FERDINAND IN EXTREMIS
The entry of the Bulgarians into the Great War was sudden, fierce and
effective. They threw themselves with characteristic ardour upon the
Serbians, who, attacked from three quarters at once, defended
themselves sternly. They could not expect to prevail against the
overwhelming odds against them, but they took heavy toll of their
oppressors, and especially of their detested foes the Bulgarians.
The expedition of the Allied Powers from Salonica came too late to save
Serbia, or even appreciably to delay her downfall. Once again the
principal fighting against the French and British troops, who had
advanced from Salonica in the hope of saving the railway to Nish, was
done by the Bulgarians. They were as reckless as they were barbarous in
their fighting, and though they drove the Allies back, they lost out of
all proportion to the damage they inflicted.
Thus in a very few weeks the Bulgarians had gained possession of the
coveted portion of Thrace and Macedonia held by the Serbians, and were
brought to a pause on the Greek frontier. In all this fighting,
needless to say, Ferdinand had taken no part, except to issue some of
those vainglorious proclamations of which samples have been quoted in
previous chapters.
With the Serbians utterly crushed and the Greeks quaking before the
fear of an invasion and of the Allied forces encamped at Salonica, a
period was reached in the Bulgarian operations. Sofia was converted
into a city of mourning, and death was spread through all the Bulgarian
villages. For the third time in a few years the young men of the
country had been decimated.
In the meantime the Germans had converted Sofia into a Prussian barrack
town. There was no longer any concealment; it was only too apparent to
the Bulgarians that the Schwaba had come to stay. The Bulgarian troops
on the Greek frontier had been equipped with German uniforms and German
arms in preparation for the invasion of Greece, the excuse being that
Bulgaria was experiencing a shortage in such equipment.
The Bulgarians also shared the booty of the Serbian cities and farms,
the goods and stock of the conquered Serbians being removed after the
thorough and scientific method employed in the sacking of Belgium. But
there was already a great scarcity of food in Bulgaria, where the
German methods of conservation of supplies by rationing were quickly
introduced.
Already Bulgaria was paying the penalty for interference against her
old friends and benefactors. There were deep murmurs everywhere at the
Teutonizing of the country, at the rations of black bread issued only
to ticket-holders, and at the arrogance of the all-pervading Germans.
Very unwillingly the Bulgars looked forward to the time when they
should be called upon to attack the allied armies in their strong
position at Salonica, and perhaps to force Greece into hostility. That
was not the direction in which they wished to make their next advance,
for their ill-chosen friends the Turks were the victims of their
preference in this respect. Ferdinand was again in a difficult position
with the people whom he had adopted, and must go to his new friends for
help.
He got it in the shape of plentiful German and Austrian honours. He
received the hall-mark of Hundom in September, 1915, when, apropos of
nothing at all, the Kaiser conferred the Iron Cross upon him. But now
he was to be made a field-marshal in both the German and Austrian
armies, and to entertain the Kaiser at a memorable banquet in the
conquered city of Nish.
A remarkable description of that ceremonious meeting has been published
by a journalist who had the hardihood to obtain entry, and depicts the
Kaiser as an aged and broken man, coughing continually, and looking
small and almost pitiful by the side of the burly Ferdinand. In terms
of fulsome insincerity Ferdinand greeted him.
“The world has learned to know with surprise and admiration the
strength of Germany and her allies, and believes in the invincibility
of the German Army under the guidance and leadership of its Kaiser.
“I hope that the year 1916 may bring lasting peace, the sacred fruits
of our victories, a peace which will allow my people to co-operate in
future in the work of Kultur; but, if fate should impose a continuation
of the war, then my people in arms will be ready to do its duty to the
last.
“Ave Imperator, Cæsar et Rex. Victor et Gloriosus es. Nissa antiqua
omnes Orientis populi te salutant redemptorem ferentem oppressis
prosperitatem atque salutem.”
Long live Kaiser Wilhelm!
(Hail Emperor, Cæsar and King. Thou art victor and glorious [Gloriosus
really means braggart]. In ancient Nish all the peoples of the east
salute thee, the redeemer, bringing prosperity and salvation to the
oppressed.)
The Kaiser’s reply was couched in the same strain, and laid special
emphasis upon the fact that the honours conferred by Germany and
Austria upon Ferdinand had made him “One of Us.”
No phrase could have been more expressive. Ferdinand had become, for
the time being, a minor German Prince. He had given over his adopted
people to the German yoke, and Bulgaria had become as much part of
Germany as Bavaria or Saxony. That, and nothing less, was the outcome
of a willing treachery that was prompted by wild dreams of
self-aggrandisement that are doomed never to see fulfilment.
And there, for the present, Ferdinand of Bulgaria must be left.
It is difficult to harmonize his present position with the ambitions
that have principally made his life and career remarkable. Those
ambitions could only be realized by the extinction of the Ottoman Power
in Europe. He has taken up arms against the forces which are pledged to
bring about that consummation. He has linked himself in arms with the
Power he has planned throughout a long reign to despoil. The path
before him is a very obscure and tortuous one even for the Shoddy Czar,
whose word is as valueless as his signature to a solemn pledge.
What inducement can he advance to his people to continue this war, from
which they have nothing more to gain, and which has already involved
them in such heavy loss of life? There can be no other inducement than
the strong constraint imposed by the German forces who have taken
possession of the Balkans. It is dangerous to prophesy with a man so
elusive as Ferdinand, but he appears now to be on the threshold of the
most difficult stage in his career. He has strong enemies within his
own State, and will have to encounter the most bitter opposition from
the open enemies arrayed in arms against him.
Some, at least, of his friends are palpably lukewarm. No genuine tie
could possibly link Turkey with Bulgaria. On the other hand, the just
anger of his enemies is a common motive to ensure his thorough and
lasting punishment. His people may hope, by a timely repentance, to
escape the consequence of their cowardly transgressions; but not so
Ferdinand. He is the supreme offender, and must pay the maximum penalty.
It was not to end in such an _impasse_ that his mother instructed him
in the mysteries of kingcraft, and advised him throughout his early
years of insecurity in Bulgaria. Had she lived, he might have chosen
differently, for Clementine, daughter of France as she was, could never
have endured the supremacy of German influence which Ferdinand’s policy
has brought about. It may well be that her death was the turning-point
in his career, the beginning of a downward march on which one
well-defined stage has already been marked, the reverse of the second
Balkan war.
For many years the influence of the Shoddy Czar has been a malign one.
His character, his training, his ideals, and the barbarism of the
people he governs have made Bulgaria a lasting threat to the peace of
Europe. One of the many good results we may hope to derive from the war
will be the disappearance from the realm of international politics of
so unscrupulous and autocratic a ruler as Ferdinand of Bulgaria.
FINIS.
———————
Butler & Tanner Frome and London
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s notes
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and inconsistencies;
retained non-standard spelling.
2. Italic text in the original is delimited by _underscores_.