Balkan cooperation

The Young Turk coup of 1908 had aroused fears among the Balkan states that liberalising reforms could strengthen the Ottoman Empire and thus deny the Bulgarians, Greeks, Montenegrins and Serbs Ottoman territories containing their co-nationals. These concerns motivated countries to overcome their rivalries and to cooperate against the Ottomans before the reforms of the Young Turks had a chance to succeed. The outbreak of an Albanian rebellion in 1910 and the Italo-Ottoman War of 1911 convinced the Balkan governments that the time was right to realise their ambitions once and for all. By the summer of 1912, with Russian encouragement, these efforts resulted in the establishment of a loose Balkan League. It consisted of bilateral treaties among Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. The most important of these agreements was the Bulgarian-Serbian alliance of March 13th, 1912, which allotted northern Albania to Serbia and most of Macedonia to Bulgaria. Claims to north-western Macedonia remained contentious. One of the provisions of the March 1912 treaty divided Macedonia into 'undisputed' and 'disputed' zones. In the likely event that the establishment of an autonomous Macedonia proved impossible, Bulgaria would receive the former, which consisted of Macedonia south-east of the Sar Mountains, while Tsar Nicholas II assumed responsibility to resolve any disagreement that might arise between the two Balkan allies over the disputed zone north-west of the Ŝar Mountains. None of the other bilateral agreements among the Balkan states contained territorial provisions. This was to cause difficulty, especially between the Bulgarians and the Greeks over the division of southern Macedonia and Salonika (Thessaloniki).

In the initial round of fighting in the First Balkan War the regional allies triumphed everywhere, much to the astonishment of the Great Powers and somewhat to the surprise of the allies themselves. The Bulgarians drove the Ottomans back through Thrace to defensive positions outside Constantinople at Chataldzha (Çatalca) and surrounded the fortress town of Adrianople (Edirne). The Greeks overran Epirus and Thessaly and besieged Janina (Ioánnina). Greek troops entered Salonika on November 7th, 1912, one day ahead of the Bulgarians. The Montenegrins overran parts of northern Albania and the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, besieging the northern Albanian town of Scutari (Shkodër). The Serbs conquered Kosovo and Macedonia. When the Bulgarians, Montenegrins and Serbs concluded an armistice with the Ottomans on December 3rd the Ottoman Empire in Europe consisted of just three besieged towns -- Adrianople, Janina and Scutari -- the Gallipoli Peninsula and the small portion of Thrace behind the Chataldzha lines.

Formal efforts to end the war shifted to London in mid-December 1912, where two simultaneous conferences took place. The first was a meeting between representatives of the Balkan allies and the Ottoman Empire and was meant to settle the war. The second conference was a consultation among the Great Power ambassadors accredited to Britain. The six Great Powers intended this meeting to oversee the Balkan negotiations and ensure that their interests were maintained in the peace settlement. On the urging of Austria-Hungary and Italy, the Ambassadors Conference recognised Albanian independence on December 20th, 1912.

But negotiations in London soon stalled and the war resumed on February 3rd, 1913. The Greeks took Janina on March 6th, the Bulgarians seized Adrianople on March 26th and the Montenegrins entered Scutari on April 23rd. Peace negotiations were restarted in London, where the Balkan Allies eventually signed a peace treaty with the Ottomans on May 30th, 1913. With the Treaty of London, the Ottoman Empire ceded all its lands in Europe west of a straight line drawn from the Aegean port of Enos (Enez) to the Black Sea port of Midia (Midye). The Ottomans also renounced claims to the Aegean Islands and Crete. Though the treaty sanctioned Albanian independence, the Great Powers reserved for themselves the right to determine the borders of the new state.

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