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io 96
INTRIGUES AT SOFIA [chap.viii.
war; one really could not believe in the Italian Fleet
blockading the Dardanelles, and that quite recently the
Italians had tried to break through the Straits. The only
complaint heard—and that a bitter one—was of stagnation
in commercial affairs.
In May and June there appeared on the whole to be a
political lull in Sofia. The King was still abroad, and
M. Gueshov at some watering-place. But shortly after
my return from Constantinople, I learnt through several
sources that very important business was being
transacted at the Bulgarian Foreign Office, and more
especially at the War Office. My Serbian colleague was
also holding frequent interviews with the Bulgarian
Ministers and politicians. The tone of the Bulgarian
Press was becoming more and more nervous with regard
to Macedonia and what was going on there. In the streets
of Sofia one met more and more frequently brown and
sunburnt individuals with gloomy expressions, sometimes
armed to the teeth, who were the object of great curiosity ;
these were the heads of well-known troops arriving from
Macedonia. Finally I was informed in a more definite
manner that Serbia and Bulgaria were on the point of
concluding a military convention aimed exclusively at
Turkey. Having some slight knowledge of the
psychology of Balkan nations, I soon possessed proof that my
fears of a conflagration were about to be realised. After
a little hesitation, on the 4th July, 1912, I dispatched a
fairly long code-telegram to M. Sazonoff, in which I
mentioned all the alarming signs I had noticed, and I
concluded the telegram by expressing my deep-rooted
conviction that both on the Bulgarian and the
Serbian-side, they were actively preparing for war, and that they
even intended to hasten events. I heard later that
my telegram produced an impression highly
unfavourable to me.
" Have you read Nekludoffs hysterical telegram ? " the
heads of departments and the young secretaries of
SazonolFs set were continually asking each other.
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