Contents
Introduction
The 20th Century Balkan Wars – The League Of The Balkans
World War One – Events
World War One - Consequences
Concluding Remarks
Bitesize Edition
The First and Second Balkan Wars and World War One were tough periods for the Ottomans. The rising nationalism occurring in the previous century culminated in the Balkan Wars. Disagreements between the states in the Balkans contributed to World War One.
The Bulgarians were on the side of other Balkan states (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro) against the Ottomans in the First Balkan War but were unhappy with the resolution after the conflict and so attacked their former allies, Greece, and Serbia.
This saw the Bulgarians lose, and the Ottomans actually gained some territory since the Great Powers were worried about their decline and what would take its place in the scenario of a complete collapse.
Tensions between Serbia and Austria-Hungary saw the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. World War One was hence underway, and the world changed forever. Find out more below.
Introduction
Today marks the finale of discussing the Ottomans in the Balkans. Small spoiler for those who don’t know, but the end of World War One saw the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Huge changes were occurring in Europe and the Balkans specifically. Find out more in this week’s review.
Note, I’m on holiday this week, camping on the edge of Loch Lomond in Scotland. As a result, there will be no “Other News” section this week that covers the news of the week in geopolitics. “Other News” will return next week.
The 20th Century Balkan Wars – The League Of The Balkans
Between the Peace of Constantinople and 1912, we saw Tunisia become a French Protectorate (1881), the British occupy Egypt (1882), a war with the Greeks in which the Ottomans gained small parts of Thessaly, the Cretan Revolt of 1897-1898 saw the Ottomans finally leave Crete, the Young Turk Revolution, and further Albanian Revolts (1910, 1911, 1912).
The First Balkan War occurred from 8th October 1912 to 30th May 1913 and pitted the Ottoman Empire against the Bulgarians, Serbians, Greeks, and Montenegrins, who wanted further independence and control of their own futures away from the Ottomans. It ended with a victory for the Balkan League, and the Treaty of London, which the Ottomans never signed. It was led by Italy, Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. The conflict saw the Ottomans lose 83% of their European territory and 69% of their European population. This conflict’s aftermath also saw the independence of Albania begin. The resolution of the First Balkan War saw many nations unhappy with their piece of the pie, especially the Bulgarians, who were unsatisfied with how the territory was split. Hence they attacked their former allies, Serbia, and Greece.
The Second Balkan War unfolded from 16th June 1913 - 10th August 1913. This placed the Bulgarians against Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Montenegro and saw the Bulgarians suffer a swift defeat, in just over a month. This saw Bulgaria cede East Thrace to the Ottomans, Southern Dobruja to Romania, a large portion of Vardar Macedonia to Serbia, and sections of Western Thrace to the Greeks. The Treaty of Bucharest was the resulting treaty from the Bulgarians asking for an armistice as Romanian troops marched on Sofia. The border between the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria was detailed in the Treaty of Constantinople, signed in September 1913.
It was the two Balkan Wars that served as a precursor to a series of diplomatic and military escalations within Europe, beginning in June 1914 with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip.
Austria-Hungary sought to respond to Serbia but was wary of Russia, an ally of Serbia. So the Austro-Hungarians went to the Germans and sought a guarantee for support in any conflict, to which the Germans agreed. The French met with the Russians and affirmed they would support Serbia in the event of an attack by the Austro-Hungarians.
The British sought to mediate the conflict but saw no reason to involve themselves. A few days later, however, the Serbians and Austro-Hungarians mobilised troops. 5 days later, on July 28th, 1914, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia and thus fell the dominoes of war.
The British, fearful of the Germans rolling through France, declared war on the Germans on August 4th, 1914.
The war that started in the Balkans affected the world.
WW1 - Events
1914 marked three failed attempts by the Austro-Hungarians to launch offensives into Serbia. When they combined with the Germans and Bulgarians a year later, we finally saw the occupation of Serbia and Montenegro. The Serbian military didn’t surrender but retreated through Albania, eventually making their way to Salonika, also known as Thessaloniki in Greece.
The Macedonia Front emerged as a result of the Central Powers occupying Serbia and saw the evacuated Serbian Army join the French and British fighting against the Bulgarians and Germans. At this point, the Greeks weren’t involved in the conflict, but the Allies were present in their territory.
In 1917, the Greeks did join. The Vardar Offensive in September 1918 saw the Serbian, French, and Greek troops attack the Bulgarians in Serbia, now present-day North Macedonia. After the Battle of Dobro Pole was successful for the Allies, the Bulgarians signed the Armistice of Salonica and withdrew from the war. After this, the Central Powers quickly collapsed on all fronts. Between the end of September and 11th November 1918, the liberation of Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro unfolded.
Belgrade was taken on November 1st, and Austria-Hungary agreed to an armistice two days later. The Germans were alone and agreed to an armistice on November 11th.
WW1 – Consequences
On 30th October 1918, the Armistice of Mudros ended the conflict between the Ottomans and the Allied Powers in World War One. Fighting for the Ottomans had mainly unfolded on the Middle Eastern front against the British and French. They committed genocide against the Armenians, taking women, children, and the elderly on death marches into the Syrian desert. This continues to be denied as genocide by the Turks today and drives tensions between the Turks and Armenians.
The Ottoman army was demobilized, and all strategic points were made available for the Allies use. The Allies also had the right to occupy forts controlling the Dardanelles and Bosporus Straits, two of the most strategically important geopolitical locations within the now-former Ottoman Empire. The writing had been on the wall for centuries, but after an example of how long a slow empire decline can take, the Ottoman Empire was no more.
The Treaty of Sevres in August 1920 was harsh on the Ottomans, and after any change in power, a vacuum emerged.
The Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk against the Allied Powers’ occupation led to the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 after the Turks’ victory. This was enforced by the Treaty of Lausanne, signed in July 1923.
Outside of the Ottomans and within the Balkans, we saw the merger of Romania, Transylvania and Bessarabia. We also saw the Christmas Uprising in Montenegro and the Romanian occupation of Hungary. Poland re-emerged as an independent country, and the Kingdom of Serbia became the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which eventually became Yugoslavia. Czechoslovakia was formed, and Russia became the Soviet Union, losing territory to the newly formed Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia as independent countries. Eventually, the Republic of Austria was created after failed attempts to unify Germany, which became itself the well-known Weimar Republic. The geography of Europe had changed. The period of the Ottomans was over, and a new era had begun. This era would come to mark the decades that followed, and we know how that turned out! Still, within the Balkans, there is more story to be told.
Concluding Remarks
It seems like I’ve been discussing the Ottomans in the Balkans for months, partly because I have. Even though the period of Ottoman rule is over, what’s next for the Balkans? After all, this entire series is discussing the history of the Balkans, not of the Ottoman Empire. So, we continue onwards. Next week, we’ll explore what became of the Balkans after 1923. It’s got a lot to do with Yugoslavia.
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Sources
I know this is focused on the Balkans but I think a reference to the fighting on the Caucasus front would not go amiss. Having covered a part of the Balkans as a Desk Officer at the State Department in the 1970s, I later found many similarities between these two friction zones between empires. BTW, I was told that Sofia was chosen as the Bulgarian capital so that it would be centrally located in their expanded state.