth to mouth. Subsequent events have proved that

Essad, as we suspected, was a Serb agent.

During the following days very bad news came from the South.

Eye-witnesses gave evidence of the Greeks' atrocities. It was

generally believed that as Italy was determined to keep the Greek

islands, she was conniving at the Greeks finding compensation at

Albania's expense.

At the house of Dom Nikola Kaciorri, a plucky little Catholic

priest, I found an Orthodox Albanian priest from Meljani, near

Leskoviki, who told how the Greeks had burnt his village and ordered

all those who belonged to the Orthodox Church to come along with

them, using force to make them, and falling on those who refused.

They had driven a number along before them, including his wife and

children, whom he could not rescue. He told how the Greeks had given

the inhabitants of Odrichan permission to return to it, and had then

fallen on them and slaughtered them. Mr. Lamb ascertained that this

man's wife and children were alive, but the Greeks refused to give

them up.

Almost as soon as I arrived I was invited to have an audience with

the Princess of Wied. She was very friendly, and much distressed by

the web of intrigue in which she found herself tied. I regretted

that she and the Prince had fallen into the wrong hands, and begged

her to go to Valona or Scutari, and at once start a tour through the

land. I offered to go with her, and assured her safe conduct, saying

all misunderstanding would have been avoided had she and the Prince

made such a journey on arrival. She said she had wished to, but that

Essad always advised against it. I spoke to her of the

Russo-Serbo-French-Italian combine, and said the Albanians wanted

none of it, and that she could yet have the whole country on her

side But she continually quoted the advice of. Carmen Sylva, Queen

of Roumania, till I had to say: "Yes, ma'am. But Albania is not

Roumania. Here you will do much better by appealing direct to the

people." I left promising to support her to the best of my ability.

She struck me as honest, intelligent, and very well-meaning. She

would have made a good Queen for the country had she been given a

chance, and might have done as much for it as did Carmen Sylva for

Roumania.

That same day Mr. Lamb told me that the inhabitants of three Moslem

villages, Nenati, Mercati, and Konispoli, recently burnt by the

Greeks, had sent to beg help, and asked me if I would go and

investigate.

That night, June 12th, came a fresh development. The Dutch

gendarmerie arrested Gjurashkovitch, the Montenegrin, who had still

been allowed to function as Mayor of the town, to which he had been

appointed in Turkish times. Again Albania's enemies stood up for

him. His brother was dragoman to the Russian commissioner; Russia

claimed him as under her protection, and raised the old cry of

"Capitulations." He, too, was released. The thing was becoming a

farce. The Prince was unable to try any suspect. The Italian papers

raised choruses of blame against the Dutch gendarmerie, which at

that time was very honestly trying to do its duty. The Prince, who

was like a large, good-natured St. Bernard dog, yapped and snapped

at all round, completely confused by the din, yielded each time, and

so soon alienated the sympathy of the Dutch officers, who, as more

than one of them complained to me, got into trouble on his behalf

and then received no support.

News arrived that Osman Bali, one of the two men reported to have

assassinated Hussein Riza in Scutari, had been seen among the

insurgents, and was probably this time also acting for Essad. The

Italians put in a demand that Lieutenant Fabius, who had arrested

the Italian Colonel Muricchio, should apologize. This Fabius very

properly refused to do, and many of us supported him. I had known

him during the Balkan war, and found him a very honest boy. Italy

then demanded his dismissal. But this time the Prince stood firm.

Fachinetti, the Italian correspondent, whom I had known well during

the war of 1912-13, was also in Durazzo. In the Balkan war he had

warmly taken the part of the Albanians, and had worked with me. Now

he knew I should not approve his doings, and he kept out of my way,

dodging whenever he saw me coming. Crajevsky, too, was not pleased

to see me. He was now more pro-Slav even than the Russians, and as

he had been more Turk than the Turks only two years before, he must

have known that his volte face was, to me, rather comical. And he is

the kind of man that does not like being thought funny.

Colonel Thompson, who was commanding the Dutch gendarmes, met me and

told me that he was going to =give an ultimatum to the insurgents in

the next few days, and asked me to call at eleven next morning and

talk the matter over with him. I never did. That night things seemed

shaky. I overheard Fachinetti, whose room was next mine, tell the

landlord to knock him up if anything happened. So I did very little

undressing, thinking he was probably behind some plot. I put my

boots handy, and laid down as I was, for a bit of sleep, and jumped

up to the sound of rifle fire as the landlord banged on Fachinetti's

door. Sharp firing sounded close. I dashed out so soon as I could

lace my boots, and went down to the entrance of the town where

Fabius was in great haste serving out ammunition from the depot

there. He begged me not to go out towards the scene of the fight, as

he suspected the Italians, and wanted to give an order that no

foreigner should leave the town. Up rushed the Italians, greatly

excited, and were headed back by Fabius. I told them I, too, was

forbidden to go, and we sent them back. We got the artillery

ammunition on donkeys and sent it up the hill. Dutch and Austrian

officers were to serve the guns. A wounded Albanian, crying feebly

"Rrnoft Mbreti" (Long live the King), was carried by on a stretcher,

and one of the bearers whispered to Fabius: "Thompson is hit. I fear

he is dead." To lose the commander in the first hour of the fight

was a terrible blow. Fabius begged me to tell no one. Later, Arthur

Moore, The Times correspondent, came and told how poor Thompson had

been struck down and died almost immediately in his arms in a hut by

the wayside.

