Transcript The Balkans - Spring Branch ISD

The Balkans—
The Chessboard of Europe
Scribner’s Magazine
June 1896
Long Term & Short Term
Causes of the First World War
Question…
• To what extent and in what ways did
nationalist tensions in the Balkans
between 1870 and 1914 contribute to the
outbreak of WW I?
Ottoman control of the Balkans at
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the beginning of the 19 century
The “Sick Man of Europe”
• The Eastern Question… what would happen to
the Balkans if and when the Ottoman Empire
(OE) disappeared as the dominant political
feature of Southeastern Europe
• Term is attributed to Nicholas I in discussions
with the British in 1841
1774 Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji
• Russia had defeated the OE
• In the treaty, Russia gained
access to the Black Sea Coast
merchant ships could enter the Bosphorus &
Dardanelles
could trade in the OE
claimed to receive the right to protect all
Orthodox Christians in the OE
claimed special rights in Moldavia & Wallachia
Treaty of Paris 1856
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Ended the Crimean War
All Russian warships barred from the Black Sea
All nations’ merchant ships could use the Black Sea
All of the Great Powers became protectors of
Christians in the Balkans
• Russian goal… overturn the Treaty of Paris
4th Russo-Turkish War
• Problems in the Balkans in 1876…
crop failures
unemployment
nationalism
30,000 Bulgarians massacred by Turkish
irregulars
• Russia and other Great Powers tried to create
autonomous Christian regions within OE territory,
but the OE rejected the proposals
4th Russo-Turkish War
• War began with an anti Turkish uprising in
Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Serbia & Montenegro had their own war against
the OE in 1876 and defeated the OE
• Russia joined the war after gaining Austrian
neutrality… on condition Russia did not try to
create a large client state in the Balkans
• Russia’s goals were to free Slavic groups and put
them under Russian protection (Pan-Slavism)
4th Russo-Turkish War
• Bulgaria rebelled against the OE 1876 and
Russia came to her aid to avenge the deaths of
the massacred Bulgarians
• In spite of Gladstone’s pamphlet condemning
the OE massacre in Bulgaria, Britain supported
the OE to reduce Russian influence in the
Balkans
• Germany was caught in the middle between
Austria & Russia… League of the Three
Emperors was in force at that time.
Treaty of San Stefano
• Russia defeated the OE
• Large Bulgaria created (with a warm water port!)
as an autonomous principality within the OE
• Confirmed independence of Romania
• Independence of an enlarged Serbia &
Montenegro
Treaty of San Stefano
Why Bulgaria believed it should
be BIG
Congress of Berlin 1878
• Britain supported OE—suspicious of Russia so
would not work with them
• Germany caught in the middle between Russia
& Austria
• Bismarck took role of mediator
• Austria had supported Russian war against OE
on the understanding there would be no
territorial changes in the Balkans
• Austria felt betrayed by Russia’s Treaty of San
Stefano
Treaty of Berlin 1878
• Romania, Serbia & Montenegro became
completely independent countries
• Bulgaria was reduced, became autonomous
principality within the OE & had to pay tribute
• Eastern Rumelia & Macedonia given back to OE
• Bosnia & Herzegovina given to Austria to “occupy
& administer” but Bosnia still part of OE
• France received Tunisia to compensate for
territory Russia gained
• Russia received Bessarabia from Romania &
small part of Armenia from OE
• Russia was required to stop its advances into
Afghanistan
• Russia was allowed to build warships on the
Black Sea
• No nation could sail warships through the Straits
into or out of the Black Sea
• Later, Greece gained additional territory in the
north (Thessaly) from OE in 1881
Cyprus Convention 1878
• Between Great Britain & OE
• Was the “price” for British support of the OE at
the Congress of Berlin
• Gave Cyprus to Great Britain for a naval base—
made Greece mad
• “Cyprus is the key to Western Asia”--Disraeli
Balkan reaction to
Treaty of Berlin 1878
• Serbia lost chance to gain Bosnia… instead
became a source of conflict with Austria
• Bulgaria was furious at the loss of territory due
to end Treaty of San Stefano
• Serbia & Greece began pushing their own
claims to Macedonia in response to Bulgaria’s
claim to Macedonia in the Treaty of San Stefano
Macedonia—
“Poland of the Balkans”
• Serbia & Greece upset at Bulgaria’s claim to
Macedonia so began making their own claims on
Macedonia in anticipation of the Great Powers
redrawing the map of the Balkans in the future
• Greece wanted Macedonia
• Loyalties were local… family, religion, tribe… no
national consciousness
• Macedonia was multi-religious… Muslim,
Orthodox, Jewish majority in Salonika
• Multi-ethnic… included both Serbs and Bulgarians
• Bulgarians & Serbs set up schools, religious
organizations and guerrilla groups to protect their
groups
• Other minorities were Greek, Romanian & Albanian
• An English relief worker, in 1904, described the
lawless conditions that existed in Macedonia; OE
authorities had little power
• Great Powers preferred that the OE keep control of
Macedonia—they doubted that the Balkan states
could divide Macedonia peacefully
Bulgaria—
“Prussia of the Balkans”
• 1885 autonomous Bulgaria and Rumelia united
• The Great Powers, including Russia, were
unhappy; Serbia was unhappy—worried about loss
of power relative to Bulgaria
• Serbia declared war on Bulgaria
• Bulgaria’s army was successful against Serbia (had
Krupp cannons)
• Austria-Hungary stepped in to protect Serbia
• No territorial changes to Bulgaria or Serbia
• Great Powers recognized the new Bulgaria
• Relations soured between Bulgaria & Serbia
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization (IMRO)
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Formed 1893 by Macedonian-born professionals
Ties to Bulgaria… educated in Bulgaria
Goal—to be free of the OE
Question—independent or part of Bulgaria?
