The Slavs of the War Zone

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/slavsofwarzonOObail THE SLAVS OF THE WAR ZONE Croatian Women spinning and knitting. At Knpiv/ ( I luitti-piece. THE SLAVS OF THE WAR ZONE BY THE RIGHT HON. W. F. BAILEY, C.B. LONDON CHAPMAN & HALL, Ltd. 1916 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLKS (/ i^illV H 1Q78 Xn. t/f ; PREFACE It is not my intention in these pages to discuss, except incident- ally, the history and political problems of the Slav peoples who dwell where the great European War now rages. These subjects have been adequately dealt with by many well-known and well- equipped writers such as Mr. Seton-Watson, Mr. H. Wickham Steed and Professor Alison PhiUips. My desire is to give a vivid and accurate account of the countries in which these Slav races dwell—to give a description of their habits and customs : of how they hve at home, among their neighbours, and in their market-places ; of their dress, their amusements and their festivals of their music, their songs and their dances ; of their views of life, their Joys and their sorrows ; of their poHtical, national and religious aspirations ; of how the great war found them and how it leaves them—these people that Fate has made to be the shuttle-cocks of Empires. This is not a war book. It is an account of these Slav peoples as they were hving when the war came on them hke a blast from a burning fiery furnace, and how they fared in its awful presence. It is to be hoped that these pages may have some permanent value in enabling readers to envisage, to appreciate, to understand peoples perhaps httle known outside their own boundaries, yet who have been the proximate cause of the most tremendous upheaval that has taken place since mankind had a history. In the days of settlement after the war, these races will demand recognition. They who gave a name to depressed peoples all the world over will not be for ever the slaves of circumstance. When the war ends those who are seated round the conference table at which the futures of so many nations and peoples and kingdoms will be determined, cannot vi PREFACE close their minds to the desires, the needs, and the demands of these Slav peoples seeking recognition. I would express my indebtedness for the help given in the preparation of this book by my friend Miss Jean V. Bates, who has lived amongst the people here described, who knows them intimately, and who has made it possible to give an account of their hves and fortunes down to the present day. I have also to thank the Editors of the Fortnightly Review, the Nineteenth Century and After, and the Edinburgh Review, for their kind permission to make use of certain articles contributed by me recently to these periodicals. The illustrations are from photographs placed at my disposal by the Right Hon. F. Wrench, a fellow-traveller amongst Slav peoples. I would add a word of thanks to Mr. F. C. Moore for help given in the production of the book. W. F. BAILEY. April 22, 1916. — The pronunciation of Czech, Serb and Croat words will be facilitated by remembering the following values : G = ts (as in cats). c = tch (as ch. in chimney). 6 = ch (soft, as in clvXteau). ] = y (as in year). 3 = sh (as in show). z = zh (as j in French jour). In PoHsh :- c = ts. aj = ie. sz = sh. cz = ch in chhi. ie = yay. dz = j in Jew. ——A CONTENTS PAQES Preface v INTRODUCTION Historical characteristics of Teuton and Slav—Northern and Southern Slavs—Attitude of Germany towards its non- Teutonic population, and towards Eussia—Germanic influence in Russian Government—The partition of Poland—Power of dynastic influence—Race composition of Austria Hungary Its policy towards the Little, or Red, Russians (Ruthenes) —The Poles—The Czechs of Bohemia—Prague—The Slovaks Southern Slavs : Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians—Pur- port of the present work 1-10 CHAPTEE I WHERE TWO EMPIRES MEET Podolia—Kamenets, lits ancient government town—The death of Pan Michael—Scene on Fair day—Mail carts and droshkies— Soldiers—Gipsies—The drive from Kamenets to Husiatyn^— hail shower on the Steppes—A peasant exodus—Husiatyn The Askenazim Jew—The value of time in Podolia . 11-20 CHAPTER II LIFE IN EASTERN GALICIA Train from Husiatyn to Lemberg (Lwow) —Towns on the route — Crowds at the stations—Typical villages—Galician roads Interior of a village hut—Primitive agriculture— Slav women —Relation between the sexes —Modernity of Lwow—Evening in the streets -The paradoxy of Poland .... 