Too many battle books have been written of late, so I will not

describe the fighting In the afternoon. I was under cover behind a

bank on the top of the hill with Mr. Corbett when the Prince came up

on horseback with a small suite. He dismounted and climbed the bank,

a tall, lean man, worn and anxious, with a yellow-white face as from

a touch of fever. We called to him he had better take cover as the

bullets came over pretty often. He looked dazed and stupefied. I

said: "A bullet has just cut down that plant, Sir!" pointing to one

close by. He roused himself, mounted, and rode away. Our side soon

got the upper hand, and all danger of the town being rushed seemed

over.

Meanwhile, within the town, the Italians did all they could to

create a panic. They built rubbishy barricades, and annoyed me by

making one across the street near the hotel door. I pulled it down

so as to be able to get in and out easily. The officer was very

angry. I explained that the town was not his to barricade, and if it

were it was no good to build a barricade there, as men behind it

could only fire into the house opposite. Which made him the more

angry, because it was true, and the thing a mere dummy to scare

people. So sure were the Italians that they were 'going to get the

town taken this time that the correspondents wrote gory accounts of

its capture and the slaughter of the inhabitants, and sent them to

Italy, where they were published. I do not now believe in Italian

correspondents every time.

The Russians were as bad as the Italians. They, too, hoped for the

fall of the town.

The Russian secretary was a typical ultra-neurotic Slav. Could not

exist, he told me, without operas, ballets, and "stir tout des

Emotions." Was horribly vexed that the Albanian Nationalist party

proved so strong, and that Albania had not yet been overthrown. In

order to keep himself alive meanwhile in this miserable hole he

tried to get people to play bridge with him for as high stakes as

possible. And this did not suffice him. He told me that having run

through all the sensations of life he thought of committing suicide.

"Why don't you, then, Monsieur?" I asked enthusiastically. "No one

will regret you. Suicide yourself, I beg you, quickly!" Which so

infuriated him that I dare say he is alive still. It roused him to

an attack on the English, who, he said, were ruining civilization by

the way they treated the Jews. I retorted by hoping that the

terrible accounts we had had of Jewish pogroms were exaggerated.

"Exaggerated!" cried he. "You may believe everything you have heard.

Nothing is bad enough or too bad for those brutes."

"You have no right," said I, "to speak so of any human beings."

"Human beings!" cried he. "What you English must learn is that they

are not human beings. They are bugs, and must be cr-r-rushed."

This is a mere detail. But what sort of peace can be expected when

men such as this are in the diplomatic service helping to pull the

strings?

At night the heat was terrible. The motionless air was shrill with

mosquitoes from the fever swamps. The Italian forces were camped

just under my window and he stench of unwashed men and sweaty

uniforms penetrated the miserable garret I slept in with suffocating

acridity. I lay awake for hours thinking of the fate of thousands of

human beings dependent on such men as Petar Karageorgevitch, with

his blood-stained hands; his hoary father-in-law, Nikola, weaving

spider webs; the decadent Russian, fanatical and cruel; the

Levantine Slav, agent of France; the Italians like a pack in full

cry with the victim in sight; the Greek Varatassi mainly playing

bridge, but plotting behind the scenes with the Greek bishop, and

probably with Essad too. All bent on war, and meaning to have it in

some form.

Only Mr. Lamb and the German commissioner were playing straight. On

16th H.M.S. Defence and Admiral Troubridge arrived. Fighting went

on, on and off, for the next few days. The Russian correspondent

chuckled indecently over the Albanian wounded. On the 20th a

deputation of townsfolk went to try and make terms with the

insurgents. From the messages they brought it was clear that the

luckless Albanians without the town were being used as cat's paw by

more than one Power. A truce was called, and the insurgents asked to

give up their arms and leaders. They replied they would yield their

arms, but not their leaders. Who the leaders were remained a

mystery.

While the armistice lasted at Durazzo the insurgents began to march

to other places. No other town was armed. The people in vain asked

what it was all about, and what the Powers wanted them to do. The

Russian Vice-consul at Valona sent messages about to say that the

Powers would be very angry if they fought on the side of Wied, The

Albanians did not want to fight each other. Towns at once

surrendered to the insurgents. The police changed their badges and

business went on as usual. The populace did not want civil war, and

continued to believe that the Powers would keep their promises. News

then came that the Greeks were massing on the frontier ready to

again fall on Koritza.

The insurgents now sent a message into Durazzo that they wanted to

parley with an Englishman. They believed in England. General

Phillips came from Scutari and went to meet them. He reported that

the leaders were certainly not Albanians, and that they had refused

to give their names. One was a Greek priest.

The game of the Greeks, then, was to incite the Moslems to ask for a

Moslem ruler. With this in view they blackened Wied as an

"anti-Moslem," hoping thus to split Albania and more easily destroy

it.

One of the chief spokesmen said to General Phillips: "In England

there is a Liberal Government. Many of you do not like it, but you

must accept it because it is the will of the majority. We are the

majority here, and we will have a Moslem Prince." This man the

General "believed to be a Young Turk leader disguised." He asked why

they objected to Wied, and they replied: "Because he is against our

religion!" which was entirely untrue. And they added that they could

easily take Durazzo because they knew that the international

battleships off the coast had orders not to fire. In the end General

Phillips made a strong appeal to them to cease this foolish warfare

and accept Wied as the choice of Europe.

The Albanian crowd, he reported, appeared to agree and to be anxious

to come to terms. But the five foreign leaders stuck out. And the

ignorant crowd which believed that by following these leaders they

would regain Dibra and other districts finally refused to come to

terms.

Mr. Lamb also made a vain attempt to obtain the names of these

leaders, and they obstinately refused to come into Durazzo to

discuss terms with the Commissioners and the Prince. Nor would they

permit any delegates to come. The Mirdite and Maltsor reinforcements

who arrived were all reluctant to fight. "We are not in blood with

these people," they said, "Why should we fight them?" We had a

number of the enemy wounded in our hospitals along with our own men.

