Skip to Main Content
Frequently Asked Questions
Submit an ETD
Global Search Box
Need Help?
Keyword Search
Participating Institutions
Advanced Search
School Logo
Files
File List
wright1176315780.pdf (946.44 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans Before the Bosnian Crisis
Author Info
Merjanski, Kiril Valtchev
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1176315780
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2007, Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, History.
Abstract
Merjanski, Kiril Valtchev. M.A., Department of History, Wright State University, 2007. The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans before the Bosnian Crisis. The two Serbian-Bulgarian treaties, concluded simultaneously in 1904, and known in the literature under the common name of “The Secret-Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904” are the specific topic of this thesis. These treaties between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria contained political, military and economic provisions aimed not only against the Ottoman Empire (a common rival of both countries), but also against Austria-Hungary. A significant feature of these treaties was their obvious pro-Russian orientation, shaped in provisions like unification of the telegraphic systems of both countries with that of Russia as well as the requirement for Russian arbitration between Bulgaria and Serbia if they were not able to reach agreement about the partition of the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire by themselves. Considering all this, with some of their provisions the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904 resembled in many ways the Treaty of 1912 between the above-mentioned Balkan countries, which became the backbone of the creation of the Balkan League. The creation of the latter, on the other hand, was a significant step toward the breakdown of equilibrium in Eastern Europe, eventually leading to the outbreak of the First Balkan War, with its well known larger consequences. Seen in this light, the significance of the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904 could be defined also as evidence that the Russian policy of creating alliances between the small Balkan Slav States, aimed not only against the Ottoman Empire, but also against Austria- Hungary, and, in this way, “encircling” the latter, could be dated from before the Bosnian Crisis (1908), as opposed to the prevailing attitude in the existing literature, that the Bosnian Crisis itself was the turning point of Russian foreign policy in this direction. Analyzing the military and other clauses of the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904, their secret character, and the role of some Bulgarian statesmen, politicians and diplomats (especially of the Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand I), this thesis seeks to reveal how their successful negotiation was ever possible, in spite of the fact that in 1904 Bulgaria was ruled by the People’s Liberal Party, a party with a pro-Austrian orientation. This orientation was clearly in opposition to a close rapprochement with the new pro-Russian, internationally isolated Serbian regime, established with a very bloody coup d’etat in 1903. In revealing this, this thesis also seeks to define the ways by which the Bulgarian and Serbian Foreign policies were subjected to those of Russia even at the time, when, because of its disastrous engagement in the Far East, the Russian Empire was seemingly abandoning its active policy in the Balkans. Initiated by the Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand and conducted by means of secret diplomacy by some Bulgarian and Serbian politicians, diplomats and military men with firm Pan- Slavic affiliations, this pro-Russian Serbian-Bulgarian rapprochement allowed not only the conclusion of the secret treaties of 1904, but eventually proved to be disastrous for the European peace.
Committee
Edgar Melton (Advisor)
Pages
109 p.
Subject Headings
History, European
Keywords
Balkan history
;
European history
;
Origins of World War I
Recommended Citations
Refworks
EndNote
RIS
Mendeley
Citations
Merjanski, K. V. (2007).
The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans Before the Bosnian Crisis
[Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1176315780
APA Style (7th edition)
Merjanski, Kiril.
The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans Before the Bosnian Crisis.
2007. Wright State University, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1176315780.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Merjanski, Kiril. "The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans Before the Bosnian Crisis." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1176315780
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
Abstract Footer
Document number:
wright1176315780
Download Count:
2,736
Copyright Info
© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.