The Balkan Problem
The Balkans (from the Turkish word for mountain) was the poor mountainous area of east Europe bordering Hungary and Turkey. Despite being poor, there was serious rivalry for it by the world powers. It is necessary to look at the Balkans itself and the rivalry in it.
Looking at the Balkan problem, the Balkans was under control by the weakening, Turkish (Ottoman) empire and wanted freedom. In 1908, an extremist group, the “Young Turks”, started revolting and worrying Turkey. Having seen this opportunity, Crete and Bulgaria broke away from Turkish rule. Also, Austria- Hungary seized control of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who actually wanted to be with Serbia (who also wanted them). This caused peril between them, since Austria was a patchwork country. In 1911, Italy attacked Turkey, forcing them to surrender after which the Balkan league was formed, seeing a much weaker Turkey. It consisted of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. The First Balkan war in 1912 saw the end of Turkey’s control in Europe; however the second war was much worse. In 1913 saw Bulgaria’s greed for more land grow until war was declared on Greece and Serbia. The war ended with a Bulgarian defeat having been attacked by Romania and Turkey as well. Serbia benefitted most out of this since they claimed more land and became more proud and aggressive as a country. These changes in attitude worried Austria since it was encouraging rebellions of the Serbs in their empire as well as inspiring others. The hatred between the countries grew until war was ‘waiting’ to break out.