The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 - Russian Policy in the Balkans Before the Bosnian Crisis

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Mason

Merjanski examines the two Serbian-Bulgarian alliance treaties concluded simultaneously in 1904 and presented in scholarship under the shared label “The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904.” The agreements combined political, military, and economic terms directed against both the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary, with a pro-Russian orientation that included telegraphic unification and Russian arbitration. The study argues that Russia’s alliance strategy toward Balkan Slavic states predates the 1908 Bosnian Crisis, shaping negotiations and influencing European stability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages109

Reading Time4 h 35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Serbian-Bulgarian Relations Before 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans

The Secret Serbo-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904

Conclusions

Appendix

Bibliography

THE SECRET SERBIAN-BULGARIAN TREATY OF ALLIANCE OF 1904 AND THE RUSSIAN POLICY IN THE BALKANS BEFORE THE BOSNIAN CRISIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By KIRIL VALTCHEV MERJANSKI M .A . , Sofia University “St . Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria 2007 Wright State University COPYRIGHT BY KIRIL VALTCHEV MERJANSKI 2006 WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES Winter Quarter 2007 I hereby recommend that the thesis prepared under my supervision by KIRILVALTCHEV MERJANSKI entitled THE SECRET SERBIAN-BULGARIAN TREATY OF ALLIANCE OF 1904 AND THE RUSSIAN POLICY IN THE BALKANS BEFORE THE BOSNIAN CRISIS be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS. Edgar Melton, Ph.D. Thesis Director Edward F. Haas, Ph.D. Department Chair Committee on Final Examination Edgar Melton, Ph.D. Jonathan Winkler, Ph.D. Awad Halabi, Ph.D. Joseph F. Thomas, Ph.D. Dean, School of Graduate Studies ABSTRACT Merjanski, Kiril Valtchev. M.A., Department of History, Wright State University, 2006. The Secret Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904 and the Russian Policy in the Balkans before the Bosnian Crisis. The two Serbian-Bulgarian treaties, concluded simultaneously in 1904, and known in the literature under the common name of“The Secret-Serbian-Bulgarian Treaty of Alliance of 1904” are the specific topic of this thesis. These treaties between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria contained political, military and economic provisions aimed not only against the Ottoman Empire (a common rival of both countries), but also against Austria-Hungary. A significant feature of these treaties was their obvious pro-Russian orientation, shaped in provisions like unification of the telegraphic systems of both countries with that of Russia as well as the requirement for Russian arbitration between Bulgaria and Serbia if they were not able to reach agreement about the partition of the European possessions ofthe Ottoman Empire by themselves. Considering all this, with some of their provisions the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904 resembled in many ways the Treaty of 1912 between the above-mentioned Balkan countries, which became the backbone of the creation of the Balkan League. The creation of the latter, on the other hand, was a significant step toward the breakdown of equilibrium in Eastern Europe, eventually leading to the outbreak of the First Balkan War, with its well known larger consequences. Seen in this light, the significance of the Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904 could be defined also as evidence that the Russian policy of creating alliances between the small Balkan Slav States, aimed not only against the Ottoman Empire, but also against AustriaHungary, and, in this way,“encircling” the latter, could be dated from before the Bosnian Crisis (1908), as opposed to the prevailing attitude in the existing literature, that the Bosnian Crisis itself was the turning point of Russian foreign policy in this direction. Analyzing the military and other clauses ofthe Serbian-Bulgarian Treaties of 1904, their secret character, and the role of some Bulgarian statesmen, politicians and diplomats (especially of the Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand I), this thesis seeks to reveal how their successful negotiation was ever possible, in spite of the fact that in 1904 Bulgaria was ruled by the People’s Liberal Party, a party with a pro-Austrian orientation. This orientation was clearly in opposition to a close rapprochement with the new pro-Russian, internationally isolated Serbian regime, established with a very bloody coup d’etat in 1903. In revealing this, this thesis also seeks to define the ways by which the Bulgarian and Serbian Foreign policies were subjected to those of Russia even at the time, when, because of its disastrous engagement in the Far East, the Russian Empire was seemingly abandoning it

FAQs

What is the main focus of the thesis?

The thesis focuses on the two Serbian-Bulgarian treaties concluded in 1904, known collectively in the literature as the secret treaty of alliance of 1904.

What provisions made the 1904 treaties notably pro-Russian?

Key features include the unification of the telegraphic systems with Russia and the requirement for Russian arbitration between Bulgaria and Serbia if they could not agree on Ottoman territorial partition.

How does the thesis connect the treaties to Russian policy before the Bosnian Crisis?

It argues that evidence of Russia’s alliance-making strategy in the Balkans predates the 1908 Bosnian Crisis, contradicting views that treat the crisis as the turning point.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Mason