of July 13, 1878, which remained the "fundamental law for southeastern Europe" until the revolutionary events of 1908. The following are some of the most important articles of the treaty. ART. 1. Bulgaria is constituted an autonomous and tributary Bulgaria principality under the suzerainty of his Imperial Majesty the is made a Sultan; it shall have a Christian government and a national principality militia. ART. 3. The prince of Bulgaria shall be freely elected by the population and confirmed by the Sublime Porte with the assent of the powers. ART. 4. An assembly of notables of Bulgaria, convoked at Tirnovo, shall, before the election of the prince, draw up the organic law of the Principality. ART. 9. The amount of the annual tribute which the Principality of Bulgaria shall pay to the Suzerain Court - such amount being paid into whatever bank the Porte may hereafter designate — shall be fixed by an agreement between the powers signatory of the present treaty at the close of the first year of the working of the new organization. tributary ART. 13. A province shall be formed south of the Balkans Eastern which shall take the name of "Eastern Roumelia,” and shall Roumelia remain under the direct political and military authority of his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, under conditions of administrative autonomy. It shall have a Christian governor general. ART. 25. The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall Bosnia and be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. Herzegovina ART. 26. The independence of Montenegro is recognized Montenegro by the Sublime Porte and by all of those high contracting parties who have not hitherto admitted it. ART. 34. The high contracting parties recognize the inde- Servia pendence of the Principality of Servia, subject to the conditions set forth in the following article [on civil and religious liberty]. ... ART. 43. The high contracting parties recognize the inde- Roumania pendence of Roumania subject to the conditions set forth in the two following articles [on civil and religious liberty]. Cessions to Reforms the Sultan ART. 58. The Sublime Porte cedes to the Russian emperor in Asia the territories of Ardahan, Kars, and Batum, together with the latter port, as well as all the territories comprised between the former Russo-Turkish frontier and the following line [drawn roughly about forty miles to the south of the old Russian boundary]. ART. 62. The Sublime Porte having expressed the intenpromised by tion to maintain the principle of religious liberty1 and give it the widest scope, the contracting parties take note of this spontaneous declaration. In no part of the Ottoman Empire shall difference of religion be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity as regards the discharge of civil and political rights, admission to the public employments, functions, and honors, or the exercise of the various professions and industries. All persons shall be admitted without distinction of religion to give evidence before the tribunals. The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship are assured to all. . . . ... As a result of the steady decline of the Sultan's power in Europe there remains under his direct administration only a narrow strip of territory less in extent than the state of Missouri — reaching from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, to which the name of Macedonia is generally given. Though relatively small in extent, this territory is inhabited by many different peoples who are in constant trouble with one another as well as with the Turkish officials. The racial question and the antagonism to Turkish government, especially in the matter of taxation, are the most fruitful sources of trouble in Macedonia. An excellent idea of a state of affairs more or less chronic in Macedonia can be secured from the following statements contained in a dispatch of February 28, 1903, from the English consul general in Salonica, on the southern coast, to the English ambassador in Constantinople. 1 In a decree issued in 1856. Sir: the disorders About ten days ago I received a somewhat alarming report 350. A brief from a Christian, in whose statements I considered I could account of place faith, regarding the exasperation among the Moslems, prevalent in and the possibility of their retaliating on the local Rayahs for Macedonia the murders, etc., committed on their co-religionists by the Bulgarian bands in some of the neighboring cazas of this vilayet. I therefore lost no time in sending a confidential agent to Doiran, Stroumnitsa, Gevgeli, Yenijé, Vardar, and Vodéna, and have now the honor to submit to your Excellency the contents of his report to me. The following are the murders of Moslems already reported by me during the last four months: In November, two Coldjis of the Régie; in December, one of two Albanians shot at; in January, two Albanian shepherds and two rural guards (whose heads, according to my agent's report, were thrown to the dogs to eat); in February, Mehmed Aga, the gendarme, giving the total of eight Moslems killed by the bands without provocation. My