d Sofia.
Here it was that the Serbians lost 7,000 killed and 30,000 wounded of
their best men, as against 5,000 killed and 18,000 wounded in the whole
war with Turkey; a total loss that was bound to be felt a few months
later when the struggle was to be against so powerful an adversary as
Austria-Hungary. The two previous wars had, without exaggeration,
deprived the Serbian fighting forces of one-tenth their number--a tenth
that was of the very best of first-line troops.

[Illustration: Pictorial Map of the Balkans.]

Added to this was another serious handicap, possibly even more serious.
Serbia had, indeed, emerged victorious from the two wars, with a large
stretch of conquered territory at her backdoor. But this acquired
territory, practically all of Macedonia that had not gone to Greece, was
peopled by Serbs. For twenty-five years these Macedonians had been
organized into revolutionary fighting bands, the "Macedonian Committee"
for the liberation of Macedonia and Albania from the Turks, and had
struggled, not only against the Turks, but against foreign armed bands
of propagandists. Some eight years subsequently to the foundation of the
Macedonian Committee of native origin, the Bulgars founded in 1893 their
committee which was called the Macedo-Adrianople Committee. During the
First Balkan War these experienced guerrilla fighters were valuable
allies to the Serbian forces operating against the Turks.

But even before the First Balkan War the Serbians had very distinctly
given the Macedonians to understand that they were to remain Serbian
subjects. This action on their part had had not a little to do with
rousing the Bulgarians to precipitate the Second Balkan War. And when
finally Serbia conquered all this territory, confirmed to her down to
Doiran by the treaty of Bucharest, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria began at
once a fiery anti-Serb propaganda throughout the world, and took
measures through provocatory agents and Bulgar bands crossing from
Bulgaria into Macedonia to create disturbances.

When the Great War broke out in July, 1914, this Bulgarian activity in
Serb Macedonia grew more intense. Thus it was that when the Austrians
attacked the Serbians on their front the Serbians had still to detach
enough of their forces to guard the Serbo-Bulgar border to prevent the
crossing into Serb Macedonia of Bulgar bands. And added to this was the
danger from Bulgaria herself. The Serbians knew that the opportune
moment had