Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-10-21
BULGAR|A'S HANDS
TIED BY TREATY
NATION lNvoLUNTARILY PLACED
UNDER OTTOMAN SUE
RAiNTY.
FOR THIRTY YEARS BEEN WAIT
ING TO THROW OFF
YOKE.

FOR tnOSe VINO KNOW bulgaria ana
the Bulgarians, it is not hard to un-
derstand what Prince Ferdinand
proclamation means to his people. 1t
is the contamination of thirty years
OF patient, crafty, never-swerving eff
fort always directed to the one pur-
pose, by the minds of statesmen who
were not afraid TO match their wits
with those of the prime ministers of
the great western powers and whose
rewards were occasional victories. 1t
is the consummation, too, of the
prayers and hopes of the 100000 peo-
pie of Bulgaria, ever since the treaty
of Berlin, dictated by Disraeli, de-
prived them of the advantages Sc
cured for them by Russia in the
treaty of San Stefano.
A westerner can hardly appreciate
the Bulgars hatred of the Turk. 1t is
the relic of centuries of slavery, dur
ing the time when Europe was awak-
ing from the sleep of the middle ages,
and it is a hatred that knows no
bounds, no notifications, that is UNI
dying and impossible of mitigation.
Bulgarans have never forgotten that
in the olden days, when western Eu-
barbarism, the Car of all the Bulgars
dominated the entire Balkan PENN
sula, and the Bulgarian church was a
treasury of learning and art.
1t is far cry from Stephen Dushan,
last of the Balkan cZars, to- Ferdl-
nand, car of the Bulgars, and, indeed,
the Bourbon blood of Ferdinand con-
tains not one drop of the fluid that
flowed in the veins of the medieval
hero, but to the Bulgars the procla-
nation of Tirnova represents return
to the old estate. They are once
more the Bulgars, only 100000,
strong, to be sure, but able to stand
shoulder to shoulder with any other
race in Europe, pointing to the red,
white, and green colors, and remem-
boring that they are free and indie
pendent.
On the fatal field of Kosoyo, the
plain of the blackbirds," so called
IrOIn IH6 uOluCS VI SSdfOhSSio SAAeSI w
scended on the slain, June 10, 1889
Sultan Amurath dealt the final blow
to the Servian and Bulgarian armies
commanded by King Lazarus. From
that day until the last century, the
Ottoman Empire dominated eastern
Europe and the Balkan peninsula was
turned into a second Asia Minor. II
is one of the proudest boasts OF the
Rulears that for more than four cen
turies they were the bulwark of Eu'
rope against the Mohammedan ar.
mics. and that when they did fall
they fell gloriously, fighting to the
last
Then Degeneration Came.
But in the cycles that came after
Kosovo. the Bulgar race degenerated
sadly. 1t became a race OF stoilo
peasants, heavy, stupid, uneducated
and So 1t remained until the wave OF
instruction swept over Europe IL
the first half of the nineteenth cen
tury. One must admit, in the hrsl
place. that the Bulgars were the last
Oh the Ddlhdh PSOPASP
AGAINST the Turks. One Las TO admit
likewise, that when they were made
free. il was not because of their OWL
rude, undirected efforts, but by the
powerful Intervention of Russia But
that was because the Turkish neel
was always more firmly planted on
bulgaria than on her sister states OIL
Roumania and Servia, whose IRON
tiers bordered on Hungary and the
West
Ar any rate, San Stefano made Bull
garia nominally free from Russia
She was to have almost the whole OF
what is now known as Macedonia,
with a seacoast on the Aegean, besides
the country beyond the Rhadopes
Rpt this did not suit Disraeli. he
summoned the congress of Berlin and
British diplomacy proved too much
for Russian diplomacy. Bulgaria was
hacked. cut down, amputated into a
tuppeny, ha'peny princiality, vassal
state of Turkey. bound to pay nxeo
annual tribute. to be determined
later. 81
And the Bulgarians were not ais
eouraged, even though disappointed
They began their uphill fight al
once. They ignored the clauses OF
the treaty binding them to vassaiage'
they ignored the tribute to turkey
and. when the time came, In 1882
thew annexed eastern Rumelia,
Turkish province having about the
same status as Bulgaria proper and
over which the Prince OF Bulgaria
was goyernor-general. Turkey was
afraid to fight Bulgaria then, but Ser
via. Jealous at such an important &C
onisition by her younger neighDor'
declared war and was whipped at
Slivnitza-
since then Bulgaria has been de
voting her efforts to educating ner
people, to building up the most en-
oient fghting machine owned by 2