agent adds to these the murder by three Greco-Vlachs of a renegade in January, and gives details of the disgusting desecration and mutilation of his corpse. The three murderers joined a Bulgarian band, but the beys have not allowed their co-religionists to avenge the death of their comrade. On the 16th February, Ali, servant of Deli Ahmed, of Veleusa, was beheaded with an ax, near the village, and his head thrown at a distance from the body. The same day the bands carried off from Nisi a farm belonging to an Albanian named Seifoullah Bey—the Soubashi Nasif Aga, also an Albanian, who has not been heard of since. He had more than once denounced the bands to the local authority. And yet the feeling of the Moslem population towards the Christians is not represented to me as indicating danger. The Turks, in fact, appear to be cowed, and I hear from different quarters that they have dropped the obnoxious tone which they used to adopt toward the Christians, and have become very much quieter and more considerate. In other parts ... 351. The Bul mation of of the country the Moslem population, especially that of the villages, is so uncertain of what is in store for them that, in spite of what is said to the contrary, there is no chance of their molesting the Christians; and even if a few hot-headed young Turks were to attempt anything, the authorities would stop them. As I was writing the present report, a foreigner living in the country told me of a case in which about thirty young Moslems suddenly took up their rifles and made for the nearest Christian village with the intention of burning it down. They had got within a few minutes' walk of their object when the hastily summoned troops arrived and enjoined them, with loaded rifles, to retire, which they did. Section 100. The Independent Balkan States After remaining in the position of a tributary State under the sovereignty of the Sultan for thirty years, Bulgaria, on October 5, 1908, announced her complete independence. Her ruler, Prince Ferdinand, read the following manifesto before a great assembly of dignitaries at the ancient capital of Tirnovo. By the will of our never-to-be-forgotten liberator and the garian procla- great kindred Russian nation, aided by our good friends and independence neighbors, the subjects of the king of Roumania, and by the (1908) Bulgarian heroes, on February 18, 1878, the chains were broken which had for so many centuries enslaved Bulgaria, once a great and glorious power. From that time until to-day, full thirty years, the Bulgarian nation, still cherishing the memory of those who had labored for its freedom, and inspired by its traditions, has worked incessantly for the development of its beautiful country, and, under my guidance and that of the late Prince Alexander, it has become a nation fit to take a place as an equal among the civilized States of the world, and has shown itself capable of progress in science, art, and industry. While advancing along this path nothing should arrest the progress of Bulgaria, nothing should hinder her success. Such is the desire of the nation, such is its will. Let that desire be fulfilled. The Bulgarian nation and its chief can have but one sentiment, one desire. Practically independent, the nation was impeded in its normal and peaceful development by certain illusory and formal limitations which resulted in a coldness in the relations of Turkey and Bulgaria. I and the nation desire to rejoice in the political development of Turkey. Turkey and Bulgaria free and entirely independent of each other may exist under conditions which will allow them to strengthen their amicable relations and devote themselves to peaceful internal development. Inspired by the sacred purpose of satisfying national requirements and fulfilling national desires, I proclaim, with the blessing of the Almighty, Bulgaria, united since September 6, 1885, an independent kingdom. In conjunction with the nation I believe that this act will meet the approbation of the great powers.1 On October 7, two days after the Bulgarian declaration of independence, the emperor of Austria formally announced the annexation of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, although nominally Turkish territories, had been under Austria's protection and administration since 1878. The proclamation follows: We, Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, 352. The and Apostolic King of Hungary, to the inhabitants of Bosnia annexation of and Herzegovina : When a generation ago our troops crossed the borders of your lands, you were assured that they came not as foes, but as friends, with the firm determination to remedy the evils from which your fatherland had suffered so grievously for many years. This promise given at a serious moment has been honestly kept. It has been the constant endeavor of our government 1 After the prince of Bulgaria had read the above proclamation, the president of the Bulgarian parliament tendered him, on the part of the representatives of the nation, the kingly crown. The prince thereupon accepted the title of first Bulgarian king with "pride and thanksgiving." Bosnia and |