Illyria

Illyria is the only one of these countries which has a seaport. Gravosa, at the head of an obscure bay, hardly more than an inlet, and so shut in by cliffs that one might easily travel up and down the coast a hundred times and not discover it. Were it strongly fortified, indeed, Gravosa might command the whole north Adriatic and hold at its mercy the commerce of Trieste and Fiume.

But Illyria, though its people were hardy and adventurous, was politically speaking one of the weakest of these States. It had lived under a nominally republican government since the last King, Christian II, was deposed in 1872; but the Illyrians had no real understanding of, or taste for, anything but a strong monarchy; and for years the country was in a condition resembling that of Poland before its downfall.

There had been an approach to oligarchy under republican forms; and one strong statesman, Witold de Véliko, of a family always ardently Royalist, had done much to raise its prestige among its neighbors. Had the Royal line survived, he might before this have brought back a descendant of Christian to the Illyrian throne. But poor little Leopold V, in whose favor Christian, who had spent his exile in various follies, was compelled to abdicate, was blinded by an unfortunate accident and died not long after; and the heroic Queen Frederica, his mother, was on such bad terms with Christian that no chance of another heir was possible.

If Illyria was ever to have a King again his name might be Witold. But this was pure speculation. As readers of the most authentic account of these events, Les Rois de Exil, may remember, King Christian was decidedly not worth the sacrifices made for him. To be sure, the historian, the very well known, M. Alphonse Daudet, was an obvious partisan of Queen Frederica; and the anonymous author of La Vie de Christian II has accused him of many mis-statements.

Daudet showed the growth of great events from trivial causes; but rarely had he approached so closely as in this case a distinct moral. The King of Illyria's passion for low amours landed him at last in the meshes of a mistress of blackmail, who prevented the expedition to rescue the crown of Illyria from accomplishing anything, stopped the king on the French coast and brought him to the verge of selling his claim to the throne. And when the hopes of the exiles were raised once more by Christian's voluntary abdication in favor of his son, it was a piece of pure chance, the glancing of a bullet fired for sport, that destroyed their hopes of a restoration.

Daudet could not have published this book in France under the Empire, though he had the Duc de Morny for patron. It was only the Republic that allowed a novel crammed with lese majeste to appear. He would have been compelled to adopt the practice of a former century and issue it in another country. It would not have been written had the Empire continued, and lost a modern classic that permits one to "sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings".

A district of the Balkan Peninsula, which has varied in extent at different periods. To the Greek geographers Illyria (he Illyris or to Illyrikon) connoted the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and the adjoining mountainous territory stretching into the interior, all of which was the abode of Illyrian tribes. One section of the Illyrian people had migrated to Italy, first to central Italy, where there are traces of them in Picenum and Umbria; later, towards the middle of the eighth century B.C., the Japyges crossed to Apulia and Calabria, and, at the beginning of the seventh century B.C., the Veneti to northern Italy and what is now Carinthia. Even the Illyrians who remained behind never achieved national unity.

Towards the end of the sixth century Eastern Illyria was overrun by Avars and Slavic tribes, and at the beginning of the seventh century was occupied by Croats and Serbs. These gradually developed into the Slavic kingdoms of Dalmatia and Croatia, whose history was one of varied fortunes until at last they came under the authority of the Hapsburgs. Nothing but the eastern coast and the islands of the Adriatic remained under Byzantine control, and these only until the eleventh century, when the rising Republic of Venice began to establish her authority there. The Byzantine rule was of longer duration in Eastern Illyria, but even there was frequently threatened and weakened by Serbs and Bulgars, until in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Osmans conquered the whole Balkan Peninsula. The name of Illyria then disappeared from history, only to acquire new significance through the modern history of Austria.

Under Leopold I (1636-1705) the Serbs or Raizi, who had been established on Hungarian territory since 1690, were designated as the Illyrian nation; to provide for their protection against Magyar incursions a special office was created at the Court of Vienna, known as the Illyrian Court Deputation, which was abolished in 1777, and in 1791 enjoyed a brief revival as the "Illyrian Imperial Chancery." Napoleon united the territories on the Adriatic Sea, ceded by Austria in the Peace of Schoenbrunn, in 1809, with Croatia and Ragusa, under the title of the "Seven Illyrian Provinces," made them a part of the French empire, and placed their administration in the hands of a governor general (Marmont, Funot, and Fouqué). After his fall the territories reverted to Austria, and were constituted, together with the islands, a kingdom of Illyria (1816), with two seats of government. In 1822 the civil district of Croatia and the littoral were separated and united with Hungary; the organization of the year 1849 did away entirely with the Kingdom of Illyria, resolving it into the crownlands of Carinthia, Carniola, and the coast lands (Görz and Gradiska; Istra; and Triest).

De Véliko had long been anxious to establish Illyria as a naval power, and but for the outbreak of this war, which may defeat his plans, he would probably have succeeded. The whole Illyrian coastline, to be sure, was a matter of only six or seven miles; but the people had a natural love of the sea, like the Dalmatians, and there were many Illyrians in the Austrian and Italian merchant marine. By 1914, however, Illyria had only three warships – old cruisers discarded by other nations. But no navy had more skilful officers or braver crews. If Italy and Austria finally get to fighting, the Illyrian navy, small as it is, will show its mettle. The regular army of Illyria numbered about thirty thousand men only; but every Illyrian was a natural fighter, and it would be easy to call out practically the whole male population, especially if Austria should violate the neutrality of Illyria, as Germany violated that of Belgium.

The northern and eastern boundaries of Illyria touched upon, Grünewald, Gerolstein and Graustark, in the order named.