Book Reviews and Notices : Scandinavia Between East and West. Edited by HENNING FRIIS. (New York: Cornell University Press. 1950. Pp. x, 388. $4.50.)

• Author: Ake Sandler
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295100400136
• Subject Matter: Articles

157

Since

the

major

portion

of

Macedonia

was

within

the

boundaries

of

Jugoslavia

and

Greece,

the

Communist

parties

in

these

two

states

refused

to

support

the

plans

for

an

autonomous

Macedonia

advocated

by

the

Bul-

garian

party,

whose

policy

was

approved

by

the

Comintern

in

1925.

When,

during

the

course

of

the

Second

World

War,

Stalin

gave

his

tacit

approval

to

the

incorporation

of

the

Jugoslav

portion

of

the

area

within

Jugoslavia,

the

Bulgarian

party

continued

to

champion

the

idea

of

a

united

Macedonia.

The

expulsion

of

Tito

from

the

Cominform

brought

a

third

shift

in

the

political

alignment.

Although

it

was

not

openly

stated

what

policy

Moscow

would

follow,

there

was

no

doubt

that

the

Russian

communists

had

withdrawn

their

earlier

support

of

the

Tito

program

and

were

again

considering

the

establishment

of

an

au-

tonomous

Macedonia,

a

decision

which

was

naturally

applauded

by

the

Bulgarian

Communist

party.

This

was

the

situation

when

Miss

Barker’s

book

went

to

press.

Thus,

once

again,

the

Balkan

states

were

unable

to

adjust

their

mutual

differences

on

this

vital

strategic

area.

In

practice,

the

communist

governments

were

forced

to

follow

in

the

path

of

their

predecessors

in

the

late

nineteenth

and

the

first

half

of

the

twentieth

centuries,

and

press

their

national

territorial

claims

which

had

the

fervent

support

of

the

majority

of

their

people.

Consequently,

the

new

regimes

were

unable

to

do

anything

more

than

perpetuate

the

conflicts

of

the

past.

Miss

Barker

is

to

be

congratulated

on

presenting

a

vivid

picture

of

this

complex

problem.

Certainly

anyone

interested

in

the

recent

aspects

of

this

question

will

find

her

book

invaluable.

It

is

to

be

regretted

that

no

bibliography

was

provided.

Even

a

partial

list-say,

ten

or

twenty

of

the

standard

works-would

have

been

of

considerable

assistance

to

the

general

reader.

University

of

California.

CHARLES

JELAVICH.

Scandinavia

Between

East

and

West.

Edited

by

HENNING

FRIIS.

(New

York:

Cornell

University

Press.

1950.

Pp.

x,

388.

$4.50.)

Books

such

as

Sweden:

The

Middle

Way

and

This

Is

Democracy

by

Marquis

Childs,

Sweden:

Champion

o

Peace

by

David

Hinshaw,

and

Sweden:

Model

For

the

World

by

Hudson

Strode

are,

in

their

way,

excel,

lent

contributions

to

our

relatively

limited

knowledge

of

Scandinavia

and

particularly

of

Sweden.

Unfortunately,

they

tend

to

create

an

impression

of

almost

utopian

conditions.

Small

and

friendly

nations

are

always

difli,

cult

to

criticize,

and

although

it

is

not

suggested

that

these

authors

have

failed

to

exercise

their

right

of

critical

discernment,

this

reviewer

cannot

free

himself

from

a

suspicion

that

natural

sympathy

has

taken

precedence

over

normal

skepticism.