The Balkan Union (Balkan League) is the military-political bloc of Serbia , Montenegro , Greece and Bulgaria , directed against Turkey during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 .
After the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-1912, the Balkan countries realized the need for joint action to confront Turkey. This realization, not without pressure from Russian diplomacy, led to the signing of a bilateral agreement between Serbia and Bulgaria on March 13, 1912 , expanded by a military treaty on May 12 of that year; Russia was assigned the role of arbiter. Greece , not wanting to be left outside a possible alliance against Turkey, began negotiations with Bulgaria regarding its participation in the alliance.
Negotiations led to the signing of the Greco-Bulgarian Treaty on May 29, 1912 . Later, a similar agreement was also signed between Bulgaria and Montenegro. A whole network of alliances was created in the Balkans directed against Turkey and, in fact, against Austria-Hungary.
For its part, France , realizing that Russia influences the Balkan Union, found an ally in the person of Austria-Hungary, which in turn did not want to see a strong Serbian state on its southern border.
Since the Ottoman Empire was weakened by the war with Italy and had internal conflicts, the Balkan Union could not help but take advantage of this. During the last days of September, the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan countries mobilized their troops. The first power to declare war was Montenegro , October 8, 1912 starting the First Balkan War . The remaining three powers after the declaration of the ultimatum of Turkey ( October 13 ) declared war on it ( October 17 ).
During the war, the combined armies of the Balkan states virtually destroyed Ottoman rule in Europe in a series of victories. But the League’s triumph was short-lived. Disagreements between the allies still continued, and after the successful end of the First Balkan War, disagreements arose regarding the division of Macedonia. Tension led to the collapse of the Balkan Union. A second Balkan war broke out among the former allies. Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece, which were subsequently joined by the Ottoman Empire and Romania .
See also
- Balkan Wars