Chapter 324: Anti-Bulgaria Alliance
As the heat from the Olympics and the global airship tour gradually subsided, the ongoing Balkan War and the peace talks between the Balkan nations once again became the focus of discussions among European countries.
This was only natural. The vast European continent had not experienced a large-scale war for decades, and a war involving multiple European nations, with millions of soldiers mobilized on both sides, was enough to catch the attention of Europeans and become a topic of widespread discussion.
The peace talks between the Balkan nations and Turkey were held in London, the capital of the British Empire. With the British Empire acting as the mediator, the peace talks naturally earned the trust and recognition of the other nations.
At this time, London was crowded with people. The wealthy drove various kinds of cars through the city's sprawling streets. Wealthy ladies, often in groups of two or three, sipped a drink called "Coca-Cola," occasionally taking a sip through a straw and chatting with their friends.
This scene of prosperity and wealth certainly justified London being the capital of the world's most powerful nation and one of the most developed cities globally.
For the people of London, even for the British and Europeans, the ongoing Balkan War seemed like something from history and folklore.
Knights in shining armor appeared to be able to charge and defeat their enemies in one fell swoop, sending them fleeing in fear.
These aging European aristocrats, whose memories had been eroded by time, had no idea that war was cruel for everyone, and that war was an unfeeling reaper for all lives.
Since the beginning of the Balkan War, the casualties on both sides had already exceeded tens of thousands. The number of soldiers killed alone was in the tens of thousands.
Had the peace talks not been held in London, it might have been easy to think that this brutal war had nothing to do with London.
But even with the peace talks taking place in London, the ongoing negotiations had little impact on the lives of the European aristocrats.
Although the peace talks had been ongoing for over half a month, the progress was close to zero.
Whenever there was any slight progress, it was immediately influenced by the great powers, ultimately preventing any real progress.
The reason was simple: although the Balkan War appeared to be a result of the Balkans' dissatisfaction with the Ottoman Empire's oppression in the region, in reality, it was part of a broader geopolitical struggle led by the Ottoman Empire and Russia, with the great powers involved in the political game in the Balkans.
The involvement of these great powers turned the region into utter chaos and made the peace talks head in a confusing direction.
To put it bluntly, after more than half a month of negotiations, the only consensus reached was that the Ottoman Empire would admit its defeat in the war.
There was no progress on any other matters. The past half month of negotiations was more like a gathering of international representatives in London enjoying the pleasures of life rather than any real diplomatic progress.
The most anxious parties in these peace talks were undoubtedly the Balkan nations.
Turkey, on the other hand, was not as urgent. The longer the peace talks dragged on, the more time Turkey had to build up strength, possibly even launching a counterattack to retake the land that had been lost.
But for the Balkan nations, the total mobilization of their people was a great burden. Every day that the mobilization continued was an enormous economic and industrial loss for the country.
The sooner the peace talks were concluded, the sooner they could disband the reserve forces and return the people to their previous productive lives.
Moreover, the Balkan countries had large newly acquired territories that needed new policies for occupation and integration.
If this dragged on further, there was a risk of extreme Turkish factions causing instability in the region.
The land that had already been conquered was like a tasty morsel—eating it sooner would bring more peace of mind.
But the current infighting between the great powers was fierce. The division could roughly be seen as the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc supporting the Ottoman Empire, and Russia backing the Balkan League.
The Balkan League also had internal disputes over the division of spoils, and these intense contradictions had led to the situation where no resolution seemed in sight.
Apart from the direct participants—the Germany-Austria-Hungary bloc and Russia—Britain and France held a neutral stance toward the peace talks.
For Britain and France, as long as the situation in Constantinople remained stable, they could accept any outcome of the peace talks.
However, if there was a risk of Constantinople falling into Russian hands, Britain and France would not hesitate to interfere directly, using various methods to influence the peace talks.
Italy, being geographically close to the Balkans, had not interfered directly in the peace talks but had taken advantage of the Balkan War by occupying the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea.
