the object of the Greek
advance to Florina, but when the prize fell to Servia, though the
Greeks were appointed, it made no breach in the friendship of the
two Allies. Already no doubt they were both gratified that the
spheres of their military occupation were conterminous and that no
Turkish territory remained for Bulgaria to occupy west of the Vardar
River.

BULGARIAN MILITARY OPERATIONS

While Greece and Servia were scattering, capturing, or destroying
the Turkish troops stationed in Macedonia, and closing in on that
province from north and south like an irresistible vise, it fell to
Bulgaria to meet the enemy's main army in the plains of Eastern
Thrace. The distribution of the forces of the Allies was the natural
result of their respective geographical location. Macedonia to the
west of the Vardar and Bregalnitza Rivers was the only part of
Turkey which adjoined Greece and Servia. Thrace, on the other hand,
marched with the southern boundary of Bulgaria from the sources of
the Mesta River to the Black Sea, and its eastern half was
intersected diagonally by the main road from Sofia to Adrianople and
Constantinople. Along this line the Bulgarians sent their forces
against the common enemy as soon as war was declared. The swift
story of their military exploits, the record of their brilliant
victories, struck Europe with amazement. Here was a country which
only thirty-five years earlier had been an unknown and despised
province of Turkey in Europe now overwhelming the armies of the
Ottoman Empire in the great victories of Kirk Kilisse, Lule Burgas,
and Chorlu. In a few weeks the irresistible troops of King Ferdinand
had reached the Chataldja line of fortifications. Only twenty-five
miles beyond lay Constantinople where they hoped to celebrate their
final triumph.

THE COLLAPSE OF TURKEY

The Great Powers of Europe had other views. Even if the Bulgarian
delay at Chataldja--a delay probably due to exhaustion--had not
given the Turks time to strengthen their defences and reorganize
their forces, it is practically certain that the Bulgarian army
would not have been permitted to enter Constantinople. But with the
exception of the capital and its fortified fringe, all Turkey in
Europe now lay at the mercy of the Allies. The entire territory was
either already occupied by their troops or could be occupied at
leisure. Only at three isolated points was the Ottoman power
unsubdued. The city of Adrianople, though close