New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-23
The Bulgarian Advance on
Kavala.

oNDcOlllOn 10 OdlOIlOds IL - NliN fNAiNAN'A
rather than the military aspect of th1
Bulgarian advance upon Kavala that
claims first attention. We're the Allies
contemplating an attack upon Bulgaria
and ultimately upon Turkey, by the coast
Of the Egean, the occupation of the Drama
and Kavala districts Of Greece by the Bull
CARS would have a real military Importance,
but no such attack is under consideration
The Allies are bending all their energies
70 get north. not east. And it may be re-
called that in 1913, at the time Of the Sec
ond Balkan War, the victories OF the
Greeks north and west Of Kavala, the sue
cess at Kilkis and the capture Of Sores,
which seems to-day again menaced from
the west. determined Bulgar retirement
from the district between the Struma and
Mesta rivers.
But on the political side the value to the
Bulgarians of Kavala is plain. To under
stand the Bulgarian mind it is necessary
TO 90 back to the Treaty of San Stefano,
when Russia. having defeated the Turk,
created that Greater Bulgaria which was
destroyed by the subsequent Congress Of
Berlin. but remained in the heart Of every
Bulgar the definite prophecy for his ma
TONS future. BY the Treaty of San Ste
fano Bulgaria received all the territory be-
tween the Mesta and the Struma, includ-
ing Kavala. She received also all of Mace
donia, up to the frontiers of Serbia, as
they existed before the First Balkan War.
In addition she received Nish, Prot and
Vrania. which were allotted to the Serb
at Berlin.
In the First Balkan War Bulgaria and
Serbia made an ante-bellum agreement
parttioning Macedonia. Serbia received
Skoplie (Uskub) and the territory north
of a line drawn from the old Serbo-Bul-
garian frontier north of Kustendil to Lake
Ochrida. Bulgaria received the rest Of
Macedonia, including the towns Of Neles,
Monastir. Ochrida and Istib. No arrange
ment was made before the war between
the Greek and the Bulgar, and in cOnse-
ouence there was a race between the two
both for Salonica and for Kavala. Greece
won both, but in the negotiations that fol
lowed Venizelos quite wisely consented to
cede to Bulgaria the territory east of the
Struma. the districts Of Drama and Ka-
vala.
For the Bulgarians the value of Kavala
is plain. 1t is the only possible port fol-
all of Western Bulgaria. 1t is situated di
rectly south Of Sofia, and down the Struma
Valley a railroad 'could be constructed
from Kustendil, the present railhead, civ
ing Bulgaria a commercial outlet. Kavals
is the only real harbor along this shore
Dedeagatch, now Bulgarian, is but an oper
roadstead, and it is connected with Bull
garia by a railroad which runs along
the edge Of the Notifications Of Adrian
ople. In point of fact, it ran through
Turkish territory until the eve Of the pres
ent conflict when Bulgaria received the
strip Of Turkish territory west of the
Martha as price for joining the Central
Powers.
When Bulgaria decided, spurred on by
Austria. to attack the Serbs and Greeks
in the Second Balkan War, her armies
were driven out Of the Drama and Kavala
districts by the Greeks and out of al
Macedonia by the Serbs. By the Treaty
of Bucharest she lost all of Macedonia
and in addition Greek possession of Ka-
vala and Drama was confirmed. As the
Turks took back Adrianople, Bulgaria
was thus cut off from any real access tc
the sea. and of her conquests Of the First
Balkan War she preserved little but the
shore of the Kgean between the mouths OF
the Martha and the Mesta.
1t was TO restore her situation that Bull
garia entered the present war. In her
campaign against Serbia she conquered
with German and Austrian aid, all Of
Macedonia and occupied all the territories
which had been assigned to her by the
Treaty OF San Stefano, save only for the
regions assigned 10 Greece by the Treaty
Of Bucharest. But all Of these territories
did not suffice, because Bulgaria was still
excluded from an Kgean port and Bulgar
eyes had been firmly fixed upon Salonica
and Kavala.
Venizelos, rightly recognizing that Bull
garia meant to have the two Greek towns
endeavorcd TO persuade his King in 1915 to
stand with the Serbs and fulfil their agree
ment Of 1913. But Constantine, wholly
under Teutonic influence and expecting the
victory of the Central Powers, declined
He had the guarantee Of his brother-in-
law. the Kaiser, that Greece would not be
deprived Of any territory by the Bulgars
and that the Central Powers would stay
their advance at the Greek frontier.
For a time this situation did prevail.
But now it is plain that the Bulgars have
made the occupation of Kavala one of the
conditions Of remaining in the war. In
other words,f Bulgaria, recognizing that