ainment of Bulgarian race-unity
through the annexation of those Bulgar-inhabited portions of Macedonia
that remained under Turkish rule. For this the Bulgarian people toiled
and taxed themselves without stint. For this they built up a military
machine relatively the most formidable on earth.

[Sidenote: Projects of the leaders.]

But that was by no means the whole story. Race-unity may have been the
goal for which the simple Bulgarian peasant drilled and delved. His
leaders had more grandiose projects in view. This was specially true of
the Bulgarian monarch, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a man of great
political sagacity, but of a cynical unscrupulousness rivaling
Machiavelli's "Prince." Ferdinand's dream was a great Bulgarian empire
embracing the entire Balkan Peninsula, with its seat at Constantinople
and his exalted self occupying the imperial throne. This implied both
the expulsion of the Turks from Europe and the subjugation of the other
Christian Balkan peoples. In the Balkan War of 1912 Bulgaria's hour
seemed to have struck, but Ferdinand for once overplayed his hand, and
Bulgaria's Balkan rivals beat her on the battle-field and forced her to
the humiliating Peace of Bukharest in 1913.

[Sidenote: the Peace of Bukharest.]

The Peace of Bukharest was not a constructive settlement. It was an
attempt on the part of embittered enemies to punish Bulgaria's ambitions
and keep her permanently down. The result was most unfortunate. Playing
upon their balked desire for race-unity, Ferdinand bound his subjects to
his wider imperialistic designs. Raging under their humiliations and
their failure to redeem their Macedonian brethren, the Bulgarians
declared themselves ready to league with the devil if they might thereby
tear up the Bukharest parchment and revenge themselves upon their
enemies.

[Sidenote: The opportunity for revenge.]

The opportunity was not long in coming. The Pan-German devil was already
preparing his stroke for world dominion, and when the blow fell in 1914,
Bulgaria's alinement was almost a foregone conclusion. The military
losses in the recent Balkan Wars had of course so weakened her that
cautious diplomatic jockeying was a preliminary necessity, but when
Russia had succumbed to Hindenburg's hammer-strokes in the summer of
1915 and the Germanic hosts menaced Serbia in the autumn, Bulgaria threw
off the mask, struck Serbia from the rear, and joined the Teutonic
powers. Thus did the "Berlin-Bag