Chapter 114： The Balkan Alliance takes shape

The Bulgarian delegation returned to Bulgaria’s capital Sofia with the delegation on the third day after signing the secret treaty.

In fact, the Prime Minister was very satisfied with this negotiation, because although the 4,000 square kilometers of territory was ceded, it was still a coastal grain-producing area (Bulgaria had only more than 80,000 square kilometers of territory at the time), but Romania was a member of the Balkan League. The chariot protected itself from the back attack, and also won a large amount of munitions for Bulgaria, so that the army's war preparations can be accelerated.

After getting off the train, Prime Minister Geschov and Foreign Minister Tiras Rocky went to report to King Ferdinand I on the results of the negotiations. Although it has been telegraphed, it is better to report in person after all in some situations, such as Romania’s attitude and negotiation process.

"Thanks for your hard work, this negotiation is not easy. I am very satisfied with the current results."

Prime Minister Geschoff and Foreign Minister Tiras Rocky saw King Ferdinand I after the briefing. Before they could speak, King Ferdinand smiled and said comforting words.

"Everything is for the benefit of the kingdom."

Upon hearing Ferdinand I’s words, both Prime Minister Geschoff and Foreign Minister Tirasloch replied in unison.

"Tell me about the process of this negotiation."

Although Ferdinand had already known it by telegram, the detailed process still needs to be described by the two parties.

"Your Majesty's negotiation is mainly for me. Let me talk about it." Prime Minister Geschoff said in a deep voice.

Seeing that Ferdinand I had no objection, Prime Minister Geschoff told him every bit of his talks in Romania. Ferdinand I didn't disturb the Prime Minister's narration either. He had been listening quietly. For a while, only the voice of Prime Minister Geschoff was in the room. After talking about the details of the negotiations, Prime Minister Geschoff expressed some doubts in his mind.

"Your Majesty, in my negotiations with the Prime Minister of Romania, I always feel that they are deliberately sending us arms."

Hearing Prime Minister Geschoff's judgment, Ferdinand I asked a little puzzled. "Prime Minister, why do you have such an idea. In your explanation just now, I did not feel that Romania was deliberately sending us arms, but the Prime Minister you got it a little bit."

"Maybe it was my instinct. I always felt that the Prime Minister Bretianu who was negotiating with me had consciously backed down. As soon as I forced him on arms, he would back down a little bit. I didn't feel it in the atmosphere of negotiations. , I thought about it afterwards, that’s how it feels. In my estimation, we can get 4 million Levs worth of arms to be a victory, but in fact, with the loan, we got more than 7 million Levs worth of arms, which is too much.” (Lev is the value of Bulgarian currency and Romanian leu, French franc, and Italian lira)

After hearing the Prime Minister's words, the other two people present thought for a while and still had no idea. Of course they will have no clue, and they don't have the memory of later generations like Edel, knowing that they will be beaten by a group as soon as the war is over.

Ferdinand I said to Prime Minister Geschoff after thinking about it for a while. "No matter what the purpose of Romania is, this batch of aid arms has always strengthened Bulgaria's strength. This is the most important thing. As long as it has captured Macedonia and Thrace, it should be given to us."

After hearing the words of King Ferdinand I, Prime Minister Geschov and Foreign Minister Dilas Roche stopped thinking about Romania’s intentions. After all, Bulgaria is taking advantage, and there is no need to delve into the intentions.

Then they discussed Montenegro, the last Balkan country that has not yet joined the alliance. Montenegro is a mountainous country located in the southwest of the Balkan Peninsula and on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. It is also the strongest anti-Ottoman sentiment in the Balkans, which is less than 300,000. The small country of the people has a standing army of 18,000 people, and it is also exhausting its arsenal to prepare for war.

However, in the previous May, Bulgaria had consulted the Russian side on whether Montenegro could be absorbed into the alliance. Russia expressed opposition to Bulgaria’s proposal. The reason is that Montenegro has been too radical in international affairs, which has a very bad influence on the alliance. In fact, it is because the alliance goal of Russia to help components is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Montenegro's anti-Ottoman tendency is too obvious, which is far from the original intention of Russia.

