Balkans:Bulgaria, Rumania, Serbia,Macedonian Problem, Neytcho

The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913

The Turkish revolution of 1908 had so weakened the Ottoman Empire that unrest spread throughout the occupied territories. The sultan, who had tried to seize absolute power in 1909, was deposed by his brother, Mohammed V (1909-1919). The Young Turks took over and restored state order with expedient brutality -- in the name of the unity of the Empire. Despite constitutional guarantees assuring all races their equality, the new power was used arbitrarily against non-Turks. The victims were mainly Armenians, Greeks, Macedonians, and Thracian Bulgarians.

Although they had always been loyal subjects of the sultan, the Albanians supported the Young Turk revolution of 1908. The Albanian people had begun their period of national awakening in the late 19th century. A league for the defence of the Albanian nation had been founded, which promoted numerous schools and an Albanian language press. In 1908, Albanians hoped to obtain autonomous status and formed a political organization around Ismail Kemal Vlora, who was in close contact with the Young Turks. But the nationalistic attitude of the Young Turks left no room for Albanian aspirations. Anti-Turk uprisings broke out in Albania in 1909-1910, while Vlora and the 25 Albanian delegates spoke for the autonomist movement in the parliament at Constantinople.

Along with the trouble in Albania, the Turkish government became embroiled in armed conflict with Italy over Tripolitania (1911-1912). The Turks lost Cyrenaica and Tripolitania (Lybia), Rhodes and the Dodecanese islands to Italy. The Ottoman Empire appeared so vulnerable that the Balkan states decided to liberate Macedonia. Russia, ever conscious of its interests in the Balkans, advised the Serbs and Bulgarians to unite against the Turks. An alliance was formed in February 1912. Greece joined it in May, and Montenegro in October. This Balkan League of Christian Peoples was determined to expel the Turks from Eastern Europe. Each of the participants in the alliance had to contribute a military contingent to the common struggle: 300,000 men from Bulgaria, 150,000 men from Serbia, 120,000 men from Greece. Bulgaria, which supplied the largest contingent, expected to be amply repaid for it.

In the summer of 1912, the Turks found out about the plot and sent military reinforcements. On October 8, Montenegro opened hostilities by declaring war on the Ottoman Empire, marking the beginning of the first Balkan War. In the days that followed, Turkey retaliated by declaring war on Bulgaria and Serbia, but not on Greece. However, this did not stop Greece from keeping its agreement with the Allies. The Balkan coalition was quickly victorious. On October 24, the Serbian army under General Putnik and crown prince Alexander defeated the Turks at Kumanovo, then entered Skopje and Monastir a few days later along with Montenegrin reinforcements. The Greeks, doing their part, liberated Thessalia and Epirus, and then lay siege to Janina (Ioannina). That day the Serbs won at Kumanovo, while the Bulgarians battled the Turks at Kirk-Kilisse then at Lule Burgas. From there, they marched on Constantinople; along the way they attacked Adrianople (Edirne) and finally took it on March 23, 1913.

The Greeks and Serbs entered Albanian territory as they advanced. Ismail Kemal Vlora mistrusted the intentions of the Balkan League countries and decided to take the Albanian cause before international opinion. At Valona he called together representatives of all the Albanian peoples, Moslem, Orthodox, and Catholic. This assembly declared Albanian independence on November 28, 1912. Vlora formed a provisory government, then went to London to attend a conference of the Great Powers arranged to consider the situation created by the Balkan War.

At the conference, Austria-Hungary and Italy favored an independent Albanian state, but were opposed by Russia and France who backed Serbian and Greek claims on the country. After long negotiations, the prelirninaries of the London conference were produced May 30, 1913. These were to serve as a basis for future peace in the Balkans. Turkey was only allowed to keep Constantinople and its immediate surroundings in Europe. An independent and neutral Albania was set up under the protection of the Powers, who would also select a prince. Macedonia was to be divided up among Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, who were to come to an agreement on the division by themselves.

The division of Macedonia in 1912 quickly set allies against each other. Bulgaria had hoped for the largest share of the province, but was thwarted by an agreement between the Greeks and the Serbs. Bulgaria retaliated on June 23, 1913, by attacking its former allies. Czar Ferdinand's initiative ended in failure, as he had against him not only the Serbs and Greeks, but also the Rumanians. Even the Turks, in trying to limit their losses, opposed his efforts.

The Treaty of Bucharest concluded the second Balkan War on August 10, 1913. Turkey regained Adrianople and part of eastern Thrace, now called European Turkey. Rumania received a small part of Dobrudja that Bulgaria had refused to cede in 1878, a region with a Bulgarian majority and a continuing source of tension between the two countries. Greece got the Macedonian coast with Salonika (Thessaloniki) and Chalcidique (Kavalla), the island of Crete and several central Aegean islands. Serbia obtained most of western and central Macedonia with the towns of Skopje, Ochrid and Bitola, thus incorporating Bulgarian and Albanian populations into her territory. Serbia also received a piece of the sanjak of Novi Pazar, the rest going to Montenegro. With this, Serbia's authority extended over a territory of 34,600 square miles and over more than 4.5 million people. Montenegro, through acquisition of the sanjak of Novi Pazar, had a common border with Serbia. Bulgaria gained only a little on the western border, but in the south reached the Aegean by annexing part of Thrace with the port of Dedeagatch (later Alexandroupolis). The Balkan wars left deep scars. The loss of human life was heavy; 156,000 Bulgarians, 71,000 Serbs, 68,000 Greeks and some 10,000 Montenegrins fell in the fratricidal wars. The division of conquered Turkish territory also caused bitterness, especially among the Bulgarians who felt poorly compensated for their efforts, and, after their defeat, found themselves totally isolated in the midst of hostile neighbors. On the international level, Austria-Hungary was extremely concerned about Serbia's advance, with its territory now adjoining Montenegro's. Even more disquieting was the ever-shriller anti-Austrian propaganda in the Serbian press and the increasing activity of secret societies such as the Serbian officer-led "Black Hand."

Austria-Hungary could no longer count on any country in this part of Europe except Bulgaria and Albania. Even Germany, its ally since 1872, was pressing harder to bring the Ottoman Empire into its own system of alliances. The Albanian question nearly brought Austria-Hungary and Serbia into conflict in September of 1913, when Serbia refused to withdraw from Albanian territory. The Serbs ultimately bowed to international pressure, and in December 1913, the Great Powers agreed on definitive borders for Albania. Independent Albania had a territory of 10,800 square miles, contained 800,000 inhabitants, and was given a German prince, Wilhem of Wied, as sovereign. This was victory for the Central Powers. The Albanian state blocked Serbia's--and therefore Russia's--direct access to the Adriatic Sea. Albanians remained dissatisfied with their borders, because the Treaty of Bucharest had incorporated 400,000 of their compatriots into Serbia.

The Balkan wars marked an apparent victory for the indigenous Christian populations in Eastern Europe, gaining independence in the wake of retreating Turkish domination. On the other hand, the Great Powers' involvement in the wars intensified nationalism and rivalry between neighboring peoples with race and even religion in common, dividing the region by fostering divergent allegiances. In fact, the Balkan peoples did not realize they were not masters of their own fate, but that decisions concerning them were being made in St. Petersburg, Vienna, London or Paris.

The Balkans Between the Great Powers 1878--1914

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