subjects of different nationalities in the Balkans indulged in the most frightful massacres and atrocities. The Armenian genocide is a frightful example. Black Sea Mediterranean Sea Taking advantage of the political and economic instability of the Turkish Empire from the second half of the eighteenth century, Greeks followed by others began to secede, one after another, from Turkish control. Macedonia had a mixed population.
There were rivalries among Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and later Montenegro for the control of it. In March they formed the Balkan League. The League attacked and defeated Turkish forces in the first Balkan War ( – ). According to the Treaty of London signed in May the new state of Albania was created and the other Balkan states divided up Macedonia between them.
Turkey was reduced to the area around Constantinople. The division of Macedonia, however, did not satisfy Bulgaria. Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece. But Bulgaria was easily defeated.
The Second Balkan War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in August . Immediate Cause The climax to these events in the Balkans occurred in Sarajevo in Bosnia. On June the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by Princip, a Bosnian Serb. Austria saw in this an opportunity to eliminate Serbia as an independent state.
Germany thought that it should strike first. It declared war on Russia on August. Germany had no quarrel with France, but because of the Franco- Russian Alliance, the German army which was planning a war against both France and Russia wanted to use the occasion to its advantage. The German violation of Belgian neutrality forced Britain to enter War.
(b) Course of the War Two Warring Camps Central Powers The warring nations were divided into two. The Central powers consisted of Germany, Austria–Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. Italy which was earlier with Germany and Austria had left, as her attempt to recover Trentino in north