Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921Graham, Stephen
History
Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921
Graham, Stephen
Europe -- Description and travel
At last a hotel was found and located, and when the cabman had brought
my things from the station and one asked timidly: "How much?" one
received a characteristic reply.
"A thousand crowns," said the unblushing cabby--rather more than the
cost of a ticket for the whole journey from Belgrade to Budapest.
I saw next day that I must report to the police within twenty-four
hours of arrival, and also within twenty-four hours of departure. Such
is modern travel in Europe, and I felt rather amused when the question
was put to me, "Are you travelling for pleasure or on business?"
Serbia and Hungary are not on good terms. The Hungarians will not
forgive the loss to Serbia of territory over which they claim to have
ruled for a thousand years. Hungary will not forgive the Czechs or the
Roumanians either. They have been mightily despoiled by the nations.
Roumania has doubled her original territory at old Hungary's expense.
Czechoslovakia holds Pressburg, the ancient capital and coronation-city
of the Hungarian kings, and calls it Bratislavl. "They might as well
have called it New York," says a Magyar contemptuously. There is
nothing soft or relenting about the Magyars. They are quite
implacable, and they are a fighting people. There is no good will. On
the contrary, there is definite ill-will on the part of Hungary towards
her neighbours. Austria is soft towards the new nations which have
arisen on the ruins of her empire, but Hungary is hard.
To the Serb, the enmity of the Magyar is disconcerting. By crossing
the Danube, Serbia has become genuinely part of Europe; she has turned
her back on the Balkans and the eternal strife on barren empty hills.
The new Serbia can afford to forget and forgive Bulgaria, now a remote
sort of country. She can retort to Greece concerning Salonica--We have
no need of that port now, for we no longer aspire to be a power on the
Aegean, we are a Central-European people. Jugo-Slavia is not a Balkan
country. She is ashamed of the Balkans and of the Balkan past. She
will loyally look to Geneva or any other capital of the League of
Nations. She will cling to the centre. All seems well. Perhaps
Bulgaria will cease to be an enemy, and Greece will cease to be a
rival. Serbia moves northward, but in the North she comes face to face
with a worse potential enemy than either--the Magyar. Serbia becomes
conscious of a European destiny, but Hungary avers that a large stretch
of Hungarian territory has been torn from Europe and is being
Balkanized, despoiled of the old comfort and civilization of the
Austro-Hungarian State and made dirty and inefficient by Slavs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account