It is worth mentioning that Italy, taking advantage of the Balkan countries' declaration of war on Turkey, gained a significant victory on the battlefield while Turkey was distracted. This forced Turkey to sign the Lausanne Treaty.
The signing of this treaty relieved the Italian government and allowed Italy to gain control of Libya and Cyrenaica, successfully expanding its colonies in North Africa.
Without the Balkan War, Italy would likely have had to spend much more effort to negotiate a treaty with Turkey.
With the Balkan nations preoccupying Turkey's forces in Europe, Italy was able to seize a significant opportunity, resulting in the swift signing of the treaty.
In gratitude for the help the Balkan nations had unknowingly given Italy, the Italian government immediately set its sights on Albania, which had declared independence during the war.
The lack of progress in the peace talks left the Russian representatives feeling frustrated. In order to ensure the situation in the Balkans leaned in Russia's favor, the Russian representatives visited their British and French counterparts, inquiring about their views on the peace talks.
Although the UK, France, and Russia had strong mutual ties, their stance on Constantinople and the Black Sea Straits was strikingly unified: they would absolutely not allow Russia to control Constantinople.
With Austria-Hungary and Germany also favoring Turkey in the peace talks, the Russian representative, after consulting with their government, reluctantly decided to make a concession.
On August 17, 1912, the Balkan Treaty, also known as the "London Treaty," was formally signed, bringing much-needed peace to the Balkan region.
The treaty stipulated that the Turkish land west of the Medina line, from Eneza to the Caspian Sea, would be ceded to the Balkan League, except for Albania.
Albania was granted independence but would be under the supervision of six major powers: Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The issue of the Aegean Islands would be handled by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia.
With the signing of the London Treaty, the Ottoman Empire lost all its European territories west of Constantinople, and the Balkan League's influence expanded over the entire Balkan Peninsula.
However, the Balkan nations also faced a serious issue: the distribution of spoils after the war.
Serbia's plans to gain a seaport in northern Albania were thwarted by Austria-Hungary, and Albania had gained independence, under the supervision of the six powers.
However, Bulgaria, as one of the two major powers in the Balkan League alongside Serbia, had successfully captured many territories during the war, especially in the regions from Eastern Thessalonica to Western Constantinople. Its newly acquired territories were larger than those of Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece combined.
Though Bulgaria had indeed contributed the most soldiers to the war, and the pre-war territorial divisions had been agreed upon, the situation was more complicated.
Serbia's expansion was hindered, but Bulgaria's expansion faced little opposition.
With Greece eyeing Bulgaria's growth with jealousy, Bulgaria's rapid expansion made it the natural target of anger from other nations.
On August 21, 1912, four days after the signing of the London Treaty, Greek Foreign Minister Koritzis appeared in Bucharest, Romania's capital.
In the Romanian Foreign Ministry's reception hall, Koritzis spoke with an elderly man who was Romania's Foreign Minister, a well-respected and influential politician.
"Your Excellency, if your only purpose for visiting is to bring Romania into an alliance against Bulgaria, then please return. Romania has no interest in participating in your disputes," the elderly man said with a smile, shaking his head in refusal.
"Lord Tyrol, it is not that we wish to attack Bulgaria," Greek Foreign Minister Koritzis replied, unshaken by the refusal. "As you can see, after Bulgaria's territorial expansion, they now rank as the largest country in the Balkans. If they integrate the new populations from these territories, their population will soon rival Romania's."
"But you must understand, the military prowess displayed by Bulgaria in this war places their army above all the other Balkan nations. If Bulgaria is allowed to integrate its new lands, they will undoubtedly become the most powerful nation in the Balkans. As a neighbor to Bulgaria, can Romania really stand by while such a powerful force rises next door?"
Koritzis continued, knowing full well that no country would ignore the threat of a rising power in its vicinity.
"Before coming to Romania, we reached an understanding with Serbia. If your country is willing, we can form a joint army several times the size of Bulgaria's, crush Bulgaria, and Romania will receive the land of Southern Dobruja as its reward," Koritzis said, causing Lord Tyrol to waver.
(End of Chapter)
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