20,
1915, Italy had given her moral support by declaring war against
Bulgaria, but for the time being she offered nothing more material. On
October 21, 1915, British and French ships bombarded the Bulgarian
port of Dedeagatch, on the Gulf of Enos, and also a junction of the
railroad connecting Saloniki with Constantinople, but this had no
material result in deterring the Bulgarians from pressing their
campaign against the Serbians in Macedonia. On October 28, 1915,
Russian ships bombarded Varna, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria.
This was done, not so much for any material damage that could be done
to Bulgaria, but for the moral effect it might have on the population,
which was supposed to have very deep feelings of regard for Russia,
because she had freed them from the Turks in 1878. But the Bulgarian
troops previously stationed at this point had been replaced by Turkish
forces, so that it is probable that the Bulgarian population was not
much affected.

On land, the French troops under Sarrail had advanced farthest north;
on October 23, 1915, they defeated the Bulgarians severely at Rabrova
and pushed on to Krivolak, where they again engaged the Bulgarians on
the 30th and repulsed their attack. By November 2, 1915, the French
were at Gradsko, where the Tcherna joins the Vardar River, hoping to
get in touch with the Serbians who were defending the Babuna Pass and
whose guns they could hear pounding over the ten miles of intervening
mountain ridges. The British bore little of this fighting, having made
their advance over toward Lake Doiran.

But though the French had arrived within hearing of the Serbian guns,
they lacked the numbers that would give them the strength to push
farther. The French, indeed, had done well in their efforts to support
the Serbians in their distress. It was Great Britain that had not
lived up to her promise of affording "our Allies all the material
assistance in our power." So obviously had the British military
authorities failed that much public sentiment in Great Britain was
worked up against them, which became all the more acute when a
telegram from M. Pachitch, the Serbian premier, was published, in
which he said: "Serbia is making superhuman efforts to defend her
existence, in response to the advice and desire of her great ally. For
this she is condemned to death.... In spite of the heroism of our
soldiers, our resistance cannot be maintained indefinitely. We beg
you to do all you can