Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 458 The Balkan Wars

The formation of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal has attracted much attention in Europe, with many newspapers viewing the establishment of this new nation as a revival of Spanish hegemony.

Thanks to the land area and population provided by Portugal, Spain consistently ranks among the top four world powers in major European newspapers, sometimes even surpassing France to rank third in the world.

Spain's transformation from a backward nation on the verge of falling out of the ranks of the world's great powers into one of the top four superpowers is a process that other European countries could not even dream of.

Although many countries had long anticipated that Spain would annex Portugal, when the day actually came, many still felt envious and jealous.

The country that felt this most deeply was probably the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose overall strength originally far surpassed that of Spain.

Once upon a time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was hailed as one of the five great powers of Europe, vying for supremacy alongside Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.

But now, not to mention Austria-Hungary, which is not widely recognized as one of the five great powers, even Russia, which is widely recognized as one of the four great powers, has been squeezed out by the later-rising Spain.

It cannot be said that Russia is not powerful, because Russia is still a huge problem for most of the major powers.

In particular, less powerful nations like Austria-Hungary and Italy felt a sense of powerlessness when faced with the behemoth that was Russia.

Yet Spain has surpassed Russia and is widely recognized as one of the new four great powers. This further demonstrates the strength of Spain's military today, a strength acknowledged by all European countries.

Was it that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no ambition?

No.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was directly excluded from the German region by Germany, it found a new direction for expansion: towards the Balkan Peninsula in the southeast.

During this long period, they also achieved considerable success. Bosnia and Herzegovina were under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they were eyeing Serbia and further south.

When Austria-Hungary learned of the formation of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, they first sent a congratulatory telegram to the Spanish government, and then accelerated their invasion of the Balkan Peninsula.

Spain was able to become a recognized superpower by annexing Portugal, so why couldn't Austria-Hungary become one of the five great powers again by annexing a number of small Balkan countries?
If Austria-Hungary could annex these small countries in the Balkans, it would have the confidence to rival Russia.

Even though Russia was also eyeing this land, Austria-Hungary was not afraid at all. After all, Austria-Hungary was backed by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and the purpose of this powerful military bloc was precisely to confront France and Russia.

Driven by ambition, the Austro-Hungarian Empire frequently moved troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, seemingly preparing to invade Serbia.

Austria-Hungary's frequent actions made Serbia feel the crisis and also made other Balkan countries feel threatened.

The fates of these Balkan countries are quite similar. They were all once subject to the rule of the Ottoman Empire and exploited by its brutal rule for hundreds of years.

Having finally gained independence during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, it now faces the covetousness of powerful nations such as Austria-Hungary and Russia.

At this time, the Balkan countries did not have major conflicts, and they were still willing to stand together to resist external threats.

On June 22, 1906, Serbia and Bulgaria, two relatively powerful countries in the Balkans, concluded the Serbian-Bulgarian Military Alliance, agreeing to jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the Balkans and jointly deal with enemies from outside the Balkans.

In addition to the Ottomans, the long-time enemies of the Balkan peoples, this military alliance also included the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a hypothetical enemy.

Serbia hoped to gain Bulgaria's assistance to better defend against the Austro-Hungarian invasion. Bulgaria, on the other hand, hoped to unite with Serbia against the Ottoman Empire in order to gain more land in the south.

Because they each got what they wanted, Serbia and Bulgaria hit it off immediately. They signed the military alliance treaty in just a few days and began preparing for war.

Of course, the two countries' military buildup was not to deal with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but to seize large swathes of territory from the Ottoman Empire.

At this time, the territory of the Balkans was somewhat different from that of later times. Albania had not yet gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, which still controlled large swathes of European territory, which was also the target of Serbia and Bulgaria.

In order to better deal with the Ottoman Empire, Serbia and Bulgaria also planned to bring Greece into the picture to jointly divide up large swathes of Ottoman territory in Europe.

Even if this vast territory were divided equally, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece could each expand their own land area by more than half.

This is an opportunity that the small, sparsely populated Balkan countries cannot afford to miss.

Sure enough, when Greece learned of Serbia and Bulgaria's plans to attack the Ottoman Empire, they joined in without hesitation.

At this point, only Romania and Montenegro remained in the Balkans that had not joined the alliance. Romania and Serbia were separated by Bulgaria, making it impossible for them to gain territory in this campaign, which is why Romania was not interested in the operation.

Although Montenegro has the smallest territory and population among the Balkan countries, it actively lobbied the Balkan nations and eventually joined the alliance.

