Kiril Merjanski

The Serbian-bulgarian Treaties of 1904 and the Balkan Policy of Russia: Toward the Breakdown of Equilibrium in Eastern Europe Before the Bosnian Crisis Kiril Merjanski

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 book. A significant feature of these treaties was their pro-Russian orientation, shaped in provisions like 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. Seen in this light 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 with its well known larger consequences. Analyzing the secret character of the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904 and their preceding negotiations, this book should shed some light on the development of the pro-Russian Serbian-Bulgarian rapprochement before the First Balkan War as a significant step toward the breakdown of equilibrium in Eastern Europe and should be especially useful for those who study Balkan History, European History as well as Origins of World War I.