One side was Bulgaria, itching for a fight; the other was the Ottoman Empire, preparing for war. If they could actually negotiate a result, that would be the real surprise!
Time flew by. More than two months had passed since the multilateral negotiations began on January 5. Even with the Germans striving to mediate diplomatically, the talks still collapsed on March 12!
At that moment, the Foreign Minister hurried into the royal palace and reported the news to Ferdinand.
"Your Majesty, the Kavala negotiations have failed. The Ottoman Empire has refused to yield!" Foreign Minister Metev said excitedly.
Ferdinand said with some excitement, "Good! Deliver an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire at once. Give them twenty-four hours to respond: either accept all our terms, or face war!"
Because of German intervention, the Bulgarian government had no choice but to make concessions in these negotiations. What had begun as talks over reparations eventually turned into discussions of territorial compensation, since the Ottoman Empire had no money.
Ferdinand had even worried that the Ottoman Empire might simply agree outright. After all, Bulgaria could not make its appetite too large during the negotiations. So long as the Ottoman Empire threw out a dozen or so islands, the matter would more or less be settled.
To that end, Ferdinand had specifically mobilized the intelligence department to stir up sentiment within the Ottoman Empire, luring the pro-war faction into making trouble and obstructing the negotiations. At last, the Sultan's government had held out until now!
They had held firm through everything before this. Would the Sultan's government compromise in these final twenty-four hours? Clearly, that was impossible. If they yielded now, all their previous persistence would become meaningless!
On March 14, Ferdinand convened an emergency parliament in Sofia. The Bulgarian government submitted the Proposal to