Balkan League
The League of the Balkans
The
Background
After the
Apart from the Russian pressure upon Bulgaria and Serbia, another issue that triggered the formation of the League was the
Bulgaria, on its part, had held a long-term policy regarding the Ottomans since regaining independence during the
In Greece, army officers had
Montenegro, a relatively small country but a close ally of Serbia was considered a second-class participant. It took the invitation to the insistence of Serbia more as a favour, having limited local aspirations over the Sanjak and city of Shkodër, both in northern Albania.
Another fact that helped the formation of the League was the evident inefficiency of the Ottoman army. The Ottomans were at war with Italy for a year (29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912) over Libya after Italy had launched an invasion of Tripolitania. Although the Italians made little progress and Ottoman resistance, aided by the Libyans, proved stiffer than expected, the war exhausted the Ottoman state. In addition, the Italian occupation of the Greek-inhabited Dodecanese Islands served as a warning for Greece of the consequences of staying out of a future war against the Ottomans.
Reaction of the Great Powers
These developments did not go unnoticed by the Great Powers, but although there was an official consensus between the
- Russia was a prime mover in the establishment of the League and saw it as an essential tool in case of a future war against Russia's rival, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[7] But it was unaware of the Bulgarian plans over Thrace and Constantinople, territories on which Russia had long-held ambitions, and on which it had just secured a secret agreement of expansion from its allies France and Britain, as a reward in participating in the upcoming World War I against the Central Powers.
- France, not feeling ready for a war against Germany in 1912, took a totally negative position against the League, firmly informing its ally Russia that it would not take part in a potential conflict between Russia and Austria-Hungary if it resulted from the actions of the Balkan League. The French however failed to achieve British participation in a common intervention to stop the upcoming Balkan conflict.
- The British Empire, although officially a staunch supporter of the Ottoman Empire's integrity, took secret diplomatic steps encouraging the Greek entry into the League in order to counteract Russian influence. At the same time, it encouraged the Bulgarian aspirations over Thrace, preferring a Bulgarian Thrace to a Russian one, despite the assurances it had given to the Russians in regard of their expansion there.
- Adriaticand seeking ways for expansion in the south at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, was totally opposed to any other nation's expansion in the area. At the same time, the Habsburg Empire had its own internal problems with the significant Slav populations that campaigned against the German–Hungarian control of the multinational state. Serbia, whose aspirations in the direction of Bosnia were no secret, was considered an enemy and the main tool of Russian machinations that were behind the agitation of Austria's Slav subjects.
- Germany, already heavily involved in the internal Ottoman politics, officially opposed a war against the Empire, but in its effort to win Bulgaria for the Central Powers, and seeing the inevitability of Ottoman disintegration, was playing with the idea to replace the Balkan positions of the Ottomans with a friendly Greater Bulgaria in its San Stefano borders, an idea that was based on the German origin of the Bulgarian king and his anti-Russian sentiments.
For the Balkan League, the opportunity was too good to be missed, as the Ottoman Empire was weak and riddled with internal strife. The allied governments intensified their military and diplomatic preparations. During the last days of September, the Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire mobilized their armies. The first state to declare war was Montenegro, on October 8, 1912, starting the
Aftermath
In the resulting war, the combined Balkan armies effectively destroyed Ottoman power in Europe in a series of victories. However, the League's triumph was short-lived. The antagonisms between the Balkan states still persisted, and after the successful conclusion of the
During the war, the
The outcome of the Balkan Wars caused a permanent break-up of the Russo-Bulgarian alliance and left Serbia and Montenegro as the only allies of Russia in this critical region.
Notes
References
- ^ "Wars of the World: First Balkan War 1912–1913". OnWar.com. December 16, 2000. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ISBN 978-0-521-27323-7.
- ^ "Balkan Crises". cnparm.home.texas.net/Wars/BalkanCrises. August 14, 2009. Archived from the original on 2003-11-06. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ISBN 978-0-8476-8884-5.
- ISBN 978-1-57607-801-3.
- ^ Emile Joseph Dillon. The Inside Story of the Peace Conference, chapter XV
- ISBN 978-1-104-48758-4.
External links
- The Formation of the Balkan Alliance of 1912, Mount Holyoke College.
- First Balkan War 1912-1913, OnWar.com