In spite of Ottoman reforms, leaders in Serbia,
Greece, Bulgaria & Macedonia continued their
conflict, expecting the Great Powers to partition
Macedonia—each wanted as strong a claim as
possible to as much territory as possible
In Macedonia By 1895…
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Bulgarian National Committee
Greek Association of Hellenistic letters
Serbian Society of Saint Sava
All three organizations operated in Macedonia
In addition, a Macedonian nationalist group had
developed… “Macedonia for the Macedonians”
• Macedonia also had a large Turkish population
and the OE considered Macedonia to be
Ottoman
Balkans: 1899
Young Turk Uprising—1908
• Goal was to strengthen, preserve & consolidate
the OE
• Founded the Committee of Union & Progress
(CUP)
• Wanted a homogeneous, Muslim society
• Also wanted to keep control over Macedonia;
feared if the OE did not reform, it would lose
control over Macedonia
• Wanted legal and governmental reforms
• The Young Turks gained power by promising to
stop the further loss of territory
• A few months later, the Bosnian Crisis broke out
Bosnian Crisis—1908
• Multi-religious… Bosnian Muslims, Croatian
Catholics, Serbian Orthodox
• Largest group was Serbian Orthodox
• 1903 coup put Peter I on the throne of Serbia
• Peter was expansionist—wanted Bosnia and
territory between Serbia & Montenegro
• Peter also wanted to make Serbia attractive to
other Serbs—wanted Serbia to become the
“Piedmont of the Balkans”
• Russian & Austrian Foreign Ministers discussed
with each other how to change the Treaty of
Berlin (1878)
• Castle where the two
Foreign Ministers met
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Russia thought the agreement was:
Austria would annex Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bulgaria would become fully independent
Serbia would gain territory
Austria would not oppose Russian warships
gaining use of the Straits
• Serbia wanted at least part of Bosnia and
wanted access to the Adriatic
• HOWEVER…
• Bulgaria declared independence and the next
day Austria annexed Bosnia
• Predictably, Great Britain opposed any change
to Russia’s use of the Straits
• In the end, Russia did not get use of the Straits
• Serbia was forced to accept Austria’s annexation
of Bosnia
• Russia was unable to support Serbia
Italo-Turkish War 1911
• Italy wanted Libya to balance French colonial
gains
• Italy was successful and gained Libya as their
colony
• Italy also gained the island of Rhodes and the
Dodecanese Islands
• Balkan countries noticed how easy it was to beat
the OE in a war
First Balkan War—
1912-1913
• Balkan League—Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece &
Montenegro
• Lesson Balkan League learned from Italian war
was that if the countries banded together, they
could defeat the OE
• War was Balkan League v OE over control of
Macedonia
• Justification for the war… began with
Montenegro’s border dispute with OE
• The Balkan League defeated the OE and gained
Macedonia
• Ended by the Treaty of London 1913
• This ended OE rule in the Balkans
• OE retained only a small part of land in Europe
• Macedonia give to the Balkan League, not to an
individual country
• Problem… but what do to with Macedonia?
After the First
Balkan War
Albania 1912
• To stop Serbia from gaining a port on the
Adriatic, Austria promoted the independence of
Albania
• Serbia allowed Black Hand to operate
Competing
Balkan
Claims
Second Balkan War—1913
• Problem—how to divide up Macedonia
• Russia wanted to mediate but did not want to
offend either Serbia or Bulgaria
• Bulgaria was unhappy with the amount of land it
received and began a war against Serbia &
Greece
• This time Romania and the OE joined Serbia,
Montenegro & Greece—all against Bulgaria
• Romania was unhappy because Bulgaria had
promised some land in exchange for Romanian
neutrality during the First Balkan War
• Bulgaria lost the war and lost most of the land
she had gained in the First Balkan War
• Serbia became dominant Balkan power
Balkans after the
Second Balkan War
Sources
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Notes compiled over years
http://staff.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/map/yugoslavia/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_crisis
History of the Balkans—Eighteenth & Nineteenth Centuries by Barbara Jelavich, New
York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos130.htm
http://www.worldwar1.com/tlboscri.htm
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/bosnia.htm
http://www.balkanalysis.com/2006/04/25/the-young-turk-revolution-and-the-1908annexation-of-bosnia-herzegovina/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Balkan_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bulgaria_Simeon_I_(893-927).png