The Ottoman Empire had controlled virtually all of the Balkan Territories for nearly half a millennium. A war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League, comprised of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro, in 1912, which resulted in the Balkan League dispelling the Ottoman Empire from the area and gaining control of the land for themselves.
The war was fought over the oppressive nature of the Ottoman Empire against the governments in the territories that it controlled, but also over the territory itself. Liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire was one of the reasons that the countries had banded together in the first place, but the post war negotiations ended up being a disaster.
The war was fought over the oppressive nature of the Ottoman Empire against the governments in the territories that it controlled, but also over the territory itself. Liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire was one of the reasons that the countries had banded together in the first place, but the post war negotiations ended up being a disaster.
Macedonia, being a major piece of territory that was controlled byt the Ottoman Empire before the war, was afterwards split up between the other victorious countries as a spoil of war instead of being given the status of a sovereign nation like had originally been intended. The people of Macedonia, though loudly complaining about their unfortunate situation, were ignored split, decimated, and controlled under the new political situation even more than before under the Ottoman Empire.
Even though the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1912, the second war in the Balkans broke out in the next year in 1913. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was defeated again and they signed a treaty in which they lost all of their European Territory. During the war, the Ottoman Empire suffered nearly 30,000 in casualties while the other countries lost nearly 55,000 combined. The Balkan wars are considered to be one of the factors that lead into World War I. The main references to the Balkans start on page 689, when Lew is talking with Professor Renfrew. The professor pulls down a big map of the Balkans and begins philosophizing on the best way to look at the situation in the Balkans.
There are many brief references to the Balkan Conflicts throughout the entirety of Against the Day, which goes to show that it was a very prominent and important topic during this time period. Everyone was talking about it because the remnants of the Ottoman Empire were being expelled, and new political powers were coming into being. The Balkans Wars directly lead up to World War I because of all the switching of territories that had been going on, as well as the alliances that were being formed.
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