Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 498 The Balkans in Chaos
The news of Romania's entry into World War II had little impact on other countries that were not affected by the war.

However, for the countries in the Balkans, the difference between Romania's participation in the war and its subsequent changes was still quite significant.

As the country with the largest area and population in the Balkans today, Romania's ability to mobilize an army is unmatched by Serbia and Bulgaria.

Immediately after declaring war on Bulgaria, Romania deployed over 20 troops to attack Bulgaria. Subsequently, due to Germany and Austria-Hungary declaring war on Romania, Romania sent nearly 20 troops to support Serbia, drastically altering the situation on the Balkan front.

The original Balkan battlefield was one in which Serbia struggled to hold on, with nearly a third of its territory already lost and the combined number of military and civilian casualties approaching 30.

If nothing changes, Serbia may be the third country to be occupied in this world war, the first two being Belgium and Luxembourg.

With Romania's involvement, the Serbian government can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Previously, Serbia was caught in a pincer movement between the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian armies, and the Serbian army was barely holding on.

After the Romanian army launched a massive invasion of Bulgaria, Bulgaria was forced to withdraw most of its troops, which instantly broke the situation of Serbia being almost completely surrounded, allowing it to focus on dealing with the Austro-Hungarian army to the north and west.

With the support of the Yugoslavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia can still manage to cope, and at least won't be defeated so quickly.

Conversely, Serbia also has the capability to launch a counter-offensive against Bulgaria. While it may not be able to fully recover the territory occupied by Bulgaria, it would at least completely resolve the previously dire situation.

The sudden shift in the Balkan situation was truly bad news for the Allied powers.

The German government's planned logistical supply lines were cut in half by Romania and Serbia, and the Central Powers seemed to have been confined to Europe by the Allied Powers.

Even more critically, Bulgaria's situation is now extremely dire, showing a strong tendency to replicate Serbia's previous predicament.

In order to save Bulgaria, the diplomatic ambassadors of Germany and Austria-Hungary met with the Ottoman government, and after a long discussion, they finally brought the Ottoman Empire into the Central Powers as well.

In October 1913, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Romania and Serbia, thus becoming embroiled in the World War.

The Ottoman Empire's involvement in the war was something European countries had long anticipated. Both the good relations between the Ottoman Empire and the German government, and the Ottoman Empire's previous closure of the straits, had essentially predetermined the Ottoman Empire's choice.

Joining the war now was a relatively opportune time for the Ottoman Empire. At this point, the Ottoman Empire was still very important to the Central Powers, and was key to stabilizing the situation on the Balkan front.

In an effort to entice the Ottoman Empire into the war and help stabilize the situation in the Balkans, Germany and Austria-Hungary offered very generous terms, promising the Ottoman Empire the opportunity to expand in the Caucasus region and providing it with a large amount of loans and weapons.

As the German and Austro-Hungarian governments had anticipated, the situation on the Balkan front gradually reached a stalemate after the Ottoman Empire joined the war.

The Ottoman Empire had great ambitions. They deployed more than 30 troops to the war, and divided their forces into two groups.

More than 10 troops marched north to support Bulgaria, fulfilling their responsibility as allies. The remaining 20 troops advanced eastward to launch an offensive against Russia in the Caucasus region.

The Ottoman government believed that Russia had millions of troops deployed on the Eastern Front at this time, and that there were not many troops defending other areas.

The Russian army in the Caucasus region was destined to be small in number. If the Ottoman Empire could occupy a large area of ​​land in the Caucasus region, its participation in this war would be entirely worthwhile.

That's what the Ottoman army thought, and that's what they did.

It must be said that the Ottoman Empire's plan to invade the Caucasus region did indeed cause some disruption to the Russian government, forcing it to divert some troops to ensure stability in the Caucasus region.

For the Eastern Front, the withdrawal of such a small number of troops had little impact. However, in the Balkans, with Russia reducing its troop deployment, Romania, which had been advancing aggressively, was forced to temporarily halt its offensive.

Unfortunately, the Allied Powers no longer possessed a military advantage in the Balkans.

On the Central Powers side, Austria-Hungary still had as many as 75 troops deployed in the Balkans, making it the largest military force in the region.

Romania ranks second. Romania has mobilized 50 troops, and the vast majority of these soldiers have joined the war, which is why Bulgaria has suffered repeated defeats.

Russia reduced its promised 40 troops to 30. Although the change was not that significant, it still had some impact on the front lines.

Bulgaria currently has only about 25 combat troops available, while Serbia's army combined has less than 15.

