Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 460 Anti-Protection Alliance
The Serbian government's idea was extremely good, but it can only be said that the ideal was very rich, while the reality was very harsh.

Putting aside other matters, the Austro-Hungarian Empire firmly opposed Serbia's acquisition of Albania in the war and supported Albania's independence.

The reason is simple: the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not want to see its mortal enemy, Serbia, gain access to the sea through Albania.

Serbia was originally just a small, landlocked country. Although its people were known for their fierce fighting spirit, it was ultimately just a minor problem.

If Serbia were given access to the sea, it would be easier for Serbia to obtain resources from overseas. It is believed that Russia, the old rival of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, would also be willing to transport more supplies to Serbia by sea to annoy the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Serbia originally had no other intentions; the Serbian government simply wanted to fight for its long-desired Albanian territory.

To the Serbian government's surprise, despite Austria-Hungary's firm opposition, apart from Russia expressing its support, the other major powers did not react at all.

Even Bulgaria, Serbia's ally, remained silent on the matter, showing no intention of helping Serbia vie for Albania.

If it were just Austria-Hungary's opposition, that would be one thing, but Austria-Hungary had Germany backing it, and Germany was also involved in the peace negotiations.

The outcome was obvious: Russia alone could not win Albania for Serbia despite opposition from Germany and Austria-Hungary. Britain also felt that Serbia was being greedy and did not recognize Serbia's acquisition of Albania.

If Serbia were to acquire Albania, setting aside Albania's access to the sea, the territory alone would be enough to more than double Serbia's own territory.

In this way, a powerful Serbia would also cause considerable trouble for Greece, Britain's little brother. Britain does not want any more accidents to happen in the Balkans, and it would be best if there were no accidents at all.

After many days of negotiations and efforts, it was finally decided, under the strong advocacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that Albania would become independent after the war.

The Serbian government, devastated by its failure to acquire Albania, grew even more resentful of Austria-Hungary and also harbored some discontent with its ally, Bulgaria.

Although Bulgaria is still needed to counter Austria-Hungary, this does not mean that Serbia will suffer in silence.

In subsequent negotiations, the Serbian government immediately changed its stance, refusing to recognize Bulgaria's acquisition of the entire Macedonia and hoping to also get a share of the Macedonian region to compensate for its loss of Albania.

The Greek government, which had remained silent until now, immediately expressed its stance, stating that it did not recognize Bulgaria's territorial partition plan and hoped that it could also obtain a large area of ​​southern Macedonia, including Thessaloniki.

As a result, the peace negotiations devolved into infighting among the Balkan alliances.

Montenegro, another Balkan allied country, has little say in the matter.

Montenegro gained nearly a third of its territory in this war, which is quite good for Montenegro.

After all, Montenegro is a small country and cannot, like Bulgaria and Serbia, immediately seek territory of equal size to its own territory.

Even if Montenegro were to acquire so much territory, with its domestic population of only a few hundred thousand, it would be highly unlikely that it could assimilate the population in a short period of time.

Moreover, the Ottoman Empire's territory in Europe was limited. If Montenegro gained too much territory, other more powerful countries would naturally gain less.

Montenegro, having acquired one-third of the territory, withdrew from the territorial dispute. The remaining three countries, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece, then began a struggle for Macedonian land.

At this time, Macedonia was not the later Republic of North Macedonia, but rather the much larger Macedonian region.

The Macedonian region, which included the later Republic of North Macedonia, the Greek regions of Central Macedonia, West Macedonia, and East Macedonia, and parts of southwestern Bulgaria, covered an astonishing total area of ​​over 7 square kilometers.

The size of the territory alone reveals the motivations of the three Balkan states in their struggle for Macedonia. If Bulgaria were to gain complete control of Macedonia, it would undoubtedly become the strongest nation in the Balkans.

Serbia and Greece certainly do not want Bulgaria to become the regional hegemon, and they also want a share of the pie in Macedonia, which has led to internal conflicts within the Balkan alliance.

As peace negotiations proceeded, this internal struggle among the three Balkan states gradually evolved into one involving four.

Has Montenegro rejoined the struggle for Macedonia? No, they are still quite far from the Macedonian region.

When discussing the Balkan countries that joined the land partitioning, one must mention the respective positions of the European powers towards these three countries during the peace negotiations.

The British Empire naturally sided with Greece, and Serbia, as a troublemaker for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, naturally also received support from Russia.

Germany and Austria-Hungary would certainly not support Serbia, nor would they be particularly interested in supporting Greece. They, however, were quite optimistic about Bulgaria, whose royal family originated from the German region.

