It was now Germany’s turn to give way.  Strong as she was, she did not propose to fight France, Russia, and England combined.  So, although the French gave Germany a few square miles of land in central Africa in return for the Kaiser’s agreement to let France have her way in Morocco, the result was a backdown for Germany, and it left scars which would not heal.

During all this period from 1898 to 1914 there were incidents happening, any one of which might have started the world war.  Fashoda, Algeciras, Bosnia, Agadir—­each time it seemed as if only a miracle could avert the conflict.  Europe was like a powder magazine.  No man knew when the spark might fall that would bring on the explosion.

Questions for Review

 1.  What were the plans of the English regarding Africa?
 2.  How did Major Marchand threaten the peace of Europe?
 3.  Why was Germany ready to help France?
 4.  Why did Delcasse desire to keep peace with England?
 5.  Why was England suspicious of Russia?
 6.  Why did Germany cultivate the friendship of the Turks?
 7.  Why did not the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria
    start a general European war?
 8.  Why did England and Russia become friendly?
 9.  Why did not the Agadir incident bring about a war?

CHAPTER XV

  The Sowing of the Dragon’s Teeth

The growth of German trade.—­Balkan hatreds.—­The wonderful alliance against Turkey.—­The sympathies of the big nations.—­Their interference and its results.—­A new kingdom.—­The second war.—­The work of diplomacy.—­The wrongs and grievances of Bulgaria.

Germany’s position in Europe was not favorable to her trade.  Her ships, in order to carry on commerce with the peoples of the Mediterranean, had to go a great deal farther than those of France or England.  As a result, the Germans had been looking toward Constantinople and southwestern Asia as the part of the world with which their commerce ought to grow.  It was Germany’s plan to control the Balkan countries and thus have a solid strip of territory, including Germany, Austria, the Balkan states, and Turkey through which her trade might pass to Asia Minor, Persia, and India.

The feelings of the Balkan peoples for each other has already been explained.  The Bulgarians hated the Serbians, with whom they had fought a bloody war in 1885.  The Serbians despised the Bulgarians.  The Albanians had no love for either nation, while the Greeks looked down on all the others.  Montenegro and Serbia were friends, naturally, since they were inhabited by the same kind of people and had once been parts of the original kingdom of Serbia.

[Map:  Turkey As the Four Balkan Allies intended to divide it. (1912-13)]

Bulgaria in 1909 announced to the world that she would pay no more tribute to Turkey, and after this was to be counted one of the independent nations of Europe.  The Bulgarians had grown so strong and the Turks so weak, that Turkey did not dare go to war, so permitted the matter to go unnoticed.  The only thing on which all the Balkan nations and Greece could agree was their bitter hatred of the Turks, who had oppressed and wronged them cruelly for the last three hundred and fifty years.