Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. The Balkan war, 1912 (continued)
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i9i3] RUSSIAN ARBITRATION ACCEPTED 153
enter into negotiations which might end in the
metamorphosis of a portion, even though a minute one, of
the Bulgarian population into subjects of another State,
and that, moreover, without any wish on their part.
"One of the regiments which has distinguished
itself most in the present campaign," said Gueshov to
me, "is the regiment of Silistria, composed of citizens
of that town and its environs. How could we suddenly
say to the soldiers of this regiment, which is before
Chataldja: ’You are no longer Bulgarians, you are
Rumanians !’" Truly an unanswerable argument.
However, I employed my best efforts and all means
of persuasion to accomplish the object proposed by our
Foreign Office, and at the crucial moment when the
question was to be settled by a Council of Ministers
presided over by the King, I wrote Gueshov a letter
which he could and should show to His Majesty, and to
his colleagues, in which—in the name of the higher
interests of Bulgaria—I insisted on the necessity for
her to accept the Russian proposition and to refer the
question to the judgment of a conference of Ambassadors
in St. Petersburg. My arguments finally prevailed ; the
Bulgarians bowed to our advice, and after a few sittings,
the conference, presided over by M. Sazonoff, announced
the result of the arbitration : Rumania was to receive
the town of Silistria and some territories along the
frontier, but these latter were so insignificant that as a
matter of fact they were not worth the trouble taken by
Rumania in raising this whole question. The two sides
accepted the award, but Rumania resolved in petto to
raise her claims afresh with regard to Bulgaria at the first
favourable opportunity. From this moment the
Rumanian Government sought to draw closer to Belgrade
and Athens, estimating very judiciously that the
"allies" would end in coming to blows, and that then
Rumania would have the chance of obtaining from
Bulgaria far more substantial concessions than those
which had just been awarded to her.
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