Balkan Wars before World War I
The result of the discontent in the Balkan states following the Congress of Berlin led to the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913. The Balkan states formed a series of alliances with other governments in 1912 allowing a military alliance strong enough to challenge Turkey. In March 1912 Serbia and Bulgaria signed a mutual protection agreement, while Bulgaria and Greece signed another in May. Montenegro completed agreements with Serbia and Bulgaria in October 1912.
With these agreements in place Montenegro attacked Ottoman forces on 8 October 1912, and was joined later by other Balkan states. A victory was achieved by May 1913. The peace settlement was drawn up in the Treaty of London, which allowed Serbia and Montenegro to increase their territory and reduce the size of the Ottoman Empire.
The Second Balkan War began in June 1913 when Bulgaria attacked both Serbia and Greece in an effort to change the division of Macedonia, but ended with the defeat of Bulgaria with the armistice in July and the Treaty of Bucharest in August 1913, in which Macedonia was partitioned and Albania was created.
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