The Future Of The Balkans.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 15, 1913:
    The occupation of Scutari by an international force, which began yesterday, may be regarded as the first important step by Europe toward taking under its control the final settlement, so far as possible, of the future of the Balkan Peninsula. It is a sign of the assent of Austria to the general plan of the European concert and equally of the practical harmony into which Russia has been brought with the other Powers. Two tasks now await the Powers. One to arrange the more or less conflicting claims of the members of the Balkan alliance to the territory that has been wrested from Turkey; the other the erection and administration of Albania as a semi-independent State. The former will be the most immediately vexatious; the latter is likely to offer the more lasting difficulties. Whatever may be the heartburnings which the Bulgarians, the Greeks, and the Serbs may feel if they do not get all that they respectively desire, it is practically certain that each Government in the long run will yield to the "advice" which the Powers present, if the Powers be united.
    In connection with this state of affairs, the recent utterances of Field Marshal von der Golz, the military adviser to the Turkish Government for a dozen years after 1883, are interesting. He is of the opinion that the Balkan allies, so soon as they have recovered from the strain of the recent war, will undertake further expansion, and, since there is nothing more to be got from the Turks, they will direct their efforts northward across the southern frontier of Austria, and in this will be aided indirectly by Russia. As there are some seven millions of Serbs in Austria, along the border of the Balkans, the work of the allies would be based on the principle of nationality. This does not afford a very cheerful view of the prospects of lasting peace, since, in the judgment of the Field Marshal, Germany would be bound by interest and honor to come to the help of her ally, Austria.
    It does not follow, however, that the expansive tendencies of the Balkan allies must lead to expansion by force. There must regain the alternative of a change of policy in the Austrian Government, and of an attempt at organizing a coalition that will satisfy, both the Slavs already in Austrian dominions and those along the southern border. It is believed that a change of this sort is favored by the Crown Prince, who will succeed to the throne on the death of the aged Emperor, as it is by some of the most influential of the Austrian statesmen. If it should be tried in good faith, it would tend powerfully toward peace and progress throughout all Europe. We are persuaded that it will seem more practicable as time passes.