Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/820

 610 General History of Europe the north (Czecho-Slavs) and those to the south (Jugo-Slavs) bitterly resented the situation which deprived them of their due influence in both Austria and Hungary. With the annexation of Bosnia, in 1908, the situation became worse than ever. The neighboring Balkan state of Serbia was alarmed and indignant at this, since the annexed provinces were peopled with South Slavs, and the Serbians had cherished the ambition of uniting with them and the Montenegrins in a new South Slavonic state which would reach from the Danube to the Adriatic. Russia also was angered, but when Germany, Austria's ally, declared that it would support Austria, in arms if need be, Russia, which had not yet recovered from the war with Japan and its own revolutions, was obliged to submit to the humiliation, as she viewed it, of being unable to protect those of her own race in the Balkans. 1109. Rivalry between Austria and Serbia. For Serbia, in- deed, the annexation of Bosnia to Austria was a serious blow. It was now apparently shut in from the sea for all time to come, and so would be dependent for a "market for its farm products upon its enemy across the Danube, Austria-Hungary. This would reduce it to the condition of a weak and somewhat dependent state, which was what Austria wanted. In the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, however, Serbia burst its boundaries upon the south and all but reached the Adriatic through Albania. Again Austria interfered and had an inde- pendent prince set up in Albania to shut Serbia in. The Serbians felt that the natural rewards of their victories had been denied them by their powerful and jealous neighbor, and bitter hatred resulted. The situation at the end of the Second Balkan War augured ill for the peace of Europe. Although Austria had managed to frustrate Serbia's hope of getting a port on the Adriatic, and had succeeded in having Albania made an independent princi- pality under a German prince, Serbia had nearly doubled her territory, and there was every probability that she would under- take to carry out her former plan of uniting the discontented