peace, as he fully realized that all was not going well. At home, the new Cabinet endeavoured to improve the food condi- tions and to put an end to the corruption and inefficiency in the public service which had prevailed under Radosla- vov. After the Austro-Hungarian defeat in Albania in July, when it became necessary to extend the Bulgarian front still further, the Bulgars pressed Germany to send the help which from the first had been promised to them. Of the six German divisions guaranteed by the military convention, only three had actually materialized and when at last German troops, in re- sponse to further urgent appeals, began to arrive in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian line had already been broken, Serbs were at the frontier and Allied troops were actually invading Bulgaria. On Sept. 25 Malinov asked for an armistice and delegates left at once for Salonika accompanied by the diplomatic representative of the United States. On Sept. 30 the Armi- stice was signed, the Bulgars accepting the Allied terms unconditionally. Stamboliiski, who with other Agrarian depu- ties had been in prison since 1915, was released on Sept. 25 and went immediately to the front where there was great unrest among the troops. At one moment it seemed prob- able that a revolution would take place and a republic be proclaimed, and there was serious fighting outside Sofia in which many lives were lost, the German troops being employed to restore order. On Oct. 4 the King was informed by his ministers that he had better abdicate; that same night he left Sofia by train, having nominated his son Boris as his successor. His departure was received with absolute indif- ference by the people; there were no demonstrations either of regret or joy. Radoslavov fled the country immediately after- wards. On Nov. 28 Malinov resigned, as a protest against the installation of Rumanian officials in the southern Dobruja contrary to the terms of the Armistice. Todorov, who had been Gueshov's second in command, succeeded in forming a coalition Cabinet.
Treaty of Neuilly. On Nov. 27 1919 the Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Bulgaria was signed at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Stamboliiski signing on behalf of his country. The territorial provisions (Arts. 27-35) included the cession to Rumania of the southern Dobruja; the cession to Serbia of the Bulgarian towns of Tsaribrod and Strumitsa and the renunciation (Art. 48) " in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers of all rights and title over the territories in Thrace which belonged to the Bulgarian Monarchy, and which being situated outside the new frontiers of Bulgaria . . . have not at present been assigned to any State." The Powers under- took " to ensure the economic outlets of Bulgaria to the Aegean Sea."
At the conference of San Remo in April 1920, a small portion of Eastern Thrace was assigned to Turkey and the remainder of Thrace to Greece. Bulgaria was not represented at the confer- ence, though some 400,000 Bulgarians were concerned in the decisions as to Thrace; the Bulgarian delegate who had been sent from Sofia in the hope that the Allies would allow him to put the Bulgarian case before them was prevented by the French authorities from crossing the Italian frontier until the session had practically concluded.
The reparation (Arts. 121-146) payable to the Allies was fixed at two and a quarter milliards of francs (gold) or 90,000,000 sterling, to be paid in half-yearly instalments within 37 years; the cost of the armies of occupation and of various commissions was also to be borne by Bulgaria. The Reparation Commission, which began work in March 1921, could at their discretion reduce or postpone particular payments and could assume full control and management of the taxes and sources of revenue.
The military clauses (Arts. 64-104) provided for the disar- mament of Bulgaria. The total numbers armed with rifles, includ- ing military forces, gendarmes, frontier and forest guards and police, were limited to a maximum of 33,000 men. The troops were to be recruited on a voluntary basis and to be exclusively employed for maintenance of order and frontier guard duties. All officers were to be regulars, serving for 20 consecutive years;
other ranks were to serve for 12 years. Only one military train- ing school and one State controlled munition factory were allowed. The manufacture of tanks, armoured cars, poison gas and aero- planes, the export and import of arms, instruction in the use of arms in schools, clubs or organizations, arrangements for mobili- zation, new fortifications were all prohibited. Only four torpedo boats and six motor boats were permitted, all without torpedoes and all manned by civilian crews. No artillery of calibre greater than 4-1 inches was authorized. All surplus war material had to be destroyed or surrendered within three months of the signing of peace.
Recruiting for the forces as constituted by the treaty proved very unsatisfactory, as but few Bulgars of a good stamp could be induced to leave their homes for a long period of service.
In Aug. 1919, elections were held which resulted in the following distribution of seats: Agrarians, 86; Communists, 47; Social Democrats, 28; Nationalists, 19; Danevists, 8; Radicals, 8; Radoslavists, 3. The Agrarians had been weakened by the secession of Draghiev and his followers in 1915, and even with the support of Gueshov and the Nationalists, were in a minority in the Sobranye. Stamboliiski became prime minister. In Feb. 1920, the Sobranye was dissolved; new elections gave the Agrarians a majority of two, and in April, Stamboliiski became premier of a Cabinet composed of his own supporters. In the course of the year 1920 Bulgaria was admitted into the League of Nations.
Finance and Trade. The following table shows the effect of the wars on finance and trade ' :
Imports Exports
7,571,921 3,733.190 9,659,612 6,177,000
Year Revenue Expenditure
1913 5,765,344 4,73 2 - 8 32 2
1914 10,279,800 10,270,504
1921 84!628|8oo 3 95,759i232 3
The budget estimates for 1921-2 the financial year begins in April thus showed a deficit of over 11,000,000. The consolidated and non-consolidated debts, including the war indemnity, amounted to 909,434,547, and, further, there was liability for military pen- sions, which would, for the next few years, amount to 7 or 8 million pounds annually. The outlook, according to the Finance Minister, was not very satisfactory. The debt per head of the population was 240 (as against 6 in 1912), and taxation had, in his opinion, reached the highest possible limit, viz. 500-540 levas per head. The townspeople had suffered much more than the peasants both during and after the war; according to the director of statistics, the annual bread budget for a family of five was 17 times higher in 1920 than in 1900; the meat budget was 28 times higher; and clothing showed a very large increase in price. During the World War, the savings banks had, owing to high prices for agricultural produce, shown a steady increase of deposits, but in 1919, with- drawals exceeded deposits by 800,000; and in 1920, by about 300,- ooo. In 1920, although Bulgaria comprised 25 % more land fit for cultivation than in 1911, cultivation had decreased by 20% as com- pared with 1911, and her production of cereals was smaller than in 1911. On the other hand, owing to the greatly increased selling price of tobacco it had risen from I to 2-50 francs per kilo before the World War to 36 francs per kilo in 1919 the area cultivated in tobacco was more than double in 1920 what it had been in 1911 ; also the 1920 potato crop was double what it was in 1911. The attar of rose industry, which in Europe is almost peculiar to Bul- garia, naturally suffered during the wars, and only 15,000 ac. are now under rose cultivation; it is estimated that, although the de- mand for rose essence is now increasing, several years must pass be- fore the industry is fully reestablished and equipped with modern machinery.
Bulgaria's international trade had always been primarily with Austria-Hungary and Germany owing partly to the fact that the Danube has hitherto constituted her chief means of communication and partly to the fact that these countries made a more careful study of Bulgarian markets than seemed worth the while of more distant countries. For the first six months of 1920-1, imports, which reached 68,000,000, nearly doubled exports in value. After the treaty, Bulgaria's unfavourable rate of exchange tended to direct her commerce yet more towards Central Europe.
Communications. Better means of communication and capital are needed to develop the natural resources of the country forests, mines and water power. Railway construction practically ceased with the outbreak of the first Balkan War in 1912, but the Trans- Balkan Trnovo-Stara Zagora line was completed since that date,
"All conversions are made at the pre-war rate of 25 levas to the
- in 1915. 32-35 levas went to the ; in April 1921, about 345-350.
2 Excluding war expenditure. 'Budget estimates.
