Photo by Frederick Moore 



A re:minder of the past 



Along the shores of the Danube can be seen the remains of old Turkish fortresses, like the 

 one shown in the picture, which stands on the Bulgarian shore, opposite Rumania 



in that river), on a third by the Black 

 Sea, and on the fourth by what subse- 

 quently became Bulgaria. 



The object of this acquisition on Rus- 

 sia's part was to exchange the Dobrudja 

 for the coveted portion of Bessarabia, 

 thereby extending her boundaries south 

 to the Danube. To the Rumanians the 

 exchange was undesirable, for Bessa- 

 rabia might be called ethnically a Ru- 

 manian province, while the Dobrudja, 

 though somewhat larger than the terri- 

 tory surrendered, was peopled mainly by 

 Bulgarians and Turks, racial elements 

 not very easy for a Latin people to as- 

 similate. Furthermore, when the ques- 

 tion of the Dobrudja frontier came to be 

 settled, the Russian commissioner proved 

 himself more friendly to the new Slav 

 State of Bulgaria than to the erstwhile 

 ally of his country. 



Since the conclusion of the Berlin 

 treaty little has been heard of Rumania 

 until her recent brief war against Bul- 

 garia. The reason is that she has been 

 developing only on peaceful lines and 

 making no "history." So little has Ru- 

 mania been a danger to the peace of 

 Europe that European newspapers have 

 neglected the city of Bucharest, although, 

 in contrast, they have kept correspon- 



dents permanently in Sofia, the little cap- 

 ital of Bulgaria. 



Bulgaria has always been a menace 

 since the war of 1877, by which she was 

 created. She has been constantly pre- 

 paring, from time to time mobilizing, 

 and always intriguing for the day which 

 has come at last, the day for defeating 

 the Turks. On the other hand, Ruma- 

 nian hostilities to the Turks distinctly 

 subsided after the conclusion of the Ber- 

 lin Conference, in which Russia showed 

 so definitely that the Bulgarians were 

 her favorites. 



UNION OF BULGARIA WITH RUMANIA 

 PROPOSED 



It is interesting and important to note 

 that Russia's favor for Bulgaria lasted 

 less than ten years. In that brief space 

 of time the Bulgarians had let the Rus- 

 sians understand very definitely that 

 while they were grateful for their deliv- 

 erance they had no intention or desire to 

 exchange the rule of the Sultan for that 

 of the Czar. 



They declined the dictation of Russian 

 agents, and acted contrary to Russia's 

 policy to such an extent that the Czar 

 withdrew his diplomatic agents and his 

 military advisers and instructors, and for 



I07S 



