The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

he wrote that the traditions of Montenegro have surpassed in glory those of Thermopyle and Salamis.

But besides Montenegro there was also the Serbian Republic of Dubroynik (Ragusa), which with Montenegro through centuries shared the glory of keeping alive the memory of Serbian independence and civilisation. If Montenegro was specially guarding the tradition of bravery and prowess, Dubrovnik never ceased to be a place of the Muses, cultivating science, art and literature. Professor E. A. Freeman, who so highly appreciated the achievements of Ragusa in this respect, said of her: ‘‘ But there is Ragusa, there is one spot along the whole coast from the Croatian border to Cape Tainaros itself which never came under the dominion either of the Venetian or of the Turk. In this Ragusa stands alone among the cities of the whole coast, Dalmatian, Albanian and Greek. Among all the endless confusions and fluctuations of power in those regions, Ragusa stands alone as having ever kept its place, always as separate, commonly as an independent commonwealth. It lived on those coasts till the day when the elder Bonaparte in mere caprice of tyranny without provocation of any kind declared one day that the Republic of Ragusa had ceased to exist.” +

1B. A. Freeman, Sketches from Subject and Neighbour Lands of Venice. Macmillan & Co. 1881.

50