Chapter 9 - The First and Second Balkan Wars

• What happened in 1911?

  Italy launches attack on Ottoman Empire at Tripoli
• What happened in 1912?

  Balkan League formed
• When was the First Balkan War?

  October 1912-May 1913
• When was the Treaty of London signed?

  May 1913
• When was the Second Balkan War?

  July 1913
• What happened in August 1913?


  The Treaties of Bucharest and Constantinople are signed
• What was life in the Balkans like in 1911?

  - The independent Balkan nations had grown in confidence and military strength and were determined to engineer their future themselves

  
  

  - Enjoyed a period of relative calm - a time in which the newly independent Balkan states could develop their goals, many of which revolving around pan-Slavism

  
  

  - The Macedonian Question remained and was of increasing concern to the independent Balkan states - sought to champion ethnic minorities living under Turkish oppression in Macedonia - desired to force Turkey out of Europe for good
• What is pan-Slavism?

  The principle or advocacy of the union of all Slavs or all Slavic peoples in one political organisation
• Why did the Italians attack Tripoli in 1911?

  They had long wanted a colony in North Africa as they were disappointed by their lack of gains at Berlin in 1878. In summer 1911, they took advantage of the instability in Constantinople following the Young Turk revolution and attacked and occupied the Ottoman province of Tripoli
• When did Turkey declare war on Italy?

  29th September 1911
• How did the Ottoman Government respond to the Italian attack on Tripoli?


  They diverted many of their forces to North Africa, leaving its remaining Balkan territories exposed
• How were the Balkan states encouraged to advance their positions?

  The Italian navy threatened Turkey's islands in the Aegean Sea, and by May 1912, the war was at a stalemate, encouraging the Balkan states to advance whilst the Turkish Government and its resources were focused elsewhere. The war had revealed the poor state of the Ottoman military
• Who was key in the creation of the Balkan League in 1912?

  The Greek PM, Venizelos - hoped to make Greece's neighbours into firm allies

  
  

  Hartwig - Russian ambassador to Serbia, stationed in Belgrade - recognised opportunity posed by the Italian attack on the Ottoman Empire and encouraged the Serbs to agree to an alliance with Bulgaria - hoped to deter AH and German ambitions there, securing Russia's interests in the Balkans - partly acting on his own initiative
• What happened in spring 1912?

  Serbia and Bulgaria joined together with an agreement - both frustrated with lack of readiness of Great Powers to protect fellow Christians from Ottoman aggression - time for them to take situation in Balkans into their own hands - Russian encouragement instrumental in formation of Balkan collaboration
• What happened to form the Balkan League in May 1912?

  At the instigation of Venizelos, Greece and Montenegro joined Bulgaria and Serbia to form the Balkan League - committed to driving the Ottomans out of the Balkan region for good
• Why did the Balkan League agreement not progress any further?

  Each power had a different view for the future of the Balkans - Bulgaria wanted an independent Macedonia which looked for protection from Bulgaria and the port of Salonika on the Aegean Sea, whereas Serbia wanted to divide up Macedonia and was interested in gaining Albania and an outlet to the Adriatic Sea. Serbian and Bulgarian diplomats disagreed on how Macedonia should be divided in the event of a Balkan League victory, and the final document only laid out rough borders and that the fate of the centre would be decided by Tsar Nicholas II
• What happened in Macedonia in summer 1912?

  Albanian riots spread throughout Macedonia which the Turks were unable to control. In September, the Balkan League took advantage of this and mobilised their forces
• What happened on 7th September 1912?

  Bulgaria declared war on the Ottoman Empire without first consulting its allies
• What happened on 8th October 1912?

  Montenegro declared war on Turkey
• What happened on 18th October 1912?

  Greece and Serbia declared war on Turkey
• Describe the events of the First Balkan War

  The Turks were in no position to resist, but the rivalry between the Balkan powers was evident from the start. The Bulgarian forces rushed to Macedonia to seize it before Greece could and pressed southwards, forcing the Ottomans out of Eastern Thrace and back to Constantinople after many victories. After Russia warned them of the consequences, however, they did not continue to move on to the Turkish capital
• What other successes did the Balkan League have?

  Serbia took Northern Albania, Greece seized Salonika, and virtually all of European Turkey fell to the Balkan League
• When was an armistice signed between Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria?

  3rd December 1912
• What happened following the armistice?

  Fighting renewed in early 1913, but the Turks conceded defeat after the loss of Adrianople in April 1913
• How did the Great Powers react to the First Balkan War?

  AH - feared a multi national Yugoslav empire - Hotzendorf, Austrian Chief of General Staff advocated a pre-emptive strike against Serbia and argued for Austrian intervention at the outbreak of the Balkan War - supported by Germany

  
  

  Russia - seemed entirely possible it would support Serbia and Bulgaria against Turkey as its client states - supported by France
• Who was Leopold von Berchtold (1863-1942)?