It was after the Principality of Montenegro officially joined the alliance that the original Cyprus-Basalt alliance formally evolved into the Balkan Alliance.

All Balkan countries except Romania joined the alliance, which made Serbia and Bulgaria, the leaders, very confident. They believed that with the help of the alliance, they could easily defeat the Ottoman Empire. This action would greatly increase their territory and population, and give them more confidence to confront threats from outside the Balkans in the future.

Under pressure from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Balkan League was formed so quickly.

Although the primary objective of the Balkan League was to seize European territories from the Ottoman Empire, it also aimed to defend against threats from outside the Balkans, led by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After several days of deliberation, the Balkan states decided to declare war on the Ottoman Empire as soon as possible in order to prevent the war from being forcibly intervened by European powers and to seize more territory from the Ottoman Empire. They wanted to get the spoils of victory first.

And so, a sudden war broke out.

When Carlo learned of the outbreak of war in the Balkans, he and Prince Juan Fernando were in Portugal inspecting the construction of a large food processing plant.

This food processing plant, built with Spanish capital investment, will provide thousands of jobs and generate millions of peseta in economic value once completed.

For the Portuguese government, such factories are extremely important. Portugal itself lacks a strong industrial base, and its only hope for improving its domestic economy lies in Spanish capital investment.

Fortunately, after the merger of the two countries, Spanish capital increased its interest in investing in Portugal. Although Portugal's mineral resources are less abundant than Spain's, its labor costs are relatively low, making it entirely feasible to build some food processing plants.

Besides investing in factories, some Spanish nobles also chose to invest in agriculture in Portugal. Portugal's vast plains were an ideal choice for both cultivating farmland and raising livestock.

Compared to Spain, Portugal is relatively sparsely populated. It still possesses vast tracts of undeveloped land, and rather than letting these lands remain barren, it would be better to sell or lease them to Spanish capital for agricultural development.

Although the outbreak of the Balkan Wars was not in Carlo's plans, he was not surprised at all. The situation in Europe at this time had changed dramatically compared to the same period in history, and even if a world war broke out earlier, Carlo would not be surprised at all.

In response to the rapidly changing situation in Europe, Carlo also planned a larger-scale military expansion in Spain and Portugal to prepare for a potential European war.

The defense ministries of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal are currently working out the details of the military expansion. Once all the details are confirmed, it will be time for Spain to carry out a major military expansion.

In addition to the number of active-duty army personnel, Carlo also plans to increase the United Kingdom's reserve force to over one million.

Spain may not join the world war too early, but whenever it does, it must be prepared to fight a tough battle.

In addition to expanding the army, Carlo also ordered the acceleration of aircraft and tank development projects, aiming to equip Spain with some aircraft and tanks before the outbreak of world war.

Tanks, in particular, were undoubtedly the kings of the battlefield once they were used in World War I.

European countries are currently completely unprepared for tanks. Even though tanks have various defects and a high rate of breakdowns, they are still deadly weapons on the battlefield.

Upon learning of the outbreak of war in the Balkans, Carlo did not rush to issue orders, but instead instructed the diplomatic corps to monitor the reactions of Austria-Hungary and Russia.

Although Austria-Hungary and Russia are no longer ranked among the top four in Europe, the situation in the Balkans still depends on the attitudes of these two countries.

Unfortunately, other European countries are simply too far from the Balkans. Furthermore, Austria-Hungary and Russia each have their own military blocs behind them; if either of these countries were to cause trouble, a world war could very well break out at that moment.

Carlo's concerns were not unfounded, as the Austro-Hungarian Empire did indeed have plans to attack Serbia.

From the perspective of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, their thinking is understandable. At that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was backed by the powerful military bloc of the Triple Alliance. Although Russia was also backed by the French alliance, Russia was still embroiled in domestic turmoil, and they might not be able to spare the resources to intervene in the war in the Balkans.

As long as Austria-Hungary conquers Serbia in time, even if Russia has the power to mobilize troops to help, it will be unable to change the situation on the battlefield.

Unless Russia wants to start a full-scale war between the two military blocs, they will have to stop after the war in the Balkans ends, no matter what their intentions are.

For Austria-Hungary, this was not only an opportunity to conquer Serbia, but also an opportunity to fully extend its reach into the Balkans and conquer the Balkan states.

The Balkan Peninsula is more like an inverted triangle, with the Aegean Sea forming a gap on the right. Although Serbia is located in the northern part of the triangle, its southern part is already close to the central region.