Including the 10 troops that the Ottoman Empire supported in Bulgaria, the Central Powers had a total of 110 million troops in the Balkans, while the Allied Powers had only 95 troops, a significant difference in numbers.

If Russia had originally deployed 40 troops, the difference between the Entente Powers' 105 million troops and the Central Powers' 110 million troops would not have been significant.

With a current disparity of 15, the Allied Powers' original plan to invade the heart of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was no longer possible.

With the Ottoman Empire's entry, the war in the Balkans turned into a bizarre tug-of-war.

Both sides launched a fierce offensive and defensive campaign around Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The ferocity of the war was at one point comparable to the Battle of Verdun on the western front.

Carlo was always astonished whenever he received casualty figures from the Balkan battlefield.

The Balkans truly live up to their reputation as a powder keg, and the peoples inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula are indeed a bunch of roughnecks.

From the time the Ottoman Empire became involved in the war in October until the end of the year, a mere two and a half months, the Balkan battlefield resulted in an astonishing 500,000 casualties, including more than 200,000 soldiers who died. The area around Belgrade and Sofia had been reduced to ruins.

These two major Balkan cities had by then become hell on earth. Large numbers of ordinary people had been forced to relocate to more remote areas due to the war, while the army was stationed in the city proper.

The tense situation on the Balkan front not only made the world war more brutal, but also made the Central Powers and the Allied Powers realize an even greater crisis.

Judging from the current situation, no matter which side wins a world war, it will inevitably be a Pyrrhic victory.

Needless to say, the defeated countries, in order to make up for the losses of a Pyrrhic victory, will certainly try every means to exploit the defeated countries and obtain enough benefits to compensate for the losses.

For this reason, neither the Allied Powers nor the Central Powers wanted to lose in this war.

Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and Russia clearly recognized that this war was completely different from the previous Franco-Prussian War, Austro-Prussian War, and Russo-Turkish War; it was a more thorough and brutal war that shaped the global order.

Countries today have no way out. They must either win the war at all costs or surrender and be slaughtered by other countries.

Faced with such a choice, most countries would certainly want to take the plunge.

Italy’s importance became apparent after the situation in the Balkans became unpredictable.

Italy's situation at this time was rather awkward.

The reason why Britain and Spain did not join the war is simple: neither country had any alliance treaty with the Central Powers or the Allied Powers, making them truly neutral nations.

Italy, however, was different. Italy had long ago signed the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, making it a legitimate member of the alliance.

More than a year has passed since the outbreak of war, and Italy has still not fulfilled its obligations as an Allied power to join the war, which has inevitably led to some discussions among European countries.

Some people mocked the Italian government's cowardice and despised their shamelessness in not abiding by the alliance treaty.

Some people believe that Italy's choice was very wise, as the current world war is a very brutal war, and no country involved in the war has a good ending.

Regardless of the discussions among European countries, the Italian government made no diplomatic progress in the war. Even though Germany and Austria-Hungary repeatedly urged Italy to join the war, the Italian government did not provide a clear response.

After Romania and the Ottoman Empire joined the war, the Balkans were in complete chaos. Of the many Balkan countries, only Albania and Greece remained uninvolved.

Greece is Britain's junior partner, and if Britain remains neutral, Greece will naturally remain neutral as well.

Albania is a country that has only been independent for a few years, and given its small population and land area, it is quite normal that it did not participate in this war.

In other words, almost all the Balkan countries that could participate in this war have already done so.

As the closest major power to the Balkans and one that did not participate in the war, Italy was naturally courted by the Central Powers and the Allied Powers.

While the Italian government has not expressed any stance in response to the overtures from the two major military blocs, this in itself is a statement of attitude.

If Italy is a completely neutral country, then not expressing any stance is essentially maintaining neutrality.

However, Italy is a member of the Allied Powers, and by not expressing any opinion, it is tantamount to not supporting the Allied Powers.

Seemingly seeing a glimmer of hope in winning over Italy, the French government urgently contacted Spain, hoping to leverage the good relationship between the Spanish and Italian royal families to persuade Italy to join the Entente Powers.

In an effort to win over Italy, a powerful nation, the French government has gone to great lengths.

The French government first spoke with the Spanish government, promising Spain various conditions, including but not limited to priority access to the defeated nation's personnel, industrial equipment, and technical data after the war. This convinced Carlo to win over Italy in the name of the Spanish royal family.

Carlo agreed to bring Italy into the Entente Powers not only because of the conditions offered by France, but also for another reason: to balance the current situation in Europe.

Although the European war was generally a stalemate, the Central Powers still held the advantage.

Considering the risks within Russia, Carlo still hoped to win over Italy to support France and Russia, thereby weakening the Allied powers.

