The difficulty comes when we attempt to give the racial character of
Central Macedonia, which is equally remote from Greece, Bulgaria, and
Servia. I travelled through this district last summer. On June 29,
when the war broke out between the Allies I found myself in Uskub.
Through the courtesy of the Servian authorities I was permitted to ride
on the first military train which left the city. Descending at Veles I
drove across Central Macedonia by way of Prilip to Monastir, spending
the first night, for lack of a better bed, in the carriage, which was
guarded by Servian sentries. From Monastir I motored over execrable
roads to Lake Presba and Lake Ochrida and thence beyond the city of
Ochrida to Struga on the Black Drin, from which I looked out on the
mountains of Albania.
Coming from Athens where for many months I had listened to patriotic
stories of {88} the thorough permeation of Macedonia by Greek
settlements my first surprise was my inability to discover a Greek
majority in Central Macedonia. In most of the cities a fraction of the
population indeed is Greek and as a rule the colony is prosperous.
This is especially true in Monastir, which is a stronghold of Greek
influence. But while half the population of Monastir is Mohammedan the
so-called Bulgarians form the majority of the Christian population,
though both Servians and Roumanians have conducted energetic
propaganda. In Veles two-thirds of the population are Christians and
nearly all of these are called Bulgarians. In Ochrida the lower town
is Mohammedan and the upper Christian, and the Christian population is
almost exclusively of the Bulgarian Church.
It does not follow, however, that the people of Central Macedonia, even
if Bulgarian churches are in the ascendant among them, are really
connected by ties of blood and language {89} with Bulgaria rather than
with Servia. If history is invoked we shall have to admit that under
Dushan this region was a part of the Serb empire as under Simeon and
Asen it was part of the Bulgarian. If an appeal is made to
anthropology the answer is still uncertain. For while the Mongolian
features--broad flat faces, narrow eyes, and straight black hair--which
characterize the subjects of King Ferdinand can be seen--I myself have
seen them--as far west as Ochrida, they may also be found all over
Northern Servia as far as Belgrade though the Servian physical type is
entirely different. There is no fixed connection between the
anthropological unit and the linguistic or political unit.
Furthermore, while there are well-marked groups who call themselves
Serbs or Bulgarians there is a larger population not so clearly
differentiated by physique or language. Undoubtedly they are Slavs.
But whether Serb or Bulgarian, or intermediate between the two, no one
to-day can demonstrate. Central {90} Macedonia has its own dialects,
any one of which under happy literary auspices might have developed
into a separate language. And the men who speak them to-day can more
or less understand either Servian or Bulgarian. Hence as the anonymous
and highly authoritative author of "Turkey in Europe," who calls
himself Odysseus, declares:
"The practical conclusion is that neither Greeks, Servians, nor
Bulgarians have a right to claim Central Macedonia. The fact that they
all do so shows how weak each claim must be."
Yet it was Bulgaria's intransigent assertion of her claim to Central
Macedonia which led to the war between the Allies.
It will be instructive to consider the attitude of each of the
governments concerned on the eve of the conflict. I hope I am in a
position correctly to report it. Certainly I had unusual opportunities
to learn it. For besides the official position I held in Athens during
the entire course of both Balkan wars I visited the {91} Balkan states
in June and was accorded the privilege of discussing the then pending
crisis with the prime ministers of Roumania, Servia, and Bulgaria. It
would of course be improper to quote them; nay more, I feel myself
under special obligation sacredly to respect the confidence they
reposed in me. But the frank disclosures they made in these
conversations gave me a point of view for the comprehension of the
situation and the estimate of facts which I have found simply
invaluable. And if Mr. Venizelos in Athens, or Mr. Maioresco in
Bukarest, or Mr. Pashitch in Belgrade, or Dr. Daneff, who is no longer
prime minister of Bulgaria, should ever chance to read what I am
saying, I hope each will feel that I have fairly and impartially
presented the attitude which their respective governments had taken at
this critical moment on the vital issue then confronting them.
{92}