In 1877 Russia, as guardian of the Slav races of Turkey, declared war. As a result of the war, Bulgaria was created by the treaty of Berlin. July 13, 1878, and in 1885 Eastern Rumelia was added to the newly created principality. In 1908 the country was declared to be an independent kingdom. In 1912-1913 a successful war of the Balkan League against Turkey increased the size of the kingdom, but in August, 1913, a short campaign against the remaining members of the League reduced the acquired area, and led to the surrender of about two thousand square miles to Roumania. In October, 1915, Bulgaria decided to participate in the European conflict, and sided with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey, and attacked Servia.
NEW QUARTERS OF COPENHAGEN, CAPITAL OF DENMARK
DENMARK
DENMARK, the smallest of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, consists of the peninsula of Jutland and a group of islands in the Baltic, and is bounded by the Skager-Rak, the Cattegat, the Sound, the Baltic, the Little Belt, Sleswick, and the North Sea.
Surface.—Except in Bornholm, the surface of Denmark is very similar in every part of the kingdom, and is uniformly low, its highest point (in southeast Jutland) being only five hundred and sixty-four feet above sea-level. The coast is generally flat, skirted by sand-dunes and shallow lagoons, especially along the west side. Both the continental portion and the islands are penetrated deeply; by numerous fiords, the largest being Limfiord, which intersects Jutland, and has isolated the northern extremity of the peninsula since 1825, when it broke through the narrow isthmus which had separated it from the North Sea.
Rivers.—Denmark has numerous streams but no large rivers; the principal is the Guden, which flows northeast through Jutland into the Cattegat. It is navigable for part of its course. Less important streams are the Holm, the Lonborg, and the Stor Aa. All the others are insignificant brooks and streamlets.
The lakes are very numerous but not large, none exceeding five and one-half miles in length by about one and one-half miles broad. There are numerous winding inlets of the sea that penetrate far into the land. The largest of these, the Limfiord in Jutland, entering from the Cattegat by a narrow channel, winds its way through to the North Sea, thus making northern Jutland really an island. In this fiord, which widens out greatly in the interior and gives off various minor fiords, there are one large and various small islands.
Climate.—The climate is milder, and the air more humid than in the more southern but continental Germany; it is not unhealthy, except in the low lying islands, such as Laaland, where the short and sudden heat of the summer occasions fevers.
Production and Industry.—The common products are wheat, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and butter. Its manufactures are, for the most part, for home consumption. Its chief exports are agricultural produce, including wheat and barley, bacon, hams, flour, butter, eggs, hides, skins, corn meal and oil cake, horses and cattle.