Слике страница
PDF
ePub

operations, and Turkey soon showed a willingness to negotiate for peace. A truce was declared December 3, 1912, and a peace conference was held in London, beginning on December 16. The belligerents, however, could not agree on terms, and hostilities were renewed.

There was a danger that the Balkan trouble would involve other countries and thus bring on a general war, a calamity which the European Governments seemed anxious to avoid. In order to keep the conflict within its original limits, the French premier, M. Poincaré, had tried to induce the powers to announce their own "territorial disinterestedness" in the Balkan quarrel. Such a pledge was opposed by the Triple Alliance, especially Austria-Hungary, who seemed to think that her own interests were being threatened. She was opposed to such changes in the map of Europe as would extend Serbia to the Adriatic and place strong Slavic states between her and Salonica. Serbia had captured Durazzo and insisted on keeping it and a small portion of the Albanian coast. But Austria-Hungary favored the autonomy of Albania and was so determined in her opposition to Serbian ambitions that she began a general mobilization of her military forces.

The expressions of opinion given out by the various governments showed that the Triple

Alliance powers took one side of the controversy and the Triple Entente powers the other, the former being inclined to support Turkey and the latter the Balkan Allies. There was, therefore, a danger that the Balkan quarrel would assume European proportions and thus bring on a world war. This calamity was averted because the powers were on this occasion sane enough to settle their differences of opinion in the spirit of compromise. A conference was held in London in December, 1912, and it was agreed out of deference to the wishes of Austria and Italy that Albania should be an autonomous state and Serbia should have "commercial access to the Adriatic."

Serbia acquiesced in this compromise, but Montenegro gave trouble. The powers in arranging the boundaries of Albania finally decided that they should include Scutari. The Montenegrins were, therefore, ordered to raise the siege of Scutari; but instead of obeying this command, they went on with the siege and succeeded in capturing the city on April 22, 1913. Austria-Hungary and Italy threatened to attack Montenegro if she did not agree to turn over Scutari to Albania. Austria-Hungary's stand aroused great excitement in Russia and war between that country and the Dual Monarchy seemed imminent, when Montenegro wisely yielded and agreed to relinquish her prize (May 3).

A second peace congress was held in May and the belligerents all agreed to the treaty of London (May 30). By this treaty, Turkey gave up all of her territory in Europe except a narrow strip extending from the Black Sea to the Ægean, including Constantinople but excluding Adrianople.

Before the treaty with the Porte was signed, the Allies had begun to quarrel over the spoils. Serbia and Bulgaria had agreed by a secret treaty signed in March, 1912, upon a plan for the division of the territory to be taken from the Ottoman Empire. By this scheme Bulgaria was to have most of Macedonia with a seaport on the Egean; and Serbia was to get the greater portion of Albania and a seaport on the Adriatic. The creation of Albania into an independent state had deprived Serbia of a large part of her share, while the war had taken such a turn as to give Bulgaria more than had been contemplated by the treaty. Serbia, therefore, demanded a more equitable division than could be effected by a literal adherence to this agreement. Greece, too, thought that Bulgaria's portion was too large, it being, she contended, three-fifths of all the territory taken from Turkey. She was especially anxious to keep Salonica. The outcome of the dispute was that Bulgaria soon found herself at war with her former allies, Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece.

Rumania had remained neutral during the first Balkan War and expected compensation to balance the gains of the other states. She was promised Silistria, but was dissatisfied at not having gained more territory. When the second Balkan War broke out, she demanded further compensation from Bulgaria as the price of her neutrality. Bulgaria hesitated to meet her demnads, and Rumania joined the list of Bulgaria's enemies. Turkey, too, entered the war and recaptured Adrianople.

Bulgaria soon grew tired of the unequal contest and asked (July 21) the King of Rumania to intercede with the other rulers for peace. A peace conference was held in Bukarest and a treaty was signed (August 10) by all the Christian belligerents. By the treaty of Bukarest Rumania "secured an extension of her southeastern frontier," 12 and Bulgaria gave up certain territories to Greece and Serbia. Later, by the treaty of Constantinople (September 29), Bulgaria had to give up Adrianople and other territory to Turkey. Turkey now had twice the area in Europe that had been left her by the treaty of London.13

The Balkan wars had left a bitterness of feeling behind them which might easily lead to other trouble. Austria was dissatisfied with

12 Int. Yr. Bk., 1913, 699.

13 For map, see Schurman, The Balkan Wars, 124.

the final settlement. Serbia had become larger and stronger and was thus able to form a more effective barrier to her ambitions in the direction of the Egean. Besides, her difficulties with her Serbian subjects had been increased as a result of the increased importance of the Serbian state. Then, too, her prestige in the Balkans had been lowered because in both wars she "had backed the wrong horse,' her sympathies having been with Turkey in the first war and with Bulgaria in the second. This loss of prestige was especially galling inasmuch as Russia's position in the Balkans had been strengthened by these wars. For Russia had won the gratitude of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, and even Rumania by the diplomatic support that she had given them. The Austrian Emperor was, therefore, dissatisfied with the Treaty of Bukarest and felt that another war was necessary to right the Balkan situation. His disappointment was so keen that he would probably have gone to war in 1913 if Italy and Germany had not discouraged it.14 Montenegro, too, felt aggrieved in that Scutari had been wrenched from her and added to Albania.

Serbia had a new cause of complaint against Austria. The creation of the Kingdom of

14 World's Work, June, 1918, p. 171; Dickinson, The European Anarchy, 106.

« ПретходнаНастави »