They were most grateful for the care bestowed upon "them, and bore

no ill-will at all. It was sadly true that these poor people were

being killed and wounded, offered as human sacrifices at the altar

of the rival ambitions of the Entente and the Central Powers.

The Breslau, since notorious, and a Russian warship now arrived.

There were many Germans, both military and civilian, in the town,

and the Germans and English worked together in the hospital. The

surgeon, from the Russian warship, claimed the right to work in the

English hospital as a member of the Entente. But as he proposed to

give an anaesthetic to a man whose arm we had promised not to

amputate, and then to take it off, we got rid of him in spite of his

protests that a promise to "an animal like that" did not count.

I took my meals very often with the Germans, and we discussed often

the danger caused to Europe by the Anglo-Russian Alliance. I said

that though I believed Russia was heading for war I was sure we

should not support her, and we drank to a speedy Anglo-German

alliance. They were disgusted with Wied's folly, and said the Kaiser

had been reluctant to appoint him, but had been over-persuaded by

Carmen Sylva. They took me on board the Breslau, where I was

received with great cordiality, and the captain, who took me on to

the bridge, said his ship for her size was one of the fastest.

On Sunday, June 28th, I was having tea with Mr. and Mrs. Lamb, when

we saw Admiral Troubridge climbing the hill towards us. He came into

the house very hot, and said almost at once: "I have come to tell

you our wireless has picked up a bit of a message. The Archduke

Franz Ferdinand has been murdered at Serajevo. Just that!"

My first idea was: "They have done what they said they would last

year. They have begun in Bosnia."

I said to Mr. Lamb: "This means war, doesn't it?"

He replied: "Not necessarily." And seemed surprised. His manner

reassured me. But unless very strong pressure were brought to bear,

I could not see how war between the Slavs and Austria could be

avoided, for "we the Russian army with us" was part of the

programme.

No official confirmation of the news came till next day.

That the Serbo-Greek combine expected to have more than the Russian

army to support it seemed shown by a remarkable letter the insurgent

leaders wrote to Berat, advising the town to surrender, because "we

are supported by the Triple Entente." Berat, however, refused to

surrender.

The insurgents sent a message to Durazzo that they were willing to

be ruled by the International Commissioners if Wied were dismissed.

Terrible rumours came as to what was happening at Koritza. A force

of Albanians went to its defence, led by Dutch officers. Greeks were

pouring in over the border. At the same time it was said that Essad

was returning to Tirana via Serbia, and meant to proclaim himself as

Prince. No one wanted him.

On July 11th came a telegram from Berat. "With heart full of grief I

send the bad news that Koritza, after two days' fight, has fallen

into the hands of the enemy. More than fifty thousand people are

coming away. Take measures for these unfortunates. The Greek army is

spreading on all sides, killing, and burning, and turning into ashes

every Albanian place it enters."

The Albanians were aghast. The Nationalists had all trusted Wied and

the Powers. Without artillery and short of ammunition, with no

trained army and no officers save the Dutchmen, they had done their

best. The "insurrection" had been engineered by Albania's enemies

for the express purpose, among others, of giving a door by which the

Greeks could enter. Not until the Greeks began the wholesale

destruction of Moslems and their villages, accompanied by every kind

of atrocity, did the luckless Moslems of Tirana realize how they had

been tricked.

On July 13th I went at Mr. Lamb's request to Valona to examine into

the number and condition of the refugees. I have no space to

describe the horrors of the next few weeks. The Dutch officers, who

had flung away their uniforms and bolted down to Valona in civilian

dress before the Greek onrush, gave terrible accounts of the mass of

struggling refugees in their flight across the mountains; the dead

and dying children en route; the aged falling by the wayside; the

jam of desperate creatures in a pass; the hideous cruelties of the

advancing Greeks. It had been impossible, said the Dutch officers,

to hold Koritza with irregular troops against an army with

artillery. The Greeks burned as they advanced, and burnt Tepelcni

and all the villages near it.

The refugees crawled into Valona in the last stages of exhaustion,

thousands and thousands of them, and lay about under the trees in

all the surrounding country. Food and shelter there was none. The

heat was overwhelming. I look back on it as a nightmare of agony. In

a century of repentance the Greeks cannot expiate the abominable

crime of those weeks.

Mr. Lamb telegraphed to appoint me as English representative on an

international relief committee, which consisted of the Italian and

Austrian Consuls, the Russian Vice-Consul, and some of the Albanian

headmen.

I proposed at our first meeting that we should report to our

respective Governments that an international naval demonstration off

Athens should be at once made to stop this scandalous state of

things, and save the miserable victims of the Greeks.

The Russian was indignant; the other two consuls looked at their

boots, and said they would get into trouble if they did so; the

Albanians were delighted. The Austrian, an old friend of mine, told

me in private I was right, and only international intervention would

have any effect.

All Valona was Nationalist. Even the little children shouted:

"Rrnoft Mbreti!" (Note.--The spelling Mpret was invented by The

Times for reasons of its own.) The luckless refugees hoped that the

Prince, as a sort of supernatural power, would arrive with an army,

drive out the Greeks, and restore them to their homes. Numbers of

Bektashi dervishes were among them, reverend white-robed men, who

prayed me to send a special petition from them to King George, who

has so many Moslem subjects. Their rich monasteries especially had

been set on and pillaged by the andartis, and Greek fanaticism

would, they said, wipe out Bektashism from the land.

The place was a hell of misery. We dealt out maize flour and bread

in tiny rations. It was all we could do. There were by now at least

seventy thousand in and around Valona, 'more between Berat and

Valona, and more always crawling in.

