Excerpt from Secrets of the Balkans: Seven Years of a Diplomatist's Life in the Storm Centre of EuropeBut the blow came from without, the hand of tyranny was raised against a people whose freedom had been bought with their own blood.The World War began in the Balkans, yet its origin was in the hearts of the unscrupulous autocrats whose ruthless ambi tion knew neither justice nor limit, who counted the subjection of a free people merely as the first move in the game to win commercial and political supremacy, and in the end, to dominate the world. Serbia was only a pawn, to be swept aside as the first obstacle in the path of world conquest.This, then, is the story of the Balkanic Nations, from the earliest times, dealing brie¿y with the many centuries of invasion, oppression and continual fighting for liberty, and dwelling in detail on the heroic struggle in the great cataclysm, when their lands were again coveted as spoils of war.In the narration is revealed intimate and positive knowledge of cause and effect, events and conditions, gained in seven years of constant and close association with rulers and subjects, in the full confidence that is born only of companionship in af¿iction.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.