newed ferocity afterward in the territory acquired
after the Second Balkan War.

Between the Serbs and the Bulgars the hatred may be very intense at
this present moment on account of the Second Balkan War and because
King Ferdinand, helped by Austria and Germany, has at last
accomplished his long-prepared ambition to crush Serbia. When Bulgar
meets Serb they naturally fraternize. The prejudice between them is
really artificial. It has been partly created and wholly fanned into
flame by the governing cliques for political reasons. In fact, it
may be said that all these hatreds would gradually die out were it
not for the artificial irritation that has been kept up by the
governing cliques of the respective states. The fact that they could
all combine against the Turks in the First Balkan War seems evidence
enough that union is not impossible, if only the various kings and
their supporters would suppress their personal ambitions and greed
and consider the welfare of their respective people as of the first
importance.

CHAPTER XIII

BULGARIA

The present war is the logical sequel of the successive scenes of
the drama enacted in the Balkan theatre. And though original causes
may be found still farther back in history, by beginning with the
liberation of Bulgaria, the whole story may be fairly well unfolded.
All students of Balkan history are fairly well agreed on the point
that the Treaty of Berlin is responsible for most of the troubles
that have come since.

At that time in 1877 Turkey still controlled all of the Balkan
Peninsula except Greece, including Bosnia, Herzegovina, and
Rumania. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro, however, were only
nominally part of Turkey, since they were allowed to have their own
ruling princes and enjoyed almost complete independence. The Bulgars
were still governed by Turkish pashas, and were in no way allowed to
participate in their own government.

For many years there had been revolutionary activities among them,
whose aim was to prepare and stir up the peasants to active revolt
against the rule of the Turks. It was part of Russia's policy to
encourage these conspirators, for a strong revolutionary uprising
might always be the opportunity for intervention and ultimate
annexation.

In the spring of 1876 a slight uprising took place under the
leadership of some schoolmasters, some of whom had been educated in
Russia and had there imbibed the Panslavist idea: the ultimate unio