Russia, always plotting to overthrow Turkey, at last accomplished a wonderful bit of diplomacy.  She encouraged Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece to forget their old time dislike of each other, for the time being, and declare war jointly on Turkey.  In order that there should not be any quarreling over the spoils when the war was over, the four little nations agreed, in a secret treaty, that when they got through with Turkey, they would divide up the carcass as shown in the opposite map.  The head, including Constantinople, was to be left for Russia, of course.  Bulgaria was to take the back and the great part of the body, Greece was to annex the drumsticks and the second joint.  The rest of the body was to go to Serbia with the exception of the very tail, including the city of Scutari, which was to be given to Montenegro.  Serbia was at last to have a seacoast and a chance to trade with other nations than Austria.  The Serbs had a grudge against the Austrians, for the latter, taking advantage of the fact that all Serbian trade with Europe had to go through their country, had charged them exorbitant prices for manufactured goods and paid them very little for their own products in return.  Bulgaria was to have Kavala (ka va’la) as a seaport on the Aegean and all the coast of that sea as far as the Gallipoli (gal i’po li) peninsula.  Greece was to have the important city of Salonika (saloni’ka), southern Macedonia, and southern Albania.

With this secret agreement between them, the four little states went to war with Turkey.  In accordance with the new friendship sprung up between Germany and the Ottomans, German officers and generals were sent to Constantinople to drill the Turkish troops.  Cannon and machine guns were sent them from German factories, and their rifles were fed with German bullets.  The four little countries, accordingly, turned to France and Russia for assistance.  Their troops were armed with French cannon and machine guns, and their military advisers were French and Russians.  While the big nations managed to keep out of the war themselves, all were strongly interested in one side or the other.

The result was a complete surprise to Austria and Germany.  To their consternation and disgust, the four little nations made short work of the Turkish troops.  In eight months, Turkey was thoroughly beaten, and the allies were ready to put through their program of dividing up the spoils.

And now, once more, the great powers meddled, and by their interference laid the foundation for future wars and misery.  Austria and Germany saw their path to Constantinople and the east cut right in two.  Their railroads, instead of passing through a series of countries under German control, now were to be cut asunder by an arm of Slavic states under Russian protection, which would certainly stop German progress toward Asia.