This also means that if Austria-Hungary could conquer Serbia, it would border most of the Balkan countries, except for Greece in the far south.

If such a situation could be achieved, Austria-Hungary could then continue its offensive into the southern Balkans, conquering Bulgaria and the European territories of the Ottoman Empire.

They could retreat and hold onto Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, consolidating their vast territory. This was an incredibly worthwhile deal; any European country, let alone Austria-Hungary, would likely be tempted.

Italy, which was next to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, coveted this tiny Albania. Now, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had the opportunity to conquer most of the Balkan Peninsula, and it would be a waste not to take action at such a good opportunity.

That's what the Austro-Hungarian Empire thought, and that's exactly what they did.

On the one hand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire mobilized more than 100,000 troops, divided into two armies and deployed in Bosnia and on the southern border, ready to attack Serbia at any time.

On the other hand, Austria-Hungary urgently contacted its two allies, Germany and Italy, seeking their support.

If Austria-Hungary could secure the support of two allies, it would be unafraid even if it had to face Russia in this war.

Even Italy could have launched a war immediately without expressing any opinion; all it needed was the German government's approval.

To the surprise of Austria-Hungary, before the German government could express its opinion, the Italian government had already expressed its interest in the matter.

The Italian government initially proposed to Austria-Hungary that Italy could directly join the war to help Austria-Hungary attack Serbia, in exchange for Austria-Hungary supporting Italy's occupation of Albania.

The proposal was quickly rejected by Austria-Hungary, who were unwilling to allow Italy to set foot in the Balkans, even though Italy was their ally.

The Italian government was somewhat disappointed by the rejection. They had seen a good opportunity to expand in the Balkans, but their ally was unwilling to let them get involved in Albania, even though they were far away from Albania.

Yes, at that time, Italy believed that it was the country most qualified to occupy Albania.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire established its presence in the Balkans earlier, they were too far from Albania, with Serbia in between.

On the contrary, Italy is separated from Albania by the sea, with the closest point only about 70 kilometers away.

Why should I have to cater to the whims of a country hundreds of kilometers away, even though this land is right in front of my house?
The Italian government, rejected by Austria-Hungary, was quite dissatisfied. For the first time, they were disappointed with the Triple Alliance, a military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, because it seemed that Italy was dispensable in this alliance and would not gain much benefit after the war.

Even the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans was unwilling to let Italy have a say, so what territory could Italy possibly hope to occupy after the war?

If it were Italy under normal circumstances, being rejected wouldn't be a big deal; they could simply give up on Albania temporarily.

But Italy was different at this time; they were also provoked by Spain.

It's important to know that Italy and Spain have a much deeper historical connection. The current King of Spain, Juan Carlos, is a prince of Italy, making the two royal families practically one family.

Why was Carlo able to lead Spain to become a superpower, while Italy, despite its initial advantage, has made little progress over the years?

Why was the Spanish army able to perform so well in the war, while the Italian army's fighting strength was not valued by European countries?

Now even its own allies don't respect its demands. Is this really the Italy it wants?

King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was quite dissatisfied at this time.

Since the king is dissatisfied, the government must address his discontent.

It's fine that Austria-Hungary rejected Italy's demands; after all, within the alliance, the Austrian brothers don't have the final say. At worst, we can take it to the Germans and let them handle the justice.

Coincidentally, the Italian government learned that Austria-Hungary was also seeking German support in response to potential Russian intervention.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Italian government immediately contacted the German government, hoping to gain its support and join in the partitioning of the Balkan states.

To demonstrate its sincerity, Italy also promised the German government that it would only occupy Albania, and that any remaining territory, even if conquered, would be handed over to Austria-Hungary or Germany free of charge.

From the Italian government's perspective, its demands were quite reasonable. Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and wanted Serbia, while Italy only wanted Albania, which was of lower value. Surely that wasn't unreasonable?
Since everyone was part of the Tripartite Alliance, Germany couldn't just respect Austria-Hungary's demands and ignore Italy's, could it?

When the dispute between Italy and Austria-Hungary over the Balkans reached Germany, the German government did not have a good solution.

The Triple Alliance formed by Germany had a significant drawback compared to the Franco-Russian alliance: the fact that the three alliances were located close to each other made them more prone to territorial disputes.

With Germany sandwiched between France and Russia, and Russia having no overseas colonies, it was naturally impossible for Russia to have any conflict with France.

