FALL OF ADRIANOPLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15262, 28 March 1913, Page 7

FALL OF ADRIANOPLE.

AFTER FIVE MONTHS' SIEGE. FIERCE ASSAULTS BY ALLIES TURKS BLOW UP THEIR ARSENALS. " HEAP OF SMOKING RUINS." By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright Sofia, March 26. Adrianople has surrendered, and the city is now in the hands of the allies.

The fierce assaults on the town which had been proceeding for some days were continued all last night by the Bulgarians, assisted by a large force of Servians.

The cordon was tightened until the attackers were close to the forts of Takat Bair in the south and Papaz Tepe in the west. Round these a fierce fight was waged,) and eventually the forte, together with Devekeui, on the north-east, Yildiz, on the east, and Kavkas, on the south-east, with three other forts, were captured. Twenty cannon, eight machine guns, and 800 prisoners were taken, and the attacking forces Vere now within 300 yds of the inner defences. . \ Then the attack was concentrated on the eastern side, and a terrific conflict was waged which' ended in the Bulgarian, cavalry and the Servians entering the city.

Shukri Pasha (the Turkish commander) surrendered to General Ivarioff, who was in charge of the Bulgarian operations, at two o'clock in the afternoon.

An attempt was at first made by Shukri Pasha to surrender to the Servians, but this effort was frustrated by the Bulgarians who captured him.

Just before the surrender the Turks fired their food depots at Hadirlik, Bashlik, and other forts, and also blew up the arsenals and magazines and the northern barracks.

The panic-stricken population fled from the town, many- buildings having been set on fire by them before they took their flight. „ The Bulgarians are allowing a correspondent from each country to go to Adrianople.

BULGARIANS* ENORMOUS LOSSES.

WHOLE COMPANIES DESTROYED.

TERRIBLE SCENES of CARNAGE.

FALLEN CITY IN FLAMES. t ißeoeived March 28. .12.15 &-m-) •Beblin, March 27. A telegram from Sofia states that at the : beginning of the' final attack the Bulgarians wcyj mown down in entire companies and destroyed before they reached the enemy's position. A similar fate befel the Turks when the Bulgarians turned the . Turkish cannon upon them. . , v The explosions of the magazines increased the carnage. " When the military and public buildings were ignited the city was a sea of flame. * ' Many civilians were killed by falling masonry. After a two days' rest 40,000 Bulgarians will march to Chataldja. There is frantic enthusiasm throughout the Balkans at the fall of . the city. \ ■ ■ « . . .

TURKS' "SILLIANT DEFENCE.

ONLY A HEAP OF SMOKING RUINS LEFT. (Received March 28, 12.15 a.m.) Vienna, March 27.

A general assault upon Adrianople was begun on Monday soon after midnight. The fire, which was concentrated ypon the advanced earthworks, lasted for three hours. The Turks replied to the fire energetically, but they evidently desired to spare their remaining ammunition. The infantry advanced by the aid of searchlights and attacked Fort Baslik, the Turks retiring after a fierce defence At dawn the attack ceased to permit the troops to rest. The Bulgarians' loss was enormous. The Turkish artillery made a brilliant defence. ' Shukri Pasha wired to Constantinople: " I shall only leaye the N enemy a heap of smoking ruins." He kept his word.

FATE OF CHATALDJA. STATED TO HAVE FALLEN, NO DEFINITE REPORT. (Receiyed March 28. 1115 a.m.)

London, March 27.

The Bulgarian Legation has been informed that Chataldja has been captured after two days of desperate •fighting. ....'V . .. It is reported from Constantinople that Chataldja has been evacuated, and that the Turks are retreating precipitately. : iiri

PROSPECTS OF PEACE.

STOCK EXCHANGE BUOYANT.

RISE IN CONSOLS. , . London, March 27. The Stock Exchange is buoyant at the prospect of 1 peace being concluded in . the, Balkans. Consols were quoted to-day at £74 ss, as against £73 15s a week ago and £73 7s 6d a fortnight ago.

SIEGE OF SCUTARI.

CIVILIANS NOT. ALLOWED TO LEAVE. HELP FROM AUSTRIA AND ITALY. , FOOD AND MEDICINE. i ; /':■ London, ; March 26. Essad Pasha, the Turkish' com-

mander at Scutari, has refused to allow non-combatants to leave the town, though the Montenegrins, under Austrian pressure, had decided to allow them to quit.

Italy and Austria are despatching steamers to San Giovanni di Medua with provisions and medical necessaries for the civilians of Scutari.

Some of the Italian newspapers protest against Austria's pretensions in regard to the protection of Albanian Catholics,; in which they say Italy might claim an equal right. The papers describe the demand for a civilian exodus from Scutari as entirely indefensible and unprecedented in the history of war.

CITY WITH A HISTORY.

TURKEY'S FIRST EUROPEAN

CAPITAL.

SCENE OF MANY BATTLES.

Adrianople, around which so much of the interest in the Balkan war has centred, and which proved the principal Btumblingblock in the • recent fruitless peace negotiations in London, is one of the most historic cities of the Near East. It is the third largest city in European Turkey. Its population is about 100,000, of whom 'half are Turks, about 20,000 Jews, and the rest Greeks. Bulgars, Armenians, etc. It is only a few miles from the Bulgarian frontier at Mustafa Pasha (the first post of importance captured by the Bulgarians when the war broke out), and it was defended by a ring of powerful modern forts. It occupies both banks of the River Tunia at its confluence with the Maritza, which is navigable to this point in spring and winter. In appearance it is thoroughly Oriental— mass of mean, irregular wooden buildings, threaded by narrow, 1 tortuous streets. j

founding of the City.

