The Turk and his lost provinces

by William Eleroy Curtis

PRINCE FERDINAND OF BULGARIA

Draga was ambitious to share the throne with her youthful lover, although she was nearly twice his age, but her high aspirations were stubbornly opposed by the ministers of state and the leading politicians of Servia. After the abdication of his father, Prince Alexander, during his minority, ruled the country through three regents, all venerable and patriotic men, but it became necessary for Draga to get rid of them for her own safety and the success of her schemes. She found the young king a willing tool, and one night, when he was only seventeen years old, he invited the regents to the palace, and while they sat at dinner they were arrested upon a charge of treason and thrown into prison, while he proclaimed himself king. This coup d’état was successful, for the army admired the audacity of the youngster and sustained him. He has since married his mistress, and she remains as influential as ever, the most interesting and conspicuous figure in Servian politics.

King Alexander is a degenerate, and his brief career is disgusting. He looks as if he had escaped from an asylum for the depraved, but is by no means feeble of mind or body. On the contrary, he has a vigorous constitution, and on two or three occasions has shown a nerve and power of command which would do credit to a great general. Unfortunately he has inherited some of the depravity of his father, the late King Milan, who was probably the worst ruler Europe has seen for a generation, but at the same time the son possesses a physical and moral courage that Milan never displayed.

Draga Maschin, the daughter of the Servian cattle-dealer, reached the throne by a series of sacrifices and intrigues more sensational than have ever occurred outside of fictional literature; and yet she is not happy, because for their sins both she and her youthful husband are boycotted by all the courts of Europe. Queen Victoria was so disgusted at the vulgar comedy enacted at Belgrade that she wanted to emphasize her disapproval by withdrawing the British minister. There have been a good many scandals in royal families, and some exist at the present time, which would make an interesting chapter, but there has been nothing for generations so nasty as that of Servia. As a consequence the royal couple have not been recognized in any way by other royal houses, much to the chagrin and disappointment of Queen Draga.

The latest political crisis in Servia was due to the lack of a baby. The country was excited by intrigues attending the selection of an heir to the throne. Our guide sagaciously observed that “some people complain of having too many children, but this is the first time I ever heard of national politics being disturbed by the lack of one.” Servia is a little country, but is an important factor in European politics, being one of the “buffer states” between Russia and the port on the Mediterranean which the Czar covets. Austrian influence is stronger than Russian, yet there is a Russian party which also represents the interest of a family whose ancestors once occupied the throne, and are all the time suspected of being engaged in a conspiracy to recover power. These conspiracies have been more frequent than ever of late years, and the field for intrigue is the more fertile because Queen Draga has not furnished an heir to the crown, and the doctors say that she is not likely to do so. It therefore becomes necessary to select a successor to King Alexander in order to avoid revolution if he should suddenly die or be driven from the palace. By selecting the heir-apparent in advance, future conspiracies may be avoided; but the political interests of a great part of the European continent are directly involved in the selection, and the question is, Shall Russia name the man?

Negotiations were conducted for several years between the Servian minister of foreign affairs and Count Lamsdorff, the head of the foreign office at St. Petersburg, for a visit to the Czar, which is the height of the ambition of both King Alexander and his Queen, and a matter of political importance for the Russians. This involved the political control of Servia, and the nomination of an heir to the Servian throne. Although Queen Draga had other plans, and desired her brother, a young lieutenant in the Servian army, to be proclaimed heir-apparent, she was willing to sacrifice him and all the rest of her relations if the Empress Alix would receive her. But the latter, who is a good woman, absolutely refused to do so, and even declined to answer a letter which Queen Draga wrote, imploring her kindly consideration. It is said that she threw the letter indignantly into the fire before reading it, as soon as she discovered whom it was from.

It is one of the open secrets of the Servian court that Queen Draga proposed that if the Emperor and Empress of Russia would receive her husband and herself at their country palace near Odessa, King Alexander would nominate, as his successor on the Servian throne, Prince Mirko, son of Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, and brother of Helena, Queen of Italy. The royal family of Montenegro have very close relations with the Russians, and are always educated at St. Petersburg. Prince Mirko is a great favorite with the widow dowager Czarina, and spent several years of his childhood in her family, developing a remarkable taste for music. He is such a clever composer that his music is played by all the Russian military bands, and is equally popular in Italy. He is a good-looking lad of twenty-one, of stalwart figure and athletic habits. His life has been very different from that of the depraved young King of Servia; in fact, all the members of the family of Montenegrins have been admirably brought up and are persons of cultivation and refinement.

Two of his sisters, who were also educated under the direction of the dowager Czarina, have married members of the Russian imperial family, and their dowry was provided by the late Czar. Danilo, crown prince of Montenegro, married a daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and is, therefore, a brother-in-law of the Grand Duke Vladimir, who gave him a million rubles to start housekeeping. Thus the interest of the Russian imperial family, as well as the ministers of state, was excited by the prospect of securing a throne for young Mirko, and the Servians realized that such an inducement would have great weight with the Czarina Alix and might possibly persuade her to consent to receive a woman with even so bad a record as Queen Draga.

The Italian interest in the appointment of Mirko was equally great. Queen Helena was an active participant in the negotiations with Servia for Mirko’s nomination. The Servians do not care so much for Italy as for Russia. Queen Draga did not care whether the Queen of Italy received her or not, but of course appreciated that Queen Helena might exert some influence upon the Czarina.

There was still another and very important political phase to the negotiations. Peter Karageorgovitch, the “pretender” to the Servian throne, married a sister of Mirko, the eldest daughter of Prince Nicholas, and, although she died in 1887, he is still considered a member of the Montenegrin family, and the relations between his sons and their uncles and aunts in Montenegro are very cordial. Two of these sons are now at a military school at St. Petersburg, and a third is in the Russian army. It might be that Peter would renounce formally all pretensions on the part of himself and the Karageorgovitch family to the throne of Servia if his brother-in-law, Mirko, were proclaimed heir-apparent. This would be a great advantage to Servia, and would do more than any other one thing to put an end to the conspiracies and political agitations which have distracted this country.