România, Italia şi Războaiele balcanice (1912-1913)
Romania, Italy and the Balkan Wars (1912-1913)

Summary/Abstract: The prolongation of the Italian-Turkish War encouraged the Balkan peoples to attack Turkey in September 1912. The declared aim was to release the conationals in the Ottoman Empire and to unify the liberated territories. In this situation, Turkey saw herself obliged to conclude peace with Italy, in Lausanne, on October 15, 1912, surrendering and giving up Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. As such, the Balkan States made a great service to Italy, as Italy in its turn had helped drawing Turkey into a war that has weakened it from all points of view. The Balkan Alliance generated various reactions among the European powers, since it was born under the patronage of Russia, an empire that hoped to be able to count, in the event of an increasingly predictable European war, on a major political and military force in the South-East Europe, but it overestimated the influence exercised over these States because the Balkan allies attacked the Ottoman Empire at a time when Russia had not accomplished all military preparations. The entry of the Romanian armies and their march towards Bulgaria and Sofia had an important role in the cessation of hostilities and the start of peace talks. They were held in Bucharest, which highlighted Romania's role in settling the conflict. The peace of Bucharest generated different reactions among the European powers, according to the interests and rivalries in the area. The most affected was Austro-Hungary which claimed the allegiance of the ratification of the treaty to a European Conference, but France, Russia and the United Kingdom opposed to any revisions, whereas Italy and Germany, not excluding this possibility, considered that the decisions adopted in Bucharest had to be respected. However, the Balkan wars did not solve all territorial issues, many of the decisions taken were subsequently challenged and hence in applicable. There were still disputed territories, as well as countries discontented because of the lack of a seashore access, of the collapse of a hegemony vision, or of the loss of some key positions. Soon, all these rivalries and disputes became evident in connection with the outbreak of World War I.

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