The First Balkan War was pretty interesting I thought. This conflict had brought the Balkan states and Ottoman Empire into a major conflict with one another. After the Turks harsh defeat during the Italo-Turkish war, the Balkan states decided to basically fight against the Ottoman Empire. The smaller Balkan states had formed the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia). The Balkan States had always had problems and land disputes over the areas which the Ottoman Empire controlled. The Balkan League had challenged Turkey now to regain Balkan territory. Austria and Prussia had soon involved themselves in the war, both supporting different demands of different areas. Austria had pushed for the creation of Albania, in order to contain the expansion of Serbia, and this was fulfilled in 1913, after a conference in London was held to discuss the issue. (The Treaty of London was created, thus ending the war) The creation of Albania had prevented total war from happening, however Russia was angry because they had supported the demands made by Serbia to have access to the Adriatic Sea (a major territorial/ economical benefit to the nation). So Serbia and Russia were not at all satisfied with the support Austria gained. Bulgaria was in the background of all this, ready to use force, if needed, to solve the disputes over how the northern and southern halves of Macedonia would be divided between Serbia and Greece. Greece and Serbia refused to get involved with any conflicts at the moment, which was why a military alliance against Bulgaria was formed. This happened before the Treaty of London was created but it is important because it sets the scene for the Second Balkan War. The Treaty of London was a temporary agreement that prevented any war from happening at the moment. However, with so many nations still unhappy, war in the future was still inevitable. The Balkan War was just mainly over territory in a particular region. The link below is a small map that shows the areas that were mainly involved in the war. The Balkan League was not a great European power, as compared to the Ottoman Empire. If you had nations like France, Great Britain, and Germany fighting one another for territory all across Europe, then that would probably result in world war because they were more powerful nations, and territory would not be in one particular region. I think that since the war was a result of minor territorial disputes, not much was at stake. At the time though, every ounce of territory that one nation could gain was important in order to be on top of everyone else, so it is understandable why this conflict had occurred.
This is a very good link that shows you exactly what territories were gained after the war by each country. And it also gives a short summary of the war itself.
As Matt had previously explained, the root of all the tension in the Balkan War began with the Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states consisted of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro. Russia underhandedly wanted to take Macedonia away from Turkey, but the disputed land was already involved in a fight with Italy, at the time. Montenegro declared war on Turkey three quarters of a million men strong. As a result, a number of other League members followed Montenegro's example; this resembled a domino affect. Although the Balkan league's countries nearly despised each other, they seemed to have fought well together, considering they won the battle with Turkey quickly and efficiently. As the disputed land was up for grabs, the powers of Europe at the time, Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia all scrambled to partition the land evenly. This effort by the European "greats" portrayed an effort to avoid an entire world war. Although it did have the factors for one, tensions between two groups of people, and the underlying intentions of outside countries, the larger, more experienced countries were able to keep the region under control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX55ri4VJkk this is a video of the photos of the Bulgarian army. At this point in history, things start to get interesting now that the camera was invented!
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=C5wDkSQJrWmAbM:&imgrefurl=http://www.heroesofserbia.com/2011/04/my-lifes-path-by-vidak-milovich-story.html&docid=ibYol5LaOgcI_M&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_THHAOkJ84L4/TTzLw3uX22I/AAAAAAAAAnk/a6QQO6vNdpE/s1600/Balkan%252BPeninsula%252B1878%252B1912.bmp&w=1600&h=1118&ei=mUVYT4ieOOfj0QHO9JC1Dw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=340&sig=104532768702446841889&page=2&tbnh=137&tbnw=196&start=19&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:19&tx=132&ty=99 the link above is a map of the region that the first balkan war took place, and the boarders it created.
