Petrit Latifi
In 1923, the Lienzer Nachtrichten published a section of the book “20 years of Balkan Troubles”, by Edith Durham and Dr. Joseph Leo Seifert in the “Neues Reich”. The publication contains valuable information on the chauvinist hegemonial culture of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Already in 1906 were the Serbian military bored, with officers playing cards all day, and were waiting for an opportunity to declare war on Albanians and Austrians. Durham also writes that the Serbs not only fanatically persecuted Islam but also Catholicism.
“20 Years of Balkan Troubles.” By Dr. Joseph Leo Seifert in “Neues Reich.”
With boundless contempt, however, Durham reports on Italy’s treacherous intrigues against Austria, especially in the Albanian question The author cannot understand why, in 1912, despite so many challenges, Austria persisted in its war effort, even though it would have been entirely justified to declare war on Serbia. As early as 1906, she noticed that Serbia had proportionally more officers than Germany, who apparently had nothing to do all day but play cards.
She believed that, as soon as the Serbian peasant had gained a little education, he would have to become a socialist under this regime. Miss Durham was very painfully surprised that the Christian Balkan peoples, especially the Serbs, fanatically persecuted not only Islam but also the Christian churches of neighboring states, seeking to eradicate them with fire and sword. No Western European who had not lived in the country himself could possibly measure the depth of hatred between the Greek and Bulgarian churches.
Bulgrian bishop: rather Turkish rule than Greek rule
“The Bulgarian Bishop of Ohrid once said to the judge, “I would rather this country remain under Turkish rule forever than the Greeks get even a kilometer of it.” His rival, the Greek bishop, said, “Rather than these bastard Bulgarians getting even a foot of land, I would rather see the whole country under Turkish rule forever.”
The hatred of the Serbian Church
“The hatred of the national Serbian Church against all others is perhaps even greater. “Never have the Turks treated the Armenians worse than the two Serbian peoples treated the Albanians in the name of the Holy Orthodox Church.”
Serb hatred of Catholicism
“But even more than Islam, the Serbs hate and persecute Catholicism. There is no sign of any real religiosity, though The masses are bigoted, the upper classes unbelieving, and view the Orthodox Church only as a representative of chauvinistic nationalism. “The Serbian Church embodies an unreasonable and intolerant nationalism.”
“Edith Durham describes the constant fighting in Macedonia, where Serbian and Greek gangs supported the Turks in the extermination of their Christian Bulgarian and Albanian co-religionists. The Albanians were denationalized by Turks, Greeks, and Serbs. Only the Albanians under Austrian fire had Albanian schools. The Jesuits in Scutari founded the first Albanian Printing house.
The author vividly argued that Austria had not resisted the Albanian massacres more vigorously during the Balkan War and believed that everything Belgium endured in 1914 was child’s play compared to this martyrdom of the Albanians, which was nevertheless calmly observed by the Great Powers. The author returned the gold medal awarded to her by King Nikola, since she saw that his people surpassed even the infamous Turks in bloodthirstiness.
Of greatest importance to us are Miss E. Durham’s testimonies about the war preparations of Serbia and Montenegro against Austria, supported by Russia. In Montenegro, since 1905, one hears widespread talk of the impending war with Austria. Russia is sending Montenegro large quantities of arms and munitions, with the Berserker pointing out that Austria did not let the Russian defeat in the Japanese War pass without securing its interests in the Balkans.
Russia soon abandons Montenegro and Bulgaria and turns to Serbia. However, the disaster only became unbearable when England allowed France to persuade it to recognize the bloodstained Karageorgevic dynasty. The author bears a heavy debt to her fatherland for this.
In 1907, England’s blindness to Russia was generally understood in Montenegro to mean that war against Germany had now been decided. In 1912, the Russian ambassador, Hartwig, came from Tehran to Belgrade. His political methods were so abominable that even the Russian Foreign Ministry protested against them, as Dr. Dillon explained to the author.”
Reference
Balkan Academia 