PAGE PREFACE xi CHAPTER I. A DAY ON THE DANUBE 1 II. BELGRADE--OCTOBER, 1912: A VIEW FROM A WINDOW 10 III. THE BATTLE OF KUMANOVO 20 IV. MACEDONIA--1912 35 V. ALBANIA--1912-1913 49 VI. THE SECOND BALKAN WAR AND THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST 59 VII. TWO MEN WHO DIED 69 VIII. “1914” PEACE AND WAR 74 IX. THE NEUTRAL BALKAN STATES--1915 84 X. SLEEPING WATERS 99 XI. THE DISASTER IN RUMANIA--1916 108 XII. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE RUSSO-RUMANIAN OFFENSIVE--1917 127 XIII. A MIDNIGHT MASS 143 XIV. “WESTERNERS” AND “EASTERNERS” 147 XV. THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT PARIS--1919 161 XVI. LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD 177 OLD EUROPE’S SUICIDE CHAPTER I A DAY ON THE DANUBE “When the snows melt there will be war in the Balkans,” had become an habitual formula in the Foreign Offices of Europe during the first decade of the twentieth century. Statesmen and diplomats found comfort in this prophecy on their return from cures at different Continental spas, because, the season being autumn, the snow had still to fall, and would not melt for at least six months. This annual breathing space was welcome after the anxieties of spring and summer; the inevitable war could be discussed calmly and dispassionately, preparations for its conduct could be made methodically, and brave words could be bandied freely in autumn in the Balkans. Only an imminent danger inspires fear; hope has no time limit, the most unimaginative person can hope for the impossible twenty years ahead. Without regard either for prophecies or the near approach of winter, Bulgaria, Servia, Greece and Montenegro declared war on Turkey at the beginning of October, 1912. The Balkan _Bloc_ had been formed, and did not include Rumania, a land where plenty had need of peace; King Charles was resolutely opposed to participation in the war, he disdained a mere Balkan alliance as unworthy of the “Sentinel of the Near East.”