21-33 — —A X CONTENTS CHAPTEE III THE VIRGIN OF CZENSTOCHOWA : THE HEART OF POLAND PAGES The Holy Place of Poland—On the morning of a pilgrimage—Scene in the streets—Inhabitants and pilgrims—The Holy Place The oldest picture in the Christian world—^Ceremony in the church—Desecration of the shrine—Czar's proclamation of universal Slav liberty—How a Polish village meets the German invaders 34-44 CHAPTEE IV POLISH MEMORIES An exile—Polish landscape before the war—A typical village—Visit- ing en masse—Polish industrial campaign—A modern nobleman and his household—A "Tartar raid" —The flight before the invaders 45-56 CHAPTEE V AMONG THE CZECHS OP BOHEMIA The founding of Prague —Jan Huss, and what he stood for—Czech progress—The Old Town and the New—Czech music—Self-help the key to emancipation in Bohemia—The Cathedral—The Ghetto—Evening scenes—Eace hatred as shown by a street accident—Night on the Sophia Island—Tsigane music—Mid- night from the monastery of Strabow—War—The regiments that deserted 57-79 CHAPTEE VI SCENES IN THE CARPATHIANS I LIFE AMONG THE SLOVAKS Summer in the Carpathians—The Gipsies—Slovaks —Village life —A cottage interior—Emigration and its consequences— child's funeral—A returned traveller—Marriage ceremonies The coming of War 80-97 CHAPTEE VII VIENNA: THE INDOLENT CAPITAL An Epicurean city—Evening in the streets—The submerged population—A typical room in the Slav quarter—Vienna in war time Laissez faire, laissez alter—How German officers make themselves loved 98-108 —— CONTENTS xi CHAPTER VIII BUDAPEST : THE GAY CITY OP THE MAGYABS PA0E3 Spring scenes—The best view-point, and the worst—The Jews in possession—Magyar wedding dresses—Ancient Buda— Cafes and cinemas—Music and the Gipsies—Daily life in Budapest The empty palace and the murdered Queen . 109-118 CHAPTER IX SCENES IN FIUME, THE SEAPORT OF HUNGARY The town in summer—The pageant of its past—The surprising streets—Fiume in bygone days—-Country folk —On the quays —The Castle of the Frangipani—A Slovene inn—The Uskoks Music—A Slav legend of loveliness—'Tsiganes—Night on the Adriatic—A fight in a caf^ 119-146 CHAPTER X ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF THE KARST : THE LAND OF THE PANDOURS The Karst—Ogulin—Serbs and Croats—The Pandours—Emigra- tion—Sex relationship—Folk songs—Karlovac in war time Austrian treatment of Southern Slavs .... 147-160 CHAPTER XI CROATIA : A LAND OF MANY COLOURS The province of Croatia-Slavonia—The Pandours and the Uskoks —Hungarian policy towards Croatia—The Patriarchal system A typical country house— Feminine occupations—Love and marriage—Wedding customs—Religious fetes—Death ceremonies—Professional beggars—Napoleon's prescience . 161-175 CHAPTER XII BELGRADE : THE GATEWAY TO THE EAST The "White City" and its situation—The Teratsia—Scene in the market-place—Typical visitors from the Balkan States—Serbian manners and customs— Afternoon in Topchider Park—The Kalemegdan gardens—Murder of Alexander and Draga—Pano- rama from the hill-top 176-187 — xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XIII LIFE IN THE BALKANS : A SEEBIAN CHRISTMAS PAOES Christmas Eve—" The Feast of the Dead "—At-Palanka—Serbian home life—Ceremonies Christian and pagan—Christmas morning—Service in the Church—The Priest—In the market-place —Dinner and dancing . 188-211 CHAPTER XIV SONG AND DANCE AMONG THE SERBS Serbian folk songs —A woman singer—Love songs —War songs Serbian code of honour—The Eoro, or war dance—"The women's dance " 212-221 CHAPTER XV SARAJEVO : THE CITY OF THE GREAT WAR The night of June 29th, 1914—The Austrians in Sarajevo—The Slavonic quarter—In a night cafe— The coming shadow—The end of the Archduke 222-243 CHAPTER XVI A NATION IN RETREAT : SERBIA'S AGONY, 1915 The peasants' flight—The retreating army—The Red Cross—The last inhabitants—Night comes, and the German army . 244-253 CHAPTER XVII FROM A HILL IN BOSNIA : AUTUMN, 1915 Mount Stephen—A hill of death—How Teutons treat their Slav subjects—Before the war—And now— " Righteous slaughter" —The Slav Eternal hope 254-261 INDEX 263-266 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Croatian Women spinning and knitting . 1 > Frontispiece . At Kuprez Cattle Show (Bosnia) ) Grape Pickers in Istria 20 A Wine Press in Dalmatia The River Narenta, Bosnia 44 In the Valley of the Varenta : Bosnia-Herzegovina Montenegrin Peasants about to practise Rifle-shooting 56 Peasant Women in Herzegovina Near Ragusa on the Dalmatian Coast .... 80 Albanians On a Road near Livno in Bosnia 108 Mostar, the Capital of Herzegovina Street in Mostar, with Austrian Soldiers 132 The Famous Bridge of Mostar A Farmstead in Bosnia 146 A River Source in the Karst Mountains .... Balkan Peasants 160 Montenegrin Peasants A Pack Horse in Herzegovina 188 In a Village in the Balkans A Bosnian Farm House 208 The Court House in Sarajevo A Street in Sarajevo 232 Street Scenes in Sarajevo Map : Distribution of Slav and Non-Slav Peoples of Central Europe 262 THE SLAVS OF THE WAR ZONE INTRODUCTION The early history of the relation between the Teutonic and Slav peoples in Central Europe tlnows a curious light on the situation of to-day.

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