When was the balkan league formed

The Turkish Government, by renewing with increased energy its boycott of Greek commerce in Salonica and its policy of repression and assassination in Macedonia forced him out of his pacific attitude. He thereupon made efforts to secure the cooperation of Bulgaria in a defensive, agreement. In April, , he transmitted to Sofia, through private channels, a proposal that the two countries enter into an understanding for joint defense of Christians in Macedonia and for an eventual defensive alliance against Turkey.

Gueshoff became prime minister of Bulgaria in the spring of , supported by two parties which had always advocated a conciliatory policy toward Turkey; and Gueshoff announced that he would use every effort to avoid provocatory movements of any sort. Moreover, his doubts as to the military strength of Greece and his suspicion that a Greco-Turkish War over the Cretan question was imminent, led him to make no response to the proposal of Venizelos.

Turkish abuses in Macedonia and the obstinate procrastination of the Turkish Government in the matter of the promised junction of the Turkish and Bulgarian railways, changed the conciliatory attitude of Gueshoff, and the outbreak of the Turko-Italian War in September, , made more impatient and aggressive the disposition of Bulgarian public opinion. Realizing that Serbian military assistance would be indispensable in an alliance against Turkey, the Bulgarian Government took steps to procure the cooperation of Serbia before negotiating with Greece.

Serbia, which had for several years, under Russian auspices, sought an alliance whereby she might regain "Old Serbia," made known her readiness to receive proposals. Rizoff Bulgarian minister to Italy, in Sofia on leave of absence and Theodaroff Bulgarian minister of foreign affairs held conferences with Milovanovitch Serbian prime minister in Belgrade and Sofia, as a result of which arrangement was made for a secret interview between Gueshoff and Milovanovitch.

This took place at night on the train from Belgrade to Nish. Through this three-hour conference an agreement was reached to enter into negotiations on the basis of Macedonian autonomy, with, however, a preliminary determination of spheres of influence of the two States.

Definite negotiations were taken up in December at Sofia, Dr. Spalaikovitch being appointed Serbian minister to Bulgaria for the purpose in hand. Kings Ferdinand and Peter were consulted on more important questions, and Dr.

Russia promised to support Serbia in its nationalist struggle and Germany offered military aid to Austria-Hungary. View all reference entries ». View all related items in Oxford Reference ». Search for: 'Balkan Wars' in Oxford Reference ».

All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice. Oxford Reference. Balkans wanted to capture more territories and this lead to the power of rivalry.

European powers were conflicted as other countries such as England, Russia, Germany, and Austro-Hungray wanted to capture Balkan. The Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might. Each power- Russia, Germany, England, and Austria -Hungry was keen on extending the hold of other powers over the Balkans and extending its own control over the area.

On June 1, , Serbia and Greece formed an alliance against Bulgaria, and the war began on the night of June 29—30, , when King Ferdinand of Bulgaria ordered his troops to attack Serbian and Greek forces in Macedonia. The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria , dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 O.

June Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, entering Bulgaria. Russians, through their navy, wanted to expand their territory by moving into the Balkans and other areas that were formerly under the Ottoman Empire.

They wanted to capture and control the Bosphorus , which provided shipping access to the Mediterranean. This was met with British opposition. Russia and Serbia are both predominantly Slavic and Eastern Orthodox countries, which share a strong mutual cultural affinity.

The countries have been close allies for centuries; and the friendship between the both have been strongly maintained despite Serbia's recent attempt to maintain closer relations with the West.

Explanation: Russia was the country that wanted to control the Balkans along with the support of Germany. Additionally, it led to differences between the Balkan nations who wished to gain territory at the expense of their neighbors. Both the conflict with the Ottoman Empire and between the Balkan nations led to the Balkan Wars, discussed below.

In a different vein, the ideology of Pan-Slavism in Balkans gained popularity; the movement built around it in the region sought to unite all of the Slavs of the Balkans into one nation, Yugoslavia.

This, however, would require the union of several Balkan states and territory that was part of Austria-Hungary. For this reason, Pan-Slavism was strongly opposed by Austria-Hungary, while it was supported by Russia which viewed itself as leader of all Slavic nations. To complicate matters, in the years preceding World War I, there existed a tangle of Great Power alliances, both formal and informal, public and secret.

This theory held that opposing combinations of powers in Europe would be evenly matched, entailing that any general war would be far too costly to risk entering.

This system began to fall apart as the Ottoman Empire, seen as a check on Russian power, began to crumble, and as Germany, a loose confederation of minor states, was united into a major power. Not only did these changes lead to a realignment of power, but of interests as well. All these factors and many others conspired to bring about the First World War. The Chancellor of Germany in the late 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, correctly predicted it would be the source of major conflict in Europe.