News of the signing of the Treaty of London reached Bulgaria and immediately caused a nationwide sensation.
Many newspapers launched special report series, and the details of negotiations that had previously needed to remain secret were all declassified at this moment.
Naturally, Bulgaria's under-the-table dealings with other countries were not among the disclosures.
On September 16, Ferdinand began an impassioned, stirring speech before the Bulgarian National Assembly.
He fiercely condemned the Ottoman Empire's brutal rule over the peoples of the Balkans, expounded upon the justice of Bulgaria's launch of the Balkan Wars, and at the same time proclaimed Bulgaria's sovereignty over Macedonia, Thrace, Albania, the Chalkidiki Peninsula, Kosovo, Constantinople... and other regions!
Oh, the rest was unimportant. The crucial thing was declaring sovereignty—they could not do it fast enough. The great powers had very little moral integrity these days. What was more, there was Italy, which had just crossed the threshold into the ranks of the great powers and had not taken part in the London negotiations!
Following the signing of the Treaty of London, Bulgaria's territory leapt to 300,000 square kilometers, its population surpassed ten million, and it now possessed coal and iron ore—the most basic raw materials needed for industrialization.
Ten years of striving, and then a single burst into glory!
The Balkan people worshipped heroes, and Ferdinand now needed to display his heroic bearing before the world, especially before the Balkan peoples who were about to join Bulgaria.
Ferdinand also intended to learn from Hitler's My Struggle: "One country, one people, one ideology, one government, one leader!"
No, scratch out "one people" first. That was not something he could shout—it would cause trouble!
"One country—Bulgaria; one king—Ferdinand; one government—the Bulgarian government; one ideology—nationalism!"
Ferdinand's version of My Struggle was thus unveiled with a resounding bang. Fortunately, nineteenth-century