Chapter 325: Romania enters the game.
The alliance between Serbia and Greece to resist Bulgaria was actually planned as early as the London peace talks.
It's just that with the two countries of Serbia and Greece alone, even if Montenegro, which has expanded its territory a little, can only achieve a numerical balance with the Bulgarian army.
Judging from the combat effectiveness of the Bulgarian army, it is not difficult to defend the occupied land. This also gave both Serbia and Greece the idea of drawing in more allies to participate.
As for the powerful countries in the Balkans other than the Balkan Alliance, apart from the great powers and Turkey, which they had just jointly defeated, the only one is Romania, which is located in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Romania is located northeast of Serbia and north of Bulgaria. Before the Balkan War, Romania was the largest and most populous country in the Balkan Peninsula after the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
Because there was no direct border with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, Romania had no reason to participate in the last Balkan War, and could only watch the Balkan countries gain more territory and population.
According to Romanian Foreign Minister Tyrol, Coritsis' proposal is indeed very attractive to Romania.
It would allow Romania to deal with a potential threat and gain some territory. More importantly, in the alliance against Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece are the countries adjacent to Bulgaria's new territory. Although these two countries will gain more territory after victory, they will also attract more hatred from Bulgaria.
In this way, the second and third most powerful countries in the Balkans have irresolvable hatred, and Romania can sit back and watch the fight between tigers and even wait for an opportunity to completely unify the Balkans.
However, it is almost impossible to get a political veteran like Tirol to directly agree to send troops to Romania.
Politicians are like cunning foxes. It is impossible to make promises until they think they have enough chips to make their hearts beat.
"I understand what you mean, and I'm even very optimistic about your proposal. But I'm sorry, a peasant uprising broke out in Romania not long ago, which caused considerable damage to Romania's political situation and economy. At least it has not been fully restored. Before, we did not have the ability to send troops abroad." Romanian Foreign Minister Tyrol spread his hands and said that even though he was very moved, he was actually powerless.
Romania's special geographical location makes this country, the largest country in the Balkans in terms of area and population, basically not involved in the situation in the Balkans.
The actual reason is also very simple. To the north of Romania is the Russian Empire and to the west is the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The two major powers have great ambitions for the Balkans. Naturally, they cannot allow Romania, the largest power in the Balkans, to cause trouble.
What's more, Romania borders Serbia to the southwest and Bulgaria to the south.
Except for the sea in the east, the countries bordering other places have a certain degree of strength, and Romania cannot take advantage of it.
What's more, Serbia and Bulgaria also had the support of the Russian Empire before, so naturally they couldn't be coveted by a small Romanian kingdom.
So Tyrol's idea was also simple. Romania can send troops, but Greece and Serbia must also pay enough to Romania. Otherwise, Romania will not risk turning against the great powers and Bulgaria to make wedding dresses for Serbia and Greece.
"Of course, Your Excellency Tyrol. Our country and Serbia also know Romania's difficulties, and we are very sympathetic to Romania's experience. We unanimously believe that if Romania can risk all kinds of domestic risks and agree to send troops, it should also get enough support. Remuneration. Therefore, in addition to the four thousand square kilometers of land in southern Dobroga, the Romanian people scattered in Bulgaria and Macedonia can also return to their motherland. At the same time, as long as the war can be won, our country will cooperate with Serbia in The total value of compensation to your country after the war will definitely not be less than 3 million pounds," Coritsis said with a smile.
When they decided to win over Romania into the anti-Bulgarian alliance, Greece and Serbia were already ready to give in to some of their interests.
But the good news is that Romania does not border Macedonia and Thrace, which means that Romania can only obtain land from Bulgaria at most.
The views of Greece and Serbia are also very unified. Romania's expansion can only be carried out from the Bulgarian side.
After acquiring the land of Bulgaria, Romania and Bulgaria naturally had a lot of hatred.
If only Bulgarian land and a little financial compensation can bring about Romania's fate, it will definitely be a sure-profit deal.
Seeing that Tyrol was already seriously considering it, Corizis continued to encourage: "In fact, it is reasonable and reasonable for your country to join the alliance against Bulgaria. After the rise of Bulgaria, it is inevitable that it will not expand again. But gentlemen The Constantinople area is taboo for the great powers, so it is naturally impossible to allow Bulgaria to continue to expand. Except in the direction of Constantinople, if Bulgaria wants to continue to expand, perhaps our neighbors will suffer. In this case, it is better to Before this danger occurs, we must completely resolve the threat and bring about a more lasting peace in the Balkans."
