Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-12-20
BULeARs ARE BORN FIGHTERS
They Make a Religious Study Of Mill
tary Tactics.

They Make a Religious Study Of Mill.
tary Tactics.
Writers Of the history which to the
man Of today is news, will no doubt
give much space in the accounts of the
Balkan war Of 1912 to the remarkable
efficiency Of the Bulgarian army. which
on this side Of the Atlantic, ut least,
was almost an unknown factor.
The fact that the campaign Of the
Balkan states against Turkey was per-
fected long before the war began is
! conceded, but yet the remarkable pre-
cision with which Bulgaria has made
every move and has accomplished up
to the present everything she had set
out to do, Is source Of considerable
wonderment to the layman who takes
only a passing interest in foreign af-
fairs.
Up to the time Of writing, only one
part Of the Bulgarian plan has not been
carried out. That is the fall of Adrian
ople But Turkey for this has to thank
the committee Of Union and Progress
which, as Is known, overthrow the gov
ernment In 1909. Whether the Young
Turks, as the committee Is known, have
done the empire any real good ig q
mooted question, but it Is certain that
they have done at least one thing, and
that Is to make Adrianople a formida-
BILE fortress instead Of q town with
crumbling defenses, as It was before
the inception Of the present regime.
The Young Turks in the hands Of their
competent foreign advisers, realized
that from this direction would come
their most powerful enemy; that with
Adrianople In the enemy's hands there
would be little but the Tchatalja forti-
fications, also recently strengthened be-
tween the invader and Constantincple.
To go back into the history Of only
the past few years one finds the rever-
ence of the soldier in Bulgaria similar
to that state Of affairs existing in Ger
many without the Germanic worship OF
the sword and the brilliant uniform.
The Bulgarian army is an army Of
peasants, soldiers and officers alike
and all make a religious study Of mill
tary tactics inspired by patriotism, by
the national songs which tell Of Bull
garia's past glory and the inborn ha-
tired of the Turk.
The dream Of King Ferdinand, only
Car of the Bulgars since October q,
1908, is the driving Of the Turk into
Asia, from whence he may never return
or as diplomatists say. the sudden death
of the sick man Of Europe Then as
already has been limited, Ferdinand's
dream embraces the establishment Of a
Balkan empire, unification Of all the
Slav races. This is not an idle dream,
as glance into history will show, but
is the reassertion Of the ancient Hul-
garian policy. ~
The Slavs were the first to arrive In
the Balkan peninsula In the third CEN
tury. On their arrival they found towns
and strongholds, roads and buildings
of all sorts left by the Romans. The
-Buigarians, originally ez-tsibe-oussSthe
banks Of the Volga migrated in the
sixth century and overran the greater
part Of the eastern peninsula.
The history Of Bulgaria is a record. Of
constant war and strife. Twice she has
been ground under the heel Of Turkey
or Byzantium, each time due to her In
ferior internal organization. In 1854 the
Prince Of the Bulgars, Boris. was bap-
tized, and they became dependent for
the first time on the patriarchate Of
Constantinople. In the following CEN
turies, the Bulgars, the usurpers in this
Slavonic stronghold, made war on the
Magyars and the Greeks and were VIC
torious in both instances. Then Prince
Semon assumed the title Of Gear Of all
the Bulgars, and the nations star en-
tered upon its ascendency. In 976 their
position had become so strong that the
reigning sovereign. Shishman. allowed
himself to dream of an empire Of all
the Slavs.
Constantly at war with the Byzantine
emperor, In which Bulgaria held her
own, she in 1856 combined with her ally
Servia to make another bold bid for
the unity Of the peninsula, pressing
down to the very walls Of Constanti-
nople, then Notifications worthy Of the
name and not the battered ruins that
they are today. So Bulgaria and Ser
via, historically speaking, are not on
unknown ground today, nor are they
attempting anything new in the way OF
an attack on their old enemy. In their
previous combined attack on the Otto
man capital, the Servians were defeated
in 1889 at the decisive battle OF Kosso-
vo. Tirnovo the Bulgarian capital,
was taken four years later by the Otto
| mans.
| Thus broken in spirit, the Bulgarians
confined themselves to spasmodic rebel
lions until their patriotism was re-
awakened in 1852 by Paysius, a mUnk
of Mt. Athos, by reviving memories of
ancient glory, and the Balkan states.
following the Crimean war, turned their
eyes toward Russia as the Power whose
hands held their future.
The insurrection in Bosnia In 1875
caused sympathetic excitement in every
quarter of the Balkans and the Turkish
inhabitants Of Bulgaria, aided by The
Bashi Bazouke, rose against the Chris
tians. This uprising. known as the Bull
garian atrocities, caused righteous In
dignation throughout Europe, and lead
ing as It did to the Russo-Turkish war
almost brought about the election OF
the Turk from Europe bag and bag
gage"
Returning to a discussion OF Bull
garia's army, 1t may be remarked that
her policy has always been congrucus
with her maxim Trust in Providence
but keep your powder dry" No mill
tary tactics that have any degree OF
success elsewhere have been left un-
tried in Bulgaria, particularly where
the strengthening Of land defenses