Now Ferdinand I has brought Montenegro out for discussion. It is obvious that he intends to bypass the influence of Russia and then pull Montenegro into the alliance. After all, the performance of the Ottoman Empire in the war with Italy reveals its military weakness. How to prevent the Balkans Countries are tempted. Moreover, the increase in the territory and the population has also made this temptation continue to increase. Now the Bulgarian King Ferdinand I obviously can't stand this temptation.

"Prime Minister, I want to draw Montenegro into the alliance, what do you think?" Ferdinand I said that he had thought about his plan for a long time.

Hearing King Ferdinand’s plan, Prime Minister Geschoff frowned and thought about it. "His Royal Highness, I have no objection to drawing Montenegro into the alliance, but it is best after we are ready."

"Why do you have to get ready to join the alliance before pulling Montenegro?" Ferdinand I asked with a confused expression.

"I'm afraid that Montenegro will disrupt our steps." Prime Minister Geschov went on to express his thoughts to the king. "We all know the degree of hatred of the mountain people in Montenegro towards the Ottomans. They will declare war on the Ottomans as long as they have the opportunity. The Romanian arms have not been delivered yet, and we will be able to increase our strength when the arms arrive."

"Then can you let Romania send the arms aid quickly?" In order not to let his ideas become invalid, Ferdinand put forward a suggestion and asked the two important ministers in front of him.

"Your Majesty, I can send a telegram to Romania that the military urgently needs to obtain this batch of arms. I believe that based on the good relationship we have signed with the alliance, we should not refuse it." Foreign Minister Dilas Roch took a look at his scope at this time. Inside, he stepped forward and proposed measures to agree with the king's move.

Seeing that the king's delighted expression was not good for opposition, Geschoff agreed to the proposal. Later, Foreign Minister Dilas Lodge sent a telegram to Romania requesting the delivery of arms assistance as soon as possible. This telegram was seen by Edel. He wrote the instructions that if the arsenal was not enough, put the army stock on top, and at the same time asked Foreign Minister Barnosk to call the Romanian general. The munitions will be delivered within one month.

Foreign Minister Dilas Roche, who received the call back, reported the good news to King Ferdinand I.

Ferdinand I, who received the news, told Foreign Minister Tilas Roche. "This is very good. We can send a telegram to the Montenegrin government and ask them to join the alliance."

After receiving the king’s approval, Foreign Minister Dilas Rochi sent a telegram to the Kingdom of Montenegro inviting them to join the alliance The Montenegrin government, which had long been interested in the Balkan alliance, negotiated three days after receiving the telegram and gave it to Bulgaria replied, Prime Minister Lazar Tomanovic will personally lead the team to Sofia to discuss the conditions of the alliance. On July 12, the Prime Minister of Montenegro brought a delegation to Sofia and discussed the alliance with Bulgarian Prime Minister Geschov.

After five days of discussions, Bulgaria and Montenegro reached a consensus on the conditions for seizing territory and sending troops. Montenegro officially joined the Balkan League. In terms of territorial division, due to its weak strength, Montenegro was only promised for a territory of 4,500 square kilometers called Belane close to Kosovo. This is also a delicious cake for Montenegro with only 10,000 square kilometers. But for this territory, Montenegro needs to prepare at least 30,000 troops to attack the Ottoman Empire together. Subsequently, Montenegro and Greece also signed an alliance treaty. In subsequent negotiations with Serbia, Montenegro did not sign an alliance treaty with it due to Russia's obstruction, but only reached an oral agreement to send troops to attack the Ottoman Empire.

With Montenegro joining the Balkan Alliance, this means that the Balkan countries are ready to carve up Ottoman European territories. This will be the beginning of his tragedy for the old empire still fighting against Italy.

Similarly, it is not good news for Russia, which has tried to promote the Balkan Alliance in the early stage, because what Russia hopes is an alliance that can deal with Austria-Hungary. Now this alliance first opposed the Ottoman Empire, which went against the original intention of Russia. In addition, France, Russia’s most powerful ally, also disagrees with the Balkan Alliance. The then Prime Minister Puscalé believed that the alliance was "an agreement to prepare for war", while French public opinion did not allow the government to take action solely for the Balkan issue. Military operations". But at this time Russia has no power to change the nature of this alliance, let alone prevent it from going to war.