To discuss the conflict between France and Russia, we must go back to the Napoleonic era a century ago. Napoleon conquered much of Europe before ultimately suffering his defeat at Waterloo in Russia. While the French admired Napoleon, this did not mean they harbored hatred towards Russia, the country that defeated him.

It is true that Napoleon suffered a Waterloo in Russia, but at that time, almost the entire Europe was against France. It is impossible to hate the whole of Europe, right?
Moreover, more than a hundred years have passed since the Napoleonic era, and France and Russia had no enmity during that time, so the past has naturally faded away.

Unlike the good relations between France and Russia, the Triple Alliance formed by Germany was characterized by its own conflicts and disputes among its members.

Germany and Austria-Hungary need no further introduction. These two countries were vying for supremacy in the German region decades ago, and they had been bitter enemies for over a century. Their relationship only improved somewhat after Prussia defeated France.

While there were no disputes or conflicts between Germany and Italy, there were significant conflicts between Austria-Hungary and Italy.

This also brings us to the history of Italian unification. Before Italian unification, the Apennine Peninsula consisted of several large and small states.

Besides these states, Rome and Veneto, which were very important and prosperous cities in Italy, were controlled by France and Austria, respectively.

In theory, unifying Italy was no less difficult than unifying Germany, because both tasks faced the same enemies: the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire and France.

Coincidentally, Italy and Prussia were undertaking these two tasks at almost the same time, which meant that Italy was practically guaranteed a win, as Austria-Hungary and France had to deal with the threat from Prussia first.

However, in the process of Italian unification, Italy and Austria-Hungary developed a deep-seated grudge.

Italy even went to war with Austria-Hungary to reclaim the Veneto region. However, Austria-Hungary, in order to deal with Prussia, ultimately chose to withdraw its troops from Italy, which is why Italy defeated Austria-Hungary and unified northern Italy.

Italy captured South Tyrol, which it had long coveted, in this war, which led to strong dissatisfaction from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It is only now that the two countries have formed an alliance, otherwise Austria-Hungary would certainly still have designs on South Tyrol.

While the alliance could mask their respective grievances, it did not mean that the conflict and competition between Italy and Austria-Hungary were resolved.

This incident is more like a trigger, similar to the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Russia over the Balkans during the Three Emperors' League period, which could potentially lead to the split of the entire alliance.

The German government is certainly aware of how damaging such disputes are to the alliance. Issues that might otherwise have gone unnoticed by either government are all brought up during these arguments.

If Austria-Hungary and Italy were allowed to continue arguing like this, the Tripartite Alliance might end before the Balkan Wars were even over.

This situation is unlike the period of the Three Emperors' Alliance. During the Three Emperors' Alliance, there were two superpowers, and Germany and Russia were neighbors, making a long-term alliance impossible.

This is also why Germany ultimately chose Austria-Hungary and gradually became an enemy of Russia.

But things were different now. The Triple Alliance only had Germany as a superpower; the remaining two, Austria-Hungary and Italy, while having varying strengths, were generally on the same level. Austria-Hungary had a slightly stronger army, and Italy had a slightly stronger navy, but that was about it.

For Germany, it was not yet possible to abandon either Austria-Hungary or Italy, its allies.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was able to help Germany fight against Russia and share a large part of Russia's military burden, which was one of the reasons for Germany's confidence in quickly defeating Russia in its war plan.

Although Italy could not help Germany alleviate the pressure from France and Russia, its navy was still strong enough to help Germany counter the navies of France and Russia.

Especially in the Mediterranean, the combined navies of Italy and Austria-Hungary could easily blockade Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Furthermore, both countries could control the western outlet to the Mediterranean Sea through their relationship with Spain. France and Russia share similarities; their navies are divided into two parts, with one part stationed in the Mediterranean.

If the German navy could divide the French and Russian navies by controlling the Mediterranean outlet, it would be confident that it could defeat them one by one as long as their navies could not regroup.

Since both allies are important, the only option is to find a way to mediate the conflict between them.

The good news is that the Ottoman Empire was still a large and powerful nation at this time, and it still had a lot of territory that could divert the attention of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

In Berlin, the capital of Germany, diplomatic representatives from Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy held lengthy discussions and finally determined a solution for dealing with the Balkans.

Germany respected Austria-Hungary's long-term strategy in the Balkans and helped persuade Italy to abandon its invasion of Albania.

In return, Germany and Austria-Hungary would support Italy's invasion of Tripoli, allowing Italy to seize this land on its doorstep.

