Thread by @yelisich

On this day in 1913, the Treaty of Bucharest was signed by delegates of #Bulgaria, #Romania, #Serbia, #Montenegro, and #Greece, ending the Second Balkan War. This conflict was another example of Balkan instability due to unsolved border disputes and Great Power politics.

After centuries of presence of the #OttomanEmpire in the Balkans, it began to weaken in 19th century. The Balkan nations were also aware of this. In 1912 four Balkan kingdoms - Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro - created the Balkan League to liberate its territories.

Soon after, the Ottomans began to mobilize their army. This was also done by the Balkan kingdoms. The great powers have warned that they don’t support border changes in the Balkans. However, Montenegro was first to attack in October 1912, which started the First Balkan War.

After almost 8 months of war, the Balkan League emerged victorious. The Balkan armies pushed the Sultan’s army to the Enos-Midia line. For the first time in a long history, the Balkan nations held most of the Balkans under their control. However, some didn’t look favorably on it.

The great powers saw the weakening of the Ottomans as an opportunity for expansion, especially #AustriaHungary, who annexed #BosniaHerzegovina in 1908 and planned to continue in that direction. However, the expanded Serbia after Balkan War blocked further penetration to the east.

Because of their interests, Austria and Italy pressured Serbia to withdraw from the Adriatic coast, and Albania was created with help of Albanian tribes. This pressure on Serbia to withdraw from the military liberated territory caused additional problems among the Balkan nations.

Before the war itself, the area of #Macedonia was disputed over the distribution of territory, especially between Serbia and Bulgaria. There was some sort of framework agreement and #Russia was designated as an arbitrator after the war if necessary.

After the creation of #Albania, Serbia tries to compensate for the lost territories, so it stays in Vardar Macedonia, which was supposed to belong to Bulgaria. Serbia's position was that they suffered the most by liberating Macedonia, while Bulgaria focused on other fronts.

Bulgaria was enraged by Serbia's non-respect of the pre-war agreement. Believing that Vardar Macedonia would belong to her, Bulgaria focused on liberating #Edirne and stormed towards #Thessaloniki. She felt betrayed by her allies and wanted revenge. She was supported by Austria.

On June 29 1913, Bulgaria attacked Serbia, breaking up the Balkan League. Balkan kingdoms quickly retaliated. #Romania and the Ottomans, seeing their opportunity, joined the war against Bulgaria. Austria was not allowed by #Germany to get involved, so Bulgaria was left alone.

Pushed on all fronts, Bulgaria was forced to sign peace and lose more territories. Ottomans returned to Edirne, and the Balkan kingdoms were weakened and in mutual enmity, which cancelled First Balkan War efforts. Space has been opened for the re-entry of great powers again.

The enmity will continue during the 20th century, when the Balkan nations will be on opposite sides in world wars, killing each other for the sake of various promises of the great powers. Instead of building the region together, they become synonymous for division and conflicts.