The Treaty of Bukarest marked the predominance of Roumania in Balkan
affairs. And of course Roumania had her own reward. She had long
coveted the northeastern corner of Bulgaria, from Turtukai on the
Danube to Baltchik on the Black Sea. And this territory, even some
miles beyond that line, Bulgaria was now compelled to cede to her by
the treaty. It is a fertile area with a population of some 300,000
souls, many of whom are Turks.
The claim of Roumania to compensation for her neutrality during the
first Balkan war was severely criticized by the independent press of
western Europe. It was first put forward in the London Peace
Conference, but rejected by Dr. Daneff, the Bulgarian delegate. But
the Roumanian government persisted in pressing the claim, and the
Powers finally decided to mediate, with the result that the city of
Silistria and the immediately adjoining territory were assigned to
Roumania. Neither state was satisfied with the award and the second
Balkan war broke out before the transfer had been effected. This
gave Roumania the opportunity to enforce her original claim, and,
despite the advice of Austria-Hungary, she used it, as we have
already seen.
The Roumanian government justifies its position in this matter by
two considerations. In the first place, as Roumania was larger and
more populous than any of the Balkan states, the Roumanian nation
could not sit still with folded arms while Bulgaria wrested this
preeminence from her. And if Bulgaria had not precipitated a war
among the Allies, if she had been content with annexing the portion
of European Turkey which she held under military occupation, New
Bulgaria would have contained a greater area and a larger population
than Roumania. The Roumanians claim, accordingly, that the course
they pursued was dictated by a legitimate and vital national
interest. And, in the second place, as Greeks, Servians, and
Bulgarians based their respective claims to Macedonian territory on
the racial character of the inhabitants, Roumania asserted that the
presence of a large Roumanian (or Vlach) population in that disputed
region gave her an equally valid claim to a share in the common
estate.
In all Macedonia there may be some 100,000 Vlachs, though Roumanian
officials put the number much higher. Many of them are highland
shepherds; others engage in transportation with trains of horses or
mules; those in the lowlands are good farmers. They are found
especially in the mountains and valleys between Thessaly and
Albania. They are generally favorable to the Greek cause. Most of
them speak Greek as well as Roumanian; and they are all devoted
members of the Greek Orthodox Church. Yet there has been a Roumanian
propaganda in Macedonia since 1886, and the government at Bukarest
has devoted large sums to the maintenance of Roumanian schools, of
which the maximum number at any time has perhaps not exceeded forty.
Now if every other nation--Greek, Servian, Bulgarian--which had
hitherto maintained its propaganda of schools and churches in
Macedonia, was to bring its now emancipated children under the
benign sway of the home government and also was to annex the
Macedonian lands which they occupied, why, Roumania asked, should
she be excluded from participation in the arrangement? She did not,
it is true, join the Allies in fighting the common Moslem oppressor.
But she maintained a benevolent neutrality. And since Macedonia is
not conterminous with Roumania, she was not seeking to annex any
portion of it. Yet the rights those Roumanians in Macedonia gave her
should be satisfied. And so arguing, the Roumanian government
claimed as a quid pro quo the adjoining northeastern corner of
Bulgaria, permitting Bulgaria to recoup herself by the uncontested
annexation of Thrace and Eastern Macedonia.
Such was the Roumanian reasoning. Certainly it bore hard on
Bulgaria. But none of the belligerents showed any mercy on Bulgaria.
War is a game of ruthless self-interest. It was Bulgaria who
appealed to arms and she now had to pay the penalty. Her losses
enriched all her neighbors. What Lord Bacon says of individuals is
still more true of nations: the folly of one is the fortune of
another, and none prospers so suddenly as by others' errors.