IV.

Second Balkan War

The Treaty of London created friction among the Balkan allies, especially between Serbia and Bulgaria. Among the causes of the friction was the Bulgarian refusal to recognize the Serbian claim to certain Bulgarian-held portions of Macedonia. In addition, Serbia was resentful because it failed to obtain territory along the Adriatic Sea. On June 1, 1913, Greece and Serbia concluded an alliance against Bulgaria, leading to the Second Balkan War which began on June 29. On that date a Bulgarian general, acting without orders from his government, launched an attack on Serbian defensive positions. Although the Bulgarian government disclaimed knowledge of this attack, on July 8 Serbia and Greece declared war. By the end of the following two weeks Montenegro, Romania, and the Ottoman Empire had also entered the war against Bulgaria. On July 30, Bulgaria, unable to withstand this coalition, asked for and received an armistice. According to the ensuing peace agreement, signed at Bucharest, Romania, on August 10, Bulgaria lost considerable territory, including nearly 7,770 sq km (nearly 3,000 sq mi) allotted to Romania. The agreement, among other things, awarded most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece. By later agreements Bulgaria also yielded a large amount of territory to the Turks. Albania, which had been under Turkish suzerainty, was made an independent Muslim principality.

The Balkan Wars profoundly influenced the subsequent course of European history. The dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria created equally dangerous tensions in south-eastern Europe. By creating a strong and ambitious Serbia, the peace settlements had also engendered fear and anti-Serbian sentiment in neighbouring Austria-Hungary. The assassination of Francis Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, at Sarajevo (1914) gave Austria-Hungary the pretext to invade Serbia thus precipitating World War I.