The Balkan problem and what it means to Europe to-day

              The Balkan Problem and What It Means to Europe To-day
BY ERNEST BRIGGS


LEON BROOKS BACON
From a photograph taken in the Balkans recently




That the control of the Balkan Peninsula is the cause of the present European War is the belief of Mr. Leon Brooks Bacon, who has been a keen student of European politics.

Mr. Bacon, who is a practicing attorney of Cleveland, Ohio, and not a pedant nor theorist, has been greatly interested in the Cosmopolitan population of our Middle West, more particularly of those from the Balkan States.  As an avocation he has studied these peoples and the history of their countries for many years, and, stimulated by a desire to acquire a first-hand knowledge of them in their native environment, he made a trip to their homes in Southeastern Europe in the Spring and Summer of 1914, just previous to the breaking out of the European War.

Slav, Turk, Greek, and Roman vie with each other to share the remains of historical monuments of past civilizations.  Greek civilization gave way to Roman, and Slav to Turk, and the disintegration of the Turkish Power is at the root of the present conflict.

Since the Turk came on the scene every Balkan Question has been a European Question.  Geographically and politically the European Powers are directly concerned with the destiny of the Balkan States.  Call it what you may, The Balkan Question, The Macedonian Question, and The Near Eastern Question, and the question as to what shall be done with the Turk, are only parts of The Great Balkan Problem.


SARAJEVO, BOSNIA
Photograph taken by Mr. Bacon three days before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand


And what makes this Problem so important to the political life of the Powers of Europe? The answer, according to Mr. Bacon, is the Orient Railway.  Connecting Berlin with Constantinople and extending southward to the Persian Gulf, it is the gateway to the commerce of Europe.  It is the shortest land route to India.  The statement that the country which controls this route dominates European politics, which was made by Peter the Great of Russia over two hundred years ago, is as true to-day as it was then.

To understand a country one must know its peoples.  The converse of this statement is likewise true.  Believing
 that the characteristics and political aspirations of the inhabitants of a country are co-related with the geographical location of the country and its topography, Mr. Bacon in his lectures strikingly presents picturesque views of some of the physical characteristics of the Balkan States.  Painting word pictures, he describes the mountain scenery, the beautiful valleys dotted with stately cypress trees, the ruins of temples and citadels covered with semi-tropical vines, and the habitations of the peoples of each country and the distinct national costumes of these peoples.


ARMY HEADQUARTERS OF THE MONTENEGRINS
Photograph by Mr. Bacon.  Turkish Bridge over the Moraca River at Podgorica


To assist in visualizing these scenes Mr. Bacon throws on the screen a series of most interesting and unusual pictures taken by him at a time when the match was being struck to apply to the torch of war.

In this land of one-man empires, where for centuries Christian and Moslem have been struggling, primitive races of Europe with bright-colored costumes mingle with the mountaineers of Montenegro and the tribesmen of Albania.  For a background to these scenes the blue Adriatic sparkles with a thousand islands along the Dalmatian Coast, or Mount Olympus sends forth its inspirations from Saloniki to far-distant Serbia.

It is a land of fierce mountain tribesmen, dotted with remains of Roman colonies and cities, and traversed by ancient Roman roads.  A land almost in sight of Italy, and yet less known than the wilds of Africa.  A land full of primitive peoples in which the coming of the Slav has been an all-important fact in its history.  A land in which the slow waning of Ottoman power has been followed by the resurrection of, and the struggle for national freedom and independence.  A land of struggle by these peoples among themselves for supremacy in the Peninsula, and at the same time the chess-board upon which the European Powers are now playing for the control of the world's commerce.





DURAZZO, ALBANIA
Austrian torpedo boat destroyer in the harbor.  In the background, at the left, is seen the palace of the Prince of Wied, with the flag of the Kingdom of Albania


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