(Hail Emperor, Cæsar and King. Thou art victor and glorious [Gloriosus really means braggart]. In ancient Nish all the peoples of the east salute thee, the redeemer, bringing prosperity and salvation to the oppressed.)
The Kaiser’s reply was couched in the same strain, and laid special emphasis upon the fact that the honours conferred by Germany and Austria upon Ferdinand had made him “One of Us.”
No phrase could have been more expressive. Ferdinand had become, for the time being, a minor German Prince. He had given over his adopted people to the German yoke, and Bulgaria had become as much part of Germany as Bavaria or Saxony. That, and nothing less, was the outcome of a willing treachery that was prompted by wild dreams of self-aggrandisement that are doomed never to see fulfilment.
And there, for the present, Ferdinand of Bulgaria must be left.
It is difficult to harmonize his present position with the ambitions that have principally made his life and career remarkable. Those ambitions could only be realized by the extinction of the Ottoman Power in Europe. He has taken up arms against the forces which are pledged to bring about that consummation. He has linked himself in arms with the Power he has planned throughout a long reign to despoil. The path before him is a very obscure and tortuous one even for the Shoddy Czar, whose word is as valueless as his signature to a solemn pledge.
What inducement can he advance to his people to continue this war, from which they have nothing more to gain, and which has already involved them in such heavy loss of life? There can be no other inducement than the strong constraint imposed by the German forces who have taken possession of the Balkans. It is dangerous to prophesy with a man so elusive as Ferdinand, but he appears now to be on the threshold of the most difficult stage in his career. He has strong enemies within his own State, and will have to encounter the most bitter opposition from the open enemies arrayed in arms against him.
Some, at least, of his friends are palpably lukewarm. No genuine tie could possibly link Turkey with Bulgaria. On the other hand, the just anger of his enemies is a common motive to ensure his thorough and lasting punishment. His people may hope, by a timely repentance, to escape the consequence of their cowardly transgressions; but not so Ferdinand. He is the supreme offender, and must pay the maximum penalty.
It was not to end in such an impasse that his mother instructed him in the mysteries of kingcraft, and advised him throughout his early years of insecurity in Bulgaria. Had she lived, he might have chosen differently, for Clementine, daughter of France as she was, could never have endured the supremacy of German influence which Ferdinand’s policy has brought about. It may well be that her death was the turning-point in his career, the beginning of a downward march on which one well-defined stage has already been marked, the reverse of the second Balkan war.
For many years the influence of the Shoddy Czar has been a malign one. His character, his training, his ideals, and the barbarism of the people he governs have made Bulgaria a lasting threat to the peace of Europe. One of the many good results we may hope to derive from the war will be the disappearance from the realm of international politics of so unscrupulous and autocratic a ruler as Ferdinand of Bulgaria.
Finis.