Matt has pretty much summed it all up for us. A little more background off of it is, the Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbians, and the people of Montenegro all wished to liberate their kinsman and a response to the repressive policies that the Turks had put on them for so many years. They knew something had to be done so they took the offensive. In March 1912, Serbia and Bulgaria signed a treaty which gave the northern half of Macedonia to Serbia and the southern half to Bulgaria. They were also deciding whether or not to go to war with Austria as well if they tried to foil their plans at all. Several treaties were then signed after leading up to the First Balkan War. Within just a few weeks, the Turks were being pushed back to defend Constantinople. The Balkan league had now also gained Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace to fight with them. A major point in the war is when Serbia took the Adriatic at Durazzo. This gave them a major sea port. Many opposed this because of the possibilities it brought with it like becoming a Russian sea port or it threatening the Hapsburg Monarchy. The armistice was signed soon after in London. The seemingly mature talking broke down when a coup d’etat occurred at Constantinople. There was a group determined to help resist. The fighting resumed until all of the major spots that were left, were taken. The Treaty of London ended the War on May 30, 1913. Turkey had to cede all of its possessions in Europe to the allies west of a line from Enos on the Agean Sea to Midia on the Black Sea. The treaty did however bring along with it much tension over the spoils of war and caused the Second Balkan War. There was never a once and for all fight that ended all the quarreling. There was never a final straw to end it all. It was as if the world was looking for the war to settle it all. A world war. http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/easteurope/firstbalkan.html
The most interesting thing about reading these posts is that I can see the foundations of the outbreak of World War I being set. As Matt, Kim, and Jeff said, Russia, which supported Serbia, was angered when the Austrians were successful in the Treaty of London in establishing Albania to prevent the expansion of Serbia to the Adriatic Sea. Thus, there was a lot of animosity between Austria and Russia. A little more than a year after the treaty, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by a Yugoslav nationalist. Afterward, when the Habsburg ultimatum was issued against the Kingdom of Serbia, Russia, who still remembered its past wounds, naturally and immediately got involved against Austria. This set off a chain reaction, and several alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war. As Matt, Kim, and Jeff mentioned, although the Treaty of London provided peace, hatred between Austria and Russia was simmering beneath the surface and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand provided the spark that set off the inevitable world war.
My topic was the Russo-Turkish war in which the conflicts between those involved were noted clearly. Balkan nationalism was escalating which allowed for a unified cause in they fight against the oppressive Ottomans. It is interesting to see how the Ottoman Empire finally fell and was distributed amongst the allies. It is funny to see how easily the stage was set for immediate drama at the war's conclusion. The Bulgarians were immediately angered by their lack of land after the war. They made the conscious decison that they would take action by force if need be. I think its interesting how time and time again history repeats itself. Nations struggle for independence for ages and upon receiving that independence, they become power hungry.
The First Balkan War was pretty interesting I thought. This conflict had brought the Balkan states and Ottoman Empire into a major conflict with one another. After the Turks harsh defeat during the Italo-Turkish war, the Balkan states decided to basically fight against the Ottoman Empire. The smaller Balkan states had formed the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia). The Balkan States had always had problems and land disputes over the areas which the Ottoman Empire controlled. The Balkan League had challenged Turkey now to regain Balkan territory. Austria and Prussia had soon involved themselves in the war, both supporting different demands of different areas. Austria had pushed for the creation of Albania, in order to contain the expansion of Serbia, and this was fulfilled in 1913, after a conference in London was held to discuss the issue. (The Treaty of London was created, thus ending the war) The creation of Albania had prevented total war from happening, however Russia was angry because they had supported the demands made by Serbia to have access to the Adriatic Sea (a major territorial/ economical benefit to the nation). So Serbia and Russia were not at all satisfied with the support Austria gained. Bulgaria was in the background of all this, ready to use force, if needed, to solve the disputes over how the northern and southern halves of Macedonia would be divided between Serbia and Greece. Greece and Serbia refused to get involved with any conflicts at the moment, which was why a military alliance against Bulgaria was formed. This happened before the Treaty of London was created but it is important because it sets the scene for the Second Balkan War. The Treaty of London was a temporary agreement that prevented any war from happening at the moment. However, with so many nations still unhappy, war in the future was still inevitable. The Balkan War was just mainly over territory in a particular region. The link below is a small map that shows the areas that were mainly involved in the war. The Balkan League was not a great European power, as compared to the Ottoman Empire. If you had nations like France, Great Britain, and Germany fighting one another for territory all across Europe, then that would probably result in world war because they were more powerful nations, and territory would not be in one particular region. I think that since the war was a result of minor territorial disputes, not much was at stake. At the time though, every ounce of territory that one nation could gain was important in order to be on top of everyone else, so it is understandable why this conflict had occurred.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.warchat.org/history/history-europe/first-balkan-war-1912-1913.html
ReplyDeletehttp://schoolnet.gov.mt/history/options/Balkans/balkanwars1912-13.htm
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good link that shows you exactly what territories were gained after the war by each country. And it also gives a short summary of the war itself.
