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 Borders of the Balkan states after the Treaty of Bucharest (below) | |
| Signed | 10 August 1913 |
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| Location | Bucharest,Romania |
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TheTreaty of Bucharest (Romanian:Tratatul de la București;Serbian:Букурештански мир;Bulgarian:Букурещки договор;Greek:Συνθήκη του Βουκουρεστίου) was concluded on 10 August 1913, by the delegates ofBulgaria,Romania,Serbia,Montenegro andGreece.[1] The Treaty was concluded in the aftermath of theSecond Balkan War and amended the previousTreaty of London, which ended theFirst Balkan War. About one month later, the Bulgarians signed a separate border treaty (theTreaty of Constantinople) with the Ottomans, who had regained some territory west of the Enos-Midia Line during the second war.
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Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its gains in the First Balkan War, and especially with Greek and Serbian gains inMacedonia, launched an attack on its former allies in June 1913. The attacks were driven back, and the Greek and Serbian armies invaded Bulgarian-held territory in return. At the same time, theOttomans advanced intoEastern Thrace and retookAdrianople, while Romania used the opportunity to invade Bulgaria from the north and advance against little opposition to within a short distance of the Bulgarian capital,Sofia. Isolated and surrounded by a more powerful coalition of opponents, Bulgaria was forced to agree to a truce and to peace negotiations to be held in the Romanian capital,Bucharest.
All important arrangements and concessions involving the rectification of the controverted international boundary lines were perfected in a series of committee meetings, incorporated in separate protocols, and formally ratified by subsequent action of the general assembly of delegates. Although the Ottomans had also participated in the Second Balkan War, they were not represented at this treaty. Instead, bilateral treaties were later concluded with Bulgaria (Treaty of Constantinople) and Greece (Treaty of Athens).
The eastern frontier of Serbia was drawn from the summit of Patarika, on the old frontier, and followed the watershed between theVardar and theStruma rivers to the Greek-Bulgarian boundary, except that the upper valley of theStrumica remained in the possession of Bulgaria. The territory thus obtained by Serbia engulfed centralVardar Macedonia, including "Ochrida, Monastir,Kosovo, Istib, and Kotchana, and the eastern half of theSanjak of Novi-Pazar".[2] These territories would today include Novi Pazar in Serbia, Kosovo, andOhrid,Štip,Kočani andBitola in present-dayNorth Macedonia. By this arrangement, Serbia increased its territory from 48,300 to 87,780 km2 (18,650 to 33,890 sq mi) and its population by more than 1.5 million.[1]
The boundary line separating Greece from Bulgaria was drawn from the crest ofBelasica to the mouth of theMesta (Nestos), on theAegean Sea. This important territorial concession, which Bulgaria resolutely contested, in compliance with the instructions embraced in the notes which theRussian Empire andAustria-Hungary presented to the conference, increased the area of Greece from 64,790 to 108,610 km2 (25,020 to 41,930 sq mi) and its population from 2,660,000 to 4,363,000.[3]
The territory thus gained included large parts ofEpirus andMacedonia, includingThessaloniki. The Greek-Bulgarian border was moved eastwards to beyondKavala, thus restricting the Aegean seaboard of Bulgaria to an inconsiderable extent of 110 km, with only Dedeagach (modernAlexandroupoli) as a seaport. Within this region was alsoFlorina.[4] In addition,Crete was definitively assigned to Greece and was formally taken over on 14 December that year.
