FERDINAND AND THE FARMER
Before finally and openly declaring himself on the side of the Huns,
Ferdinand was forced to receive a deputation consisting of five of the
most powerful men in Bulgaria. They were the leaders of five of the ten
parties which divide Bulgarian politics: namely Gueschoff
(Nationalists), Daneff (Progressive Liberals), Malinoff (Democrats),
Zanoff (Radicals), and Stambulivski (Country Party). They had come to
warn him that Bulgaria was opposed to his policy of active intervention
with the Central Powers, and minced no words in fulfilling their task.
They made it abundantly plain that at least half of Bulgaria was
opposed to his action, and that he would suffer such consequences as he
had always dreaded since his arrival in Bulgaria if he persisted in his
folly.
The ball was opened by Malinoff, who was Prime Minister of Bulgaria at
the time when Ferdinand declared himself Czar.
“The policy being conducted by the Government,” he said, “is a policy
of adventure which tends to throw Bulgaria into the arms of Germany,
either spurring her to an attack on Serbia or else forcing upon her a
neutrality which is desired by Germany. This policy is contrary to the
sentiments and the interests of the country, and if the Government
continues along these lines the disturbances which it will provoke will
be very serious. For these reasons, after having appealed to the
Government in vain, we request Your Majesty to call the Chamber
together immediately, and we further ask that a Coalition be called to
guarantee the country against any rash adventure.”
The King listened in silence and made no reply. Then with a nod he
invited Stambulivski to speak. The head of the Agrarian party, a rough
and haughty man, very popular with the masses of the Bulgarian peasants
from whom he has sprung, and who has only recently set aside the
peasant’s costume for the dress of the citizen, rose and addressed the
King with vigour:—
“In the name of the workers in the fields of Bulgaria I wish to add to
the words of my colleague, Malinoff, that the Bulgarians hold you
personally responsible, rather than your Government, for the disastrous
adventure of 1913. If a similar adventure were to be repeated the
catastrophe would this time be beyond remedy. Again the responsibility
would lie with your policy, which is contrary to the well-being of the
country, and the country would not fail to call you to account in
person. In order to make it quite clear what is the wish of your
country I present in writing to Your Majesty its exact expression.”
Next came Zanoff, the uncompromising Radical, who said, “I had sworn I
would never set foot in your palace. If I have come to-day it is
because the interests of the country, higher than my private
principles, have obliged me to do so. What I have to say Your Majesty
can read in this paper which I present in the name of my party.” He
then presented a memorandum similar in content to that of the
Agrarians. The King read this too and continued to keep silent.
Gueschoff, Prime Minister during the first Balkan war, followed:—
“Your Majesty, I, too, declare myself to be fully in agreement with
what Stambulivski has already said. However hard his words may have
seemed, they nevertheless express in their simple, uncultivated
frankness, unacquainted with the formalities of etiquette, our common
thoughts. We, all of us representatives of the Opposition, consider the
present policy contrary to the sentiments and interests of the country,
for, by spurring it on to make common cause with Germany, it brings it
into hostility with mighty Russia, who was our liberator, and the
adventure into which the country will be hurled will cost it its
future. We disapprove in the most absolute manner of this policy, and
we, too, request that the Sobranje be summoned and that a Ministry may
be formed having the co-operation of all parties.”
Dr. Daneff, who succeeded Guesehoff, but resigned when the attack on
Serbia and Greece failed, spoke in the same strain.
Having heard them all the King replied:—
“I have listened to your threatenings, and I will refer them to the
Prime Minister, that he may take cognizance of them and know what to
decide.”
There was an awkward pause, which Ferdinand attempted to fill by
passing some remarks about the crops to Stambulivski. But the attention
of the giant farmer was riveted on something more than agriculture.
“This,” he said, “is not the moment to talk of these things. I say
again to Your Majesty, that the country will not have a policy of
adventure such as cost it so dear in 1913. This policy is, moreover,
yours. Before 1913 we believed you a great diplomatist, but we have
seen what your diplomacy brought us. You have taken advantage of all
the holes in the Constitution to get the direction of the country in
your own hands. Your ministers count for nothing; you alone are the
author of this policy, and you alone will have the responsibility of
it.”
“The policy I have decided to follow,” the King frigidly replied, “is
the one which I consider the best and the most advantageous for the
country.”
“It is a policy which can only lead to disaster,” replied the farmer,
“which will bring about new catastrophes, and will compromise not only
the future of the country, but of your own dynasty, and which may cost
you your head!”
The King measured with his eyes this countryman who spoke such weighty
words.
“Do not trouble yourself about my head. It is an old one. Rather think
of your own,” said the King, with the shadow of a scornful smile, as he
moved away.
But Stambulivski replied: “My head matters little, sire; I am only
thinking of the country’s.”
But Ferdinand chose to disregard the warning. His choice was already
made, and a few days later he was figuring before the world once more
in the uncongenial guise of Ferdinand the War Lord.
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FERDINAND AS WAR LORD
“_Your Majesty’s nation in arms, under the guidance of its illustrious
War Lord, has added one sublime leaf of glory to another in the history
of Bulgaria._”—THE KAISER.
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