THE NEW BALKANS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 183, 4 August 1919, Page 4

THE NEW BALKANS.

One of the most difficult of all tho stupendous tasks which the Peace Conference lias had to handle is the settlement of the Eastern question, and not the least encouraging of the signs of the times to-day is the fact that in spite of conflicting political claims and bitter racial rivalries this problem ie developing steadily toward a definite and practicable solution.

Even if the Allies, at the close of the •war, had been called upon merely to reconstruct the map of the Balkans in strict accordance with, nationalist principles, they might well have been forgiven for displaying some doubt and hesitation over the prospect before them. But in addition to sifting out the numerous minor raciial igroups inextricably mingled together in many parts of the peninsula, they have to take into account the possibilities of economic development for all those new States, and their consequent right of access to the sea. More than this, they must bear in mind the attitude that the Balkan nations have adopted during the war, and the part they have played in the great conllict just brought to a successful issue. For the principles of comparative justice should carry weight in such a settlement as this, and it would ■be monstrous that Rumania, who risked all in the Allied cause, and Serbia, who made the same noble sacrifice as Belgium should fare worse in * the end than Greece, whose Txilers were pro-German throughout, and Bulgaria, whose record of treachery and cruelty during the war has branded her with indelible infamy. Now it seems to us that, taking all these facts into account, the Allies have made, an honest and courageous attempt to resettle the Balkans on rational and equitable lines, and there is already much evidence available which encourages confidence in their ultimate success. So far as Serbia and Montenegro are concerned, the aspirations of their people •will 'be satisfied by the establishment of the new Jugo-Slav State; and in spite of the flagrantly unjust character of the terms secured to Italy by the secret Treaty of .'London, we do not despair of a settlement more nearly in accordance with the nationalist principles that the Allies have pledged themselves to uphold. As to Rumania, she "will Tegain Bessarabia, and it appears that she 13 now well able to hold her own against the Magyar. This means that she will be able to realise her great ambition of» including in her boundaries the millions of Translyvanians ivho claim kinship with her, while the Allies, by conceding her just claims in the Dobrudja will provide her with some material consolation for all that she has suffered at Bulgaria's hands. Greece, ultimately gaining Cyprus, and securing 'a foothold in Asia Minor, may congratulate herself on having escaped a heavier penalty for Constantine'a treachery; and though the Allies are naturally anxious not to ignore completely the infamous conduct of Ferdinand and his accomplices, they are not likely to defy the principle of nationality in this case to the extent of rejecting Bulgaria's claim to the greater part of Macedonia, wjiidi is hers by racial and historical right. ~

Birt so far we have not taken account of the two extraneous elements which for the last hundred years constantly disturbed the peace of the Near East—the rival 'ambitions of the great Slavonic and Teutonic Empires. Russia, however far patriotic and religious motives may have] entered into her policy, certainly strove hard for ascendancy in the Balkans, but now that the Russian Autocracy is overthrown it is very unlikely that the nation will ever take up again the tradition of expansion southward, if once its economic rights are secured. With Constantinople under international control, a decisive limit is set for all time to Russia's hopes in this direction, as also to the vaguer but equally ambitious dreams of Bulgaria and Greece. As regards Austria and Germany, the world by this time should be familiar with the efforts that the Central Powers made to dominate the Balkans and to force their way south and east toward Asia; and it is sufficient to say here that with , the downfall of Germany and the disruption of the Habsburg monarchy that ambition also has found its way into the region of "unrealised visions and predictions -unfulfilled." There remains, however, on the northern frontier of the Balkans one solid and compact State, Hungary, and the attitude which the Magyar nation may ultimately assume toward the new Balkan States Involves certain very important considerations. It must be understood, however, that Hungary to-day is very different from the Magyar State which aided and abetted Prussia in its great conspiracy against the rights and liberties of the civilised world. It ia likely that Bolshevism will speedily pass away in Hungary; for being an absolute depotism it can have no depth of root, and must soon be superseded by some other system making for social and political progress and freedom. But with the collapse of Prussianism in Central Europe, Hungary must become a democratic country, and the disappearance of the great Magyar feudal barons from the stage will mark a complete change in the domestic and foreign policy of the people. There will then be no reason why the new Magyar State should not enter into friendly relations with the Balkan Slavs, and more especially with" the Croatkns and Slavonians now released from Magyar tyranny. Thus may be realised the hopes and prophecies of Cheradame, who sees in Hungary a powerful potential ally for Rumania and Jugoslavia, transforming itself first into a. republic on strictly democratic lines, and then with the help of it 3 Slav allies erecting an impregnable barrier against German aggression southward and eastward for all time to come.