The Bulgarian army was quite formidable, and Germany and Austria-Hungary believed that such a Bulgarian force could play a significant role and help contain Russia.

For this reason, during the peace negotiations, Germany and Austria-Hungary sided with Bulgaria, supporting Bulgaria's acquisition of Macedonia and Thrace.

Because Bulgaria is backed by two major powers, Serbia and Greece do not have much of a chance of winning.

To prevent Bulgaria from becoming too powerful with the support of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Britain offered the Greek government a new solution: to bring in a new ally to participate in the partition of the territory.

Who is this ally?
In fact, there is only one country in the Balkans that has not joined the peace negotiations: Romania, which is located north of Bulgaria.

Although Romania did not join the war, it certainly did not want to see Bulgaria rise.

The Greek government quickly adopted the British government's suggestion and sent diplomatic representatives to Romania to persuade Romania to join the territorial dispute and jointly target Bulgaria.

The Greek diplomatic representatives traveled at breakneck speed, arriving quickly in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and meeting with King Carol I of Romania.

It is worth mentioning that this seemingly white-haired Carol I also came from the German region.

Furthermore, Carol I came from the Hohenzollern royal family, a branch of the German royal family. The Hohenzollerns were a German royal family, which implies that the relationship between Romania and Germany was certainly not bad.

And that is indeed the case. Nearly twenty years ago, Romania secretly allied with Germany in exchange for the support of this emerging superpower.

Germany at the time also hoped to see pro-German forces flourish throughout Europe, and was naturally willing to form an alliance with Romania.

Because of the secret alliance between Romania and Germany, King Carol I of Romania hesitated after the Greek ambassador approached him and proposed a joint plan against Bulgaria.

Although, according to the Greek diplomatic representative, Romania could acquire a small piece of land without paying any price, it would be a loss for Romania if doing so went against Germany's interests.

After all, the Southern Dobroga region, which Greece proposed Romania to claim from Bulgaria, is far smaller in both area and population than the Macedonian region.

Romania is unwilling to get involved without sufficient benefits.

Seeing that King Carol I was hesitant and unable to make a decision, the Greek diplomatic representative could only keep persuading the elderly king: "Your Majesty, I have come here with the utmost sincerity."

We can temporarily set aside the issue of South Dobroga and focus solely on the situation in the Balkans after these peace talks. Bulgaria has secured the support of Germany and Austria-Hungary in these negotiations, although they are not allies.

If Bulgaria were to gain control of Macedonia and Thrace, it would become the de facto leading power in the Balkans, both in terms of territory and population.

You must understand His Majesty Ferdinand of Bulgaria's ambitions. If Bulgaria becomes the leading power in the Balkans, will they stop their expansion? Of course not.

But if you think about it carefully, where else can Bulgaria expand to?
If they were to attack Serbia to the west, Russia would absolutely stop them. If they were to attack Greece to the south, the British Empire would absolutely stop their atrocities.

An attack on Constantinople to the southeast would lead to another intervention by the great powers, something Bulgaria clearly wouldn't do.

Based on this, Bulgaria's only option was to attack northward. While Romania was strong, it lacked the support of any major power (the secret alliance with Greece is unclear).

If such a situation were to actually occur, even if your country were willing to form an anti-Bulgarian alliance, Serbia would likely be intimidated by Bulgaria's threats and thus stand by and watch Romania face Bulgarian military might.

If the mere lure of benefits fails to sway the Romanians, then the only option left is to resort to threats.

Romania certainly has ambitions to dominate the Balkans, and given its current size, it can indeed be considered the strongest country in the Balkans.

Both in terms of territory and population, Romania was ahead of Serbia and Bulgaria before the war.

But if Bulgaria gains too much territory and population in this war, the situation will be completely different.

The Greek government also believes that the Romanian government will not stand idly by and watch its neighbor surpass it; few people would be so foolish as to do that.

“I understand your meaning, Your Majesty, but what you have said is of great importance, please forgive me for not being able to give an answer in time,” said King Carol I of Romania.

While they understood that such important diplomatic decisions indeed required a long time to be made, it was clear that the Greek diplomatic representatives could not wait that long.

Peace talks in Constantinople are still ongoing, and Greece needs to quickly win over Romania to join the coalition against Bulgaria in order to force Bulgaria to back down in the peace negotiations.

If the Romanian government had been given a few days to consider the situation, the peace negotiations would likely have ended long ago. The situation in the peace negotiations waits for no one; the task of the Greek diplomatic representatives is to persuade King Carol I of Romania to change his mind as soon as possible and to expedite the formation of an anti-Bulgarian alliance.

