increased. Wheat had to pay a tariff of 6.38 crowns instead of the former old tariff of 1.78 crowns, rye a tariff of 5.80 crowns instead of the older tariff of 1.78 crowns, etc. These tariffs corresponded to the new autonomous tariff of Hungary of 1905. Hungary wished to protect the better quality of its corn. Concerning the importation of cattle, the leading idea was to prevent the importation of contaminated stock; and Hungary on the other hand could naturally not renew the old preferential tariffs, because that would have ruined her own farmers. At the conclusion of the treaty the schedules of the autonomous Hungarian tariff were applied to all Serbian imports of cattle, sheep, etc. Regarding pigs, the tariff was even better than that allowed by the autonomous tariff. The total number of cattle and pigs had to be limited, of course (50,000 pigs, 15,000 cows). These pigs and cattle went to Austria. Hungary had no need to import any as it was well provided with its own stock. These allowances therefore represented again a sacrifice for Hungary. It must also not be overlooked that Serbia could and did export to other countries. It was certainly not dependent on imports to Hungary alone. There were also certain possibilities foreseen whereby Serbia was enabled to increase this contingent. It is therefore unjust to charge Hungary with any ill will regarding the handling of the tariff question. On the other hand the Union of Austrian Agrarians headed by Ritter von Hohenblum and Count Kolowrat had carried on a propaganda of long standing in order that no further reductions of the agrarian tariffs should be allowed to Serbia. The majority of the 516 members of the Austrian Reichsrat joined this Union, and voted against a reduction. Hungary was at no time particularly excited over this whole issue, and it is moreover a fact that the greatest difficulties in our negotiations with Serbia were due not to the pig question, but to the guns of the Skoda factory of Pilsen (Bohemia), as these had to compete with the French Creuzots and the German Krupps. The greatest battles that the late Foreign Office on the Ballhausplatz fought with the Serbian Government were in their behalf. The pig question played only a subordinate part in the pending discussions. The Serbian Blue Book of November, 1914, does not mention the Hungarian agrarian tariffs as a cause of bad.

blood, but states explicitly that the occupation of Bosnia had been a principal reason for the war.

For the sake of truth and justice I must add here, what I have amply proved in my war book (Austria-Hungary and the War, 1915), that Serbia never owned either Bosnia or Herzegovina, never ruled over either of them-before the Peace of Trianoneven for a day. Czar Dushan, who evolved the idea of a Greater Serbian Empire, never ruled over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He invaded these provinces twice and was both times defeated, once in 1353 by Stephan Kotromanovics (Stephan II), Chief Zsupán of Bosnia, and the second time most decisively by King Louis the Great of Hungary. On the other hand, Serbia was for many centuries a vassal of the Kingdom of Hungary. Nevertheless, as was seen above, Hungary did not object in the last century to Serbia securing a title to the possession of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and through Count Andrássy even made a voluntary offer to promote Serbia's wishes in the premises. These are historical facts which in connection with the war guilt question deserve to be emphasized.1

The former Serbian Envoy in Paris, Spalajkovic, has made the statement in his book, La Bosnie et l'Hercégovine, published in 1899, that "Serbia and Montenegro could fulfill their real raison d'être only if they would occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina," and demanded the dismemberment and disruption of the Monarchy to this end. This statement was not backed up by any historical evidence to support the Serbian claims.

It is a historical fact that on May 6, 1913, the Russian State Secretary, Sassonow, instructed the Russian Envoy in Belgrade, de Hartwig, "that Serbia had only covered the first lap on its historical road. In order to attain its ends it would have to fight a terrible struggle which would threaten its entire existence. Serbia's promised land is situated on the territory of AustriaHungary. Therefore it should prepare patiently to acquire the degree of preparedness necessary for this unavoidable war of the

1 For reference see John Asbóth: Bosnia and Herzegovina; Gelcsics-Thallóczy: Archives from Ragusa; Louis de Thallóczy: History of Bosnia; Henry Marczali: The Arpáds and Dalmatia; Ignace Acsády: History of Hungary; Mathias Florian: Chronological Facts from Hungarian History of the XIth and XIIth Century; Leopold Ovary: Origin of the Hungarian Anjous.

future." The same suggestions were likewise made to Serbia by the French Envoys in Belgrade. (See Delbrück: Serbia, Austria and Russia, Germany and the War Guilt Problem, 1923-26.)

On February 2, 1914, Premier Paschitch was received by Czar Nicholas in a private audience. It was on this occasion that the Serbian Premier asserted to the Czar that over six millions of Serbians lived within the Monarchy (in Hungary), which was a manifest exaggeration. (At the last Hungarian census, of 1910, there were 461,516 Serbians in Hungary proper and 644,955 in Croatia incorporated in the Kingdom of Hungary; altogether 1,106,471.) Thereupon the Czar uttered the memorable words: "We will do everything for Serbia. Greet the King in my name and tell him so."

