BULGARIA BROKER WITH WONDERFUL RAPIDITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16970, 2 October 1918, Page 7

BULGARIA BROKER WITH WONDERFUL RAPIDITY.

SITUATION TEEMING WITH BENEFITS FOE ALLIES. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON. Sept. 30. General Sir F. B. Maurice commends General d'Esperey's refusal of an armistice to Bulgaria, which might have been merely intended to gain time in order to extricate the Bulgarian right wing, which was in danger of being cut off, and enable German and Austrian reinforcements to arrive in time to save Uskub. If Bulgwia was sincerely desirous of peace she could proceed with negotiations while military operations continued. Bulgaria's application for an armistice, together wtyh Berlin's prompt repudiation of the proposals, not only meant that the Bulgarian Army had deteriorated, but that the morale of the people and of the Government was broken. It was marvellous that an army, with a great military reputation, and entrenched in positions of extraordinary strength, could so quickly be reduced to such straits. If Bulgaria left the Central Powers, Turkey would probably follow suit, and Germany's Asiatic ambitions would then be impossible of realisation. The Dardanelles and the Black Sea would be opened, providing a new road to help against the Germans in Russia, securing the Allies corn and oil from South Russia and the Caucasus, and releasing a great portion of the British armies in Palestine and Mesopotamia. It would also relieve the strain on the navy and the mercantile marine, enable us to assist Roumtinia, where rumours of antiGerman risings were reported. This would give Austria a new frontier to defend. It was small wonder that Berlin was frightened.