Book Reviews and Notices : Macedonia, Its Place in Balkan Power Politics. By ELIZABETH BARKER. (London and New York: Royal Institute of International Affairs. 1950. Pp. 129. $1.00.)

• Author: Charles Jelavich
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295100400135
• Subject Matter: Articles

156

attention

was

directed

primarily

to

&dquo;Economic

Problems,&dquo;

(a

section

writ-

ten

by

E.

A.

G.

Robinson

of

Cambridge),

&dquo;Problems

of

Security,&dquo;

and

&dquo;The

Post-War

Evolution

of

the

Commonwealth.&dquo;

The

conference

mem-

bers

did

not

seek

specific

conclusions

to

the

problems

discussed;

they

hoped

only

to

narrow

differences

through

open

discussion.

Significant,

though

necessarily

unofficial,

areas

of

agreement

ensued

with

respect

to

(1)

recognition

of

the

communist

menace;

(2)

the

necessity

for

a

high-level

balance

of

payments

between

the

sterling

area

and

North

America,

and

the

restoration

of

a

multilateral

pattern

of

trade

as

pre-

requisite

to

the

satisfactory

solution

of

economic

problems;

(3)

&dquo;...

the

very

close

inter-relations

between

economic,

political

and

strategic

consid,

erations&dquo; ;

and

(4)

attracting

western

Germany

to

&dquo;our

side&dquo;

by

giving

her

more

political

and

economic

freedom.

Though

the

participants

disagreed

on

many

issues,

as

might

have

been

expected

because

of

the

diverse

interests

represented,

it is

encouraging

to

note

with

Professor

Soward

that

In

an

age

of

super-Powers

and

satellite

States

it

was

a

sign

of

grace

that

men

and

women

of

all

walks

of

life

from

nine

countries

in

the

four

corners

of

the

globe

could

meet

to

argue

vigorously

and

differ

openly

without

losing

that

sense

of

community

which

is

born

of

shared

experience.

Professor

Soward

has

done

an

excellent

job

of

preliminary

reporting

that

is

well

worth

the

attention

of

those

interested

in

Commonwealth

af-

fairs.

This

initial

summary

serves

as

a

tasty

hors

d’oeuvre

whetting

the

appetite

for

the

complete

report

to

follow.

University

of

Michigan.

DANIEL

S.

McHargue.

Macedonia,

Its

Place

in

Balkan

Power

Politics.

By

ELIZABETH

BARKER.

(London

and

New

York:

Royal

Institute

of

International

Affairs.

1950.

Pp.

129.

$1.00.)

Historians

interested

in

the

Balkans

will

readily

agree

that

the

dis-

covery

of

a

solution

to

the

Macedonian

problem

which

would

be

ac-

ceptable

to

the

Bulgars,

Greeks,

and

Jugoslavs

would

be

one

of

the

greatest

contributions

to

intra-Balkan

peace

and

stability.

Elizabeth

Barker,

in

this

brief

but

highly

significant

work,

discusses

the

attempts

made

to

settle

the

question

in

the

period

between

the

two

World

wars

and

after

1941.

Her

major

interest,

however,

and

the

principal

contribution

of

the

book

centers

on

the

role

of

the

Bulgarian,

Greek,

Jugoslav,

and

Russian

Communist

parties,

and

their

inability

to

find

an

answer

that

was

in

any

way

more

satisfactory

than

the

settlements

reached

by

the

bourgeois

governments

which

they

condemned

so

violently.

.