Romania’S Participation to the Balkan Wars 1

29.06.1913 Romania’s participation to the Balkan Wars 1

Following its independence, achieved after the Russo-Turkish War of 187778, Romania’s international legal statute changed, with important consequences for ...... its internal policy. The leadership of the new independent state, having become a ...... kingdom in 1881, directed its eorts towards consolidating independence and ...... internal development, but did not forget to continue ﬁghting for completion of a ...... national unitary state.

Aware that Romania shared borders with two great empires – Russia and Austria-Hungary – and a third decaying empire, but one which still mattered on the Balkan scene – the Ottoman Empire –, Romanian leaders looked for the best ...... solution for ensuring the security of the new independent state. The violation by ...... the Tsarist Empire of the Romanian-Russian Convention of 4/16 April 1877, by ...... which the former ally vouched for Romania’s territorial integrity but then took ...... three counties from Southern Bessarabia, caused great frustration for Romania...... As a result, Romanian political elites gravitated towards Germany, the more so as ......

King Carol I was also a German prince. But this alliance raised another issue: it ...... automatically brought with it an alliance with Austria-Hungary, which ruled over ...... important territories inhabited by ethnic Romanians (Transylvania, Banat and ......

Bukovina), while the Budapest government pursued a policy of discrimination and ...... de-nationalisation towards Transylvanian Romanians. Having to choose between ...... national security and national solidarity, Romanian leaders opted for the former...... Thus, Romania signed an alliance with the Central Powers 18/30 October 1883...... The treaty, which was kept secret by King Carol I so as not to inﬂame Romanian ...... public opinion, was successively renewed in 1892, 1896, 1903 and in 1913, even prior to the start of the Second Balkan War.

However, after 1900 a cooling of relations between Romania and the Central Powers became apparant, mainly due to the Hungarisation policies towards ...... Transylvanian Romanians but also to the inﬂuence of French and Russian ...... diplomats. This was the complicated context Romania found itself in at the ...... beginning of the Balkan Wars.

Political and military convulsions in the Balkans began against the background of an Ottoman Empire which was weakened by internal reformist pressures – the Young Turk Revolution –, of eorts at self- consolidation undertaken by Christian states in the area, subsequent to Turkish rule, but also by the involvement of some great powers, such as Austria-Hungary and Russia.

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Copyright by the Institute of European Network Remembrance and Solidarity in Warsaw, 2016. The article can be downloaded and printed in unchanged version (indicating source of the article) - only for the educational and not-for-proﬁt purposes. Romania was not involved in the First Balkan War. It started on 8 October 1912 when Turkey was attacked by Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. The coalition of the four Balkan states was nevertheless not homogenous. Each country had its own operational plan against the Ottoman Empire, as well as its own objectives. Bulgaria wanted a territorial restoration of the First Bulgarian Empire, dating back to before Ottoman rule, which greatly extended the territorial boundaries established in 1912. Encouraged by Russia, after 1908 Bulgarians also aimed to gain all of Dobruja and the mouths of the Danube. Greece tried to boost the Megali Hellas (Great Greece) political project with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul), with the cities of Smyrna (Izmir) and Antioch, the Island of Cyprus and Trabzon, the whole of Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus and the whole of the Aegean Sea. The whole of Macedonia was also claimed by Serbia and Bulgaria. Serbia reclaimed hegemony in the Balkans, following the former borders of the Serbian-Byzantine Empire under Stephen Dusan, with exits to the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. Montenegro aimed to annex part of newly created Albania.

Misunderstandings between former allies emerged immediately after the signing of the London Peace Treaty 30 May 1913. The Second Balkan War subsequently broke out on 29 June 1913, when Bulgaria, unhappy at the territories it received, attacked Serbia and Greece, which in the meantime had forged a new alliance. Afterwards, taking proﬁt from the situation, the Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgarian troops and reoccupied Adrianople. Apart from one territory or another, hegemony over the Balkans was at stake.

Romania, which remained neutral during the first Balkan conflict, uneasily watched the strengthening of its southern neighbour, which it saw as a threat to the security of its border in Dobruja. Moreover, in the new conflict which broke out in the summer of 1913, Romanian public opinion was rather favourable to Serbia. In this context, the contradictions of interests between Romania and Austria-Hungary were emphasised once again, although the alliance with the Central Powers had just been renewed at the beginning of 1913. The dualist monarchy wanted to consolidate Bulgaria and weaken Serbia, which it considered a threat to its own security. The situation was used by Russian and French diplomats, who encouraged Romanian intervention in Bulgaria and, implicitly, Romania’s rapprochement to the Entente. In its turn, Berlin, which oscillated between its alliance with Austria-Hungary and a quick end to the conflict, suggested it would not be opposed to a Romanian intervention south of the Danube.

Having the agreement of Germany, France and Russia, the Romanian government ordered the mobilisation of its army on 3 July and, on 10 July, declared war on Bulgaria. This action was regarded with much hostility by political circles in Vienna, but in order not to be completely alienated from Romania they accepted some territorial changes while also wishing to head-o the Balkan conﬂict in order to prevent its spreading. Therefore, Romania became the determinant factor in convincing warring states to cease hostilities.

In order to avoid the entry of the Romanian army into Soﬁa, Bulgaria called for peace, announcing it had accepted Romania’s claims. On 24 July the Romanian-Bulgarian truce was concluded, part of a general one concluded among the warring parties. Romanian politicians considered the war to have been a means to preserve the balance of forces in the Balkans and not to destroy Bulgaria. The ensuing Peace Conference took place in Bucharest, thus recognising Romania’s position as a referee in the Balkan crisis.

Following the Bucharest Peace Treaty of 10 August 1913, the Romania-Bulgarian border in Dobruja became the Tutrakan-Balchik line. Bulgaria lost a large part of territories conquered during the First

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Copyright by the Institute of European Network Remembrance and Solidarity in Warsaw, 2016. The article can be downloaded and printed in unchanged version (indicating source of the article) - only for the educational and not-for-proﬁt purposes. Balkan War and gave to Romania the portion known as Southern Dobruja (Cadrilater), west of Tutrakan (Turtucaia) up to the western coast of the Black Sea, south of Kranevo (Ecrene). Cadrilater had a surface area of approximately 6,960 square km, with a population of about 286,000 inhabitants and included the fortress of Silistra and the towns of Turtucaia (a port on the Danube) and Balchik (a port on the Black Sea). Additionally, Bulgaria vowed to destroy all existing fortresses and not to build new ones in Ruse, in Shumen or in any other location between these two points, or 20 km from Balchik.

The Peace of Bucharest not only brought territorial satisfaction to Romania by taking over Cadrilater, but also saw an important increase in its international prestige. At the same time, the fact that, during the Second Balkan War, the Bucharest government acted against the position of Austria-Hungary indicated that Romania’s alliance with the Central Powers had eroded strongly.

Translated by George Tiugea, Proofread by Dr. Ian Copestake

Carmen Băjenaru, PhD Ana-Maria Cătănuş, Laura Elena Pandelache, Dragoş Mocanu, Costin Vrînceanu, Vasile Moga

References: Bibliography: Florin Constantiniu, O istorie sinceră a poporului roman, ediţia a IVa revăzută şi adăugită, Univers Enciclopedic, Bucureşti, 2008; Petre Otu, România în Primul Război Mondial. Criza Balcanică, 19121914, Editura Litera, Bucureşti, 2017; Alexandru Voicu, România şi războaiele balcanice, https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/articol/romania-si-razboaiele-balcanice.

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