On March 3, 1914, the famous Ministers' Council of St. Petersburg took place, when Sassonow acted as Chairman and presented the Memorandum which he had submitted to the Czar in November, 1913. In this Memorandum an urgent solution of the Dardanelles question was demanded. According to the minutes of the Council meeting, Sassonow declared to the Council that "our action in behalf of the Dardanelles cannot be inaugurated without starting a European war. It can be assumed that under these circumstances Serbia must be compelled to use her entire army against the Dual Monarchy." Thereupon the Chief of the General Staff remarked that this offensive of Serbia against the Monarchy would be of very great importance to Russia, for he had knowledge that Austria-Hungary would have to oppose four or five Army Corps in a war against Serbia. (See documents of Russian Secret Archives, Berlin Reichs Druckerei, p. 308.)

On

On March 16, 1914, the Romanul, a Roumanian daily paper, published in Arad, announced that a great war was impending which would end with the dismemberment of the Monarchy. May 15, 1914, the Czar paid a visit to the King of Roumania in Konstantza, on which occasion the Roumanian Prime Minister advised M. Sassonow that in case of a war Roumania would certainly fight on the side of Russia. On May 20, 1914, a murderous attempt was made on the life of the Banus of Croatia, Baron Skerlecz, by a Yugoslav. On June 1, 1914, the Military Convention of the Monarchy with Roumania was dissolved.

Then followed the murder of the Crown Prince and war in quick

succession.

Of the various diplomatic events which occurred just before the outbreak of hostilities, two are not very well known and deserve special attention: One is the visit which M. Dumaine, the French Ambassador in Vienna, paid to Count Berchtold, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on July 22, 1914, calling attention to the danger of a war of the Monarchy with Serbia, but declaring that he had won the conviction that Russia was not willing to support Serbia very strongly and would merely grant her a moral aid. Russia would not offer military assistance and would endeavor to localize the war between Serbia and the Monarchy. This information was misleading because it influenced the Monarchy in its final decision. (See for reference the Red Book of Dr. Roderick Gooss, p. 129.)

Another important visit was paid by Count Szapáry, the Austro-Hungarian Chargé in St. Petersburg, to M. Sassonow on July 31, 1914, at which Sassonow first asserted that the Monarchy had started with its mobilization, which was flatly denied by Count Szapáry. M. Sassonow replied: "Don't let us bandy words about the chronology of things! You should not be afraid that the Russian rifles will go off automatically. The Russian Army is too well disciplined for that!" (See Gooss, p. 233.) This is also important because M. Sassonow here indirectly admitted that the Russian mobilization had taken place before the AustroHungarian mobilization.

On August 12, 1915, M. Paschitch delivered a speech in the Skuptchina in which he made the remarkable statement: "Never in the history of Serbia have there been better prospects for our country than when we began the war." It is also well known that after the successful Balkan wars he had made the remark to M. Politis: "La première manche est gagnée, maintenant il faut préparer la seconde manche contre l'Autriche-Hongrie" ("The first set is won, now we must prepare for the second set against Austria-Hungary").

Has Hungary oppressed her nationalities? Books have been written on this subject, but it will not be amiss to keep in mind a few salient facts. First, that the charge of an alleged oppression

of the minorities in Hungary was started by people living not on Hungarian territory but abroad, and that the assiduous propaganda kept up by the combined Czechish, Illyrian (previous name for the Yugoslavs) and Roumanian groups for almost a hundred years before the outbreak of the war was in the main responsible for a measure of discontent of the Hungarian minorities. It was never general, and these minorities have never desired the dismemberment of Hungary. This fact cannot be disproved, as there has never been a plebiscite to determine this issue. Second, all of the Hungarian minorities immigrated into Hungary long after the original Hungarian conquerors had acquired the land, more than a thousand years ago. They have therefore enjoyed the hospitality of Hungary. The immigrations occurred after Hungarians had bled to death during the Tartar and Turkish invasions, which lasted altogether several centuries and which really meant a blood sacrifice for the good of Europe. No other nation in Europe has brought a greater sacrifice to civilization than Hungary, which lost millions of her sons in these struggles to save Western civilization. Europe's thanks for past services rendered were handed to Hungary in Paris in 1920!

Third, although Hungary also in other ways often had to fight for her existence and language, schools, etc., it never has adopted the theory proclaimed first by Barrère during the French Revolution in 1794: "Let us cancel the means of damage and aberration, let us suppress the language of the foreign minorities!" Hungarians have always endeavored to use liberal methods of assimilation, as the great Hungarian statesman Francis Deák so aptly said: "If we want to win our minorities, we must not try to Magyarize them at all costs, but must seek to make them love the Hungarian conditions".

To charge that Hungary had oppressed her national minorities during a thousand years is grievously unjust, if for no other reason than that none of her minorities have lived on Hungarian territory for such a length of time. The earliest settlers after the Hungarians had taken possession of Hungary in A. D. 896 were the Saxons and Slovaks, who arrived in the course of the eleventh century. Hungarians and Slovaks were always friends and brothers in arms during the revolution of Prince Rákóczy in the