uary 1908, and by the so-called
"Geshoff incident," _i.e._ the exclusion of M. Geshoff, the Bulgarian
agent, from a dinner given by Tewfik Pasha, the Ottoman minister for
foreign affairs, to the ministers of all the sovereign states represented
at Constantinople (12th of September 1908). This was interpreted as an
insult to the Bulgarian nation, and as the explanation offered by the grand
vizier was unsatisfactory, M. Geshoff was recalled to Sofia. At this time
the bloodless revolution in Turkey seemed likely to bring about a
fundamental change in the settled policy of Bulgaria. For many years past
Bulgarians had hoped that their own orderly and progressive government,
which had contrasted so strongly with the evils of Turkish rule, would
entitle them to consideration, and perhaps to an accession of territory,
when the time arrived for a definite settlement of the Macedonian Question.
Now, however, the reforms introduced or foreshadowed by the Young Turkish
party threatened to deprive Bulgaria of any pretext for future
intervention; there was nothing to be gained by further acquiescence in the
conditions laid down at Berlin. An opportunity for effective action
occurred within a fortnight of M. Geshoff's recall, when a strike broke out
on those sections of the Eastern Rumelian railways which were owned by
Turkey and leased to the Oriental Railways Company. The Bulgarians alleged
that during the strike Turkish troops were able to travel on the lines
which were closed to all other traffic, and that this fact constituted a
danger to their own autonomy. The government therefore seized the railway,
in defiance of European opinion, and in spite of the protests of the
suzerain power and the Oriental Railways Company. The bulk of the Turkish
army was then in Asia, and the new regime was not yet firmly established,
while the Bulgarian government were probably aware that Russia would not
intervene, and that Austria-Hungary intended to annex Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and thus incidentally to divert attention from their own
violation of the treaty of Berlin. On the 5th of October Prince Ferdinand
publicly proclaimed Bulgaria, united since the 6th of September 1885
(_i.e._ including Eastern Rumelia), an independent kingdom. This
declaration was read aloud by the king in the church of the Forty Martyrs
at Trnovo, the ancient capital of the Bulgarian tsars. The Porte
immediately protested to the powers, but agreed to accept an indemnity. In