Although Tripoli is a relatively barren and impoverished land, Albania is not much better off. Tripoli is not far from mainland Italy, and it is even adjacent to the Italian Tunisian colony.

For Italy, which lacks large overseas colonies, occupying the entire city of Tripoli would at least save face for the Italian government.

Moreover, it can also silence the ignorant masses. Tripoli is, after all, a land area of ​​over a million square kilometers. Regardless of how much of this land can be developed, just ask yourself, isn't a million square kilometers a huge and impressive area?

After persuasion from the German government, the Italian government finally accepted the mediation's outcome. Although they couldn't set foot on the Balkans, acquiring a vast overseas colony was still a very good outcome.

Moreover, this colony was right on Italy's doorstep and adjacent to the more promising Tunisian colony.

Italy could acquire a large colony that seemed to have considerable development potential simply by merging the Tripoli and Tunisian colonies.

Even though doing this is just deceiving yourself, it's better than gaining nothing at all.

Moreover, there was good news for Italy: during its offensive on Tripoli, Italy did not have to worry about a strong counterattack from the Ottoman Empire.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire was being attacked by the Balkan League, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also had designs on the Balkan League.

Given the chaotic situation in the Balkans, Italy could easily take advantage of the situation and occupy Tripoli, a territory spanning over a million square kilometers, without incurring too many casualties.

While Austria-Hungary and Italy were preparing their own war plans, the war had spread throughout the Balkans, with Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro also joining the conflict.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire was completely bewildered. The Ottoman government never expected that these small countries would dare to unite against it.

It should be understood that if it weren't for the great powers' covetousness of the Balkans, even if the Ottoman Empire had weakened, these Balkan peoples would not have been able to gain independence from Ottoman rule.

Now, having only been independent for a few years, the idea of ​​going against the Ottoman Empire, especially without the support of any major powers, seemed far too naive to the Ottoman Empire.

Even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse; no matter how weak the Ottoman Empire became, it was still a powerful nation with a population and territory far exceeding those of the Balkan states.

But when the war actually broke out, the Ottoman Empire immediately realized that something was wrong.

Despite the relatively weak overall national strength of these Balkan countries, their militaries are incredibly powerful.

The Balkan peoples harbored genuine hatred for the Ottomans, which led to their armies being unafraid of casualties in battle. On the contrary, the Ottoman army fought timidly. In addition, since the equipment of both sides was not significantly different, the Balkan alliance gained the upper hand.

Realizing something was wrong, the Ottoman Empire immediately sought help from the European powers.

There was no other way; the troops resisting the Balkan League at the front were already the elite of the Ottoman Empire. These troops were new forces trained by the Ottoman Empire over the years, and German officers were invited to help with their training.

Even under such circumstances, they were unable to contend with the armies of the Balkan League, let alone the massive old-style army of the Ottoman Empire.

These old-style armies were no match for the Balkan Allied forces. If they did not seek external assistance at this point, the situation of the war would no longer be in the hands of the Ottoman Empire once the new army on the front lines was exhausted.

The Ottoman Empire first contacted the German government.

Over the years, relations between the Ottoman Empire and Germany remained relatively close. The Ottoman Empire's new army was trained with the help of German officers, and some reforms were modeled after German policies.

Disappointingly, when the Ottoman ambassador to Berlin requested an audience with the German government, the German government responded coldly, clearly unwilling to help the Ottoman Empire.

Even Germany, which had relatively close ties with the Ottoman Empire, did not explicitly express its support, let alone other European powers.

Most European countries have indicated their intention to remain neutral, unwilling to intervene in a war that has nothing to do with them without any justification.

Although they did not believe the reasons given by these European countries, the Ottoman Empire was ultimately the weaker party and there was nothing they could do about it.

With no other major powers willing to intervene, the war had already become one-sided.

The Balkan states had a strong interest in expanding their territory, and their armies were not afraid of sacrifice on the battlefield. They quickly conquered many important cities of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.

The Ottoman army was able to hold out for a while at first, but as the front lines collapsed, resistance forces in various regions gradually disintegrated.

The most brutal battle of all was the siege of Adrianople, the gateway to Constantinople.

Knowing that capturing Adrianople would lead to the capture of Constantinople, Bulgaria had been preparing for the attack on Adrianople for a long time.

Bulgaria alone mobilized over 100,000 troops, and with the addition of tens of thousands of troops from Greece, the total number of troops exceeded 150,000.

