THE BALKAN WARS
1912-1913
BY
JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON
LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1914
Copyright, June 1914, December 1914, by
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Second Edition
Published December, 1914
The interest in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 has exceeded theexpectations of the publishers of this volume. The first edition,which was published five months ago, is already exhausted and a secondis now called for.
Meanwhile there has broken out and is now in progress a war which isgenerally regarded as the greatest of all time—a war already involvingfive of the six Great Powers and three of the smaller nations of Europeas well as Japan and Turkey and likely at any time to embroil othercountries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, which are already embraced inthe area of military operations.
This War of Many Nations had its origin in the Balkan situation. Itbegan on July 28 with the declaration of the Dual Monarchy{vi}to theeffect that from that moment Austria-Hungary was in a state of war withServia. And the fundamental reason for this declaration as given inthe note or ultimatum to Servia was the charge that the Servianauthorities had encouraged the Pan-Serb agitation which seriouslymenaced the integrity of Austria-Hungary and had already caused theassassination at Sarajevo of the Heir to the Throne.
No one could have observed at close range the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913without perceiving, always in the background and occasionally in theforeground, the colossal rival figures of Russia and Austria-Hungary.Attention was called to the phenomenon at various points in this volumeand especially in the concluding pages.
The issue of the Balkan struggles of 1912-1913 was undoubtedlyfavorable to Russia. By her constant diplomatic support she retainedthe friendship and earned the gratitude of Greece, Montenegro, andServia; and through her{vii}championship, belated though it was, ofthe claims of Roumania to territorial compensation for benevolentneutrality during the war of the Allies against Turkey, she won thefriendship of the predominant Balkan power which had hitherto beenregarded as the immovable eastern outpost of the Triple Alliance. Butwhile Russia was victorious she did not gain all that she had plannedand hoped for. Her very triumph at Bukarest was a proof that she hadlost her influence over Bulgaria. This Slav state after the waragainst Turkey came under the influence of Austria-Hungary, by whom shewas undoubtedly incited to strife with Servia and her other partners inthe late war against Turkey. Russia was unable to prevent the secondBalkan war between the Allies. The Czar's summons to the Kings ofBulgaria and Servia on June 9, 1913, to submit, in the name ofPan-Slavism, their disputes to his decision failed to produce thedesired effect, while this assumption of Russian hegemony in Balkanaffairs greatly{viii}exacerbated Austro-Hungarian sentiment. Thataction of the Czar, however, was clear notification and proof to allthe world that Russia regarded the Slav States in the Balkans asobjects of her peculiar concern and protection.
The first Balkan War—the war of the