Chapter XV.

The Sowing of the Dragon’s Teeth

The growth of German trade.—Balkan hatreds.—The wonderful alliance against Turkey.—The sympathies of the big nations.—Their interference and its results.—A new kingdom.—The second war.—The work of diplomacy.—The wrongs and grievances of Bulgaria.

Germany’s position in Europe was not favorable to her trade. Her ships, in order to carry on commerce with the peoples of the Mediterranean, had to go a great deal farther than those of France or England. As a result, the Germans had been looking toward Constantinople and southwestern Asia as the part of the world with which their commerce ought to grow. It was Germany’s plan to control the Balkan countries and thus have a solid strip of territory, including Germany, Austria, the Balkan states, and Turkey through which her trade might pass to Asia Minor, Persia, and India.

The feelings of the Balkan peoples for each other has already been explained. The Bulgarians hated the Serbians, with whom they had fought a bloody war in 1885. The Serbians despised the Bulgarians. The Albanians had no love for either nation, while the Greeks looked down on all the others. Montenegro and Serbia were friends, naturally, since they were inhabited by the same kind of people and had once been parts of the original kingdom of Serbia.

Bulgaria in 1909 announced to the world that she would pay no more tribute to Turkey, and after this was to be counted one of the independent nations of Europe. The Bulgarians had grown so strong and the Turks so weak, that Turkey did not dare go to war, so permitted the matter to go unnoticed. The only thing on which all the Balkan nations and Greece could agree was their bitter hatred of the Turks, who had oppressed and wronged them cruelly for the last three hundred and fifty years.

Russia, always plotting to overthrow Turkey, at last accomplished a wonderful bit of diplomacy. She encouraged Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece to forget their old time dislike of each other, for the time being, and declare war jointly on Turkey. In order that there should not be any quarreling over the spoils when the war was over, the four little nations agreed, in a secret treaty, that when they got through with Turkey, they would divide up the carcass as shown in the opposite map. The head, including Constantinople, was to be left for Russia, of course. Bulgaria was to take the back and the great part of the body, Greece was to annex the drumsticks and the second joint. The rest of the body was to go to Serbia with the exception of the very tail, including the city of Scutari, which was to be given to Montenegro. Serbia was at last to have a seacoast and a chance to trade with other nations than Austria. The Serbs had a grudge against the Austrians, for the latter, taking advantage of the fact that all Serbian trade with Europe had to go through their country, had charged them exorbitant prices for manufactured goods and paid them very little for their own products in return. Bulgaria was to have Kavala (kȧ va′lȧ) as a seaport on the Aegean and all the coast of that sea as far as the Gallipoli (găl ĭ′po li) peninsula. Greece was to have the important city of Salonika (sȧlōni′kȧ), southern Macedonia, and southern Albania.

With this secret agreement between them, the four little states went to war with Turkey. In accordance with the new friendship sprung up between Germany and the Ottomans, German officers and generals were sent to Constantinople to drill the Turkish troops. Cannon and machine guns were sent them from German factories, and their rifles were fed with German bullets. The four little countries, accordingly, turned to France and Russia for assistance. Their troops were armed with French cannon and machine guns, and their military advisers were French and Russians. While the big nations managed to keep out of the war themselves, all were strongly interested in one side or the other.

The result was a complete surprise to Austria and Germany. To their consternation and disgust, the four little nations made short work of the Turkish troops. In eight months, Turkey was thoroughly beaten, and the allies were ready to put through their program of dividing up the spoils.

And now, once more, the great powers meddled, and by their interference laid the foundation for future wars and misery. Austria and Germany saw their path to Constantinople and the east cut right in two. Their railroads, instead of passing through a series of countries under German control, now were to be cut asunder by an arm of Slavic states under Russian protection, which would certainly stop German progress toward Asia.

With the map as it had been before the war of 1912, there was one little strip of territory, called the Sanjak of Novibazar, between Serbia and Montenegro, which connected Turkey with Austria. To be sure, this country was inhabited almost entirely by Serbians, but so long as it was under the military control of Austria and Turkey, German railway trains bound for the east could traverse it. Now Serbia and Montenegro proposed to divide this country up between themselves. Serbia, by gaining her seaport on the Adriatic, could send her trade upon the water to find new markets in Italy, Spain, and France.

