In the Balkans

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 53, 2 July 1915, Page 5

In the Balkans

The attitude of the Balkans is one which is causing the militant powers much uneasiness and uncertainty. Perhaps the best and most likely reason why Roumania, Bulgaria, and Greece do not come into the struggle is that there is a veiled conflict between the throe Kings and the hulk of the peoples. Two of the Kings are pro-Ger-man, and the third is pro-Austrian. King Ferdinand, of Roumania, is a German, and a Hohenzollern. King Ferdinand, of Bulgaria, is German by blood, for he belongs to the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gofcha, and Austrian by upbringing and sympathy. The King of Greece was born a Greek, but his sympathies are coloured by the fact that he is married to a Princess of Prussia, who is a sister of the Kaiser, Thus all these Balkan royalties, Roumania. Greece and Bulgaria, are joined to the" Germanic powers by ties which to them are supreme. As far as peoples are concerned, the Roumanians are overwhelmingly sympathetic with the Allies. These people are bitterly anti-Magyar, and dream of the acquisition of the Hungarian province of Transylvania, where half the population is Roumanian and greatly oppressed. Roumania also looks dearly at Bukovina of which one-third of the population are Roumanian. The Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria is so crafty and untrustworthy that his country's attitude is hard to define. Bulgaria has a great, conception of her own wrohgs whicn are more or less imaginary. She will not inraive SerI via for taking a large slice of Macedonia. She resents the presence of Greece at Kavalla. a port on the Aegean Sea. She is angry with Ronmania for taking away pnyt of Dob-, rudscha from her. On the other hand, Adrianople is the apple of the eye of the Bulgarian.*, and they know very well they will not get it if they leave the punshmeut of Turkey to ethers alone. Greece is as inconsistent as ever, and the habitual irresolution of I the people affords King Constantino the people afforded King Constantino an opportunity to avoid quarrels with bis German friends (to vvhon he owes little), while at the same time lie keeps amicable terms with the Al'ies. Owing to German intrigue and press campaigning, none of the Balkan States has any strong conviction that the Allies will lie victorious. The 'successful issue of the Dardanelles 'operations will no doubt firmly convince these nationally-aspirant ambitious quibbling States that the Allies will win.