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i9i3] DIPLOMATIC INFLUENCES
President of the Council, M. Kokovtzoff, made itself
particularly loudly heard in this chorus. Subsequent
events have proved how right he was!
As to the demarcation between Serbians and
Bulgarians, M. Hartwig’s influence was very discernible in
the question, as were also our very natural feelings of
special sympathy with the Serbians. We Russians are
generally prone to prefer the soft outlines of sentiment
to the rigid lines of justice. Moreover, one must allow
that the events which occurred later and the noble
behaviour of the Serbians have completely justified—
from a historic point of view—the^preference we showed
for them in 1913.
On the question of the Greco-Bulgarian frontier
we, with good reason, adhered to the principle that,
after all that had just occurred between Greeks and
Bulgarians, it was impossible to give the Bulgarians
any territories and towns with a Greek population.
This principle alone ought to have been sufficient cause
for us not to insist on the idea of leaving Kavala to the
Bulgarians; but in addition there was the insistence
of our faithful friend and ally, France, who was guided
in the matter by her consistent and traditional
phil-hellenism.
No doubt in giving in to the somewhat exaggerated
territorial claims of Serbia, Greece, and Rumania, our
Foreign Office was subject to certain Court influences.
The Royal Family of Greece, doubly related to our
Imperial Family, had latterly acquired a new advocate
for Greece in the person of the captivating
Grand-Duchess Helen — daughter of the late Grand-Duke
Vladimir—who had just married Prince Nicolas of
Greece. The Serbian Court had as a delegate in St.
Petersburg the intelligent and sympathetic Princess
Helen, daughter of King Peter, lately married to a
prince of the blood, John Constantinovitch. Finally,
at the Rumanian Court the matrimonial schemes of
M. Sazonoff seemed to be thriving, and we were already
anticipating ties of relationship with Bukharest in the
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