The Italians had always wanted to control the Adriatic Sea. They longed for the time when the cities of Trieste and Pola should be turned over to them by Austria. The cities of Durazzo (dū rȧt′zō) and Avlona on the Albanian coast were inhabited by many Italians, and Italy had always cherished the hope that they might belong to her. Therefore, the Italians did not take kindly to the Serbian program of seizing this coast. At any rate, as soon as the four little countries announced their intention of dividing up Turkey in Europe among themselves, Austria, Germany, and Italy raised a great clamor.

Another meeting of representatives of the great powers was held, and once more the Germans were able to carry their point. Instead of allowing the four little countries to divide up the conquered land between them, the powers made a fifth small country, the kingdom of Albania, and brought down from Germany a little prince to rule over these wild mountaineers. Notice that the Albanians were not consulted. The great powers simply took a map, drew a certain line on it and said, “This shall be the kingdom of Albania, and its king shall be Prince William of Wied.” Again we have a king-made map with the usual trail of grievances.

This arrangement robbed Montenegro of Scutari, robbed Serbia of its seaport on the Adriatic, and robbed Greece of the country west of Janina (yȧ nï′nȧ). France and Russia did not like this program, but they did not feel like fighting the Triple Alliance to prevent its being put into effect.

The three little countries, separated from a great part of their new territory, now turned to Bulgaria, and, practically, said to her, “Since we have been robbed of Albania, we will have to divide up all over again. You must give us part of your plunder in order to ‘make it square.’” Now was the time for the ancient ill-feeling between the Bulgarians and their neighbors to show itself. In reply to this invitation, Bulgaria said, in so many words, “Not a bit of it. Our armies bore the brunt of the fight. It was really we who conquered Turkey. Your little armies had a very insignificant part in the war. If you want any more land, we dare you to come and take it.” And the Bulgarians made a treacherous night attack on their recent allies, which brought a declaration of war from the three little nations.

This quarrel, of course, was exactly what Germany and Austria wanted. It accomplished their purpose of breaking up this Balkan alliance under the protection of Russia. So with Austria and Germany egging on Bulgaria, and Russia and France doing their best to induce Bulgaria to be reasonable and surrender some land to Greece and Serbia, the second Balkan war began in 1913 almost before the last cannon discharged in the first war had cooled.

Again, Europe was astonished, for the victorious Bulgarians, who had been mainly responsible for the defeat of the Turks, went down to defeat before the Serbians and Greeks on the bloody field of Bregalnitza (brĕg′ȧl nĭt zȧ). To add to Bulgaria’s troubles, the Turks, taking advantage of the discord among their late opponents, suddenly attacked the Bulgarians in the rear and stole back the city of Adrianople, which had cost the Bulgarians so much trouble to capture. In the meantime, Roumania, which up to this point had had no part in any of the fighting, saw all of her neighbors growing larger at the expense of Turkey. The Roumanian statesmen, asking what was to be their share of the spoils, and moved simply by a greedy desire to enlarge their kingdom, declared war on Bulgaria also.

Poor Bulgaria, fighting five nations at once, had to buy peace at the best price she could make. She bought off Roumania by giving to her a strip of land in the country called the Dobrudja (dō brood′jȧ) between the Danube River and the Black Sea. She had to agree to a new boundary line with Turkey by which the Turks kept Adrianople. She had to give Kavala and the surrounding country to Greece and the territory around Monastir (mō nȧ stïr′) to Serbia, although these districts were inhabited largely by her own people.

Bulgaria had in vain appealed to her ancient friend and protector, Russia. The Russians were disgusted to think that the Bulgarians had refused to listen to them when they urged them to grant some small pieces of land to Greece and Serbia at the close of the first war. They felt that the Bulgarians had been headstrong and richly deserved what they got. Therefore, Russia refused to interfere now and save Bulgaria from humiliation. In the end, Austrian diplomacy had accomplished a great deal of mischief. The Balkan alliance under the protection of Russia was badly broken up. The old hostility between Serbia and Bulgaria, which had been buried for the time being during the first Balkan war, now broke out with greater force than ever. Bulgaria sulked, feeling revengeful against all of her neighbors, but especially angry at Russia, who had always been her friend before.

Questions for Review

Why did the Germans desire a road to the east?

What was the one thing on which the Balkan nations were united?

What was Russia’s purpose in helping to form the Balkan Alliance?

Why did the great powers interfere to prevent the four little countries from carrying out their secret agreement?

What was the cause of the second Balkan war?

Which powers were glad and which were sorry to see it begin?

Why was Bulgaria angry with all her neighbors?