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.
[Illustration: Turkey As the Four Balkan Allies intended to divide it.
(1912-13)]
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.
[Illustration: Durazzo]
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.
[Illustration: Changes as a Result of the Two Balkan Wars 1912-13]
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?
[Illustration: A Modern Dreadnaught]