At this stage another element exerted its influence.  Servia awoke to the possibility of a Greater Servia.  An Empire of the Slavs had long been dreamed of.  In Austria-Hungary itself millions of Slavs were dreaming of it and awaiting the disruption of Austria-Hungary, held together now, as they argue, only by the indomitable will of the old Emperor, Franz Joseph.  The hatred between the Slavs and the Teutonic Austrians is intense.  The annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which Servians predominate, increased the Servian hatred and the indignation of the whole Slav world to the point of violence.  A conflict was avoided with difficulty.  These principalities had hoped to form part of a Greater Servia.  Had not Russia been exhausted by the war with Japan, Servia would have called upon her ally and the crisis would have come then.  As it was, the Balkans teemed with plots and counterplots against the Austrians, culminating in the assassination of the Arch-Duke and heir-apparent to the Austrian throne, Francis Ferdinand, known for his anti-Slav principles, and therefore feared and hated as the king to be.  The assassination occurred at Serajevo in Bosnia, where Servian disaffection was seething.  Austria immediately laid the crime on the Servian government.

AUSTRIA DECLARES WAR

Failing in her peremptory demands for satisfaction, Austria declared war, July 28, 1914, apparently for revenge, but behind her righteous indignation she still held in view her traditional ambition, a port on the Mediterranean, to be secured by the complete control of the Novi Bazar route to Salonica, a route which, besides its commercial importance, is of tremendous strategic value to the nation which commands it.  The treaty of Berlin of 1878, after the Russo-Turkish War, had given Austria the military, political, and commercial control of the route within the Sanjak of Novi Bazar, then a part of Turkey.

But now, in the division of spoils following the Balkan Wars, Servia gained control of Novi Bazar, Pristina, Uskub, and Istip, or practically the entire route to a short distance north of Salonica, where the new boundaries of Greece had been extended.  This meant that Austria saw herself shut out from the Sanjak, and only by the destruction and subsequent occupation of Servia could Austria regain her ascendancy over the route.  Victory would mean a long step by Austria toward the sea.

PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS

The “balance of power” among European nations has hitherto been maintained because the formation of a single nation out of the Balkan States has not been possible.  Although the people of these states have similar pursuits, and live much alike in all regions, they have preserved their original racial differences.  A village of Albanians may be within a few miles of a village of Greeks.  Yet through centuries both