As Matt had previously explained, the root of all the tension in the Balkan War began with the Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states consisted of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro. Russia underhandedly wanted to take Macedonia away from Turkey, but the disputed land was already involved in a fight with Italy, at the time. Montenegro declared war on Turkey three quarters of a million men strong. As a result, a number of other League members followed Montenegro's example; this resembled a domino affect. Although the Balkan league's countries nearly despised each other, they seemed to have fought well together, considering they won the battle with Turkey quickly and efficiently. As the disputed land was up for grabs, the powers of Europe at the time, Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia all scrambled to partition the land evenly. This effort by the European "greats" portrayed an effort to avoid an entire world war. Although it did have the factors for one, tensions between two groups of people, and the underlying intentions of outside countries, the larger, more experienced countries were able to keep the region under control.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX55ri4VJkk this is a video of the photos of the Bulgarian army. At this point in history, things start to get interesting now that the camera was invented!
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=C5wDkSQJrWmAbM:&imgrefurl=http://www.heroesofserbia.com/2011/04/my-lifes-path-by-vidak-milovich-story.html&docid=ibYol5LaOgcI_M&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_THHAOkJ84L4/TTzLw3uX22I/AAAAAAAAAnk/a6QQO6vNdpE/s1600/Balkan%252BPeninsula%252B1878%252B1912.bmp&w=1600&h=1118&ei=mUVYT4ieOOfj0QHO9JC1Dw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=340&sig=104532768702446841889&page=2&tbnh=137&tbnw=196&start=19&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:19&tx=132&ty=99
the link above is a map of the region that the first balkan war took place, and the boarders it created.
Matt has pretty much summed it all up for us. A little more background off of it is, the Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbians, and the people of Montenegro all wished to liberate their kinsman and a response to the repressive policies that the Turks had put on them for so many years. They knew something had to be done so they took the offensive. In March 1912, Serbia and Bulgaria signed a treaty which gave the northern half of Macedonia to Serbia and the southern half to Bulgaria. They were also deciding whether or not to go to war with Austria as well if they tried to foil their plans at all. Several treaties were then signed after leading up to the First Balkan War. Within just a few weeks, the Turks were being pushed back to defend Constantinople. The Balkan league had now also gained Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace to fight with them. A major point in the war is when Serbia took the Adriatic at Durazzo. This gave them a major sea port. Many opposed this because of the possibilities it brought with it like becoming a Russian sea port or it threatening the Hapsburg Monarchy. The armistice was signed soon after in London. The seemingly mature talking broke down when a coup d’etat occurred at Constantinople. There was a group determined to help resist. The fighting resumed until all of the major spots that were left, were taken. The Treaty of London ended the War on May 30, 1913. Turkey had to cede all of its possessions in Europe to the allies west of a line from Enos on the Agean Sea to Midia on the Black Sea. The treaty did however bring along with it much tension over the spoils of war and caused the Second Balkan War. There was never a once and for all fight that ended all the quarreling. There was never a final straw to end it all. It was as if the world was looking for the war to settle it all. A world war.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenagain.info/webchron/easteurope/firstbalkan.html
The most interesting thing about reading these posts is that I can see the foundations of the outbreak of World War I being set. As Matt, Kim, and Jeff said, Russia, which supported Serbia, was angered when the Austrians were successful in the Treaty of London in establishing Albania to prevent the expansion of Serbia to the Adriatic Sea. Thus, there was a lot of animosity between Austria and Russia. A little more than a year after the treaty, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by a Yugoslav nationalist. Afterward, when the Habsburg ultimatum was issued against the Kingdom of Serbia, Russia, who still remembered its past wounds, naturally and immediately got involved against Austria. This set off a chain reaction, and several alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war. As Matt, Kim, and Jeff mentioned, although the Treaty of London provided peace, hatred between Austria and Russia was simmering beneath the surface and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand provided the spark that set off the inevitable world war.
ReplyDeleteMy topic was the Russo-Turkish war in which the conflicts between those involved were noted clearly. Balkan nationalism was escalating which allowed for a unified cause in they fight against the oppressive Ottomans. It is interesting to see how the Ottoman Empire finally fell and was distributed amongst the allies. It is funny to see how easily the stage was set for immediate drama at the war's conclusion. The Bulgarians were immediately angered by their lack of land after the war. They made the conscious decison that they would take action by force if need be. I think its interesting how time and time again history repeats itself. Nations struggle for independence for ages and upon receiving that independence, they become power hungry.
ReplyDelete