THE NEAR EAST........................................... 152
The first talk about Salonika -- The railway and the port -- The
question of operations based on Macedonia at the end of 1914 --
Failure of "easterners" to realize that the Western Front was
Germany's weakest front -- Question whether it might not have
been better to go to Salonika than to the Dardanelles --
Objections to this plan -- The problem of Bulgaria --
Consequences of the Russian _débâcle_ -- Difficulty of the Near
Eastern problem in the early summer -- An example of how the
Dardanelles Committee approached it -- Awkwardness of the problem
after the failure of Sir I. Hamilton's August offensive -- The
Bulgarian attitude -- Entente's objection to Serbia attacking
Bulgaria -- I am ordered to Salonika, but order countermanded --
The disaster to Serbia -- Hard to say what ought to have been
done -- Real mistake, the failure to abandon the Dardanelles
enterprise in May -- The French attitude about Salonika --
General Sarrail -- French General Staff impressed with War Office
information concerning Macedonia -- Unsatisfactory situation at
the end of 1915 -- The Salonika business a blunder all through --
Eventual success does not alter this.