The ' ancient Hadrianoplois took its name from he Emperor Hadrian, by whom it was founded early in the second century of the Christian era. In 1366 ,it became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. It was the scene of a great battle in • 324 a.d. —" last fight of the legions;" of a 1 decisive struggle in 378, in which the Visigoths gained « decisive victory over the Romans, establishing themselves firmly south of the Danube; and in

1829* it fell before the anna of Russia. The Tsar's troops had already successfully invaded Roumania and seized Varna when the Russian General resolved to carry his 70,000 men over the Balkans. Assisted by the fleet, he made a brilliant passage of the passes, ; and, advancing -to Adrianople,forced the Turks to immediate peace in order to save their capital. Adrianople remained the capital of the. Turkish Empire until 1453, when Constantinople was captured by , the Ottoman forces. Important Strategical Position. The position occupied by Adrianople (which is on the railway fromi.Belgrade and Sofia to Constantinople and Salonika) is, of great strategic importance, as upon it converge three roads leading from Bulgaria, the first entering it from the west down the valley of the Maritza, the second from the north down the .valley of the Tunja, and the third from the east by way of Kirk Kilisee. The town was protected by a girdle of 27 detached forte, • constructed during the last 30 years, on the surrounding ing hills, with a. perimeter of about 20 miles.' These .works were armed with 6in and 4.7 in guns as their heaviest weapons. The old city; on the left bank of the Maritza River, is a mass of mean, tortuous streets, with but few fine buildings, among which are a dilapidated palace of the Sultans,, and ! the magnificent mosque of Selim 11., which is one of the most magnificent specimens of Turkish architecture in existence. On the right bank of the Maritza is a handsome suburb of European aspect. Adrianople is the most, important fortress in the Turkish Empire, and has always been regarded as- the real key to Constantinople. The fortifications were designed 40 years ago, but have been to some extent remodelled in recent years under the advice of Marshal von der Goltz, who was for many years chief military adviser to the Turkish Government, j

" A City of Terror."

Mr. Foster Fraser, in his "Pictures from the Balkans," wrote as follows of Adrianople" The population is a medley of Turk, Greek. Jew, and Armenian. But all the trading, the commerce, and the banking is in, the hands of foreigners. The Turk is "hopeless ait a business man. . . . Adrianople is a city of terror. Christians, Armenians, whispered into my ear tales of revenge on the cruel Turks. But they did not take place. The Turks were in constant fear of outrages, bombs and the like, from Bulgarians or Armenians. At sundown ©very Christian must be within doors. Otherwise there is arrest and imprisonment. No light must be burning in a Christian house three hours after sundown, or the soldiers butt the door with their rifles, demand reasons,' and under threats levy, . blackmail no Mabommedan can go 'through the streets after dark without a lantern; no Mahomraedan must even be in the streets after ten o'clock without a special permit. The only sound at; night' is the heavy tread of the patroL" , '

STORY OF THE SIEGE.

FIVE MONTHS' DEFENCE.

The siege of Adrianople was 'began by the Bulgarian forces at the end of October last, some two or-thre" weeks after the outbreak lof the ; war- ; It' was stated on October 30 that it was proposed to invest the-city 'with 1 60,000 men, and to starve it into surrender. 'A vigorous' bombardment was, however, shortly afterwards inaugurated, and this was kept up more or less constantly until the signing of. the armistice (which preceded the peace negotiations) 'on December 3. The Bulgarians found that the task of taking the town by assault was more difficult than was at first imagined, and they were reinforced: by a large force of Servians (estimated at about 30,000).

Daring the peace negotiations in London (which lasted from December 16 till" January 6) the representatives of the allies demanded; the surrender of Adrianople as one of their conditions of peace. They agreed, in deference to Turkey's reluctance to part with the home of so many relics of the glories of the past, to undertake to allow the Porte to retain control of the mosques and other Moslem buildings. The negotiations, fell through, and when the war was resumed, early in February, the bombardment of Adrianople' was again prosecuted with vigour.

On February 24 it was reported from Constantinople that it was believed that Adrianople would be able to; withstand a continuance of the siege until the end of Marcha prediction which ,has proved to be a correct one. On March 12 it was reported by Shukri Pasha that he could only hold the city for another week, but exactly a fortnight elapsed from that time until the surrender of the garrison. Some weeks ago it was reported that the food supplies were very short, and that the population had been reduced to quarter rations

PLEVNA RECALLED.

OSMAN PASHA'S. DEFENCE.

The gallant and successful defence of Adrianople 'Was recognised early in the war by the Turkish Government, and at the end of November" the title of Ghazi (victorious) was conferred upon Shukri Pasha, the commander of the garrison, in ap'preciation of his splendid work. The Bulgarians anticipated an early fall of the town ..when the siege commenced, but five months have elapsed since they invested the city. This long defence recalls in some measure the historic events which took place round Plevna in the Rosso-Turkish war of 1877, when Osman Pasha's great feat of arms' proved what the Turkish soldier could ao' when his patriotism is aroused and his back is to the walL

Plevna "was invested "on October 24, 1877. Osman Pasha had a force of 42,000 men, but he was handicapped by a shortage of food and sickness in the ranks. "Hie garrison held out for ajven weeks until December 10 2 when it capitulated. The second and third cities of European Turkey (Salonika and Adrianople) have now fallen into the hands of the allies. Other important towns which have been captured include Uskub, Monastir, and Janina.