5 - Tug of war: Penelope's game

Summary

So by day she [Penelope] would weave at her great and growing web – by night, by the light of torches set beside her, she would unravel all she'd done. Three whole years she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme.

Homer, The Odyssey, Book II

In mid-August, Military Attaché Cemil Bey reported that Berlin had begun to consider extreme measures for bringing Bulgaria and Romania into the war. He had been assured by foreign ministry officials that once the Ottomans took the field, Bulgaria and Romania were certain to follow. Berlin held King Ferdinand personally responsible for Bulgaria's inaction, and Cemil even learned of discussions within the Auswärtiges Amt about assassinating the Bulgarian monarch. Enver instructed Cemil to convey once again the reasons why the Ottomans could not yet take up active intervention. First, mobilization remained incomplete, and on those grounds alone a forward move now would only backfire and impair the Central Powers' overall war efforts. Second, the departure of the Goeben and the Breslau from the Straits for action in the Black Sea would thrust not only the Straits but also the capital into grave danger, and it would also prematurely subject eastern Anatolia to a Russian attack from the Caucasus. Enver concluded that Bulgaria should take up arms first and at least march against Serbia; to this end Enver would send a special envoy that same day to Sofia to get the ball rolling.