One ray of hope came. On July 27th it was rumoured that Austria had

declared war on Serbia. A sort of gasp =of relief ran through the

starving, miserable refugees. A great Power, they hoped, was now

coming to their Rescue. All were aware that they owed their misery

to the Greco-Serb combine. All knew of the martyrs of Fostivar and

of Kosovo. I shall never forget the inspired enthusiasm with which

one of the headmen of Valona cried, as he raised his hands to

heaven: "God is about to avenge the innocent! The Serbs will be

punished for their crimes!" He was an Ipek man, and knew too well

what those crimes were.

A letter came to me from England from a man versed in military

matters, suggesting a line of attack, and urging the Albanians to

hasten at once to Kosovo and take the Serbs in the rear, should

Austria attack in the front. No official news of any kind or sort

came through. The Italian consul had no news, the Austrian none

since the news that the Serajevo murderers had confessed that they

and their bombs had come from Belgrade, and the latter had been

supplied by a Serbian officer, and that the Belgrade papers approved

the crime. To me it appeared that the affair was similar to the

attempt on King Nikola in 1907. I said: "I suppose Russia is mixed

up in this?" The Consul said: "Probably. We shall insist on a very

complete investigation as to all the guilty parties."

Meanwhile, it was daily clearer that the refugees could not remain

in the terrible heat and fever-laden atmosphere of the Valona

plains. They were doomed to die in that case. Small-pox as well as

malaria had broken out. It was barely possible to feed the poor

creatures, let alone give them quinine. One lump of bread per head

per day was all we could manage. I laughed bitterly later on when I

was called on to sympathize with Belgians who, after a short though

uncomfortable journey, had arrived in England and were living like

fighting cocks.

At the last meeting of the Relief Committee we decided we must try

and move them to higher land. The question was, where was the Greek

army? Could any of the refugees return in safety to their burnt

villages, or, at least, cut the corn that must now be ripe? The

three consuls said it was impossible for them to spy the Greek

position as, if caught, they would get into political trouble. Nor

could Albanians be sent, for fear of starting fighting and bringing

the Greeks down on Valona.

I therefore volunteered to go myself, if provided with a guide to

take me up to the limit held by the Albanians. Ernst Gorlitz, a very

friendly youth, of whom I had seen a good deal, and who was acting

as correspondent to the Deutsches Tages Zefamg, came at the last

minute and asked if he might accompany me, and I gladly consented,

as he would be another witness. We started early on July 31st.

Neither of us had the least idea of what was going on outside. It

was a terrible ride. All along the track were camps of miserable

beings, who hailed us as angels come to save them. Poor young

Gorlitz, who had never done refugee work, was almost broken down by

it. He cried at intervals: "It is the work of Huns--Huns. We must

expose the Greeks to all Europe." At Skozi we found an almost

desperate Kaimmakam trying to cope with 7,000 refugees in most

miserable condition. He warned us to be careful, as the Greeks were

not far off, and were still burning villages. We promised to make a

united appeal in Berlin and in London, and do all we could to rouse

European indignation. Gfirlitz was so upset he could not sleep, and

looked bad when we started at dawn next day. We reached the last

Albanian outpost beyond Thembla, and there left our horses. Gorlitz

and I then scrambled along the mountain till on the opposite side of

a deep valley we could see clearly with his field-glasses the camp

of the Greek outposts, their tents and the men in khaki uniforms. It

was a regular camp with military tents, and completely refuted the

Greek lie that "Epirote insurgents" and not Greek regulars were

concerned.

We had attained our object. All the mountain side was covered with

black patches. The fields of the standing corn we had hoped to reap,

the Greeks had burnt to ensure the starvation of the population. It

was growing late. To advance further would mean we could not get

back that night. We might also be arrested and detained too long to

be able to act efficiently. We decided to return to Thembla, and

next day make a forced ride to Valona. Starting about 5 a.m. we

arrived tired and dirty at Balona rather after 8 p.m., and

dismounted at my inn. Gorlitz said he would sup with me. Returning

to the dining-room after a "wash and brush up," I found him

collapsed with his head in his arms on the table. "What is the

matter? Are you ill?" I asked anxiously. He looked up with horror on

his face, and half-stunned.

"Russia has mobilized, and we have mobilized, too. They have all

gone!" he said. I was thunderstruck. All the Germans had left

Valona. Possibly the steamboat service would cease. Gorlitz was in

despair, as if he could not get away he might be reckoned a

deserter.

"And I shall never see my father again," he said. "He is on the

Russian frontier. They will have killed him before I can get back."

We went to the post office the first thing next morning, but as the

boats from Trieste had stopped running, his remittance from his

paper had not arrived, and never would arrive. The Austrian consul

could advance no money, having barely enough for his own subjects.

A Thessalian liner was due that night, and might be the last boat

up. There was no time to lose, so I paid Gorlitz's fare and gave him

enough to see him through. Neither of us having an idea of what was

happening, I saw him off at the port, with best wishes for Germany's

rapid victory over Russia and an Anglo-German alliance. "As for us,"

I assured him, "you may be certain we shall side with the

assassins." He left. Mr. Moore, of The Times, passing Valona on his

way to Salonika, dropped at the quay a hasty scribbled note for me.

"Nothing but a miracle can now stop the biggest war in history.

Clear out while you can, or you will be cut off, money and food.

Please take this seriously." I took it to the Austrian consulate.

The Italian was there. Neither had any news. If I left, I wanted to

go to Austria. But unless a gunboat came for the consul that was not

now possible. Neither of them had any idea England would be dragged

in, and assured me I should be all right anywhere. I asked the

Italian point-blank: "Are you going to war as Austria's ally?" He

replied: "The Triple Alliance is a secret one. I do not know its

terms. But I have my own ideas about them. My opinion is that we are

not obliged to fight, and in that case we certainly shall not." A

letter arrived from Mr. Lamb at Durazzo, asking me to find the kavas

of the British Embassy at Constantinople, who, with his family, was

among the refugees burnt out by the Greeks, and send them on to

Constantinople! by the first possible boat. No mention of war or

warning.