For a professional diplomat, the theory of antagonism due to uneven distribution of interests has become a contribution to human peace. , it’s a piece of cake.
In this age of the jungle, those who fall behind will be beaten. This is a truth that will never go out of style.
If Bulgaria were a great power-level country, then an anti-Bulgarian alliance would never have happened. But if the gap between Bulgaria and the Balkan countries is not too big, then Bulgaria, which has acquired the most land, will naturally suffer hatred from neighboring countries, even Romania, which did not participate in the Balkan War.
As the saying goes, a common man is not guilty, but he is guilty of carrying a jade. Before it has sufficient strength, a huge territory, a developed economy and rich mineral resources are all the reasons why a country will be invaded.
"Your Majesty Corizis, I have to admit that you have persuaded me. But I'm sorry, such a major matter must be reported to His Majesty the King. At the same time, we also need a commitment. During the war between us and Bulgaria, Even if Russia does not express support for the war, it cannot intervene in this war." Tyrol was obviously moved by Coritsis' offensive, but he still did not forget the duty of a diplomat.
It is not difficult for Romania to unite with Serbia and Greece against Bulgaria.
But one of the most critical issues is that it must be ensured that Russia will not interfere in this war. Otherwise, Romania will not only offend Russia in vain, but may also face hatred and aggression from Bulgaria after its rise.
You know, almost all the Balkan countries launched wars with the support of Russia, but Romania did not.
To put it bluntly, Romania has no cards behind it, which is why Tyrol is so cautious.
As a third-rate country adjacent to the two major powers, Romania has to be extremely cautious in every action it takes, and it must also consider the choices of the two major powers around it.
"You can rest assured about this, Your Excellency Tyrol. We can guarantee that the Russians will not interfere in this war and will not provide any help to Bulgaria. Even Germany, Austria and Italy will not interfere in this war. This is completely a Balkan war." It's just a civil war between countries." After hearing Tyrol's request, Corizis agreed simply and without any hesitation.
Although the Balkan Alliance is theoretically a country supported by Russia, they are also Russia's younger brothers.
But no matter what, there must be a distinction between closeness and distance. Compared with Bulgaria, the relationship between Serbia and Russia is closer, and Russia also attaches great importance to its alliance with Serbia.
How much does Russia value its alliance with Serbia? The reason why World War I broke out was that Austria-Hungary and Russia refused to make any concessions on the Serbian issue. This led to the outbreak of an all-round war between the two major military groups.
After the Sarajevo incident occurred, both Austria-Hungary and Germany casually believed that Russia, with its backward weapons and equipment and slow war preparations, was not ready for war and would also make concessions on the Serbian issue.
But what is unexpected is that Russia attaches great importance to its alliance with Serbia and refuses to give in on Serbian issues.
At that time, the development of the situation in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was no longer decided by Kaiser Wilhelm II and Emperor Franz of Austria.
The military, industrialists, capitalists and nationalists all demanded a declaration of war at home.
Under such a general trend, a war that the monarchs of various countries did not want to see broke out, and the monarchies of various European countries faced a devastating blow.
The reason why Koritsis gave such a guarantee was because Serbia had already communicated with Russia, and even though Russia was in great embarrassment, it still chose to side with Serbia.
In fact, this is normal. After all, Serbia and Russia have had a long-standing relationship, but Bulgaria was only a country that temporarily relied on Russia before the Balkan War.
After receiving Coritsis's sworn assurance, Romania's Foreign Minister Tyrol nodded with satisfaction and asked Coritsis to wait for a few days. Tomorrow he would go to see the king and wait for the king's decision.
With the situation developing to this point, it is inevitable that Romania will join the anti-Bulgarian alliance.
The King of Romania could not object, and had no reason to oppose Romania's expansion.
This is actually a common problem among major European monarchs. Basically, there are not many monarchs who can completely suppress domestic forces and keep the domestic situation calm when the enthusiasm for civil war is high.
As Tsar Nicholas II wrote to his cousin and ally, King George V of Great Britain, when he announced the general mobilization of the country: "I do not know what will happen. This reckless initiative of the Austro-Hungarian Empire This war is very likely to turn into a wide-ranging war. Maybe this is just a local war, maybe it may drag Europe into the abyss." Second update of 3200 words, please
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(End of chapter)