The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-29

The forces in Macedonia are forces holding what is essential to preserve from the enemy the only outlet he would have from the Balkans to the Aegean at Salonica. II was vital to the allied interest to send an expedi- tionary force to Salonica when they did, though now it will be seen that it has new and added value. That value is political and we shall understand nothing of the three eastern theatres at Mesopotamia, Palestine and Macedonia political situations have changed since all three expeditions were undertaken
 ENEMIES OF EACH OTHER
 The two extraneous allies of the cen tral empires, Turkey and Bulgaria, were each attached to the Prussian dominion in Europe for reasons utter ly dissoCiated from the cause of Prus- sia, and each again was moved by mo- tives quite separate from the other Each was an enemy to the other in lasting and violent fashion unknowp even to the worst quarrels of the west. The Turkish empire came ip simply because the allied victory would put an end to the Turkish Ios- session of Constantinople and the Straits, while the Prussian victory promised the retention of both.
 The Prussian empire was still in ex- istence and the allies had a definite compact to hand over to the ompirs control of the entries to the Black sea Bulgaria came into the war as a government because its schen!ina and rascally monarch saw dynastic op- portunity for himself; but as a nation it came in because of the profound wrong the Bulgarians felt they had suffered when Austria, after the first Balkan war some years ago, egged on Serbia and Greece to occupy what is in the Bulgarians' eyes natlonal ter ritory.
 The Rulgarians also desired to re cover what they regarded as national territory taken from her in extreme need by Rumania at the same tune. As long as the cause of the central em. pires seemed victorious the strain ot war thus entered into by Turkey and Bulgaria, for reasons which mad noth- ing to do with the main quarrel was borne, though not cheerfully, but now that the tide has turned and Prussia cannot win the strain is becoming in tolcrable. Not only is this so, but the various circumstances which made each party enter the alliance havs changed. notably in the case of Fur. key, for the Russian empire no long CT exists.
 FEELING IN TURKEY
 The result is that in both Turkey and Bulgaria the popular feeling against the continuance of the war has become very strong indeed. The op- erations we are watching are quite as much political as military and eacf of them further shakes the rapidly waning adherence to the enemy's cause, which these two countries SC ivng maintained.
 To return from these general politica considerations to the operations them selves, we first note the apparent east with which the Bulgarian front is broker by the French and Serbian attack this week. It was the political condition ir Bulgaria probably which accounted fol this, but it was certainly something wt in the west hardly expected. $ The situation is as follows: The great tange of mountains of which southern Serbia is composed terminates above tho Macedonian plain in a long rather reg ular, steep and wooded ridge, stretch ing from the Vardar to the great bend of the Cerna. It is range of mountains from five to six thousand feet high and on the southern slopes this range il facing the plain where the main Bull garian defensive position is drawn up It was quite as strong as anything 1T the west prepared with the help of tho Austrian and German engineers over z period of more than two years.
 This line was broken in a sector o1 six miles, and the mountain positions be- hind it were carried with such rapidity that in 36 hours the gap was already 2s miles broad and the French and Serb