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THE GREAT WAR OF 189—
[Illustration:
THE BOMBARDMENT OF VARNA.
‘A black mass of some kind was seen to drop from the Russian balloon;
as it reached the level of tallest buildings it suddenly exploded,
its course being marked by crashing buildings and falling ruins.’
_Frontispiece._
]
THE
GREAT WAR OF 189—
_A FORECAST_
BY
REAR-ADMIRAL P. COLOMB COLONEL J. F. MAURICE, R.A., CAPTAIN F. N. MAUDE,
ARCHIBALD FORBES, CHARLES LOWE, D. CHRISTIE MURRAY AND F. SCUDAMORE
_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES SPECIALLY MADE FOR ‘BLACK AND
WHITE’ BY F. VILLIERS_
[Illustration]
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1895
_SECOND EDITION_
_First Edition, December, 1892_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE.
The following narrative appeared originally in the pages of _Black and
White_, the work being the outcome of consultations between some of the
most eminent authorities upon modern warfare and international politics.
The story has been carefully revised, and is now reprinted in response
to a general wish that it should be available in a convenient form.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Attempted Assassination of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, 1
Russian Movement upon the Austrian Frontier, 26
Interview between General Caprivi and the French Ambassador, 30
Departure of Troops to the East, 32
Banquet in the Schloss, 33
Ill-treatment of a War-correspondent by the German Hussars, 37
The Austrian Plan of Campaign, 40
First Collision of Russian and German Troops, 43
Warlike Excitement in Paris, 44
Declaration of War by France, 52
The German Plan of Campaign, 61
The French Plan of Campaign, 65
Public Feeling of England, 66
Battle at Alexandrovo, 71
Occupation of Alexandrovo by the Germans, 74
Capture of Czenstochau by Prince George of Saxony, 76
Night Attack by the Russians, 78
Repulse of the German Army, 85
Excitement in Brussels, 86
The Meeting of the Four Fleets, 92
Retreat of French Cruisers, 96
On Board the Flagship, 99
Preparations for the Landing of British Troops at Trebizonde, 102
Repulse of the Russians, 106
The Russo-German Campaign—Great Battle at Skierniwiçe, 110
Italy mobilises her Army, and takes the Field against France, 121
The Council of War, 124
Italian Route—Through the Riviera, 126
Battle of Costebelle, 129
The Landing at Trebizonde, 132
Mobilisation of the First Army Corps, 138
Russia declares War against England, 147
Declaration of War in London, 148
The Position of Affairs, 158
Preparations in the Mediterranean Fleet, 160
The Battle of Sardinia, 165
The Franco-German Campaign—Cavalry Engagement near Ligny, 171
Engagement at Vaux Champagne, 178
The Battle of Machault, 184
The War in the far East—The Capture of Vladivostock, 193
Events in the East of Europe, 199
Arrival of British Troops in the Sea of Marmora, 201
Feeling in Australia, 206
Instructions from the Admiralty, 211
The Franco-German Campaign—The German Advance, 213
Advance of the Second and Third Armies on Paris, 221
The March upon the French Capital, 223
British Campaign in Bulgaria, 225
The Bombardment of Varna, 228
Rout of the Russian Army, 234
The Battle of Kosluji, 236
Enthusiasm in Cairo, 241
French Intrigues in Egypt, 248
Fierce Battle near Wady Halfa, 252
The Franco-German Campaign—Rescue of Paris, 258
Advance of General de Galliffet, 262
Brisk Cavalry Engagement, 265
Great Victory of the French, 267
The General Situation, 274
Capture of Sierra Leone by the French, 279
Siege of Herat, 281
Dispatch of Troops by the Canadian Pacific Railway to India, 282
Cessation of Hostilities—France and Germany, 287
England and Russia, 289
The Services of England, 293
General Effects of the War, 295
APPENDIX.
Sir Charles Tupper on Imperial Defence, 299
An Interview with the Right Hon. Sir Charles Dilke, 303
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Bombardment of Varna, _Frontispiece_
The Attempted Assassination of Prince Ferdinand of 11
Bulgaria,
M. Stambuloff, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, appointed 13
Regent after the attempted Assassination of Prince
Ferdinand,
The Bulgarian Mobilisation—Troops marching through the 15
streets of Philippopolis,
The Servo-Bulgarian Campaign—Through Pirot to the Front, 17
An Affair of Outpost—The First Shot in the 19
Servo-Bulgarian Campaign,
The Occupation of Belgrade—‘Here at Last!’ 21
With the Turks: Admiral Woods Pacha’s Fleet of Torpedo 24
Boats steaming through the Bosphorus,
Russian Infantry Landing at Varna, 25
The Knights of Malta at Ambulance Work, 41
Extraordinary Scene in the Place de la Concorde: The Mob 47
tearing the Mourning Emblems from the Statue of
Strasburg,
The Naval Battle off Dantzig—The Sinking of a Russian 58
Torpedo Boat and Rescue of the Crew by an English
Yacht,
The Naval Battle off Dantzig—Wounded Russians on Board 60
the English Yacht,
A Scene in the House of Commons—Sir William Harcourt 68
questions the Government,
British Troops in the Place Verte, Antwerp, 88
Sinking of the Yacht ’Elaine, 97
British Troops landing at Trebizonde, 103
The Storming of Skierniwiçe, 119
Italian Artillery crossing the Mont Cenis, 128
Lord Salisbury addressing the House of Lords on the 134
Question of Peace and War,
The Mobilisation of the English Army—Troops marching 139
through the Dock Gates, Portsmouth,
Reserve Men served with the New Magazine-Rifle, and off 143
to the front to-morrow,
Reading the Mobilisation Order, 145
Declaration of War against Russia from the Steps of the 149
Royal Exchange,
Calling Out the Volunteers—Parade of the Signallers of 155
the St. Martin’s Le Grand Corps,
Our Correspondent at the Battle of Vaux Champagne, 180
The Battle of Machault: The German Cavalry charging the 186
Rallying Squares of the French,
The Taking of Vladivostock: Goorkas Protecting the Guns, 197
British Transports passing the Dardanelles: Fort Chanak 202
saluting the English Ships,
The Sultan, Lord Wolseley, and Sir Clare Ford watching 205
the Passage of the British Fleet through the Bosphorus
from the Steps of the Dolma Baghtche Palace,
German Cavalry Attack by Night on the French Bivouacs, 220
Scene in the Streets of Rheims: German Troops clearing 222
the Streets of French Rioters,
The Battle of Kosluji: Sir Evelyn Wood’s Attack on the 238
Russian Forces,
Map of the Fight near Varna, 239
Scene outside Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo: Tommy Atkins 243
about to quit Egypt,
Soudanese Attack upon a Reconnoitring Party, 254
French Cavalry charging the Prussian Infantry, 270
Our New Route to India: A Sleeping-Car on the Canadian 283
Pacific Railway,
Tommy Atkins bargaining with the Indians on the Canadian 285
Pacific Railway,
Our New Route to India: Rations on the Canadian and 286
Pacific Railway,
Sir Charles Tupper in his Private Office in Victoria 300
Street, Westminster,
The Right Hon. Sir Charles Dilke, 304
THE GREAT WAR OF 189—
A FORECAST.
In the following narrative an attempt is made to forecast the course
of events preliminary and incidental to the Great War which, in the
opinion of military and political experts, will probably occur in
the immediate future. The writers, who are well-known authorities on
international politics and strategy, have striven to derive material
for their description of the conflict from the best sources, to
conceive the most probable campaigns and acts of policy, and
generally to give to their work the verisimilitude and actuality of
real warfare.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRINCE FERDINAND OF BULGARIA.
FULL ACCOUNT OF THE MURDEROUS ASSAULT; CRITICAL CONDITION OF THE WOUNDED
PRINCE.
(_By Telegraph from our Own Correspondent, Mr. Francis Scudamore._)
CONSTANTINOPLE, _Sunday, April 3_ (_viâ_ VARNA).
_Noon._
A report has been current here since a late hour last evening, to the
effect that an attempt has been made to assassinate Prince Ferdinand of
Bulgaria, at a mining town named Samakoff, about forty miles south of
Sofia. It is said that the Prince, who had been shooting in the
Balabancha Balkans, was driving into Samakoff towards evening yesterday,
when his carriage was stopped, and he was attacked by a number of men
armed with knives and pistols. The Prince’s attendants succeeded in
saving their master’s life and in beating off some and capturing others
of his assailants, but not before His Highness had been severely
wounded.
Prince Ferdinand was carried into the house of an American missionary
resident in Samakoff, where he now lies. His Highness’s condition is
serious, and is rendered the more critical from the fact that there is
no very adequate surgical aid obtainable in Samakoff, and it was
necessary to telegraph for doctors to Sofia and Philippopolis.
The greatest excitement reigns in Constantinople since the receipt of
this intelligence, and very grave anxiety is expressed in diplomatic
circles as to the possible consequences of this terrible misfortune.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS.
It is impossible to overrate the grave significance of this attempted
assassination at Samakoff, which in the light of our Correspondent’s
telegrams would seem to be the prelude to very serious complications in
the East. It is, of course, too early to estimate its influence upon
general European politics, but we are quite within reason in saying that
the dramatic incident may prove to have endangered the peace of Europe.
We have long familiarised ourselves with the thought that the Great War
of which the world has been in constant dread for some years back, and
which is to re-adjust the balance of the Continent, is much more likely
to break out in the region of the Danube than on the banks of the Rhine,
and the incident at Samakoff may well precipitate the catastrophe. The
situation is most perilous, and it is to be hoped that strenuous
endeavours will be made by the Powers to chain up the ‘dogs of war,’ and
spare this dying century, at least, the spectacle of their release.
Since the Treaty of Berlin patched up the last serious disturbance in
Europe, there has been peace; peace, it is true; but a peace subject to
perpetual menace, and weighty matter for the consideration of statesmen.
Europe has lived, as it were, in armed camps, neutral and watchful; and
all the time the nations have prepared against war as though war were at
their doors. The dastardly outrage at Samakoff comes at a sorry time.
For we repeat our firm conviction, based on long and close attention to
the political motives at work among the nations, that it is on the
Danube and not on the Rhine that the torch of war will first be kindled.
To a pessimist, indeed, if not to an unbiassed observer, we may well
seem of late to have been drawing nearer and nearer to a general war.
The world has never been afflicted with more persistent rumours of war.
No single day has passed without bringing us its perturbing crop of
tremors and apprehensions about the stability of the European peace.
From week to week the Jewish speculators on all the Bourses of
Christendom have been robbed of their sleep, and, worse still, of their
dividends, by telegrams as to the secret massing of troops on this or
that frontier, and of ruinous uprisings in various subject and
down-trodden countries. Now it is the Black Sea Treaty that is going to
be forcibly robbed of its entire Dardanelles clauses, and again the
Bargain of Berlin is about to be perforated, for the sixth time, by the
sword-point of the Czar. Then the Roumanians wake up to find the
Russians beginning to hem them in on three sides; while, again,
newspaper readers are horrified by a revelation of the rapacious
passions which some dignify by the title of ‘principle of nationality,’
and others denounce as criminal ‘lust of land,’ that are on the verge of
outbreak at Athens and Sofia, at St. Petersburg, at Belgrade, at Vienna,
at Paris, and even at Rome.
Where is the wisdom of highly-placed men like the German Emperor and his
new Chancellor assuring the world, in addresses from the throne and
after-dinner speeches, that the peace of Europe was never more assured
than at present, and that the political horizon is without a cloud even
of the size of Elijah’s ominous and initial speck of vapour? What is the
truth or the wisdom of such assurances, when the thorn of
Alsace-Lorraine is still sticking in the flesh of the unforgiving and
revengeful French; when Italy still has some territory ‘unredeemed;’
when Denmark still harbours a deep grudge against her truculent
despoiler; when even the peaceful Swedes, who are still animated by the
spirit of the Great Gustavus, long to free their former subjects, the
Finns, from the tyrannical mastery of the Russians; when the Spaniards
would gladly profit by a European complication—even if they shrank from
the thought of an audacious _coup de main_—to repossess themselves of
Gibraltar; when the Portuguese, following suit, would never hesitate to
kick their British rival in Africa, if they deemed him to be down; when
the Cretans, egged on by the Greeks, are firmly resolved to throw off
the galling yoke of the Turks; when ex-ministers like M. Tricoupis stump
about the Balkan Peninsula, openly preaching Pan-hellenism and Balkan
Federation against the advocates of disunited nationalities; when the
Servians secretly vow to settle up old scores with their Bulgarian
vanquishers, and when these Bulgarian victors themselves, with their
Prime Minister more than their Prince at their head, are sternly
determined to be free and independent alike of Sultan and of Czar; when
Austria continues to cast longing eyes in the direction of Salonika; and
when, above all things, the Colossus of the North, with his head
pillowed on snow, and his feet swathed in flowers of the sunny South,
has sworn by the soul of his assassinated and sainted father that he
will ever remain true to the intention of his sire in exacting a solid
equivalent of power, prestige, and territorial foothold on the Balkan
Peninsula for all the blood and treasure spent by Russia in the task of
‘liberating’ the Bulgarians; when all these things, all these slumbering
passions and meditated schemes of aggression and revenge are duly
considered, how is it possible for any one, be he sovereign or subject,
to lull the world asleep by false assurances of peace which is sooner or
later doomed to be broken?
The Triple Alliance will no more succeed in terrorising the souls of all
these secret plotters and designers, and in giving them pause, than
three inter-locked mountain oaks or firs could stay the downward course
of an extended series of separate avalanches, which rend away with them
pines, and oaks, and all, in their resistless rush. But has the
avalanche, which we thus dread, really and truly at last begun to move?
We sincerely trust not, but for the present at least, the omens in the
East have an exceedingly ugly and alarming look, and we shall await the
arrival of further telegrams with the greatest anxiety. The Triple
Alliance is not an embankment that can bar the advancing flood of war,
but rather a detached fortress which must itself soon incur the danger
of being surrounded and even submerged by the rushing, whirling waters
of European strife. Though the parties to this three-cornered pact have
agreed to place their fire-engines, so to speak, at each other’s
disposal in the event of external danger from fire to their respective
domiciles, it is beyond the reach of these Powers to prevent the
outbreak of a conflagration, from accident or arson, among the rickety,
wind-swept, and thatch-roofed mansions of their neighbours; nor is there
any fact better established in connection with fires than that they are
used by thieves and anarchists for the purpose of sudden plunder and
disorder, at once upon the persons and property of the victims and
beholders of such catastrophes.
Let us suppose, for example, that as a consequence of this most alarming
incident at Samakoff, hostilities should ensue between Russia and
Austria, the former being the aggressor. In that case Germany—in virtue
of her published Treaty with the Hapsburg Monarchy—would almost
immediately have to take the field. Now, in such a contingency, is there
not a grave danger that France, seizing the golden opportunity for which
she has so long been waiting, would at once mobilise her army, and march
the greater part of it towards the Rhine? And is it not certain that the
immediate result of such a revengeful step on her part would be that
Italy, true likewise to her Treaty engagement with Germany, would make
haste to spring upon the flank of the Republic?
It is not well to forecast evils, but at the same time it is well to
look clearly ahead. We know surely enough the real nature of the
feelings with which the Bulgarians are regarded by their ‘Liberators,’
just as we are equally cognisant of the true character of those who
profess to be the Sultan’s ‘friends,’ and who, with the privilege of
most intimate amity, have repeatedly helped themselves to disintegrating
slices of his dominions. We need not remind our readers of that
bitterness which still rankles in the breasts of the Roumanians at the
memory of the manner in which they were ‘rewarded’ for services rendered
at the Gravitza Redoubt and elsewhere during the war against the Turks;
a bitterness which was only equalled by the rage of the Russians when
they recognised the supreme folly of their conduct in forcing Roumania
to accept the Dobrudja in exchange for Bessarabia, and thus depriving
themselves of a _pied à terre_ and strategical base of operations south
of the Danube, in the direction of the grand goal of their ultimate
ambition—the Golden Horn. It is as much the desire of Russia to undo
this unfortunate bargain as it is to shake herself free from the
intolerable shackles that restrain her liberty of action in the Black
Sea, and seal up the outlets thereof against her ships of war. Russia is
only awaiting a proper opportunity for accomplishing these two other
stages in what she deems to be her destiny (and does not everything come
to him who can wait?) just as she continues to pursue her anti-English
policy in Central Asia with steady, disdainful, unresisted strides, ever
lessening the distance between her own frontiers and those of India, and
thus paving the way for the execution of her policy of preventing the
forces of England from being thrown into the balance should any
complication arise in the East of Europe. ‘And ever,’ as Tennyson sang,
‘upon the topmost roof the banner of England blew;’ but that proud
banner has now, at last, been blown away by Cossack colonels from the
topmost roof of all—the ‘Roof of the World’ itself, thus enabling Russia
to overpeer our very Indian plains, and thence despatch her Calebs and
her Joshuas to spy out this other land of promise.
It may be quite true—and, indeed, from all we know of the character of
the Czar, we think it is quite true—that Alexander III. has a holy
horror of war, into which he is determined not to plunge his people; and
we have been assured by the greatest master of modern war, the late
Count Moltke, that the period of dynastic conflicts, or struggles
resulting from the personal passions and petulance of rulers, has come
to an end, and been succeeded by wars between peoples and nations. This
is also quite true; but it is precisely herein that the greatest danger
lurks. For a ruler—as witness the case of the present Czar’s own
father—may prove too weak to restrain or deflect the set of the popular
tide, and he plunged into a war against his own will. It is also
conceivable that the French Government might find it impossible to
resist the clamours of the Chamber to embrace the first opportunity—and
what could be a better one than a general European conflagration? for
ousting the English from Egypt—an object which all good Frenchmen deeply
have at heart. But it is on the Balkan Peninsula, where there are no
rulers or restraining influences to speak of, that popular passions and
aspirations must enjoy most unbridled sway; and therefore it is that we
look with anxiety for the further development of this tragic event at
Samakoff, which has already thrown the Balkan countries into a state of
wild excitement, and all Europe into a fit of ever-increasing alarm.
(_By Telegraph from our Special Correspondent, Mr. Francis Scudamore._)
PHILIPPOPOLIS, _April 4_.
(_Sunday Night._) I date this message from Philippopolis, whence indeed
it will be despatched on our arrival there to-morrow; but, as a matter
of fact, it is written in the sleeping car of a special train by which I
am travelling to Ichtiman _en route_ for Samakoff, in company with Drs.
Patterson, Stekoulis, and Lelongt, who have been invited by telegraph to
meet their Bulgarian colleagues in consultation at the bedside of the
wounded Prince. It is to these gentlemen’s courtesy that I owe the
privilege of my passage.
I am enabled, by the kindness of my friends at the United States
Legation, which, as is natural in the circumstances, has received minute
information as to the occurrence, to give you a fuller and more
authentic account of the Samakoff tragedy of yesterday by which Prince
Ferdinand of Bulgaria so nearly lost his life, than is likely to have
been transmitted as yet, and of which no doubt garbled first reports
have already thrown consternation into every European capital. I have
already stated that it is in the house of an American missionary that
Prince Ferdinand is at present lying. I must now explain that Samakoff,
which is nestled in the heart of a picturesque valley formed by the
rough triangle of the Kilo Dagh, the Kadir Tèré, and the De mir Kapou
Dagh at the head of the Balabancha range of Balkans, is not only one of
the wealthiest towns in the principality,—thanks to the iron mines by
which it is surrounded,—but is also famous and dear to Bulgarians by
reason of the presence there of the American Mission School, whose
principals rendered such devoted and signal service to the oppressed
Christians throughout the terrible time of the massacres of 1876 and the
war of 1877. At that time, when, as will be remembered, to be a
Bulgarian was all-sufficient reason for being summarily hanged (if a
man), or foully outraged (if a woman), the principal of the school and
his courageous wife snatched many victims from the gallows, and rescued
from a terrible fate, by harbouring in the mission-house, numerous young
girls and children, fugitives from the devastated villages of the Balkan
slopes. And when brighter days dawned for Bulgaria, and it became a
principality, the services of the American Mission at Samakoff were not
forgotten. It became a custom, inaugurated by Prince Alexander and
studiously maintained by his successor, for the Ruler of Bulgaria to
visit Samakoff in an informal manner once or twice a year, for the
purpose of inspecting the mission school and complimenting its
directors.
The snows which have held Samakoff isolated from the rest of the world
throughout the past four months, are now just melted, and thus it
chanced that Prince Ferdinand, who for a week past had been shooting in
the hills around Philippopolis, decided to pay his first visit of the
year to the missionaries of Samakoff, and had, unfortunately as it turns
out, announced his intention of so doing.
The Prince, with this purpose in view, left Philippopolis on Friday
evening, passing the night in his sleeping-car, and yesterday morning
started in a _calèche_ from Ichtiman-i-Vakarel, formerly the boundary
between Bulgaria and the province of Eastern Roumelia, to drive to the
little township in the mountains.
His Highness has usually been accompanied on these visits by one or
other of the ministers, but on this occasion, owing partly, no doubt, to
his hurriedly-formed plans, he had with him only one of the
aides-de-camp who had been of the shooting-party. The Prince’s carriage
was preceded by half-a-dozen mounted guards, and followed by a like
number, as an escort. This is a precaution which Prince Ferdinand’s
advisers have prevailed with him, much against his will, to adopt of
late, in view of the renewed activity of Russian agents and
sedition-mongers throughout the Principality and the neighbouring
States, where, indeed, a great anti-Bulgarian and anti-Turkish
propaganda has been actively carried on for the past year; and in view
also of the growing apprehension of his advisers that the recent success
in this city of assassins in Russian pay, coupled with the immunity from
punishment which the Czar’s representatives have shown their ability and
readiness to secure for them, would prompt the conspirators, soon or
late, to fly at higher game than either M. Stambuloff or the late Dr.
Vulkovitch. That his Highness’s advisers were in the right has been
proved by the attempt of yesterday. The event, however, may be said to
offer encouragement at once to would-be regicides and to their intended
victims, inasmuch as it has been shown yet once again to the former, how
useless as a protection against assassins is the presence of an armed
escort, and to the latter, how apt is a well-matured plot to be
frustrated by a commonplace accident.
The Prince’s carriage was expected to reach Samakoff about noon, and
shortly before that hour a considerable number of persons had collected
in the main street, while small crowds had gathered round the gates of
the Prefecture and about the door of the American Mission-house, which
is situated in a side street leading off the high road, and where the
usual modest preparations had been made for the princely visit.
His Highness, on arrival, after halting for a moment or two at the gate
of the Prefecture where he did not alight, drove on through the town
towards the Mission-house. At the moment when the carriage turned the
corner into the narrower street, a man wearing the long black gown and
brimless stovepipe hat of a priest of the orthodox church stood forward
from the crowd, in which were several other persons dressed as he was,
and, raising a revolver, took deliberate aim at his Highness. And then
occurred the accident to which, in all probability, Prince Ferdinand
owes his life. The cartridge did not explode. The sham priest lowered
his weapon slightly, raised it once more, and again pulled the trigger;
but as he did so the pistol barrel was struck up—the ball burying itself
in the wall of a house across the street—and the assassin was seized and
firmly held by many willing hands.
The whole occurrence had taken but a moment. The Prince, when he saw the
pistol levelled at him, had leapt to his feet, with the evident
intention of throwing himself upon his murderer. As it was, his
Highness’s intervention seemed very necessary on behalf of the baffled
assassin, who stood in no small danger of being lynched incontinently by
his furious captors.
The carriage had stopped; the escort was hastily dismounting, and the
Prince, shouting orders to the people to spare their prisoner’s life,
had alighted, and turning, was in the act of throwing his heavy pelisse
to his companion, when sudden as thought a second ruffian sprang from
amid the vociferating mob, hurled himself upon the Prince, and thrusting
a great, broad-bladed Circassian _khanga_ into his bosom, was away and
out of sight almost before any of the bystanders had recovered from this
second shock of horror and surprise.
His Highness, who had sunk to the ground under the blow, though he did
not lose consciousness, was at once carried into the Mission-house,
distant a few yards only, and very speedily all the best medical advice
obtainable in Samakoff was at hand, while telegrams for further
assistance were at once despatched to Sofia and to Philippopolis, the
latter place being perhaps more rapidly accessible than the capital. The
first examination of the wound showed that the broad knife had turned on
the point of a rib—very fortunately—and had therefore missed, by a
hair’s-breadth the envelope of the heart. It was not till to-day that a
persistent recurrence of internal hæmorrhage aroused the gravest fears
of the Prince’s surgeons, and prompted them to appeal to Constantinople
for further advice.
[Illustration:
THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRINCE FERDINAND OF BULGARIA.
]
The pretended priest, when searched, was found to be costumed beneath
his robes in the ordinary dress of the petty trader of the towns here.
His long flowing locks proved a wig, and his thick unkempt beard was
also false. Upon him, among other papers said to be of great importance,
but as to which I know nothing, was found a passport issued by the
Russian Consulate at Odessa no less recently than last month, and
bearing the _visé_ of the Russian Chancellor at Sofia. The passport is
made out in the name of Ivan Bendukdjieff, and belongs, the fellow
avows, to a man, a stranger to him, who left it with him by mistake a
week ago. But the authorities entertain few doubts as to the scoundrel’s
identity with one of the men implicated with Shishmanoff in the recent
murder of Dr. Vulkovitch.
I have said that the news of this dastardly attempt on Prince
Ferdinand’s life caused the greatest excitement in Constantinople. There
is indeed no doubt that both the Palace and the Porte are very seriously
alarmed, as, in view of the Sultan’s disgraceful action in the
Vulkovitch affair, it is only just they should be. It is significant of
his Majesty’s state of mind that, when early this (Sunday) morning,
first the French and then the Russian Ambassador drove to the residence
of the Grand Vizier, they were unable to see him, orders having been
sent from Yildiz ordering the Pasha not to receive them. Sir Clare Ford,
on the other hand, had a long interview with the Sultan this morning.
PHILIPPOPOLIS, _April 4_.
When the train steamed into the station here, I learned in the
restaurant, where every one was eagerly discussing the events of the
past two days, that the second assassin was captured yesterday afternoon
at Banja, as the result of an order widely circulated by both telegraph
and horse messengers throughout the country, calling upon all
Tchorbadjis, or headmen of villages, to detain any stranger found within
their jurisdiction, and at once communicate with the nearest central
authority. The man has been identified as one Nicholi Nāoum, a very
well-known character who, besides being suspected of participation in
the murder, last spring, of M. Beltcheff, is known to have been acting
for the past six months as a revolutionary agent on the Macedonian
frontier. Nāoum, who, as leader of a gang of border brigands, has gained
a bloody notoriety in connection with various dastardly outrages against
society, is believed to have been recently engaged in distributing arms
and ammunition among Macedonian villages, and in inciting the
Macedonians to molest the Bulgarians dwelling among them. Nāoum, when
arrested, was found to be provided, like his accomplice, with a Russian
passport executed in regular form. He was immediately carried back to
Samakoff and confronted with Bendukdjieff, against whom he at once began
to rail as a bungler, making no attempt to exonerate himself, or to deny
his share in the tragedy. In this course, perhaps, he was guided by the
knowledge that his life was already forfeited for many atrocious crimes
before he set his hand against Prince Ferdinand. As a consequence of his
last admission of guilt, a very brief trial was necessary, and the two
wretches were hanged this morning outside the house in which they had
lodged on Friday night in Samakoff.
[Illustration:
M. STAMBULOFF
Prime Minister of Bulgaria, appointed Regent after the attempted
assassination of Prince Ferdinand.
]
The Prince is apparently doing well. M. Stambuloff, who, on receipt of
news of the disaster, hurried to his master’s bedside, remained but one
hour in Samakoff, during which time, despite the doctors, the Prince
insisted on seeing him, and returned direct to Sofia. Late on Saturday
night, at a meeting attended by most of the Ministers, hurriedly
convened, he was declared Regent during the serious illness of the
Prince, and for such time as might be necessary, and the formal
proclamation in accordance with this decision was issued yesterday
morning.
SOFIA, _April 6_.
Instead of accompanying Dr. Patterson and his colleagues on a, to me,
fruitless expedition to Samakoff, I bid them good-bye at Ichtiman, where
they left the train, and came on here. As might be expected, I have
found this city boiling with tumultuous emotions, and not only—though
that were sufficient cause—on account of the outrageous attempt on
Prince Ferdinand’s life.
It appears that the Cabinet has received news of the greatest importance
from the Macedonian frontier. The assiduous efforts of Russian agents,
who have been actively engaged for the past six months or more not only
in the provinces itself, but also in the Greek and Montenegrin borders,
in fomenting an anti-Bulgarian rising, are now on the eve of being
crowned with success. Already reports have reached the capital of
disturbances, caused apparently by raids made across the border at
Petrovich and Melnik. That there is a great shifting of troops at
present in progress as a result of this intelligence, is not denied. It
is said, indeed, though I cannot as yet tell with what truth, that a
half division has been ordered to Petrovich, and another like force to
Strumnitza. The latest rumour here is to the effect that the movement in
Macedonia is as much anti-Turkish as anti-Bulgarian, and that Turkey is
also despatching a large military force to Salonika. If this report be
true, it is surely an instance of the irony of fate. In this country it
is a matter of common talk that any anti-Bulgarian movement in Macedonia
is mainly due to the attitude of Zuknir Pasha, the Vali of Salonika,
towards the large Bulgarian element of the population of the province
under his control. This functionary’s persistent ill-treatment of
Bulgarians has been very frequently represented to the Porte in notes
from this capital as being contrary at once to the interests of Turkey
and of Bulgaria. The Principality, it has been said, has consistently
refused to take side with those who seek the dismemberment of Turkey,
and has claimed a right to expect that the development of the Bulgarian
element in Macedonia would not be crushed by Pashas who, by their
arbitrary actions, paralyse the intentions of the central government,
and prepare the way for events which had better, in the common interest,
be avoided. It is needless to say these sensible warnings have been
altogether disregarded by the Porte, with the present inevitable result.
[Illustration:
THE BULGARIAN MOBILISATION—TROOPS MARCHING THROUGH THE STREETS OF
PHILIPPOPOLIS.
]
It is further rumoured here—for the place is full of suspicion—that in
view of certain movements of Servian troops, a large Bulgarian force has
been hurriedly thrown forward to strengthen the troops at Radomir, Trn,
and Zaribrod.
SOFIA, _April 8_.
The latest reports as to Prince Ferdinand are more favourable than could
have been hoped for. The dangerous symptoms have subsided. Internal
hæmorrhage has been checked. The Prince sleeps and takes nourishment,
and his pulse and temperature are satisfactory. Hopes are held out that
in a week’s time His Highness may be moved from Samakoff. Meanwhile,
during the past few days, events have marched so rapidly that people
here are prepared for almost any eventuality. There is no longer any
attempt to conceal the movements of Servian troops. Great numbers of men
are already massed at Nisch and Vranja, and at points on the line of
railway between Nisch and Pirot. The main body of the Servian army has
its headquarters at Knuzevatz. From Belgrade, we learn of the steady
despatch of war material and siege-train to Negotin on the frontier
against Widdin, and a telegram from the same source announces the
arrival at Nisch of a train of the Red Cross Society, consisting of
eighteen carriages furnished with all the necessary equipment for active
service.
News from Constantinople is to the effect that the Porte, alarmed at the
aspect of affairs in Macedonia, has, in addition to the calling out of
the last class of rediffs, decided on the formation of five new Army
Corps. Fresh levies are to be made in order to form a strong reserve.
The transport of rediffs, mainly from Smyrna, Skanderoun, and the
Tripolitaine, is being carried on on a large scale. Over 27,000
reservists have already passed through Smyrna. Many of the Austrian
Lloyd vessels being engaged in the transport of troops to Salonika to
guard the frontier line and to reinforce the Bitolia garrison, the
Seraskierate is negotiating with some English shipping companies for
additional transport. More than fifty thousand troops are to be employed
on the Macedonian border in a line stretching from Mitrovitza on the
north, all round to Raslok on the south-east. Their chief stations will
be Palanka, with Uskub as base, and Djuma and Neurokoy with Strumdja as
base. No further disturbances are reported from the frontier.
[Illustration:
THE SERVO-BULGARIAN CAMPAIGN—THROUGH PIROT TO THE FRONT.
]
M. Stambuloff left here last night to inspect the troops on the
frontier. I am, of course, unable to give any information as to their
numbers or disposition, but it may be said that Bulgaria is well
prepared to resist any attack. It is infringing no rule to say that the
Prince’s army possesses no fewer than 400 pieces of ordnance of all
calibres. The report that his appointment as Regent has met with
disapprobation among a large section of the community here is absolutely
without foundation.
A trusted agent of the Government has also left here for Berlin, for the
purpose, it is understood, of raising a loan in that capital.
SOFIA, _April 10_.
We are now at war, and fighting is going forward even as I write. This
morning rifle-shots were exchanged between Servian and Bulgarian
patrolling parties on the frontier, near Trn, without result on either
side. A body of some 300 Servians then crossed the frontier and advanced
about a mile, seeking to cut off a party of fifty Bulgarians, who,
however, retreated and escaped. Later on heavy fighting was reported in
the neighbourhood of Vlassina. How it originated is immaterial. The
Bulgarians lost 17 men killed and 54 wounded. This set fire to the torch
all along the frontier line. Some time before the official declaration
of war, which, though it announced that hostilities would begin at noon
to-day, did not reach the Minister for Foreign Affairs here until nine
o’clock this evening, reports had been posted up in the cafés announcing
fighting in the vicinity of Planinitza, Beuskedol, Miloslawtzi, Zelene,
and Gard, in the Trn district. The Servian Minister, who had twice
telegraphed to his Government for instructions during the afternoon,
demanded a special train as soon as he had presented the declaration of
war, and left half an hour later, under escort, for the frontier.
A solemn _Te Deum_ was sung this evening in the Cathedral, M. Stambuloff
and the Ministers being present. The streets are crowded—no one shows
any intention of going to bed; the popular enthusiasm and confidence are
immense, and there is apparently a general sensation of relief at the
relaxation of the strain of the past few days, and a feeling of
satisfaction that the dastardly attack on the Prince will be promptly
avenged. I am, by the way, authorised to state that, by order of Prince
Ferdinand’s physicians, all news of these exciting events is rigidly
withheld from his Highness.
Fresh troops are hourly leaving Sofia and Philippopolis for the front.
[Illustration:
AN AFFAIR OF OUTPOSTS—THE FIRST SHOT IN THE SERVO-BULGARIAN CAMPAIGN.
]
At the moment of closing this despatch, news comes of an important
action near Dragoman, with reported defeat of the Servians with heavy
losses.
SOFIA, _April 11_.
There is to be no more fighting. The brilliant and most sanguinary
engagement at Dragoman, which I reported in progress last night, in the
course of which the Bulgarians, who were completely successful, drove
the enemy back from all their positions on the heights above the pass:
an incessant artillery duel, maintained ever since the commencement of
hostilities between the heavy Servian batteries before Negotin and the
Bulgarian forces garrisoning Widelin, and a very successful unopposed
advance along the Vranja road as far as the Morava river by a Bulgarian
force, composed of three brigades from Sofia, from Trn, and from
Radomir, make up all there is to report of the campaign. For when
hostilities were about to be opened this morning near Kumareno, which
was evidently held by a large Servian force, an officer bearing a white
towel, with a pink fringe, tied to a hedge stake, as a flag of truce,
rode out from the Servian lines and demanded a _pourparler_. It then
transpired that the Servians found themselves in a terrible quandary,
and were at their wits’ end what to do.
Late last night a large Austrian force had, without warning, crossed the
Save into Belgrade, which city they had taken so completely by surprise
that it was not until the morning that the populace was made aware of
the presence of the strangers in their midst by the sight of the troops
bivouacking in the squares, and the officers quietly breakfasting
outside the principal cafés. An Austrian force, said the parlementaire,
had also crossed the Danube to Semendria, and there were rumours that
another force had crossed the same river at Orsova. In these
circumstances, with their capital cut off from them, and their young
king and government in a manner locked up, the Servian generals
considered they had no alternative but to demand a suspension of
hostilities, at least for forty-eight hours. An armistice was therefore
granted, much to the Bulgarian leaders’ annoyance and disgust.
