i'hutu by Frederick Moorc 

 CHOLERA VICTIMS THROWN FROM THE TRAIXS WHICH CAME INTO CONSTANTINOPLE 

 DAILY FOR WEEKS WITH SICK AND WOUNDED FROM THE LINES (SEE P. 21 5) 



crushed by the Turks in battle not many 

 years before. 



THE allies' SCHEME FAILS 



When the Turks rejected the propo- 

 sals of the newly Allied States of what 

 they termed interference in their internal 

 affairs, not all of the Allies declared war 

 but only little Montenegro with her army 

 of about 40.000 men — 40,000 against the 

 Turks' paper million ! 



In this preliminary declaratit)n of war 

 by Montenegro alone there must have 

 been a strategical design on the part of 

 the Allies. They evidently intended to 

 draw a large i)art of the Turkish army 

 off to the western extremity of the mili- 

 tary area, thereby weakening the armies 

 of Turkey that stood between the Bul- 

 garian border and Constantinople and giv- 

 ing the Bulgarian forces the best chance 

 of a successful rush, as they planned, 

 upon the Turkish capital. 



But the Turkish government, no doubt 

 advised by their foreign ex])erts. left the 

 garrisons of Scutari and other Turkish 

 towns in the neighborhood of Monte- 

 negro to take care of themselves and re- 

 inforced primarily the army that was to 



oppose the Bulgarians. The Turkish 

 plan was apparently to defeat the Bul- 

 garians first, and. having dealt with this 

 most formidable of their enemies, to turn 

 their attention later to the punishment of 

 the other States. 



But the Turks were not even equal to 

 the first of the tasks they set themselves. 

 They are a slow-moving race. I think it 

 was Moltke who said that the Turks be- 

 gin to defend a position only when an- 

 other army would consider capitulating. 



In the present war the Turk has shown 

 a number of times how slowly he learns 

 a lesson and how often he begins to act 

 upon an experience too late. Xeverthe- 

 Icss, as in the case at Chataldja and in 

 the historic example of Plevna, he will 

 defend too late with remarkable deter- 

 mination. 



i:ULC..\RIA M.\Ki:S A RECORD IN 

 MOBILIZATION 



In the case of the Bulgarian, the army 

 is a thing of s])eed and French-like dash. 

 The lUilgarian officers, in i)reparing as 

 they have for years for this war, de- 

 voured the history of Xa])oleon and 

 planned to emulate his quickness of 



205 



