The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the
Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern
Europe in 1912 and 1913. Four
Balkan states defeated the
Ottoman Empire in the first war; one of the four,
Bulgaria, was defeated in the second war.
The Ottoman Empire lost nearly all of its holdings in Europe. Austria-Hungary, although not a combatant, was weakened as a much enlarged
Serbia pushed for union of the
South Slavic peoples. The war set the stage for the
Balkan crisis of
1914 and thus was a "prelude to the
First World War."
By the early
20th century, Bulgaria,
Greece,
Montenegro and Serbia had achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large elements of their ethnic populations remained under
Ottoman rule. In 1912, these countries formed the
Balkan League. There were three main causes of the
First Balkan War. The Ottoman Empire was unable to reform itself, govern satisfactorily, or deal with the rising ethnic nationalism of its diverse peoples. Secondly the
Great Powers quarreled amongst themselves and failed to ensure that the
Ottomans would carry out the needed reforms. This led the Balkan states to impose their own solution. Most important, the Balkan League had been formed, and its members were confident that it could defeat the
Turks.
The Ottoman Empire lost almost all its
European territories to the west of the
River Maritsa, drawing present day
Turkey's western border. A large influx of Turks started to flee into the Ottoman heartland as a result of the lost lands. By 1914, the remaining core region of the Ottoman Empire had experienced a population increase of around 2.5 million because of the flood of immigration from the
Balkans.
In Turkey, it is considered a major disaster (Balkan harbi faciası) in the nation's history. The unexpected fall and sudden relinquishing of Turkish-dominated European territories created a psycho-traumatic event amongst the Turks that is said to have triggered the ultimate collapse of the empire itself within five years.
Nazım Pasha, the chief of staff of the
Ottoman army has been held responsible of the failure and was assassinated in 1913 by
Young Turks.
The First Balkan War broke out when the
League attacked the Ottoman Empire on 8
October 1912 and was ended seven months later by the
Treaty of London. After five centuries, the Ottoman Empire lost virtually all of its possessions in the Balkans.
The Second Balkan War broke out on 16 June 1913. Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in
Macedonia, made in secret by its former allies, Serbia and Greece, and attacked them. The
Serbian and
Greek armies repulsed the
Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked into Bulgaria, while
Romania and the Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria and gained (or regained) territory
. In the resulting
Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War.
The background to the wars lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the European territory of the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the
19th century. Serbia had gained substantial territory during the
Russo-Turkish War, 1877--1878, while Greece acquired
Thessaly in 1881 (although it lost a small area back to the Ottoman Empire in 1897) and Bulgaria (an autonomous principality since 1878) incorporated the formerly distinct province of
Eastern Rumelia (1885). All three as well as Montenegro sought additional territories within the large Ottoman-ruled region known as
Rumelia, comprising Eastern Rumelia,
Albania, Macedonia, and
Thrace (see map).
Policies of the Great Powers
Throughout the 19th century, the Great Powers shared different aims over the "
Eastern Question" and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.
Russia wanted access to the "warm waters" of the
Mediterranean; it pursued a pan-Slavic foreign policy and therefore supported Bulgaria and Serbia
. Britain wished to deny Russia access to the "warm waters" and supported the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, although it also supported a limited expansion of Greece as a backup plan in case integrity of the
Empire was no longer possible.
France wished to strengthen its position in the region, especially in the Levant (today's
Lebanon,
Syria, the
Palestinian territories and
Israel).
Habsburg-ruled Austria-Hungary wished for a continuation of the existence of the Ottoman Empire, since both were troubled multinational entities and thus the collapse of the one might weaken the other. The
Habsburgs also saw a strong Ottoman presence in the area as a counterweight to the Serbian nationalistic call to their own
Serb subjects in
Bosnia.
Italy, it has been argued, wished to recreate the
Roman empire, though its primary aim at the time seems to have been the denial of access to the
Adriatic Sea to another major sea power.
The German Empire, in turn, under the "
Drang nach Osten" policy, aspired to turn the Ottoman Empire into its own de facto colony, and thus supported its integrity.
- published: 26 Jan 2014
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