One of my uncles once told me that his Great Father (my Great Great Father) when was young (I suppose that was between 1880-1910) traveled in different parts of Europe (Central and South Eastern, Italy, Greece, Turkey) without much difficulty. Occasionally he had to show his passport, but there were generally no barriers to movement.
Can you tell me something more about this phenomenon? Was it because the role of the different governments at the time was not so expanded and intrusive in the life of individuals, or was is because of the big powers that dominated Europe during that period that made borders irrelevant?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I find the lack of passport usage quite strange, especially in the larger empires, because Austro-Hungary had established a system of internal passports to maintain and check upon the movements of undesirables, likewise for the French internal police. However, the areas you mention are outside of the French and Austro-Hungarian empires, but I do believe, that before the advent of the first world war, the larger and more politically tumultuous empires of Europe had establish passport systems both on a national level and an international level.