On October 4, the Ottoman Empire declares war on the countries of the Balkan Union - an anti-Ottoman military coalition, formed on the eve of the Balkan War by Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro.
On October 5, 1912, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria sent a manifesto to his people declaring war on Turkey, which went down in history as the First Balkan War.
Before the beginning of the Balkan War, the countries of the region made a number of diplomatic proposals, including that of the “peaceful co-existence of the various nationalities in Turkey, on the basis of real political equality and subject to rights arising from treaties or otherwise granted of the Christian nations in the empire“.
Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold Berchtold offers to help Turkey expand “decentralization” for the Christian nations. This well-thought-out ground-breaking move provoked Russia, which responded by calling on its allies to refrain from any aggressive actions, as well as attempts to separate Bulgaria from Serbia and Serbia from Bulgaria. The response of both sides, prepared in the utmost secrecy, is the conclusion of a number of military agreements in addition to existing agreements, which this time provide for and constitute preparations for war.
The idea of a federation of the Balkan nations, the so-called total Bulgaria according to the San Stefano Peace Treaty, was destroyed by the Treaty of Berlin. The course of subsequent events is a direct consequence of this grave error, in which lies the seed of hostilities.
Our great-grandfathers went to the front as if at a wedding. They rejoiced, celebrated, beat drums and waved Bulgarian flags. The impulse for freedom carried them on its wings, gathered them from villages, cities and from foreign countries to throw them into the bloody trenches.
The news of the defeat of the Turkish army at Lüleburgas causes total panic among the population of Constantinople. The city leaves: the Turkish garrisons and the Turkish population, the French, German, Armenian, Jewish citizens, and only the Bulgarians remain, who await the victorious advance of the Bulgarian army. However, the three-day rest gives the Turkish army the opportunity to withdraw and regroup, and then to strengthen its positions at Çatalca.
At the beginning of the war, the Serbian army entered Macedonia from the north, and the Greek army from the south. The two allied armies are greeted with shouts of joy from the entire population. The Macedonian revolutionaries themselves welcomed them with a “Proclamation to our brothers”, published by the delegates of 25 Macedonian brotherhoods on October 5:
But this enthusiasm for the liberators soon gave way to a series of doubts, then to disappointments, and finally to hatred and despair. The Bulgarian newspaper "Bulgarin", which is published in Thessaloniki, notes that the authorities "in their blind chauvinism do not take into account the national feelings of the people who have temporarily become their subjects." and asks the Allied governments: “Is this a war of liberation or a war of conquest?“
This epochal war remains in history with the striking fact that the Bulgarian army did not lose a single battle. The young Bulgarian intelligentsia is leaving European universities and returning to their homeland to liberate Bulgaria.
The main reasons that led to the First Balkan War were three: the weakness and lack of foresight on the part of Turkey, which was on the verge of collapse; the impotence of Europe to impose upon Turkey as a constitutional state the reforms which it had already succeeded in introducing into the empire; and thirdly, the awareness of ever greater power that the concluded union gives to the Balkan states, each of which has its own national mission – to protect the people of his nationality and religion who live in Turkey against the policy of Ottomanization.
The military conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the united Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro ended with the signing of the London Peace Treaty on May 17, 1913. The consequences are extremely important for the Christian population of the Balkan Peninsula, because huge territories inhabited by Christians are liberated and given the right to a normal development. The main result of this war was the incorporation of almost the entire Balkan peninsula into European civilization and European development.