Nowadays, the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire is still going on, and the countries in the Balkan Peninsula are also ready to make moves. Among them, Bulgaria and Serbia were the first to reach an agreement. Among them, Serbia was facing pressure from Austria-Hungary. At that time, Serbia had doubts about its alliance with Bulgaria.
aroused great interest.
In 1908, Austria-Hungary suddenly annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shocked the Balkan countries and accelerated the process of mutual closeness and alliance between them. Facing the huge pressure from Austria-Hungary, Serbia very much hoped to get the support of Bulgaria. And the king of Bulgaria
Although Ferdinand was the son of Prince Saxe-Coburg Koda from the German royal family and was always hostile to Russia and pro-Austrian, he also realized that it was necessary to form an alliance with Serbia because the two countries had a common ground in opposing external threats.
Stakes.
However, the alliance between Bulgaria and Serbia has been troubled and not smooth sailing, because the goals of the alliance between the two countries are not the same. It can be said that each has its own plan. Bulgaria regards the Ottoman Empire as its number one enemy and wants to use Serbia's help to obtain Macedonia and peace.
Thrace. Serbia, on the other hand, regarded the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the biggest threat and also wanted to get involved in Macedonia, so the two sides failed to hit it off.
In November 1909, King Ferdinand made a special trip to Serbia, but did not achieve positive results. After hearing the news, the Austro-Hungarian Empire took the opportunity to intervene and tried its best to sabotage it. It also warned the Bulgarian king not to expect to be defeated in future wars.
Serbia can receive assistance from there. Austria-Hungary can provide help to Bulgaria and promises that once the Ottomans attack Bulgaria, Vienna will never sit idly by and help Bulgaria carve up Macedonia with Serbia. Kaiser Wilhelm II also promised the Balkans
Countries are opposed to the alliance, which makes the approach between Bulgaria and Serbia very troublesome.
At that time, Serbia was very interested in forming an alliance with Bulgaria, which had a great impact on the domestic situation. At that time, many radical organizations asked the government to form an alliance with other Slavic countries as soon as possible to jointly deal with Austria-Hungary and Eismann.
Empire. In addition, due to the needs of foreign policy, Serbia is trying to consolidate its position in the Balkans and strive to expand its sphere of influence. According to Serbian Foreign Minister Milanovic, if it does not unite with Bulgaria, it will no longer be united with Bulgaria.
Unable to exert influence on Croatia and Slovenia.
Due to changes in the Bulgarian government, the People's Party led by Gaishov and the pro-Russian Progressive Party headed by Danev came to power last year to form a coalition government. They changed their previous negative attitude and began serious discussions with Serbia on the alliance issue.
negotiation.
In April last year, Serbian Radical Party leader Pasic emphasized in a conversation with Bulgarian Ambassador to Serbia Tosev that once the two countries formed an alliance, their purpose was not only to fight against a common enemy, but also to carve up the Ottoman Empire's European territories.
Expand the territory of the two countries and once again set the tone for Serbia's alliance with Bulgaria.
The Ottoman territory that Pasic is talking about here is obviously Macedonia. Since there are Serbs, Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Romanians, etc. living in it, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece are all interested in it.
This territory has its own requirements. It is hoped that if it cannot be fully controlled, then at least a part of it will be obtained. Pasic from Bulgaria agreed, and the negotiations between the two parties have been accelerated since then.
In terms of the European powers, especially Russia's attitude plays a decisive role in bringing Bulgaria and Serbia closer. Russia agrees with the alliance between Bulgaria and Serbia and has had extensive contact with Bulgaria since 1910. Because Bulgaria is eager to reunite "Greater Bulgaria"
It hoped to gain the support of Russia for its ambitions, so it also actively moved closer to Russia. However, during the negotiation process, the two sides discovered that there were big differences in strategic goals.
First of all, Bulgaria’s expectations are too high and it hopes to obtain Salonika and Adrianople with Russia’s help (this is the intention to seize the essence of Macedonia). Russia is worried that it will bear too many obligations to Bulgaria and let the
Involving itself in conflicts with other European powers is the result that Russia least wants to see. Secondly, Russia insists that the goal of the alliance between Bulgaria and Serbia should be aimed at Austria-Hungary and not against Turkey, which of course is
It was rejected by Bulgaria. As a result, the negotiations with Bulgaria reached a deadlock.
But starting last year, Russia's attitude toward Bulgaria became enthusiastic again. It tried hard to push Serbia to get closer to it, and emphasized that Russia could only consider the issue of alliance with Bulgaria under the conditions of an alliance between the two countries, thus expressing its opposition to Serbia and Bulgaria.
A shot in the arm for negotiations.
Not only that, the Russian Ambassador to Serbia Hartwig and the Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Nelyudov also began to actively participate in the diplomatic negotiations between the two sides, proposing a solution acceptable to both parties for the most difficult issue of Mariton. The southeastern corner of northern Macedonia
to Bulgaria, and the northwest corner to Serbia. The ownership of a piece of land in between (including Skopje) will be decided by the Russian Tsar. Romanovsky, the Russian military attaché in Bulgaria, also further elaborated on many details of this proposal.
To clarify. (Southern Macedonia was left to Greece because the Greek navy was needed to block military reinforcements from the Ottoman Asian territories and cut off its most important sea transportation.)
The resolution of the Macedonian issue has removed one of the biggest obstacles to the alliance between the two countries.
As progress accelerated, the two countries finally signed a Treaty of Friendship and Alliance on March 12, 1912. Bulgaria and Serbia formally signed a treaty of friendship and alliance. In addition to the mutual military obligations if one of the two countries was attacked, it also stipulated that the Ottoman Empire should be ended.
Turkey ruled both Kosovo and Macedonia, and reached a secret agreement on the partition of Macedonia.
The military provisions attached to the treaty are as follows. Once war breaks out, Bulgaria should provide 200,000 troops, and Serbia should provide 150,000 troops to fight together, of which 100,000 should be sent to Macedonia to help Bulgaria. The Russian government is very concerned about this treaty.
Satisfied, Foreign Minister Sasonov couldn't help saying after hearing the news. "Good! It couldn't be better! Now there are 500,000 bayonets to defend the Balkans - it will forever block German penetration and Austro-Hungarian invasion.
The truth!”
In addition to actively seeking to sign a treaty with Serbia, Bulgaria also sought to form an alliance with Greece. In 1910, after Veniziros became Prime Minister of Greece, he showed a strong interest in Bulgaria. A committee composed of 10 famous politicians was formed in the city to be responsible for
Study how to improve relations between the two countries and develop many specific plans.
In 1911, Bulgaria and Greece negotiated and touched upon the Macedonian issue. Although they failed to reach an agreement, they increased their understanding of each other. After the signing of the treaty between Serbia and Bulgaria, and Italy's threat to bombard the Dardanelles Strait, it prompted
Greece has taken a more proactive approach.
In April 1912, Veniziros proposed a plan for an alliance between Greece and Bulgaria. Later, at the request of Bulgaria, he responded positively to the Macedonian issue. It was handled by Greek Prime Minister Veniziros without the knowledge of the Greek government.
, Bulgaria and Greece are negotiating in top secret.
Finally, the Bulgarian-Greek Defense Alliance Treaty was signed on May 29, 1912, stipulating that when fighting Turkey, Bulgaria should provide 300,000 troops, while Greece should provide 120,000 troops.
After forming an alliance with Serbia and Greece, Bulgaria finally set its sights on Romania behind it, and Eder had been waiting for them to come.
