 Borders of the Balkan states after the Treaty of London and theTreaty of Bucharest | |
| Signed | 30 May 1913 |
|---|---|
| Location | London,United Kingdom |
| Signatories | |
TheTreaty of London (1913) was signed on 30 May following theLondon Conference of 1912–1913. It dealt with the territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of theFirst Balkan War.[1] The London Conference had ended on 23 January 1913, when the1913 Ottoman coup d'état took place andOttomanGrand VizierKâmil Pasha was forced to resign.[2] Coup leaderEnver Pasha withdrew the Ottoman Empire from the Conference, and the Treaty of London was signed without the presence of the Ottoman delegation.[2] Further border changes were ratified in theTreaty of Bucharest in August 1913.
The combatants were the victoriousBalkan League (Serbia,Greece,Bulgaria, andMontenegro) and the defeatedOttoman Empire. Representing theGreat Powers were theUnited Kingdom,Germany,Russia,Austria-Hungary, andItaly.[3]
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Hostilities had officially ceased on 2 December 1912, except for Greece that had not participated in the first truce. Three principal points were in dispute:
The Treaty[4] was negotiated in London at aninternational conference which had opened there in December 1912, following thedeclaration of independence by Albania on 28 November 1912.
Austria-Hungary and Italy strongly supported the creation of an independent Albania. In part, this was consistent with Austria-Hungary's previous policy of resisting Serb expansion to theAdriatic; Italy had designs on the territory,manifested in 1939. Russia supported Serbia and Montenegro. Germany and Britain remained neutral. The balance of power struck between the members of the Balkan League had been on the assumption that no Albanian polity would be formed and the later Albanian territory would be split between them.
The terms enforced by the Great Powers were:[4]
However, the division of the territories ceded to the Balkan League was not addressed in the Treaty, and Serbia refused to carry out the division agreed with Bulgaria in their treaty of March 1912. As a result of Bulgarian dissatisfaction with thede facto military division of Macedonia, theSecond Balkan War broke out between the combatants on 16 June 1913.[5] The Bulgarians were defeated, and the Ottomans made some gains west of the Enos-Midia line. A final peace was agreed at theTreaty of Bucharest on 12 August 1913. A separate treaty, theTreaty of Constantinople, was concluded between the Bulgarians and Turks, largely defining the modern-day borders between the two countries.
The delineation of the exact boundaries of the Albanian state under the Protocol of Florence (17 December 1913) was highly unpopular among the Greek population of southern Albania, who after their revolt managed to declare theAutonomous Republic ofNorthern Epirus, was internationally recognised as an autonomous region inside Albania under the terms of theProtocol of Corfu.[6][7]
Albanians have tended to regard the Treaty as an injustice imposed by the Great Powers, as roughly half of the predominantly Albanian territories and 30–50% of the population were left outside the new country's borders.[8][9][10][11][12]
This decision, however, created resentment among the local Greek minority that wanted instead to join Greece... he insurgents quickly formed a government and negotiated with the Wied regime the Protocol of Corfu in May that awarded ARNE wide ranging autonomy.
Northern Epirus is the southern part of Albania, comprising rouphly the present-day prefectures of Koritza (Korce) and Argyrokastro (Gjirokaster). By the December 17, 1913... The Christian Greeks revolted and formed a provisional and autonomous government.
... about 30 percent of the Albanian population were excluded from the new state. ... about 40% of the Albanian population, that is, the Albanians of Kosovo, found themselves excluded from this new country.
When the Peace Treaty of London was signed in May 1913 it was clear that some conquered territories would have to be returned. As a result of decisions made and because of pressures from Greece and Serbia, half of the territory claimed by the newly established Albanian state, which excluded between 30% and 40% of the total Albanian population, was left out of the newly established Principality of Albania. In particular, almost the entire Vilayet of Kosovo was given to Serbia and its most western part to Montenegro while Chameria and Ioannina were assigned to Greece.
Based on the decisions of the London Ambassadors' Conference of 1912–13, half of all the Albanians remained outside its borders.
The latter was created in the late nineteenth century but was reinforced by what occurred in the years 1912–1924 with Albania's precarious independence, multiple invasions and ending up with independence that included only half of the Albanians in the western Balkans.