Bulgaria's share of the spoils, although greatly reduced, was not entirely negligible. Its net gains in territory, which embraced a portion of Macedonia,Pirin Macedonia (orBulgarian Macedonia), including the town ofStrumica,Western Thrace, and 110 km of the Aegean littoral, were about 25,030 km2 (9,660 sq mi), and its population was increased by 129,490.[4]
In addition, Bulgaria agreed to dismantle all existing fortresses and bound itself not to construct forts atRousse orShumen or in any of the territory between these two cities, or within a radius of 20 kilometers around Balchik.[5]
Bulgaria ceded to RomaniaSouthern Dobruja, lying north of a line extending from the Danube just aboveTutrakan (Turtucaia) to the western shore of theBlack Sea, south of Ekrene (Ecrene);Southern Dobruja has an approximate area of 6,960 km2 (2,690 sq mi), a population of 286,000, and includes the fortress ofSilistra and the cities of Tutrakan on theDanube andBalchik (Balcic) on the Black Sea.[1]
The treaty awarded the regions of Berane, Ipek and Gjakova (Metohija)to Montenegro.[6]
According to Anderson and Hershey, the severe terms imposed on Bulgaria contrasted the ambitions of its government upon the entry into the Balkan War: the territory eventually gained was relatively circumscribed; Bulgaria had failed to gain Macedonia, which was Sofia's avowed purpose in entering the war, and especially the districts ofOhrid andBitola, which had been a main demand. With only a small outlet to the Aegean around the minor port ofDedeagach, the country had to abandon its project of Balkan hegemony.[4]
According to Anderson and Hershey, Greece, though a winner and triumphant after the acquisition ofThessaloniki and most ofMacedonia up to and including the port ofKavala, still had outstanding issues.[4]Italy was opposed to Greek claims toNorthern Epirus, and controlled the Greek-inhabitedDodecanese islands. In addition, the status quo of the islands of theNortheastern Aegean, which Greece had taken from the Ottomans, remained undetermined until February 1914, when the Great Powers recognized Greek sovereignty over them. Tensions with the Ottomans remained high, however, in the face of persecutions of Anatolian Greeks, leading to a crisis and a naval race in summer 1914 that was stopped only by the outbreak ofWorld War I. At the end of the war, Greece still had claims to territories inhabited, at the time, by some 3 millionGreeks.[citation needed]
Following theSecond Balkan War, in which Romania's intervention proved decisive, and the subsequent 1913 Treaty of Bucharest,Romania's dominant position in Southeastern Europe was confirmed. Romania also gainedSouthern Dobruja fromBulgaria.[7] Romania also raised the question of the BalkanVlachs (that is, theAromanians andMegleno-Romanians), whom it considered its compatriots. Too distant to be annexed, however, Romania took Southern Dobruja as compensation. Romania was the strongest nation in theBalkans, and thus it believed that it had to acquire territory, given that its neighbors were being aggrandized. Romania's argument that it had turned the scales of the war was accepted without serious objections, due in part to Bulgaria's attitude not attracting much compassion.[8] Despite not annexing the areas inhabited by Balkan Vlachs, Romania nevertheless obtained protection of the schools and churches of the Vlachs in the other Balkan states.[9] Thus, Romania was the only Balkan country to obtain guarantees from all three of its neighbors, which pledged to recognize its interest in, and respect the autonomy of the Balkan Vlachs.[10]
The status of the Vlachs in Bulgarian territories was settled on 4 August, in Greek territories on 5 August and in Serbian territories between 5 and 7 August. The 1913 Treaty of Bucharest itself was signed on 10 August.[11] One notable aspect of this treaty was the lack of any real involvement from the European Great Powers. The Balkan states hurried to settle their differences before the Great Powers could again intervene in their affairs.[8] That's not to say, however, that the treaty went unnoticed, but the reactions among the Great Powers were mixed: there were rumblings from the capitals ofGermany,Austria-Hungary andRussia, while theBritish and theFrench rejoiced in the "coming of age" of the Balkan states. The Great Powers did not revise the treaty.[10] Overall, the six Powers of the Concert of Europe had proved themselves to be rather helpless in Balkan crises. They had been unable to prevent the wars and subsequently could not ignore their results. The idea of revising the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest had to be abandoned.[12]
Subsequently, in 1914, Romania managed to impose its candidate for the throne of thePrincipality of Albania and support his reign by deploying military forces up to a battalion in strength.[13] Romania's brief stint as asignificant power thus started with the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, but ended in October 1916. Having joined theFirst World War on the side of theAllies on 27 August 1916, Romania launched aninvasion ofTransylvania. However, by 16 October, Transylvania had been cleared of Romanian troops.[14] One week later, on 23 October, Romania'schief seaport was captured by theCentral Powers.[15]
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