He was getting little or no
credit for the victory that had been won against Turkey, while his
opponents denounced him for sacrificing the fruits of that victory
to Bulgaria. The Greek nation especially resented the occupation by
Bulgarian troops of the Aegean coast lands with their large Hellenic
population which lay between the Struma and the Mesta including the
cities of Seres and Drama and especially Kavala with its fine harbor
and its hinterland famed for crops of choice tobacco.
It was on the fourth of July, 1913, a few days after the outbreak of
the war between Bulgaria and her late allies, that Mr. Venizelos
made his defence in an eloquent and powerful speech at a special
session of the Greek parliament. The accusation against him was not
only that during the late war he had sacrificed Greek interests to
Bulgaria but that he had committed a fatal blunder in joining her in
the campaign against Turkey. His reply was that since Greece could
not stand alone he had to seek allies in the Balkans, and that it
was not his fault if the choice had fallen on Bulgaria.
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