Die Adriafrage by Josef MärzReview by: R. W. Seton-WatsonThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 13, No. 39 (Apr., 1935), pp. 714-715Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203052 .

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714 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

right of election, and so of disputed elections in the old sense. Father Jarrett assigns to Pope Pius II the famous saying that Charles was the stepfather of the Empire; but this was surely coined by the Emperor Maximilian. Charles's love of building and his many-sided literary and artistic tastes are duly recorded, but justice is scarcely done to the epoch- making character of his foundation of Prague University for the whole of Central Europe, German no less than Slav.

Among the misprints may be mentioned Lusatz for Lausitz or Lusatia, Dneiper, Kuffstein, Wittenburg, Bamburg, Speir, Grecz, Ultava (for Vltava), Lineburg and Wolf-bruttel (for Luneburg and Wolfenbiittel), Ottingen (for Oettingen), Ada for Adda, Legnitz for Liegnitz. Surely, too, there is something wrong with Tinglam, Zumelles, Penede, Bysignami; and is there a Frejus near Aquileia? St. Ludmila of Bohemia, referred to as Limila, was not Charles's greatgrandmother, but a remote ancestress in the fourteenth degree (p. 56). The statement that Bohemia was " more properly Czech than Slavonic " (p. 71) is meaningless. It is very inaccurate to suggest that in the I4th century " Croatia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Bul- garia, Servia preferred financial subservience to the Turks to political subservience to Hungary" (p. 23).

These are, however, minor blemishes upon a stimulating book, painting in the main with a broad brush. R. SETON-WATSON.

Die Adriafrage. By Josef Marz. Introduction by Karl Haushofer. Berlin-Grunewald (Vowinckel), I933. Rm. 6.80.

THIS book is written with true German thoroughness and accuracy, the most minute attention to detail and a genuine sympathy for the Adriatic peoples, as opposed to the policies of which they have so long been the prey. Its author is an adept of the new school of" Geopolitik," and gives clear evidence of the new interest displayed by German opinion in the development of the Jugoslavs, both in the past and the present. Having in I9I2-13 spent the best part of a year in rewriting and publishing a German edition of my own book on the Southern Slav question, in the hope of arousing German opinion (then still indifferent) to a sense of danger, I can only welcome with open arms this learned and timely publication.

In passing, I would emphasise a significant phrase snatched from its context. " There is a great dispute as to the importance of the Italian element on the Jugoslav coast. Abroad many quite false ideas prevail on this matter, but the German learned world knows the facts and does not doubt them. The dispute becomes meaningless, as soon as a close enquiry is made, free from national catchwords" (p. I64).

The book falls into eight sections-geographical, economic, racial and political, and is packed with information. The contrast between the two coasts of the Adriatic is very clearly brought out-the west with no good harbour save Ancona, the east (selbst bei scharfer Auslese) "with 360 harbours and landing-places (167 for steamers)" (p. 52). Yet we are

714 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

right of election, and so of disputed elections in the old sense. Father Jarrett assigns to Pope Pius II the famous saying that Charles was the stepfather of the Empire; but this was surely coined by the Emperor Maximilian. Charles's love of building and his many-sided literary and artistic tastes are duly recorded, but justice is scarcely done to the epoch- making character of his foundation of Prague University for the whole of Central Europe, German no less than Slav.

Among the misprints may be mentioned Lusatz for Lausitz or Lusatia, Dneiper, Kuffstein, Wittenburg, Bamburg, Speir, Grecz, Ultava (for Vltava), Lineburg and Wolf-bruttel (for Luneburg and Wolfenbiittel), Ottingen (for Oettingen), Ada for Adda, Legnitz for Liegnitz. Surely, too, there is something wrong with Tinglam, Zumelles, Penede, Bysignami; and is there a Frejus near Aquileia? St. Ludmila of Bohemia, referred to as Limila, was not Charles's greatgrandmother, but a remote ancestress in the fourteenth degree (p. 56). The statement that Bohemia was " more properly Czech than Slavonic " (p. 71) is meaningless. It is very inaccurate to suggest that in the I4th century " Croatia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Bul- garia, Servia preferred financial subservience to the Turks to political subservience to Hungary" (p. 23).

These are, however, minor blemishes upon a stimulating book, painting in the main with a broad brush. R. SETON-WATSON.

Die Adriafrage. By Josef Marz. Introduction by Karl Haushofer. Berlin-Grunewald (Vowinckel), I933. Rm. 6.80.

THIS book is written with true German thoroughness and accuracy, the most minute attention to detail and a genuine sympathy for the Adriatic peoples, as opposed to the policies of which they have so long been the prey. Its author is an adept of the new school of" Geopolitik," and gives clear evidence of the new interest displayed by German opinion in the development of the Jugoslavs, both in the past and the present. Having in I9I2-13 spent the best part of a year in rewriting and publishing a German edition of my own book on the Southern Slav question, in the hope of arousing German opinion (then still indifferent) to a sense of danger, I can only welcome with open arms this learned and timely publication.

In passing, I would emphasise a significant phrase snatched from its context. " There is a great dispute as to the importance of the Italian element on the Jugoslav coast. Abroad many quite false ideas prevail on this matter, but the German learned world knows the facts and does not doubt them. The dispute becomes meaningless, as soon as a close enquiry is made, free from national catchwords" (p. I64).

