Contemporaneously with the events just de scribed, the European Powers were exerting themselves to bring about peace, not, it must be confessed, in the interests of. either Turkey or her enemies. Excepting Germany, who had other objects in view, not a single European country regarded the expulsion of the Turk with anything but satisfaction. The great dan ger, however, lay in a possible conflict among the powers themselves, according to which side they favored. What centuries of great wars and diplomacy had failed to achieve had been accomplished by the little Balkan states in a few weeks; the Turk had been brought to his knees. Hence the powers had persuaded, first Turkey, on 1 March 1913, and then the Allies on the 15th, to accept their mediation. An armistice was signed between Turkey on the one part, and Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece on the other, at Bulair on 19 April 1913. With the fall of Scutari three days later, Montenegro also became a party to the armistice. When the Montenegrins had evacuated Scutari the way to a peace conference lay clear. Repre sentatives from all the nations involved met again in London 21 May 1913. Representatives of the Powers, Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy were also present and hastened the proceedings to such an extent that as early as 30 May the Treaty of London was signed by all the belligerents. It provided that the Turkish possessions in Europe should be bounded in the west by a line drawn from Midia on the Black Sea to Enos on the .?Egean Sea, the details to be ar ranged by an international commission; that the powers were to determine the boundaries of the newly-created state of Albania and the future status of the iEgean Islands; that Crete was to be ceded by Turkey to Greece; and that all financial questions were to be settled by an international commission to meet as soon as possible at Paris.
Unfortunately, the Treaty of London did not decide what was, to the victorious allies, the most vital point of all : the division of the territory wrested from the Turk. Even before that treaty had been signed, ill-feeling of the strongest kind had sprung up between Bul garia and Serbia, and Bulgaria and Greece. Secret treaties which had been signed before the outbreak of the war were denounced as void owing to °changed conditions.° The mil itary forces of each separate country, both during the armistice and the session of the peace conference, were quietly engaged in oc cupying as large sections of territory from which the Turks had been driven as they could cover. Recriminations of every type, not un mixed with physical violence, were indulged in by the former allies. The natives were the greatest sufferers; Serbians slaughtered Bul garian civilians by the thousand and Bulgarian troops butchered Serbian civilians. Military collisions occurred frequently during March, April and May. Further trouble was fast brewing. The powers demanded, 6 June 1913, that the Balkan states demobilize; they refused.
On the 10th Serbia demanded from Bulgaria a revision of the ante-bellum treaty of alliance. Russia threw her moral influence on the side of Serbia, while Austria-Hungary was clearly more friendly to Bulgaria. The latter country refused to revise the treaty, and on 22 June the Serbian Minister left Sofia.
The alliance was thtp dissolved; Thrace and Macedonia were again to be devastated by the very warriors who claimed to have been fight ing for the regeneration of both. Hostilities began on 30 June 1913; Serbs and Bulgars met at Slatovo in a three-days' unofficial battle; eight days later Serbia, Greece and Monte negro declared war on Bulgaria. Meanwhile there had arisen a new adversary whom Bul garia had to face, Rumania. This most north ern of the Balkan states which had so far re mained neutral announced to Bulgaria that she required certain guarantees of compensation if she were to maintain her neutrality in a new Balkan war. The demand was not met promptly enough, and early in July 1913 Rumania ordered a general military mobilization. On the 10th she also declared Avar on Bulgaria, who was now pressed from all sides. Rumania invaded Bulgaria from the north, occupied Turtukai and Baltchicic and began to advance against Sofia. In the southwest the Greeks seized the railroad between Doiran and Dedeagatch and were marching up the Struma Valley en route for Sofia. In the west the Serbs and Monte negrins were advancing against Kotchana and Kustendil, with Sofia also as their ultimate objective. Turkey, too, now became active again. The Bulgarians had naturally been com pelled to withdraw their troops still !Ong be fore the Chataldja lines. The astonished Turks immediately advanced under Enver Bey against Adrianople and calmly reoccupied the city with out opposition, 22 July 1913.
The Rumanians were now only 20 miles from Sofia; the Greeks and Serbs not much further away; fighting desperately, the Bulgars found thernselves in an iron ring growing ever smaller. Recognizing the hopelessness of re sisting the combination against him, King Fer dinand yielded. Ris request for mercy was favorably received by his opponents, and dele gates from all belligerents met at Bucharest 29 July 1913. It was fortunate that this third Balkan war came to a quick end, for all of the combatants had displayed the most wanton ferocity and committed unspealcable atrocities. The peace meeting resulted in a treaty signed 10 Aug. 1913, by which Rumania kept the two towns she had taken from Bulgaria, and terri tory amounting in all to 2,969 square miles, with a population of 273,000. Serbia deprived Bul garia of Kotchana, Ishtib and Radovishta; Greece took away Salonica, Doiran, Demir His sar, Seres, Drama and Kavala; Monastir also became Serbian while Greece retained Vodena and Florina. Serbia rewarded Montenegro by giving her Plevlje, Byelopolye, Ipek and Diakova.