Valona was in huge enthusiasm over the news that Belgrade was

attacked. "Now the Serbs and Russians and Austrians will have their

own affairs to attend to, and will leave us in peace!" they cried.

August 4th, the fatal day, I spent hunting up the family of the

kavas, and doing relief work.

August 5th I went to the bank and found a sort of panic. Orders had

come to close in two days. That meant no more cash for relief work

or anything. I asked for all the gold he had, and the manager let me

draw almost all the balance of my relief fund, which I distributed,

and 30 pounds for myself. More he could not give. The Italian consul

said an Italian coasting-boat would touch that night, and that as it

was impossible for me to go to Austria I had better take the kavas'

family to Brindisi and there tranship them, see the British consul,

and learn what was happening. If things were all right, I could

return and make fresh arrangements for the relief work. Without

money it was useless to stay, as the whole of the mass of wretched

sufferers would come to me for help, which I could not give. And at

10 p.m. I left for Brindisi. Shortly before the boat started an

American came on board and shouted: "They've got news at the

consulates that your people are in it, too." But I did not take it

at all seriously.

Only next day at the British consulate, after I had transhipped my

proteges and been examined for small-pox by the doctor--for I was

from an infected area--did I learn to my amazement that not only had

Great Britain declared war, but to my shame and disgust had done so

on the side of the Slav. After that I really did not care what

happened. The cup of my humiliation was full.

No more help could be got for the refugees. It was no use to go

back. The difficulty was indeed to go anywhere. I wondered which

flag would fly in Valona next time I saw it--the Austrian or the

Italian.

Had I had enough money I should have gone to the Pacific islands, or

anywhere out of the dirty squabbles of Europe. As it was, the only

thing to do was to clear out of Italy lest she should be drawn in by

the Triple Alliance. A White Star liner chartered to take off

British tourists, who were swarming down from the Tyrol and South

Germany, took about a thousand of us from Genoa on August 13th.

It was years since I had been with a large crowd of English. They

seemed to me a strange race. To me the boat was the acme of comfort,

and coolness, and cleanliness. But the bulk of my compatriots

thought they were roughing it. I thought of the seventy thousand

houseless creatures under the sun and the rain, starving on a daily

bread dole--and these people wanted two or three courses for

breakfast. None of them had seen war. None knew what a burnt village

or a rotting corpse, or a living man with his abdomen shot through

was like. None had the faintest idea of the thing that had happened.

Many would have liked, I believe, to throw me overboard when I said

that the war would last two years for certain, and how many more I

did not know. When I told them that Russia would crumple like wet

brown paper, they said I ought to be ashamed of myself. Nor when I

added that I expected to live to see England fighting the Russians

would they believe me.

And I saw the steamer as typical of England. Masses and masses of

blind people, wilfully blind, who had never even troubled to try and

find out whither they were going, but filled with an overwhelming

conceit. Some even genuinely believed the war would be nearly over

by the time we reached Liverpool. I could not help hoping we should

meet my friend the Breslau, just to bring them up against facts. "If

these are the English" I used to say to myself, "what an hell of a

mess there will be before this is finished." And the war lasted more

than two years, and we have already fought the Russians.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE YEARS OF THE WAR

THE first thing I did in London was to send back to King Petav the

Order of St Sava he had bestowed upon me, with a letter telling him

I had heard the attack upon Austria freely discussed the previous

year, and that I considered him and his people guilty of the

greatest crime in history.

I will add here only a few notes on some of the events of the next

few years which concerned the lands we have been considering. First,

I ascertained that in Cetinje the Archduke's murder was accepted

unhesitatingly as Serb work. None even suggested that any one else

had been responsible, and it was thought rather a good way of

showing patriotism. Montenegro desiring, like many greater Powers,

to obtain territory, declared war and occupied the strip of land

between the bay of Trieste and Antivari, which the Austrians

evacuated almost at once. Prince Petar led the Montenegrin force,

and to the pain and surprise of the Great Serbian party they found

that such was the reputation of the Montenegrin army that a very

large part of the Serb population fled along with the Austrians

without waiting to be "liberated." Even the Orthodox priest of

Spizza fled, and the lot of those who remained was not too happy.

Being liberated by Montenegrins is a painful process. Montenegrin

troops also crossed the Bosnian frontier, but did not get far, and

failed to carry out their boast that they were going to Serajevo.

When the great Russian retreat was taking place Montenegro began to

waver. Without Russia it was believed that the war must collapse.

Petar Plamenatz, though he had every belief in the British navy, had

none in the army. Peace was expected to ensue shortly. Montenegro

came to some arrangement with Austria, which enabled her to shift

her troops and occupy Scutari in the summer of 1915. A detachment of

the "Wounded Allies" society, which hastened to Montenegro, found

"neither wounded nor allies," so some of its members reported.

The mountain Albanians strongly resisted the Montenegrin advance,

but Scutari had been disarmed by the International Control, and was

easily taken.

The Serbs also anticipated peace, and concentrated forces in such a

position as also to be able to enter and occupy Albanian territory.

In April 1915, as we learnt later, the Powers who had guaranteed

Albania's independence, bought Italy's intervention by promising her

Albania's best port, Valona, and by the same secret Treaty bound her

over not to object should "France, Russia, and Great Britain desire

to distribute among Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece the northern and

southern portions of Albania." The Powers who rushed to war over the

violation of the Belgian Treaty, thus themselves tore up their

Treaty with Albania. Secrets usually leak out. Serbia got wind of

the Treaty in a garbled form two months later, and believed that the

whole coast down to and including Durazzo was promised to Italy.