The book falls into eight sections-geographical, economic, racial and political, and is packed with information. The contrast between the two coasts of the Adriatic is very clearly brought out-the west with no good harbour save Ancona, the east (selbst bei scharfer Auslese) "with 360 harbours and landing-places (167 for steamers)" (p. 52). Yet we are

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.90 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:04:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

REVIEWS. 715

reminded that for 2,000 years there has been aggression from west to east, but never from east to west of the narrow sea. Herr Marz also points out that Dalmatia, though coveted in certain quarters, is entirely unsuited for colonisation and offers no solution for the over-population of Apulia.

Among the many interesting and little-known facts which he brings out it is only possible to mention some of the more salient. Though the Adriatic has admittedly lost in importance since the war, owing to the disruption of the Danubian unit, and though the situation in Fiume and Susak is a handicap to Jugoslavia, the fact remains that Jugoslavia, with only one-quarter of the population of the former Habsburg Monarchy, has already outdistanced the total pre-war sea trade of Austria-Hungary. He is quite right in affirming that Fiume was only acquired by Italy " in order to make it more difficult for the Jugoslavs to establish a well- equipped Adriatic port. For Italy's Balkan aims Trieste and Fiume lie too far out of the way " (p. 89). It would be possible to work out a con- nection between this and the fact that Istria never played a marked role in history (p. 41).

Herr Marz goes very fully into the controversy regarding the Italian population of Jugoslavia, and his estimate of I0,000 (pp. I7o-82) is generous. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning his argument that a true title to the soil can be based on the peasant alone (Bauerntum, das allein durch die Arbeit, die zur Verwurzelung mit dem Boden fiihrt, echtes Besitzrecht verleiht-p. 182), and that among this tiny Italian minority there are, and always have been, practically no peasants. He reminds us that Venice herself never regarded Dalmatia as Slav, and he, of course, does full justice to the role of Dubrovnik as the " Slav Athens." He draws an interesting parallel between the Italian minority of Dalmatia and the far more numerous Italians settled in Munich and in Vorarlberg for some generations back. He draws a still more telling contrast between the treaty rights assigned to the Italians of Jugoslavia and the absolute denial of all rights, human and divine, to the Jugoslavs of Italy, who are not less than 400,000, and are probably nearer 600,000. His summary of this denial of rights is effective and damnably true.

These are only a few of the many points scattered about the book, which should assist the discerning reader to understand the growing community of interests between Jugoslavia and Germany.

R. W. SETON-WATSON.

Agricultural Russia and the Wheat Problem. By Vladimir P. Timoshenko. Grain Economics Series, No. i. Stanford University, California, published jointly by the Food Research Institute and the Committee on Russian Research of the Hoover War Library, 1932. Pp. xi+57I. $4o00.

AGRICULTURE is the basic activity of the Russian people, and this volume offers by all odds the best account yet published in English of this activity in the period of revolution and recovery. The book is a combination of

REVIEWS. 715

reminded that for 2,000 years there has been aggression from west to east, but never from east to west of the narrow sea. Herr Marz also points out that Dalmatia, though coveted in certain quarters, is entirely unsuited for colonisation and offers no solution for the over-population of Apulia.

Among the many interesting and little-known facts which he brings out it is only possible to mention some of the more salient. Though the Adriatic has admittedly lost in importance since the war, owing to the disruption of the Danubian unit, and though the situation in Fiume and Susak is a handicap to Jugoslavia, the fact remains that Jugoslavia, with only one-quarter of the population of the former Habsburg Monarchy, has already outdistanced the total pre-war sea trade of Austria-Hungary. He is quite right in affirming that Fiume was only acquired by Italy " in order to make it more difficult for the Jugoslavs to establish a well- equipped Adriatic port. For Italy's Balkan aims Trieste and Fiume lie too far out of the way " (p. 89). It would be possible to work out a con- nection between this and the fact that Istria never played a marked role in history (p. 41).

Herr Marz goes very fully into the controversy regarding the Italian population of Jugoslavia, and his estimate of I0,000 (pp. I7o-82) is generous. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning his argument that a true title to the soil can be based on the peasant alone (Bauerntum, das allein durch die Arbeit, die zur Verwurzelung mit dem Boden fiihrt, echtes Besitzrecht verleiht-p. 182), and that among this tiny Italian minority there are, and always have been, practically no peasants. He reminds us that Venice herself never regarded Dalmatia as Slav, and he, of course, does full justice to the role of Dubrovnik as the " Slav Athens." He draws an interesting parallel between the Italian minority of Dalmatia and the far more numerous Italians settled in Munich and in Vorarlberg for some generations back. He draws a still more telling contrast between the treaty rights assigned to the Italians of Jugoslavia and the absolute denial of all rights, human and divine, to the Jugoslavs of Italy, who are not less than 400,000, and are probably nearer 600,000. His summary of this denial of rights is effective and damnably true.

These are only a few of the many points scattered about the book, which should assist the discerning reader to understand the growing community of interests between Jugoslavia and Germany.

R. W. SETON-WATSON.

Agricultural Russia and the Wheat Problem. By Vladimir P. Timoshenko. Grain Economics Series, No. i. Stanford University, California, published jointly by the Food Research Institute and the Committee on Russian Research of the Hoover War Library, 1932. Pp. xi+57I. $4o00.

AGRICULTURE is the basic activity of the Russian people, and this volume offers by all odds the best account yet published in English of this activity in the period of revolution and recovery. The book is a combination of

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.90 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:04:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions