reassure Bulgaria as to the friendly intentions of the Entente, and that it was impossible to send away the German officers, as, with the exception of officially accredited military attaches, there were no such officers serving with the Bulgarian army. It is still maintained by the Bulgars that no German officers arrived till after the departure of the Entente ministers. On the receipt of this note the ministers representing the Entente Powers asked for their passports and left Sofia for Dede Aghach. On Oct. 12 Bulgaria declared war on Serbia; on Oct. 15 Great Britain declared war on Bulgaria, while France and Italy de- clared war on her on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 respectively.
The World War 1915-6. The King's proclamation to his people showed the same duplicity as had marked all his diplo- matic dealings with the Entente. After enlarging on his efforts to maintain neutrality, he said: " Both groups of belligerent Powers acknowledge the great wrong inflicted on us by the partitioning of Macedonia, and both belligerent parties are agreed that the greater part of Macedonia should belong to Bulgaria. Only our treacherous neighbour, Serbia, has remained obdurate to the counsels of her friends and allies. Serbia not only refused to listen to their advice, but, inspired by envy and cupidity, even attacked our territory, and our brave troops have been obliged to fight in defence of their own land. . . . Our Allies the Serbs were then (in 1913) the chief cause of our losing Macedonia. . . . The European War is drawing to a close. The victorious armies of the Central Empires are in Serbia and are rapidly advancing." Mobilization, as eye-witnesses have stated, was not effected with the willingness which marked the mobiliza- tion of 1912 there were even attempts at mutiny in some centres though the presence in Sofia of the Macedonian divi- sions to whom Serbian acts of oppression in Macedonia were a burning personal wrong and not merely a pretext for war, served to stimulate public enthusiasm. When once the country was actually at war, the Opposition became silent, partly from force majeure and partly from patriotic motives; all Bulgars realized that the fate of their country was at stake. Malinov, to whom the King made overtures, declined to take office in the Rados- lavov Cabinet, and Stamboliiski, who was perhaps the only man in the country who could have led a revolution, was already in prison. Public meetings were forbidden and a strict censor- ship of the press established. The Bulgarian campaign in Serbia was, in spite of gallant opposition by the Serbs, completely suc- cessful. By the end of the year the Serbian army had retreated through Albania to the Adriatic and the Entente troops had retired within the Greek frontier, which the Bulgars did not then attempt to cross, although they themselves were confident that they could have taken Salonika. But on the one hand the atti- tude of Greece was still uncertain, and on the other it was to the interest of Germany that Entente troops should remain at Salonika and thus reduce the numbers available for the western front. In June 1916 the Bulgarian army occupied Seres, Drama, and Kavalla. The Sobranye had met in Dec. 1915, but, in spite of the apparently complete success of the campaign, the Radoslavov Government narrowly escaped defeat in the budget debates in July 1916. Several of the Agrarian deputies who were deemed compromised by their earlier negotiations with an agent of the Entente were imprisoned, and the Government secured the return of their own supporters in their place. On Aug. 27 1916 Rumania declared war on Austria-Hungary and, in spite of the efforts of Malinov and others to induce the Government to remain neutral, Bulgaria declared war on Rumania on Sept. i. This war was, however, more popular than the campaign against Serbia, for the resent- ment caused by the action of Rumania in July 1913 was specially bitter. The Bulgarian troops were, nevertheless, unwilling to cross the Danube, as they considered that their work was finished when once the Dobruja was again in their possession; some mutinies even took place. Though the Bulgarian forces here were commanded by Gen. Tochev, F.-M. von Mackensen actually directed the operations, and, almost immediately, friction developed between the allies, resulting in Tochev's super- session. The harvest of 1916 was not a good one; the whole
population was rationed for meat, bread, sugar, rice, soap and salt, and considerable discontent arose when it was found that large quantities of produce, especially of wheat and eggs, were going to Germany. German officials took over the technical control of the railways, especially the Macedonian, Dobruja and Trans-Balkan lines, which were worked with great efficiency; the railway employes remained Bulgarian. The Germans did not otherwise interfere with the civil administration of the country, while, on the military side, they restricted their active inter- vention to the broader issues in the conduct of the campaign. In addition to the larger formations which Germany contributed to the Bulgarian fronts in accordance with the military conven- tion, many German technical units reinforced the Bulgarian army and were allotted to the more important sections of the front: these included machine-gun, artillery, air force, wireless and railway construction units, and hospital staffs. These units were highly efficient, and, on the whole, the two personnels worked amicably together. In Nov., Monastir was taken by the allies.
1917. In March news of the revolution in Russia roused once more the instinctive sympathy of the Bulgars for Russia. No stenographic reports of the debates in the Sobranye have been published, but it is known that the Opposition pressed their view that Bulgaria, having gained Macedonia and the Dobruja, should now retire from the war. A war credit of 350 million levas was, however, voted in March. It was by no means certain that Bulgaria's allies would allow her to retain all her gains: neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary was willing that Bulgaria should remain in northern Dobruja, and Turkey opened negotiations for the return of that portion of the Maritsa valley which had been ceded to Bulgaria by the Turco-Bulgarian agreement of 1915. During the summer secret negotiations were carried on in Switzerland between agents of the Entente and Bulgarian agents, but though Ferdinand may have been aware of the negotiations, the Bulgarian representatives lacked the authority and personality necessary for bringing matters to a definite issue. In Oct. the Kaiser visited Sofia and attempted, by the bestowal of decorations, to restore cordial relations with Bulgaria, but it was a matter of common knowledge that the personal relations between the Kaiser and the King were any- thing but friendly.
1918. The winter of 1917-8 brought a further shortage of supplies and increased discontent and suffering. The Bulgarian soldier had been accustomed to campaigns which, though they entailed severe fighting and hardships, had only lasted a short time: in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 fighting had lasted a fortnight; in the first Balkan War, some six months; and in the second Balkan War, a nominal 40 days. The Bulgarian women had as a matter of course replaced the men in all agricultural work, but the Bulgarian soldiers, most of them peasant pro- prietors, were anxious to be at home for the harvest, and their restlessness showed itself in an increased number of desertions. Trench warfare was, moreover, peculiarly uncongenial to troops who were accustomed to open warfare. In Jan., Germany ceased to pay the annual subsidy of 50 million francs, which she had given Bulgaria since she entered the war, and after March she sent her no further supplies of munitions and equipment. The publication of President Wilson's Fourteen Points (Jan.) had great influence on feeling in Bulgaria. Relations had never been broken off with the United States, and attempts were made to induce the President to promise Macedonia to Bulgaria. Articles in praise of the United States were allowed to appear in the press, and the Bulgars, on their part, professed to be ready to desist from the offensive which was then projected, and to make a separate peace. In May, Rumania signed the Treaty of Bucharest, by which the Dobruja was ceded to the Central Powers in condominium, Bulgaria regaining what Rumania had taken from her in 1913. In June the Radoslavov Cabinet, which was despised and detested throughout the country, fell and the King selected Malinov to form a new ministry. The change of Government did not mean a definite change of policy, and Mali- nov was reproached later for not insisting at once on a separate
