Treaty of Alliance and Defense between Bulgaria and Greece (Balkan League)height 1,200, then between the villages Erkenovo and Drenovo
up to the hill Tchesma (height 1,254) by the watershed of the
mountains Baba and Krushka—Tepessi, between the villages
Seltse and Tsarsko, up to the hill on the mountain Protiska east-
wards of the village Belitsa, across Brezane, by the height 1,200
(Ilinska Planina), by its watershed across the heights 1,330 and
1,277, between the villages Livoishte and Goreltsi till the
monastery Gubavatz on the lake of Ochrida: and Bulgaria like-
wise engages to accept that boundary, if His Majesty the Tsar of
Russia—who will be requested to decide the question by arbi-
tration—declares himself in favour of same. It is understood
that both sides bind themselves to accept as the definite bound-
ary that line which His Majesty the Russian Tsar shall decide,
within the above-mentioned limits, as answering to the best
interests of both contracting parties.
Article 3.—The two contracting parties will together com-
municate the stipulations of the Treaty, the Secret Annex, and
the Military Convention, to the Imperial Russian Government,
which will then be requested to retain a copy of them and to
agree to the purpose for which they have been concluded, and
H.M. the Tsar of Russia will be requested to be graciously
pleased to accept and to approve the rôle which is thereby
offered to him and to his Government.
Article 4.—Every dispute which might arise concerning the
interpretation or execution of whatever stipulation of the
Treaty, Secret Annex, and Military Convention, will be submit-
ted to the definitive decision of Russia, as soon as one of the
contracting parties declares that she considers it impossible to
arrive at an understanding by direct negotiations.
Article 5.—No stipulation of this Secret Annex can be pub-
lished or communicated to another State without a previous
understanding between the contracting parties and without the
consent of Russia.
Given in Sofia, February 29, 1912.
4.1217 Treaty of Alliance and Defense between
Bulgaria and Greece (Balkan League)
Alliance Members:Bulgaria and Greece
Signed On:May 16, 1912, in the city of Sofia (Bulgaria). In force until
June 30, 1913, when Bulgaria attacked Greece and Serbia, beginning
the Second Balkan War.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:The American Journal of International Law,vol.8,no.2,Sup-
plement: Official Documents, April 1914, p. 81–83.
Additional Citations:British and Foreign State Papers,vol. 106, p. 908.
SUMMARY
Hoping to capitalize on the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in
the face of the Young Turk rebellion, Greece and Bulgaria signed a
treaty establishing the Balkan League in 1912 with the purpose of
preparing a campaign aimed at carving up the remnants of the
empire. After the signing of a military convention in September, each
state stationed troops on its border with Turkey and prepared for war.
The Balkan League operated with Russian blessings, as it represented
an obstacle to Austrian expansion into the region and a potentially
useful balance against the Central Powers.
Hostilities began soon afterward, with Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia
declaring war on the Ottomans. By December, an armistice put an end
to the fighting, although a Young Turk uprising in Adrianople forced
Greece and Bulgaria back into the fray together by January of 1913. By
May, however, Bulgaria had signed the Treaty of London to end the
war and cement its domination of Macedonia. In response, in June
Greece and Serbia signed a secret alliance that was aimed at frustrating
Bulgarian aspirations, leading to outright hostilities among the mem-
bers of the league and bringing it to its official end on June 30, with
open warfare among the member states.Alliance Text
Considering that the two kingdoms firmly desire to keep peace
in the Balkan Penninsula and that they can, by means of an
effective treaty of alliance and defense, better respond to this
need;
Considering, with the same object in mind, that the peaceful
existence of different nationalities side by side in Turkey, on the
basis of a real and bona fidepolitical equality, and respect for the
rights proceeding from treaties or otherwise granted to the
Christian nationalities of the Empire constitute the conditions
necessary for the stability of the state of affairs in the Orient;
Considering, finally, that the co-operation of the two king-
doms, in the manner indicated, is of a kind, in the very interest
of their good relations with the Ottoman Empire, to facilitate
and strengthen good understanding between Greek and Bulgar
in Turkey;
The Government of His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians,
and the Government of His Majesty the King of the Hellenes
promise not to give this agreement, which is purely one of
defense, an aggressive tendency in any way whatsoever, and hav-
ing resolved to conclude an alliance of peace and of reciprocal
protection in the terms here below indicated, have appointed as
their plenipotentiaries [names of plenipotentiaries],
Who, after having exchanged their full powers, have agreed
upon the following:
Article 1. If, contrary to the sincere desire of the high con-
tracting parties and in spite of the attitude of their governments
in avoiding all acts of aggression and all provocation toward the
Ottoman Empire, either of the two states should be attacked by
Turkey, either in its territory, or by a systematic infringement of
the rights proceeding from treaties or from the fundamental
principles of the law of nations, the two high contracting parties
are bound to aid each other reciprocally with their entire armed
forces, and consequently not to make peace except conjointly
and in concert.
Article 2. The two high contracting parties mutually prom-
ise, on the one hand, to use their moral influence with their
nationals in Turkey to contribute sincerely to the peaceful co-
existence of the elements forming the population of the
Empire, and, on the other hand, to give each other reciprocal