"Your Majesty, we certainly know that this matter is of great importance and requires a long period of deliberation before we can make a decision."

However, the situation for peaceful negotiations waits for no one; you need to make a decision as soon as possible. Please allow me to first express our sincerity.

If your country is willing to form an anti-Bulgarian alliance with us, as long as we can prevent Bulgaria from acquiring the entire Macedonia region, your country will subsequently acquire more than 4,000 square kilometers of fertile land in South Dobroga.

While this land cannot compare to Macedonia, it is still an excellent addition to your country's resources. Furthermore, our government and Serbia have allowed ethnic Romanians scattered throughout the country to return to Romania, thus enabling your country to experience further growth in both territory and population.

If Bulgaria is unwilling to back down, we may have to go to war with Bulgaria. In the event of war, regardless of the outcome, we and the Serbian government are willing to jointly provide your government with war reparations of no less than £200 million, to be paid in full within one year of the war's conclusion.

Your Majesty, if Romania could join the anti-Bulgarian alliance, it would not only alleviate the military pressure on your country, but also effectively improve the situation in the Balkans.

I believe your country also does not want to see the emergence of a Balkan hegemon. If your country is willing to join the anti-Bulgarian alliance, all the conditions I have mentioned above will be fulfilled without exception.

Upon hearing the terms reiterated by the Greek diplomatic representative, King Carol I of Romania nodded, paused for a moment, and then said, "Mr. Ambassador, your eloquence is indeed excellent; you are a born diplomat!"
I admit you've convinced me that Romania is willing to join the so-called anti-Bulgarian alliance, and we are very interested in the Southern Dobroga region you mentioned.

But before Romania joins the anti-Bulgarian alliance, I hope your country and Serbia can promise us that if war breaks out in the future, Russia will absolutely not intervene in the war.

What King Carol I of Romania was worried about was Russia.

Compared to the Balkan countries that do not border Russia, Romania, as a country bordering Russia, faces a much greater threat from Russia.

More importantly, because the Romanian royal family and the German royal family share the same lineage, Romania is inherently pro-German.

This has led to a consistently strained relationship between Russia and Romania. Russia has always viewed Romania as a thorn in its side, while Romania has always seen Russia as its biggest threat. This is also why Romania secretly allied with Germany.

While acquiring a piece of land without paying too high a price was quite good, King Carol I of Romania also had to consider the threat from Russia.

In other words, the anti-Bulgarian alliance included Serbia, which was supported by Russia; otherwise, Romania would never have considered joining the alliance.

After all, if war breaks out and Russian troops take advantage of the situation to invade, Romania would be in real danger.

Upon hearing the request from King Carol I of Romania, the Greek diplomat breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his persuasion had been successful.

As for Romania's request that Russia not interfere in the war, with the help of the Serbian government, it should certainly be possible to achieve this.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. We will communicate with the Serbian government to ensure that the Russian government will not help Bulgaria or interfere in this war."

Of course, we also hope that your country can contact the German government to ensure that Germany and Austria-Hungary will not help Bulgaria.

Romania was worried about Russian interference, and Serbia was equally worried about Austro-Hungarian interference.

In these peace negotiations, Germany and Austria-Hungary sided with Bulgaria. If war had broken out, Germany aside, Austria-Hungary might have joined Bulgaria's side.

After all, Bulgaria's rival, Serbia, was a major concern for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even if it wasn't to help Bulgaria, but simply to eliminate Serbia as a problem, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would likely have been interested in intervening in the war.

Fortunately, the Romanian royal family and the German royal family have a good relationship. Although it is uncertain whether there is a secret alliance between the two countries, if the Romanian royal family can persuade Germany not to interfere in the war, Austria-Hungary will certainly not interfere either.

Germany's influence within the Triple Alliance remained extremely strong. As long as Germany took no action, Austria-Hungary, no matter what its ambitions, could only await Germany's orders.

Upon hearing the request from the Greek diplomatic representative, King Carol I of Romania nodded and said, "Of course. Our aim is merely to prevent Bulgaria from acquiring too much land, not to completely annex Bulgaria. I imagine Germany and Austria-Hungary will not interfere with us."

The only thing to blame is Bulgaria's excessive ambition to annex the entire Macedonia and Thrace region; Ferdinand was truly audacious.

Bulgaria could become the dominant power in the Balkans, provided it defeats Serbia, Greece, and Romania.

I'd like to see what Bulgaria does after the formation of the anti-Bulgarian alliance. I hope that Ferdinand still has such grand ambitions; I'm not afraid he'll break his teeth.

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(End of this chapter)