The Balkan League forces clashed fiercely with the Ottoman army at Adrianople. The battle lasted for more than twenty days, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

On the Bulgarian and Greek side alone, the total number of casualties approached 5, with several thousand more missing. Nearly 300 artillery pieces were directly destroyed in the battle, and hundreds of thousands of shells of various types were used, including tens of thousands of large-caliber shells specifically designed for attacking fortifications.

As for the Ottoman Empire, it suffered the greatest casualties.

The Ottoman Empire suffered nearly 7 casualties, with at least 4 missing. Nearly 600 of the Ottomans' artillery pieces were destroyed, and hundreds more were captured by the Balkan League forces.

In particular, the cannons inside the Adriafort fortress were something the Ottoman army couldn't take away; they were captured by the Bulgarian army along with the fortress.

The Ottoman army retreated in such a hasty manner that they did not even have time to destroy the cannons on the fortress.

This allowed the Bulgarian and Greek armies to easily capture these artillery pieces. Although the Bulgarian and Greek artillery suffered some losses, the loss of firepower was not significant after the capture of these pieces.

Many of the Ottoman soldiers who went missing on the battlefield were reinforcements from the Anatolian Peninsula. The Ottoman Empire was divided into European and Asian parts, and reinforcements from the Asian part were not very interested in fighting in the European part.

They could have remained holed up in Asia Minor, but were ordered to the front lines by their government. Facing these same fearless Balkan armies, their fighting spirit plummeted.

After the defeat of the Ottoman army at Adrianople, these soldiers from the Asian part of the country scattered hastily, which is why thousands went missing.

Some fled in panic to rural and mountainous areas, while others consciously returned to Constantinople further east, choosing instead to avoid the Ottoman Empire's gathering of defeated troops and instead become deserters, hoping to find an opportunity to return to the Anatolian Peninsula.

This loss definitively established the course of the Balkan Wars, forcing the Ottoman Empire to remain confined to the outskirts of Constantinople for defense, powerless to take control of the vast territories west of Adrianople.

After capturing Adriafort, the Bulgarian army was not in a hurry to continue its eastward advance on Constantinople. Instead, it chose to move westward and occupy large swathes of land in southern Bulgaria.

The land east of Adriafort is bordered only by Bulgaria, so if anyone were to occupy this land, it would certainly be Bulgaria.

The land west of Adrianople is different. These lands either border Greece or Serbia, making it impossible for Bulgaria to annex them all.

The current situation is that whoever occupies this land first owns it. We are all allies, so we can't just attack land that our allies have already occupied, can we?

Following the Battle of Adrianople, the Balkan states were engulfed in a wave of land grabbing, with even small Montenegro occupying a large area and expanding its territory by nearly half.

After conquering all the land west of Adrianople, Bulgaria and Greece finally realized their mistake and turned their attention back to Constantinople, the most important city in the Balkans, located east of Adrianople.

Constantinople's history and prosperity need no further explanation; it was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and the oldest city in the Balkans.

For over a thousand years, Constantinople served as the capital of both the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

For the Balkan states, Constantinople held extraordinary significance. Whoever conquered Constantinople essentially gained territorial legitimacy over the Eastern Roman Empire.

The area surrounding Constantinople is also a plain, which can be said to be one of the most prosperous regions in the Balkans. In short, there is no harm in occupying it.

As Bulgaria and Greece sharpened their knives at Constantinople, the European powers could no longer contain themselves.

They originally thought the Balkan Wars would be a close contest, and that no matter how weak the Ottoman Empire was, it couldn't possibly be defeated so easily by these small Balkan countries.

But to the surprise of the European powers, the Ottoman Empire was indeed so incompetent.

It's one thing for these Balkan countries to have their eyes on other regions, but Constantinople cannot be allowed to be occupied by them under any circumstances.

Besides its significance to the Orthodox Church and the Slavic people, Constantinople and the Strait of Constantinople also possess extremely important strategic value.

The Straits of Constantinople guards the entrance to the Black Sea, which is of great importance to Russia. The reason why Britain would never allow the Balkan states to occupy Constantinople was precisely because it feared that control of Constantinople and the straits would fall into Russian hands.

These Balkan states could defeat the Ottoman Empire, but they could never defeat Russia. If Constantinople and the Straits were to fall into Russian hands, the situation in Eastern Europe would be completely different.

Britain has already lost the Strait of Gibraltar, and absolutely cannot afford to lose the Strait of Constantinople. This also means that when Balkan armies reach Constantinople, the European powers, led by Britain, are destined to intervene.

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(End of this chapter)