Therefore, when it was yet possible to win Bulgaria's support by

giving her her "Alsace-Lorraine", Macedonia, the Serbs refused.

"If," said Prince Alexander to my informant, "I am to lose land in

the west, I will yield none in the east."

Another evil result was, that as we had planned the destruction of

North Albania, we could not call upon its help. In the autumn of

1915 I received a telegram from Sir Edward Grey suggesting that I

and some others who knew the land should go to North Albania and

recruit the tribesmen on our side. The frontier could thus have been

held, and the Serbian debacle prevented in all probability. But to

do this it was necessary to guarantee to the Albanians the

independence of their land, and to this Russia and France, it would

appear, refused consent. And the plan was dropped. The Serbs fled

over the mountains, where the Albanians, who had suffered much at

their hands two years previously, could have destroyed them, but

trusting to the honour of England and the Allies they let them pass

and even fed them.

In Montenegro the news of Serbia's defeat caused no undue grief. One

man's misfortune is another's luck. Montenegro might now become

top-dog.

I Was in Egypt when a Reuter telegram announced that the Austrians

had taken the Lovtchen, occupied Cetinje, and appointed as Mayor

"the Bulgarian Vuletitch." I guessed at once this was my old friend

Vulco of the Grand Hotel. His son-in-law, Rizoff, who had had to

leave Rome, where he was working a pro-German propaganda, was now

Bulgarian Minister at Berlin. There was something truly Balkanic in

the surrender of Cetinje, arranged by the Grand Hotel and his

son-in law, which appealed to my sense of humour. I soon learnt my

guess was true. The Fates willed that I should meet a Montenegrin

official. Last time we met during the Balkan war I had vituperated

him about the cutting off of noses. Now in a strange land we were

old friends.

"Tell me," said I, "what happened? The Austrians cannot really have

taken the Lovtchen. One does not march troops up two thousand feet

of rocks under guns, when one can walk in by the back door."

Cheerfully he replied:

"Gospodjitza, you have been up the Lovtchen yourself. It is not

worth while lying to you. Frankly, we welcomed the Austrians, even

with enthusiasm. A small detachment on the road had not been warned,

and fired. Otherwise nothing occurred. Yes, Vuko is Mayor! All your

old friends remain, Yanko Vukotitch, and all! Only the King and

suite left. Mirko, as you know, remains." Here he burst out

laughing. "He is tuberculous, you know, and will go to Vienna to

consult a doctor! The King told Petar to remain, too, but it bored

him, and he came away afterwards. Mon Dieu, but the King was angry

with him. You know our Montenegrins. They are funny dogs. When those

at Antivari heard that the Austrians had arrived in Cetinje, they

pillaged the palace of Prince Danilo. But before the house of the

Austrian consul they put a guard. A good fellow this consul, is he

not? For me this war is the struggle of the Slav and the Teuton for

the only unexploited lands in Europe. We always knew it would come.

But in the past we have never reckoned that England will range

herself with Russia and permit her to take Constantinople. That

would mean the end of Roumania, of Bulgaria, of Serbia, of us, and

of you, too, Gospodjitza, if you are not careful. Therefore we

ranged ourselves with Austria. Those who have travelled in Austria

know that the Slavs there are richer, better educated, and better

off in every way than we poor devils of Serbia and Montenegro. In

return for the taxes they pay they get roads, schools--what you

will. Our taxes all run out of the breeches pockets of those Two

Families (Petrovitch and Karageorgevitch). The war is not ended, but

I can tell you those Two Families will go and never return. Our King

is in France. If the French want a king, they may keep him!"

"And who is responsible for killing the Archduke?"

"Who knows? It was done certainly by some of those mad students of

Belgrade. You remember how they tried to kill King Nikola? Well!

The Serbs wanted war. Now they have got it let us hope they are

content. Politics, as you know, are all cochonnerie. As for me, I

have had enough, and I wash my hands of them."

His account squares with others. The Greek Minister in Cetinje, who,

as a neutral remained there, related that not long after King Nikola

left Montenegro a telegram from Vienna arrived inviting him to stay.

Prince Danilo was already abroad when the crisis arose. Serbia as

well as Montenegro made an attempt to come to terms with Austria in

1915, it would appear, from an unsigned convention, a copy of which

has been lately reported to have been found in the archives at

Vienna. It would account for the fact that in spite of the advice of

more than one English authority, they persisted in making no

preparation for the further defence of their country, and disposed

their troops only for an advance into Albania.

Thus tragically ended poor King Nikola's life's ambition and his

golden dream. Mirko, whom he would fain have seen on the throne of

Serbia, died in Austria in 1918. The records of Danilo and Petar are

such that they are not likely to succeed their father. Prince Danilo

in vain refused the spiritual headship of the land. No Petrovitch

seems destined to be followed by his son, though their dynasty is

the older, and their hands are not so stained with murder as those

of the rival dynasty.

Nikola is not wholly blameworthy. Powers stronger and more crafty

than he, planned Great Serbia and ruthlessly ruled him out of it. No

reinforcements came to him; no troops to help him hold the Lovtchen.

Russia was once his god--and she forsook him.

The Montenegrin opinion of the Serajevo murders is corroborated by

several facts. The Serb students refuged in London had post cards

printed of the murderer Princip, on which he was described as a

national hero! One said to me: "Yes, it is a pity so many people

were killed. But you see the plan quite succeeded, and Great Serbia

has been made." He seemed to think it the object of the war. Another

told a friend of mine that bombthrowing had been taught at Shabatz,

and a Serbian officer boasted to Lady Boyle, when she was doing

Serbian relief work, that he was one of the men who taught the

murderers to shoot. He took their photographs from his pocket, and

called on her to admire how well he had taught them.

The bombs used, like those prepared for King Nikola, came from

Kraguyevatz. The assassins told in great detail at their trial that

they had been supplied with weapons, and taught to use them, by a

Serbian railway employe, Ciganovitch, and by Major Tankositch the

komitadji trainer He was a well-known komitadji himself, and a

member of the Narodna Odbrana and of the Black Hand. And he was in

constant touch with the Belgrade students at the Zelenom Vjencu

eating-house. A Serb student, who himself had frequented this place,

told me that Princip was chosen because he was so far advanced in

tuberculosis he could not live long in any case. He saw him just

before he left for Serajevo, looking very ill indeed. He described

that when the news of the murders arrived three hundred Bosnian

students rushed through Belgrade shouting and singing, and led by a

Montenegrin playing the gusle.

"But did not the police stop them?" I asked.

"No, why should they?"

"And were no arrests then made?"

"Oh, no." This corroborates the official letter of Chevalier von

Storck of the Austrian Legation in Belgrade, who wrote (see the

Austrian Red Book) on June 30th to Vienna:

"I have addressed to M. Gruitch, secretary to the Minister of

Foreign Affairs, the question appropriate to the moment, to enquire

what measures the police have already taken, or intend to take, to

follow up the traces of the crime which are notoriously spread

through Serbia. He replies that up till now the police have not

occupied themselves with the affair."

The consummate impudence of which remark needs no comment. The

planners of the crime had indeed Intended to bury their traces, as

they supplied the wretched boys each with a tube of cyanide of

potassium, which he was to take immediately after doing the deed. An

Instruction they did not follow.

The attitude of the Serb Government was precisely the same as that

it adopted in 1907 with regard to the Cetinje affair. It "knew

nothing," and made no inquiry. Nor, during the whole three weeks

that elapsed before the ultimatum, did the Serb Government do

anything to clear up the matter and mitigate Austria's just anger.

One can only deduce that war was expected and intended.

The military party was in the ascendant, and did as it chose. There

was great tension between it and the Government, and already before

the murders Prince Alexander had been selected to replace his father

as Regent.

"In order," according to Bogitchevitch, "to postpone the inevitable

conflict (between the two parties) and that responsibility for

present events should be evaded, and in order perhaps that he might

not have to assume responsibility for future events, King Petar

retired from government and entrusted the Regency to the Crown

Prince." He adds: "Can any one who knows Serb conditions, even

partially, believe that the Government knew nothing of the

conspiratory activities of certain circles of officers and

komitadjis in Bosnia, and that it knew nothing of the preparatory

measures in Serbia for the attentat on the Austrian royal couple?"

The Government, he adds, carried its nonchalance to "such an extent

that Pashitch did not remain in Belgrade, and the Austrian ultimatum

had to be handed to the Minister of Finance, who temporarily

replaced him."

Documents obtained by Mr. Bottomley from the Serbian legation in

London show that its members were aware of the plot. Time, the

revealer of all secrets, will one day unveil the whole of this one.

Meanwhile, I am glad that the Order of St. Sava is not in my house.

Time will show, too, whether the Serb is to be top-dog in

Jugoslavia, or whether, after all these oceans of blood that have

been spilt and the untold misery, we shall arrive at an arrangement

which could have been obtained by patience and Trialism.

The Teuton for the time is broken, and the Slav is loosed. Whether

for better or worse time again will show.

It remains to consider Albania. When I left it in 1914 folk said:

"Now that the Powers are busy fighting each other they will leave us

free to manage our own affairs." The International forces left

almost at once. The Defence left Durazzo before war was declared.

The Prince of Wied left on September 3rd. And the former insurgents

wrote and begged him to return.

Essad Pasha then arrived at Durazzo, and was publicly embraced by

Alliotti the Italian. Most of the International Commission left.

Krajevsky remained, and with the aid of French money tried to

establish Essad as Prince in vain. Essad, however, levied custom

dues, and with that and the French money was wealthy, and withdrew

to Salonika, where he tried to pose as an exiled monarch, but failed

to raise an Albanian army. He never dared return to Albania but

lived in luxury in Paris on his ill-gotten wealth till he was

assassinated on June 15th by an Albanian student.

On December 25th the Italians landed suddenly at Valona under

pretence of protecting it from the Greeks.

All now made ready to tear Albania to pieces, in spite of the

International guarantee. The Montenegrins seized Scutari in 1915.

The Serbs hurried to take Durazzo. But then came the Austrian

attack. Caught in a bad position, the Serbs had had to fly to

Scutari with the Austrians after them. In consequence the Allies

evacuated Scutari, and left the Albanians to their fate. Had the

Allies resolutely forbidden the Montenegrins to seize Scutari in

1915, and enlisted the Albanian tribesmen, guaranteeing their

independence and the restoration of at least a portion of their lost

land, the Serbian debacle might have been saved, and the results

been very different. Such a plan was proposed by the Foreign Office,

and I and some others asked to enlist the men. But Russia and, I

believe, France vetoed it. Consequently the Bulgars and Austrians

took and held most of north and central Albania till the armistice.

In the south King Constantine's troops seized Albania and used it as

a line of communication with the Austrian army till the Italians

pressed down from Valeria to evict them, and the French advanced

from Salonika to Koritza, which they found guarded by armed

Albanians. These gladly admitted the French on condition the whole

district was recognized as Albanian. The French Government agreed,

and on December 11, 1916, Colonel Descouins proclaimed the Koritza

district an Albani Republic, and hoisted the Albanian flag amid

great popular rejoicing. A government was speedily organized, and a

great number of Albanian schools opened, and filled, throughout the

new Republic, which included two hundred thousand souls, and

flourished till Greece joined the Allies. Trouble then began, as

the Greeks demanded Koritza as part of their price for "coming in."

