The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

leave any portion of her population under the dominion of the Magyars. The freedom and unity of the whole race remains Serbia’s first and paramount duty. But without the Southern Slav provinces in South Hungary, Serbia would be unable to build her future prosperity on a sound basis. Baranya, Baéka, and the Western Banat represent the provinces which have suffered least from the war, and being the rich granary they are, they can economically and financially enable the future Southern Slav State to weather the fearful economic crisis which surely will rage in Europe, as an_ inevitable consequence of this prolonged war. Besides that, the Serbian provinces in South Hungary protect Serbia from an invasion from the north and cover Belgrade from a sudden and direct attack. As the geographical situation of Belgrade makes it the commanding position at the confluence of large rivers and at one of the most important cross-roads between the East and West, it is necessary that Belgrade as the capital of the State, as well as the commercial road passing through it, should be protected by a wide belt of territory, if this state is to prosper and the roads are to be rendered secure. Any considerable number of Serbs left under Magyar rule would mean the continuation of the unsettled conditions in South Eastern Europe. The Southern Slavs have every reason to expect, that after the defeat of the Central Empires, their 204