Italy was the perfect choice. Its accession to the Entente Powers wouldn't significantly impact the European situation, yet it would genuinely benefit the Entente Powers—a win-win situation.

At this time, the King of Italy was Vittorio Emanuele III, Carlo's nephew.

Although Carlo and his nephew had only met a few times, they were close relatives, and the two royal families maintained relatively close ties.

With the deaths of Carlo's two elder brothers, Umberto I and Duke Amadeo, Carlo became Vittorio Emanuele III's only elder, and still held a certain degree of influence within the Italian royal family.

While it might not completely convince Vittorio Emanuele III, it could make him seriously consider Carlo's proposal and influence the Italian government through the Italian royal family.

After reaching an agreement with the French government, Carlo immediately contacted the Italian royal family on behalf of the Spanish royal family.

While not explicitly advising the Italian royal family to seriously consider joining the Entente Powers, the article subtly mentioned the various benefits of joining the Entente Powers and listed the disadvantages of joining the Central Powers.

In fact, the benefits of joining the Allied and Central Powers for Italy were quite clear.

Joining the Central Powers left Italy with only France as a potential avenue for expansion. Albania, which Italy also coveted, was also within the Austro-Hungarian Empire's expansionist ambitions, making it impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to back down.

It was extremely difficult for Italy to annex territory from France. At best, Italy only gained the ancestral land of Savoy, which was not a great gain, and it also risked fighting the French army.

If Italy joined the Allied Powers, its expansionist avenues would become extremely broad.

It could expand either towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire or towards the Balkan Peninsula.

In this way, Italy would gain a vast territory, and the benefits would be far greater than those of joining the Central Powers.

To be honest, Vittorio Emanuele III was quite interested in joining the Entente Powers.

Like his father, Umberto I, he was an ambitious king.

Seeing the achievements of his brother Carlo in Spain, Umberto I also promoted the expansion of military power in Italy, enabling the Italian army and navy to reach a considerable level.

Although he was tragically assassinated, his son Vittorio Emanuele III carried on his legacy.

Instead of canceling the expansion of various military industries set by his father, he further increased the growth of Italy's military power, making the Italian navy the seventh largest in the world.

Whether before or after the outbreak of the World War, Vittorio Emanuele III was a staunch advocate of war.

Italy's delay in making a statement is actually a matter of waiting for a more suitable opportunity to seek greater benefits for itself.

Originally, Vittorio Emanuele III did not intend to renege on the Central Powers treaty.

His connections with France and Russia were merely aimed at increasing the compensation offered by Germany and Austria-Hungary.

But Germany and Austria-Hungary were well aware of his calculations. Although the two countries kept urging Italy to join the war, they did not make many concessions on Italy's territorial claims.

Austria-Hungary only reluctantly agreed to Italy's occupation of Albania, and the Italian army had to carry it out themselves.

As a condition for acquiring Albania, Italy had to commit at least 50 troops each to the Balkan and French theaters, totaling over a million troops.

Vittorio Emanuele III was well aware of whether investing millions of troops in exchange for a tiny Albania was a worthwhile deal.

The Italian government made demands on Tunisia and Algeria, which were rejected by Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Both Germany and Austria-Hungary valued their North African colonies highly. They were very close to Europe, and the cost of governing them was relatively low.

Tunisia has excellent terrain conditions, making it a great choice for both agriculture and animal husbandry.

While Algeria's conditions weren't ideal, its coastal plains were still quite good. More importantly, France had been colonizing Algeria for a long time, resulting in well-developed infrastructure. The colony could generate positive value, a point highly valued by both Germany and Austria-Hungary.

From the perspective of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy already had two sizable colonies in Tunisia, so there was no need for it to continue coveting Algeria and Tunisia.

After all, Albania is not a small country, and it is European territory, so Italy has already gained quite a bit.

Germany might fight a hard-fought war but not necessarily gain much land from France. The same was true for Austria-Hungary; it was already quite an achievement to annex Serbia after the war, as annexing too much territory would have been unsustainable.

As the weakest country in the Triple Alliance, Italy naturally could not gain more benefits than Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Although the conditions offered by Germany and Austria-Hungary were already quite generous in their eyes, the role that the Italian army could play was really limited.

However, the Italian government believes that the conditions offered by Germany and Austria do not place much importance on Italy as an ally.

On the contrary, the conditions offered by the Allied Powers seemed to genuinely respect Italy's status.

If we have to join the war, we might as well join the Allied Powers; at least we'd get a bigger slice of the pie.

　Second update of 5000 words, successfully completing the 2-word daily goal, please support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)