And to placate Greece, Greek schools, which had been closed, were

re-opened. The dismay of Albania, who had trusted in the promises of

the French, was great.

But hope rose strongly when President Wilson proclaimed to the world

his gospel of self-determination and the rights of small nations.

Seldom has a politician inspired greater hope and belief. All secret

treaties, it was believed, would be laid aside, and a Peace of the

peoples would result.

Nor was it till the eve of the Peace Conference, when France showed

her enmity by trying to prevent the representation of Albania in

Paris, that the Albanians took alarm. An Albanian delegation was at

last accepted, only to be told that the Secret Treaty of 1915 held

good, and the Powers that prated of justice and the inviolability of

Treaties now desired to partition Albania among her worst foes.

Against this Albania appealed, and is appealing, and her fate is yet

in the balance. French, Italian, and Serb troops have occupied the

land ever since the Armistice. Every possible obstacle has been

thrown in Albania's way by those who wish her destruction. The

Albanians have elected, last January, a Government of their own, and

the Powers have refused to recognize it. The British Government, in

order to stifle Albania's cries, have withdrawn both the British

representatives from Albania, General Phillips and Mr. Morton Eden.

Both are friends of Albania's independence, and General Phillips

reported that the Albanian Government was working remarkably well.

Albania now has no means of communicating with the outer world, save

through those who wish her destruction--Greece, Italy and

Jugoslavia. All three are working to overthrow the Albanian

Government. At the moment of going to press the Serbs have made a

wanton attack on North Albania from three points. But they will not

kill the spirit of the Albanian people, who have resisted

denationalization for a thousand years, and who beg only for the

right to take their place in the Balkans and live in freedom and

harmony with their neighbours, and who now at the time of going to

press are fighting bravely for Liberty.

I will not write Finis, for the tale of the Balkan tangle does not

end here.

INDEX

Abdul Hamid; abdicates

Aehrenthal (Baron von)

Albania

Albanians

Albanian language

Alexander (King of Serbia); murder of

Alexander (Crown Prince)

Ambassadors' Conference

America

Andriyevitza

Anglo-Russian agreement

Antivari

Austria; in Bosnia; in Albania; Austrian attache.

Balkan Alliance

Balkan war

Balkan railways

Beaconsfield (Lord)

Belgrade

Berlin (Treaty of)

Black Hand

Bocche di Cattaro

Bogitchevitch

Bogumils

Bosnia; annexation of

Bulgaria.

Carnegie report

Catholics

Cetinje

Constantinople

Constantinovitch

Constitution (in Montenegro); (in Turkey)

Croatia.

Dalmatia

Danilo (Vladika)

Danilo I (of Montenegro)

Danilo (Crown Prince)

Djakovo

Draga (Queen); murder of

Dulcigno

Durazzo

Dushan Gregovitch

Dutch officers.

Earl's Court

Edward VII

Egypt

Elbasan

England

Essad Pasha.

Ferdinand (of Bulgaria)

Fimilian (Bishop)

Fitzmaurice (Lord)

France

Franz Ferdinand (Archduke); murder of

Franz Josef (Kaiser).

George (Prince of Serbia)

Germany

Ghilca (Albert)

Gjurashkovitch

Gladstone

Goluchowski

Great Serbian Idea

Greece

Greeks; in Albania

Grey (Sir Edward)

Gusinje.

Hartwig

Herzegovina.

International Commission

Ipek

Ismail Kemal

Italy

Izvolsky.

Jannisariea

Japan.

Karageorge

Karageorgevitch

Koritza

Kosovo

Kragujevatz

Krajevsky

Kruyff (Baron de).

Ljuma

Lobatcheff.

Macedonia

Manicheism

Marusitch

Milosh (Ofrenovitch)

Miouschlcovitch (Lazar)

Mirdites

Mirko (Grand Voyvoda)

Mirko (Prince)

Montenegro; tribes of; eighteenth century; history of

Moslems; in Bosnia

Mrasteg.

Nastitch

Nikola (King of Montenegro); accession of; reign; made King.

Obrenovitch

Ochrida

Orthodox Church; in Bosnia; atrocities of.

Pashitch (Nikola)

Petar I (of Montenegro)

Petar II (of Montenegro)

Petar Karageorgevitch (King); accession

Petar (Prince of Montenegro)

Peter (The Great)

Petrovitches

Plamenatz (Petar)

Plamenatz (Vladika)

Plot (against King Nikola)

Prenk, Bib Doda

Prizren

Prochashka.

Radonitch (Gubernator)

Radovitch

Ragusa

Rizoff

Romans

Russia

Russian Consuls.

Salonika

Sanjalc (of Novibazar)

Scutari

Serajevo

Serbia

Serbs

Skenderbeg

Slavs (invasions); conversion of; v. Teutons

Slovenski Jug

Sofia

Sofia Petrovna

Stefan Dushan

Stefan Mali.

Tomanovitch

Triple Alliance

Tripoli

Tuberculosis

Turks.

Uskub

Uvatz.

Valona

Venice

Vesnitcli

Vienna

Vlachs

Vladan Georgevitch

Vladikas (of Montenegro)

Vuchidol

Vuletitch (Voko).

Wied (Prince of).

Yanko Vukotitch

Yougourieff

Young Turks.

Zographos

Zorka (Princess).

The End.

End of Project Gutenberg's Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle, by Durham M. Edith