Oldal 424 [424]
OCR
Bulgarians Gazing at the Balkans Greek lies and he does not believe himself” (Danova 2003: 116-117). Romanians, unlike the Serbs and Greeks, were accorded only verbal attention since they were not subjects for caricature, at least not until the Balkan wars. It is possible to claim that during the 1900s the Romanians were Bulgaria’s best neighbors compared to those with whom Bulgaria was constantly clashing over the issue of Macedonia. The ethnic Other appeared in caricature form only when there was a matter to debate or struggle about. War Time: Friends Turned Foes The mood changed sharply during the two Balkan wars of 1912-1913, when attitudes regarding the neighbors reflected the progress of the political conflicts under way. Already in February 1912, before the start of the First Balkan War, the front page of Smyah showed the Austro-Hungarian emperor, Franz Joseph, talking to one of his senior military officers: “Keep your eyes wide open: the chimney of the hotel BALKAN fumes, pay attention to it! Don’t let it cause a fire otherwise it will be your fault!” The officer’s answer speaks volumes: “Don’t worry, Your Majesty! Even if a fire starts, the firm BULGARIA will pay for the damages, as always!” This was in its way a prophetic image, though it can be interpreted as an illustration of the belief of Bulgarians that they were always being victimized or as an allusion to the state of Great Bulgaria of San Stefano (which would also have included all the Macedonian lands), which was never realized because of the politics of the Great Powers in 1878. The cartoon’s author, Alexander Bozhinov, together with all the other Bulgarian intellectuals expected nothing positive from their politicians, and especially not from King Ferdinand. It was a front page of Smyah that gave an answer, again using caricature, to the question “Why is this so?”: The Montenegrin King Nicola says to the Ferdinand of Bulgaria: “My brother, now is the right moment to put Turkey under pressure together, and Macedonia will be in our hands.” —“No, Nicola, I cannot do it now; it will make a mess of my anniversary in August.” Ferdinand’s love for all kinds of luxury and festivities, as well as for travelling, was well known to his contemporaries. State concerns usually gave way before the king’s personal weaknesses and this was a contributory, if not the main, reason (as some researchers think) for the bad performance of Bulgaria during the war years. The First Balkan War was a war between the Balkan League (formed by Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia) and the Ottoman Empire. It ended in the Treaty of London in May 1913 with the result that, after five centuries, the Ottoman Empire lost virtually all of its possessions in the Balkans. During the war, the Bulgarians and their neighbors were allies, if not friends. At its end, however, Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of Macedonia agreed upon by Bulgaria’s former allies, Serbia and Greece. Misjudgment of the situation by the Bulgarian government (or rather by the king) led to an attack by the Bulgarian army on Greek and Serbian positions in June 1913, thus starting the Second Balkan War. Allies 421
