Reactions Among The Great Powers
The developments that led to the war did not go unnoticed by the Great Powers, but although there was an official consensus between the European Powers over the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, which led to a stern warning to the Balkan states, unofficially each of them took a different diplomatic approach due to their conflicting interests in the area. As a result, any possible preventative effect of the common official warning was cancelled by the mixed unofficial signals, and failed to prevent or to stop the war:
- Russia was a prime mover in the establishment of the Balkan League and saw it as an essential tool in case of a future war against its rival, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But it was unaware of the Bulgarian plans for Thrace and Constantinople, territories on which Russia itself had long-held ambitions.
- France, not feeling ready for a war against Germany in 1912, took a totally negative position against the war, firmly informing its ally Russia that it would not take part in a potential conflict between Russia and Austro-Hungary if it resulted from the actions of the Balkan League. The French however failed to achieve British participation in a common intervention to stop the Balkan conflict.
- The British Empire, although officially a staunch supporter of the Ottoman Empire's integrity, took secret diplomatic steps encouraging the Greek entry into the League in order to counteract Russian influence. At the same time it encouraged the Bulgarian aspirations over Thrace, preferring a Bulgarian Thrace to a Russian one, despite the assurances it had given to the Russians in regard of their expansion there.
- Austria-Hungary, struggling for an exit from the Adriatic and seeking ways for expansion in the south at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, was totally opposed to any other nation's expansion in the area. At the same time, the Habsburg empire had its own internal problems with the significant Slav populations that campaigned against the German-Hungarian control of the multinational state. Serbia, whose aspirations in the direction of the Austrian-held Bosnia were no secret, was considered an enemy and the main tool of Russian machinations that were behind the agitation of Austria's Slav subjects. But the Habsburgs failed to achieve German backup for a firm reaction. Initially, Emperor Wilhelm II told the Archduke Franz Ferdinand that Germany was ready to support Austria in all circumstances – even at the risk of a world war, but Austro-Hungarians hesitated. Finally, in the German Imperial War Council of 8 December 1912 the consensus was that Germany would not be ready for war until at least mid-1914 and notes about that passed to the Habsburgs. Consequently no actions could be taken when the Serbs acceded to the Austria ultimatum of 18 October and withdrew from Albania.
- Germany, already heavily involved in the internal Ottoman politics, officially opposed a war against the Empire. But in its effort to win Bulgaria for the Central Powers, and seeing the inevitability of Ottoman disintegration, was playing with the idea to replace the Balkan positions of the Ottomans with a friendly Greater Bulgaria in its San Stefano borders—an idea that was based on the German origin of the Bulgarian King and his anti-Russian sentiments.
Finally, when Serb-Austrian tensions again grew hot in July 1914 when a Serbian backed organization assassinated the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, no one had strong reservations about the possible conflict and the First World War broke out.
Battles of the First Balkan War | ||||||||
Name | Attacking | Commander | Defending | Commander | Date | Winner | ||
Battle of Kardzhali | Bulgarians | Col. Vasil Delov | Ottomans | Mehmed Yaver Pasha | 21 Oct 1912 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Sarantaporo | Greeks | Crown Prince Constantine | Ottomans | Lt. Gen. Hasan Tahsin Pasha | 22 Oct 1912 | Greeks | ||
Battle of Yenidje | Greeks | Crown Prince Constantine | Ottomans | Lt. Gen. Hasan Tahsin Pasha | 1 Nov 1912 | Greeks | ||
Battle of Kumanovo | Serbs | Gen. Radomir Putnik | Ottomans | Gen. Zeki Pasha | 23 Oct 1912 | Serbs | ||
Battle of Kirk Kilisse | Bulgarians | Lt. Gen. Radko Dimitriev, Maj. Gen. Ivan Fichev | Ottomans | Mahmut Muhtar Pasha | 24 Oct 1912 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Pente Pigadia | Ottomans | Maj. Gen. Esat Pasha | Greeks | Lt. Gen. Konstantinos Sapountzakis | 6–12 Nov 1912 | Greeks | ||
Battle of Prilep | Serbs | Ottomans | 3 Nov 1912 | Serbs | ||||
Battle of Lule Burgas | Bulgarians | Lt. Gen. Radko Dimitriev, Maj. Gen. Ivan Fichev | Ottomans | Abdullah Pasha | 28–31 Oct 1912 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Merhamli | Bulgarians | Gen. Nikola Genev, Col. Aleksandar Tanev | Ottomans | Mehmed Yaver Pasha | 26 Nov 1912 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Sorovich | Greeks | Col. Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos | Ottomans | 15 Nov 1912 | Ottomans | |||
Battle of Bitola | Serbs | Gen. Petar Bojović | Ottomans | Gen. Zeki Pasha | 16–19 Nov 1912 | Serbs | ||
First Battle of Çatalca | Bulgarians | Lt. Gen. Radko Dimitriev | Ottomans | Nazim Pasha | 17–18 Nov 1912 | Ottomans | ||
Naval Battle of Kaliakra | Bulgarians | Cpt. Dimitar Dobrev | Ottomans | Cpt. Hüseyin Rauf Bey | 21 Nov 1912 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Elli | Ottomans | Adm. Remzi Bey | Greeks | Rear Adm. Pavlos Kountouriotis | 16 Dec 1912 | Greeks | ||
Battle of Bulair | Ottomans | Fethi Bey | Bulgarians | Gen. Georgi Todorov | 26 Jan 1913 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Şarköy | Ottomans | Enver Bey | Bulgarians | Gen. Stiliyan Kovachev | 26–28 Jan 1913 | Bulgarians | ||
Battle of Lemnos | Ottomans | Greeks | Rear Adm. Pavlos Kountouriotis | 18 Jan 1913 | Greeks | |||
Battle of Bizani | Greeks | Crown Prince Constantine | Ottomans | Maj. Gen. Esat Pasha | 5–6 Mar 1913 | Greeks | ||
Siege of Adrianople | Bulgarians & Serbs | Gen. Georgi Vazov, Gen. Stepa Stepanovic | Ottomans | Gen. Gazi Ṣükrü Pasha | 11–13 Mar 1913 | Bulgarians & Serbs | ||
Second Battle of Çatalca | Bulgarians | Gen.Vasil Kutinchev | Ottomans | Gen.Ahmet İzzet Pasha | 3 Feb – 30 May 1913 | Ottomans (but strategically Bulgarians) |
Read more about this topic: First Balkan War
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