  Austrian Foreign Minister from 1912 - before Balkan Wars, wanted to keep the status quo in Balkans to avoid war, but became less sympathetic to Serbia following its successes in the wars. Agreed with Hotzendorf on issuing the ultimatum to Serbia in July 1914. Dismissed in 1915
• Who was Edward Grey (1862-1933)?


  British Foreign Secretary from 1905-1916. Attempts at crisis management in 1914 failed - tried to limit impact of conflict between Austria and Serbia in July 1914 but vagueness in discussions with foreign ambassadors allowed for misunderstandings. Resigned as FS in 1916 and became ambassador to the USA later
• What were the actions of the Great Powers in 1912?

  Germany, Austria and Russia had avoided interfering at first, but Austria and Russia mobilised in November 1912 alarmed by the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Diplomats and ambassadors were asked to provide assurance that previous alliance treaties still stood in place to ensure their protection if dispute broke out in the Balkans. Poincare, French PM, reassured Russia of his support and promised that Britain would support France if Germany went to war with them. Edward Grey, British FS, called for talks between the Great Powers in London in December 1912. Grey established that British support of France and Russia was flimsy and Britain was free to take any action it wanted in relation to the Balkan crisis, but he was worried enough by the war against Turkey to plan to mobilise in the event of the threat of France by Germany. Grey was keen to avert the triggering of the alliance systems in relation to the Balkan War.
• What action did the Great Powers take in 1913?

  Gathered in London at the start of 1913 to discuss a settlement on the Balkans as the status of them had changed hugely since the 1878 Berlin Conference whereby the Ottoman Empire retained some power there to stop Russia expanding her influence, which was no longer a realistic aim and attention was turned to managing the ambitions of the individual Balkan Powers carefully so none became too aggressive and ensuring Slav nationalism didn't create further conflict there. British and German representatives mediated between the conflicting Balkan interests, persuading Russia and Austria to compromise - Russia could not bring to life all of its expansionist aims for client states, particularly Serbia, and Austria could not dictate the borders of its new neighbours
• What was agreed in the Treaty of London 1913?

  A result of the negotiations between the Great Powers rather than the Balkan states, and the terms were not received well by those affected.

  
  

  - Greece would receive Crete, Salonika and Southern Macedonia (with a large Bulgarian population)

  - Bulgaria would keep Thrace

  - Serbia would receive Central and Northern Macedonia

  - Albania would become an independent state on the Adriatic coast
• What was the Serbian reaction to the Treaty of London?

  Very resentful of Austrian insistence on creation of independent Albania as it closed a stretch of coastline which the Serbians had hoped to expand into and kept them a landlocked state. They also felt entitled to a greater share of Macedonia and resented Bulgarian support for Austria.
• Where did dispute between Serbia and Bulgaria lie?

  The Bulgarians felt that they had borne the largest share of fighting and wanted more of Macedonia, as was the ambition of Serbia. Both states were determined to win back what they felt they deserved
• How did Serbia respond to the dispute between her and Bulgaria?

  Formed an alliance with Greece on 1st June 1913
• How did the Great Powers feel about the Treaty of London?


  Felt that it had been a success, which may have led to the later mismanagement of the July Crisis after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Leading statesmen, such as Grey, showed signs of complacency in 1914, confident that a war triggered by a Balkan crisis could be avoided by diplomacy again
• How was the Second Balkan War different to the first?

  The military strength of independent Balkan states had increased and had threatened and defeated the Ottoman Empire when working together as the Balkan League - a Bulgarian general called them the "most militaristic state" - however, in the Second Balkan War, the armies turned against each other
• How did Tsar Nicholas II of Russia try to quell conflict on the horizon?

  Attempted to organise negotiations between the Balkan states, and on 8th June 1913, contacted rulers of Serbia and Bulgaria, offering services as an arbitrator, however, this attempt was ruined by the orders of the Bulgarian General Savov on 28th June to launch surprise attacks on Serbia.
• Why did the Bulgarians attack Serbia on 28th June 1913?

  Called it a "pre-emptive strike" - Bulgarians convinced that the Greeks and Serbs would attack before long, however, Bulgaria did not declare war on either states before attacking in the hope that they would be able to make solid advances into Macedonia before the Great Powers got involved
• How were Bulgaria defeated in their attack?

  Though public opinion of Bulgaria was increasingly militaristic and resumption of hostilities was overwhelmingly popular, the Bulgarian army was outnumbered by mid-July as the previously neutral Romania and Turkey joined Serbia's side, with the Turks being hopeful to use the dispute between their former enemies as an opportunity to win back some of what they had lost. The Turks succeeded in regaining Adrianople, and in August 1913, Bulgaria asked for peace terms
• When was the Treaty of Bucharest signed?

  10th August 1913
• What was agreed in the Treaty of Bucharest?

  Signed by Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. Bulgaria lost most of its recent gains, surrendering territory to Greece and Serbia, with Serbia almost doubling in size and Romania gaining a small amount of territory in Northern Bulgaria in recognition of its part in the fighting.