New-York tribune., 1918-01-11
Serbia was left in possession Of Macedonia

Serbia was left in possession Of Macedonia
north Of the Greek frontier and west of,
the Rhodopian Mountains, while Greece
pushed her frontier across the Struma,
taking the districts of Drama and Kavala,
which Ncnizelos had been willing to con-
cede to the Rulgar before the Second Bal
kan War.
The destruction of the Balkan League,
the victory and aggrandzcncnt of Serbia
and the very severe penalties imposed
upon Bulgaria, which lost all Of Mace
donia, large territories between the Dan
ubc and the Black Sea to Rumania, and
was evicted from Adrianople by the Turk,
created situation in the Balkans which
had dramatic and terrible consequences
when the Great War came. Bulgaria
thcnccsorth became in fact the tool and in
name the ally Of Austria and Germany
and presently entered the war at mo-
ment fatal to Allied prospects in the
Balkans.
President Wilson in demanding that
Serbia shall be restored and permitted
access to the open sea unquestionably has
in mind giving to Serbia Northern Al
bania and thus fulfilling the agreement
made between Serbia and Bulgaria in
1912. The Presidents further reference
expects that when she has had her lcgiti-
mate demands for a free outlet recognized
Serbia will make concessions to Bull
garia, and that Bulgaria, having her title
confirmed to much of Macedonia, will turn
her attention to self-dcvelopmcnt and
abandon her alliance with the Central
Powers, which has made her the disturb
ing element in the Balkans from 1912
onward.
Sir Edward Grey's diplomacy during all
the fatal period in 1915, when he was
.rickcd and deceived by Ferdinand of Bull
garia and Constantine of Greece into sacri
!icing Serbia and running Allied prospects
in the Balkans, was steadily based upon
the hope of restoring the Balkan League,
which defeated Turkey in 1912 and broke
down as a result of the Conference of
London in the following year. Sir Ed
ward Greys conviction that the Balkan
states. to exist, must have a common basis
Of agreement and common unity against
external pressure was sound in theory and
has been adopted, one may conjecture, by
President Wilson. The difficulty with the
situation which proved insurmountable in
1915 was that the Car of Bulgaria had
sold out his country to the Austro- Ger
mans, while all Bulgarians were deter
mined to regain those territories they be-
lieIed to be Bulgar and had lost in the
Second Balkan War.
If it were possible to conceive of some
change in the situation in Bulgaria by
which the Austro- German influence could
be upset and the Bulgarian people consent
to join with the other Balkan peoples in a
fair settlement Of the age-long jealousieS'
and rivalries, then President Wilson's pro-
posal might bear fruit; but there is NO
present indication that the Bulgarian gov
eminent or Car is ready to listen to rea-
sonable proposals. On the contrary. Bull
garia claims now all the seacoast of Ru-
mania, all Of Macedonia, the eastern half
Of Serbia, including the Morava and Var
dar rivers; the Drama and Kavala dis
tricts of Greece-and her ambition still
leads her toward Salonica and the AL
banian coast Of the Adriatic
Therefore there is no immediate pros
pect that President Wilson's proposal will
bear fruit in the Balkans but it is we'll to
recognize that in demanding that Serbia
shall have seacoast he has turned back
to the conditions Of 1912 and he has re-
opened a discussion on the only possible
basis by which a settlement can be made
which will give Serbia that outlet to the
sea to which she is entitled and without
which she can have no economic freedom,
and which also recognizes some portion Of
the Bulgarian aspirations in Macedonia.
l: would be unwise to believe that Mr..