Сазнања великих сила о стварању Балканског савеза 1912. године
Great Powers’ Knowledge about the Creation of the Balkan Alliance in 1912

Summary/Abstract: The creation of the Balkan Alliance in March 1912 is considered by Serbian and other Balkan historiographies one of the most important events in the history of the Balkan Peninsula. In order to jointly confront the common enemy, the Balkan states (Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro) found a way to overcome numerous differences among themselves for the first time in their modern history. The creation of the alliance led to the great victories in the First Balkan War. In this paper we explored the Great Powers’ involvement in the creation of the Balkan Alliance. Russia’s role in this event was well understood and analysed in historiography, while the participation of other powers remained unclear. Documents from Serbian and foreign archives, as well as published diplomatic correspondence, enabled us to clarify the involvement of all Great Powers in the process of creation of the Balkan League. The earlier opinion that besides Russia none of the other Great Powers was familiar with the existence of the Alliance is inaccurate. As late as the summer of 1912 all of the Great Powers were informed from different sources about this important political and military development in the Balkans. Despite that, they chose to wait and not take any action against the Alliance. On the one hand the Entente powers supported Russia and believed that it exerted control over the allies and the Balkan affairs in general. On the other hand the Triple Alliance was convinced that the Balkan states were incapable of working in partnership and that the Ottoman Empire had enough strength to defeat them. Fortunately for the Balkan states and their national interests, the war operations proved them wrong.

• Details
• Contents