The Balkan Wars 1912-1913
The Balkan League
 Turkey’s continuing weakness encouraged nationalists in
the Balkans to consider winning greater control in this
area.
 Although Balkan countries often quarreled among
themselves, Russia encouraged them to put these aside
to form a united group.
 Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro formed an
alliance called the Balkan League.
The First Balkan War 1912
 In October 1912, the Balkan League’s forces attacked
a weakened Turkey and in seven weeks drove them
out of their European possessions.
 Austria was appalled by this result, fearing the
emergence of a much stronger Serbia.
The Treaty of London 1913
 Austria wanted to attack Serbia immediately but at this
stage none of the Great Powers were ready for a
confrontation with each other.
 The Great Powers called for a conference in London and
in may 1913 imposed a settlement on the area.
 A new country, Albania, was created with Austrian
support in order to deny Serbia a coastline. Serbia was
furious with this.
 The rest of the former Turkish lands were shared out
among the members of the Balkan League.
The Second Balkan War 1913
 This arrangement did not last long.
Bulgaria quarreled with other
members of the League about the
number of Bulgarians now living
under Serbian or Greek control in
Macedonia and Salonika.
 The Bulgarians attacked their
former allies. Turley also joined in
against Bulgaria, hoping to regain
some of her territory lost the
previous year.
 Bulgaria was quickly defeated and
by the Treaty of Bucharest lost
almost all of what she had gained in
the first war.
Consequences
 Serbia had emerged from these wars a more powerful
state than previously. Its military had become large and
experienced.
 Serbia felt that its pan-Slav ambitions had been
thwarted by Austria-Hungary with the creation of
Albania. There was increased from within Serbia for
terrorist attacks on Austrian targets.
 On the other hand, Austria-Hungary was alarmed at the
increase in Serbian power and its obvious nationalist
ambitions. It looked for an opportunity to cut Serbia
down to size.
The influence of historical forces - Imperialism
 Turkish politicians were angry that they had
effectively lost control of their imperial possessions in
Europe and looked for an opportunity to regain them.
This explains their actions in the Second Balkan War.
 Austrian politicians were worried about the
increasing influence of nationalism in the Balkans as it
threatened their imperial control of parts of the Balkans.
Growing Serb strength endangered this control.
 Russian politicians sought to extend their imperial
influence in this area through its encouragement of the
Balkan League.
The influence of historical forces - Nationalism
 Balkan League politicians were motivated by the
prospect of greater independence from Turkish control
to form an alliance with former enemies.
 Serbian politicians were influenced by pan-Slav ideas
and saw the creation of Albania as a deliberate attempt
to limit their legitimate nationalist ambitions.
 Serbian nationalists were furious at Austria’s actions
and increasingly supported terrorist activities against
Austria.
The influence of an historical force –
the alliance system
 Great Power politicians were concerned at the
potential for destabilization by the league’s victory in the
first Balkan War.
 If Austria attacked Serbia, Russia could support them.
This could involve Germany supporting Austria against
Russia, thus involving France and Britain. Great Power
politicians did not want a European war at this time,
so intervened to impose the Treaty of London.
 It was understood that this treaty was only likely to be a
temporary solution.
Hall (in his book The Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War )
reminds us that the European powers (and even the Americans) took a great
interest in the war. He recounts American volunteers and returned expatriates
fighting on the Greek and Montenegrin sides. Throughout the book, the narrative
is peppered with quotes from military attaches and diplomats from Britain, France,
Germany and the US, who all responded variously on what the wars seemed like
to them and how they were significant.
Why was there such interest? On the one hand, all the Balkan countries (and the
then non-state of Albania) except Greece were client states of one of the Great
Powers alliances, and thus enemies of the others. Particularly stressed in this
context is the antagonism between Austria-Hungary and Russia over Serbia’s
aspirations in Bosnia and Montenegro’s ambitions in northern Albania, and how
this uneasy confrontation would create a very volatile situation that exploded soon
after, with the 1914 assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the outbreak of the First
World War. The author presents other examples of imperial meddling, such as the
creation of an Albanian state by Austria-Hungary and Italian as a way of checking
Serbian and Greek power: despite being “…no strong advocates of nationalism in
general,” the Austrians saw that “…a large and strong national Albania was a good
way to guarantee control of the Adriatic.”
http://www.balkanalysis.com/2005/03/14/the-balkan-wars-1912-1913-prelude-to-the-first-world-war/
Use evidence from this extract to explain why European powers were interested in
conflicts in the Balkans at this time.
Source Interpretation practice
Look at Resources C and D on Pg 36 of your textbook. Use
evidence from both cartoons to show the impact of events
in the Balkans on Europe’s Great Powers.