FEUILLETON Americans, Serbs, and Albanians in the Balkan Wars and World War I (3)

Writing for Kosovo Online: Dragan Bisenic, a journalist

"Montenegro first in the world to offer a naval base to the US"

In order to prevent Russian influence, Austria, England, and France had signed a separate convention half a century earlier on April 3, 1856. According to its provisions, the signatories committed to 1) jointly and individually defend the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, guaranteed by the Paris Agreement, and 2) consider any violation of the Paris Agreement as a declaration of war. It was clear that this convention, except it was an addition to the already insulting conditions at the Paris Conference, was intended to tie Russia's hands in the future.

It was a continuation of the French policy of Louis XV, which proclaimed the preservation of the Ottoman Empire back in the 18th century, and which was carried out in Constantinople by the envoy Marquis de Villeneuve with exemplary aristocratic enthusiasm.

When Milan Petronijevic went to Russia in February 1862 as the Serbian Envoy, he met with the Russian Emperor, Alexander II, at the Peterhof Palace on March 29. Petronijevic, on behalf of Prince Mihailo, thanked the Emperor for approving the loan and then requested weapons, emphasizing the double danger from the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy. Alexander II tried to reassure Petronijevic with claims that the Ottoman Empire must not attack Serbia and that Russia opposed any territorial compensations in the Balkans, especially France's intentions for the Habsburgs to receive Bosnia and Herzegovina in exchange for Venice.

Moses' action was also interesting from another angle.

During the farewell visit of US Envoy Pearson in 1909, Montenegrin Prime Minister Dr. Lazar Tomasevic offered "forever and free, unconditional and without reservation" the Valdanos Bay with a coastal strip covering about 25 square miles, with the aim of the US "establishing a naval base and supply station in European waters". The US surprise was so great that Pearson proposed accepting this proposal. It was the first such proposal that the US had received from Europe.

The US rejected Montenegro twice

However, in the US, the State Department deemed this as a "strange offer" and forwarded the offer to the Navy Department. The Navy Department, no less surprised, responded negatively. At that time, they were occupied with acquiring bases in the Caribbean and China and saw no need to have a base on the Montenegrin coast.

George Moses was the one who delivered this negative response a year later. When he conveyed it, Prime Minister Tomasevic refused to discuss it. It seemed that this episode was concluded.

Nevertheless, something was achieved. President Taft, in his annual address to Congress, dedicated a few sentences to Montenegro, in the same line with issues concerning Latin America, the Far East, Turkey, Great Britain, and Canada. He said that "The National Assembly has expressed its will for the Principality of Montenegro to be elevated to the level of a kingdom, and the Montenegrin Prince took the title of King of Montenegro on August 15".

President Taft stated from the podium that he "takes great pleasure in recognizing the new kingdom on behalf of the United States".

When Moses met again, now with King Nikola, a year later, the King was even more explicit and generous. He believed that the Americans were dissatisfied with Valdanos, and it did not suit their needs and size, so he made a more radical proposal. He suggested giving the Americans the entire Ulcinj, the only city Montenegro could control at that time. He asked Moses to forward his personal letter on this matter to President Taft.

At first, Moses tried to dissuade him, but in the end, he agreed to take this proposal and deliver it to the US Government. In August 1911, President Taft responded that the US Government had no intention of accepting this proposal.

This offer is the first of its kind for establishing bases abroad that the US has ever received.

It is related to the end of the "annexation crisis" and the cessation of Austro-Hungarian authority in controlling the Montenegrin coast.

King Nikola's second proposal came at the time of the failure of the Albanian Malesori rebellion against Turkish rule, which Montenegro strongly supported but ultimately had to abandon due to pressure from Russia and Austria-Hungary.

"The unsustainable situation in Albania"

Crane also decided to take action in Albania. German newspapers reported that he, together with "British spy Aubrey Herbert", conspired to start an Albanian rebellion and financed Edith Durham, another "spy" working there. He also brought Albanian nationalist Kristo Dako from the US to Istanbul in 1911 when the uprising broke out.

Dako's wife, Sevasti Qiriazi, graduated from the US College for Girls in Istanbul and wanted to open a US college in Albania. For this purpose, Crane went to Albania from Istanbul with Dako. Dako was arrested here for bringing a US millionaire to support the rebellion, but thanks to Crane's influence, he was soon released.

Charles Crane, who returned from one of his numerous visits to the Balkans, drew attention to the position of Montenegro and the Malesori again. On June 26, 1911, he informed the correspondent of the Chicago Herald Tribune in Vienna of that. At that time, together with the US Ambassador Moses, he visited Cetinje and some places in Albania.

Crane assessed the situation in Albania as "unsustainable". A large number of helpless people, women, and children were caught between two wings of the Turkish army, making escape impossible. He stated to the press that about 25,000 refugees had arrived in Montenegro, "and their food consisted only of cooked grass and cut roots they managed to collect". On that occasion, he personally contributed 500 pounds.

Although short and concise, the news had an effect on the US.

The next day, the New York Times took it over. This prompted action by the US Red Cross, which provided aid to Malesori refugees through Montenegro but on a very limited scale. Although requested, Ambassador Moses did not lead this action and was in Montenegro only twice. The proposal mentioned by Mabel Grujic was probably presented to King Nikola during their meeting in 1911.

A German-American war correspondent described Charles Crane as follows: "An eccentric US plutocrat obsessed with the idea of liberating the oppressed people of the world... The hero is portrayed as using not only his colossal US wealth but also his brilliant US business ability to organize revolutions worldwide on strictly business principles. He chooses this profession partly for excitement and partly because the idea dominated him that his money was given to him to play the role of a world liberator".

Crane, by the way, greatly admired Valtazar Bogisic and always cited his example as one to follow. When the Russian Tsar approved Bogisic, then a law Professor in Odessa, to write the Montenegrin Constitution, Bogisic did not sit at his desk; instead, he lived in Montenegro for two years, spending days and weeks traveling the country, meeting people, studying their lives, habits, and customs. After that, he wrote a Constitution that everyone respected and admired.

Tomorrow, the continuation of the feuilleton "Americans, Serbs, and Albanians in the Balkans and World War I"