We learn that Austria has notified the Powers that she has occupied
Semendria and Belgrade as a precautionary measure, in view of the wanton
aggression of Servia.
It is here considered unlikely that Bulgaria will have any more trouble
from this quarter. On the other hand, however, grave rumours reach us
from Constantinople, where apparently there is very great anxiety as to
certain mysterious and as yet undefined threats by Russia. The Turkish
capital is, as matters stand at present, likely to be the chief centre
of interest for some time to come, and I shall therefore return there
to-morrow morning.
[Illustration:
THE OCCUPATION OF BELGRADE—‘HERE AT LAST!’
]
All through the day long trains of Bulgarian and Servian wounded have
crept one after another into Sofia. It is noteworthy that a considerable
percentage of the sufferers are bright and lively and make light of
their injuries. These are men who have been struck by the small nickel
bullets of the new rifle, which has been used in pretty equal
proportions on both sides.
CONSTANTINOPLE, _April 15_.
There is no doubt good cause for the grave fears at present agitating
Porte and Palace. By his foolishly near-sighted policy of pandering to
the wishes of whatsoever Power bullies him with most brutal persistency,
at the risk though it be of injuring a friendly State, the Sultan has,
as he is beginning to realise, succeeded in alienating, for the moment
at least, the sympathies of all his legitimate friends. By his
attitude—wilfully perverse and undignified—throughout the varying phases
of the Vulkovitch episode, his Majesty has aroused throughout Bulgaria
deep distrust of himself, and fierce indignation against his ministers
and his methods. The inane and futile strivings of the Porte to throw
difficulties in the path of the young Khedive, and to cheat him, if
possible, of rights clearly accorded and amply paid for, have produced
similar sentiments in Egypt and in England. And having, at the cost of
much labour and intrigue, achieved this wholly unsatisfactory position
of being an object of contempt, suspicion, and obloquy, the Sultan finds
himself suddenly but decidedly thrown over by the very Powers with whom
he had sought to curry favour. The Russian Ambassador is now too
thoroughly pre-occupied with the immediate policy of his own Government
to have any further care to wear gloves in his dealings with the Porte,
and his mood has so affected M. Cambon, the French Ambassador, that that
astute personage, unable to find those sweet professions and gracious
persuasion—half unmeaning promise, half veiled threat with which he has
been wont to _dorloter_ the Ministers at Bab Aali—come readily to his
tongue, has ceased for a fortnight past to hold any other than mere
chancellerie communication with the Turkish Government.
Let it be said at once that, despite very natural indignation, Bulgaria
shows every disposition to behave well towards the Suzerain Power.
Officially, indeed, her attitude has been in every way admirable. When
the Servians opened hostilities, when they declared war, when they asked
for an armistice—in every phase, in short, of the quarrel, M. Stambuloff
apprised, and asked counsel and aid of, the Sultan. To be sure he got
nothing for his pains, but it must have been a satisfaction to the
Sultan to receive proof that, in one quarter at any rate, he is not
regarded as a European Power of merely sentimental importance.
CONSTANTINOPLE, _April 16_.
Fresh alarm was caused here this morning by the discovery that our
telegraphic communication has been interrupted at once with Odessa and
with Batoum. All inquiries as to the cause of the rupture made by other
routes failed to elicit any explanation. Later in the day a vessel of
the Cunard line arrived in the Bosphorus, and her captain has stated
that the Russian harbour-master at Odessa is detaining all ships, of
whatever nationality, in that port. His own vessel, he says, was the
last to leave Odessa, and only got away by a chance, the order having
reached him when he had already got under way. He states that there were
several Russian ironclads, and quite a fleet of torpedo boats at Odessa,
all with steam up, and says that when he was on shore there the day
before yesterday the town was full of soldiers, and the approaches to
the dockyards crowded with a constantly-increasing mass of guns, horses,
ammunition, and other war material.
CONSTANTINOPLE, _April 18_.
I have received a telegram from my correspondent in Sofia, who tells me
that the Bulgarian Government understands that the Russians are
preparing an expedition for sea at Odessa, and intend to occupy some
portion of Bulgarian territory. The Princely Government has reason to
expect the attack will be directed against Varna, and has called upon
the Sultan to aid Bulgarian arms by sending his fleet to guard the Varna
roads. The Sultan has as yet made no reply to this request, says my
correspondent, but it is not difficult to guess what His Majesty’s
action will be, inasmuch as Turkey has no single ship of war in
condition to be got to sea under a month at the least, and it is more
than questionable whether even then any of the ironclads could be
completely manned or provided with serviceable ammunition. There are,
indeed, some torpedo boats—unprovided, I understand, with torpedoes—and
a couple of the monitors that did some service in the Danube in the last
war. If the Admiralty should elect to place these vessels at the service
of the Bulgarian Government, they might be of some use as scouts. But
that is about all that Turkey can hope to do for her vassal.
[Illustration:
WITH THE TURKS: ADMIRAL WOODS PACHA’S FLEET OF TORPEDO BOATS STEAMING
THROUGH THE BOSPHORUS.
]
Here there is terrible anxiety lest the Russian expedition be directed,
not against Varna or Bourgas, but against the Kavaks, and the
Seraskierate is busily taking precautions to meet such a contingency
with all the forces available.