Page:The New Europe - Volume 4.djvu/72

Rh for a coalition cabinet in Austria. It is no new political orientation nor is it new tactics. It has been long in preparation and is now being tried. Its success depends upon our ability to distinguish the true from the false. .

some event favourable to the Entente occurs, such as the intervention of America, there is fresh talk of separate peace with Bulgaria. As one who knows conditions and tendencies in that country, I can affirm positively that this is out of the question, and that to believe the contrary is to misunderstand completely the true internal situation and the spirit which animates the Bulgarian people as a whole. Such a verdict rests not on mere vague speculations, but on information brought by travellers from Bulgaria, on a careful reading between the lines of the Bulgarian Press, and on the attitude of Bulgarian circles in Switzerland.

The causes are at once moral and material—on the one hand the cult of force and the Germanic idea, on the other the hold which Germany has obtained over the army and other institutions on which Bulgaria’s security and independence depend. To begin with. Tsar Ferdinand and his Government are incapable of estimating exactly the true military position of the rival groups. The German General Staff, through its agents in the palace and in the Government, represents the military situation of the Central Powers as definitely superior to that of the Entente. The peace proposals of the former are regarded in Sofia, not as a sign of weakness, but merely as a proof of devotion to the cause of peace.

The Bulgarian people is inspired by the cult of Germany. Since war broke out, it has followed with ever growing admiration the achievements of the Germans, and has remained blind to such events as the battles of the Marne and Verdun, accepting trustfully the official communiqués of the Central Powers. The fact that the latter are fighting outside their