Her premier, Radoslavov, head of the Bulgarian Liberal Party, whose
policy has always been anti-Russian, is one of the most astute
politicians in the Balkans, and this description is equally true of
King Ferdinand as a monarch. These two stated definitely Bulgaria's
price; that part of Macedonia which was to have been allowed to her by
the agreement which bound her to Serbia and Greece during the first
Balkan War; the Valley of the Struma, including the port of Kavalla,
that part of Thrace which she herself had taken from Turkey, and the
southern Dobruja, the whole of the territory Rumania had filched from
her while her back was turned during the two Balkan wars.

The Entente Powers held council with the other Balkan States, each of
which had taken its share of booty from Bulgaria. In order to persuade
them to consent to Bulgaria's terms, they suggested certain
compensations for the concessions they were asked to make. To Serbia,
which, in spite of her very precarious situation at the time, was very
averse to returning any part of her Macedonian territory, they pointed
out that she could find compensation in adding to her territory
Bosnia, Herzegovina and the other Slav provinces of Austria, where the
population was truly Serb. To Rumania, which was already willing to
meet Bulgaria half way, they promised Transylvania and Bukowina. To
Greece, which had done less and gained more than any of the other
states during the two Balkan Wars and so could afford to be generous,
they held out the prospect of gaining a considerable area in Asia
Minor, thickly populated by Greeks.

These changes naturally all depended on the complete defeat of the
Teutonic Powers, but Bulgaria demanded that at least some, and
especially Serbian Macedonia, should be handed over to her at once.

This latter demand brought about strong opposition. The other Balkan
States considered that, granting even that all these concessions were
to be promised to Bulgaria, she should not expect their fulfillment
until she had earned them by helping to defeat the Teutonic Powers.

Venizelos, the premier of Greece, and probably the most broad-minded
statesman in the Balkans, stated that, on the part of Greece,
concessions to Bulgaria were possible, though, as developed later, in
this he did not have the backing of the King and the rest of the
governing clique. In February no progress in the negotiations had been
made, though a special French Commission, headed b