THE TRAIL OF WAR IN MACEDONIA 295 
the relief of a distressed people, suffering 
for centuries from the laxities of Turkish 
rule, always incompetent and every- 
where unscrupulous, and on the other 
hand continuously overrun by the out- 
law patriots which kept the land in 
incessant turmoil. 
The Balkan alliance was a Russian 
inspiration. It was planned by Hart- 
wig, Russian minister at Belgrade, “the 
A burned Macedonian village 
Greek refugees at Saloniki (from Thrace) 
