Bulgaria and Serbia form the basis of the Balkan League

Balkans at the formation of the Balkan League

March 13, 1912

The Ottoman Empire, entrenched in a war with Italy in Libya and the Dardenelles, continues to lose its power in the Balkans. Russia seeking to take advantange by creating a "Slavic block" in the Balkans, directed both against Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans, used diplomacy to bring together Serbia and Bulgaria to reach a compromise and form an alliance, later to be known as the Balkan League.

Ivan Evstratiev Geshov, prime minister for Bulgaria, and Milovan Milovanović, prime Minister for Serbia, signed the agreement, as well as the resprective Monarchs, Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. and Peter I of Serbia.

The treaty created a defensive alliance between the two countries, in which they pledged themselves to defend one another in the event of one of them being attacked as well as providing for the possibility of war against Turkey, and territorial divisions in the event of  victory. According to the agreement, northern territories were to go to Serbia, and the territory south to Bulgaria. Autonomy was to be given to the intermediate region. The Tsar of Russia would arbitrate if there was any other questions that might arise from the treaty. The territorial arrangements represent an attempt to reconcile the Serbian desire for partitions and access to the Adriatic with the Bulgarian plan for Macedonian autonomy.

Greece and Montenegro would eventually join the Balkan League, in the coming months, leading to the attack on the Ottoman Empire and the commencement of the First Balkan Wars in October 1912, precursor to World War I.


Source: The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century, J.A.S. Grenville (2001). "The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century", Routledge, London, UK