Balkan Pact
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Balkan Pact
(1934, 1954) An attempt to reduce the tensions in the Balkans which had been evident for half a century. In February 1934, a defensive pact was signed by Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece, and Turkey. From the start, its aim to restore stability and cooperation to the entire region of the Balkans proved futile, as a resentful Bulgaria refused to join, due to its claims over Macedonia which had become part of Greece and Serbia. The pact became the basis for the Balkan Entente which joined the signatory states in a permanent council. It was too weak to provide any united resistance to German and Italian invasion during World War II. Indeed, the Balkan states were deeply divided in their response to the War, between opposition (Greece), cooperation (Romania and Bulgaria), neutrality (Turkey), and internal divisions (Yugoslavia). After World War II, a second Balkan Pact between Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey was formed in 1954. This became ineffective within a few months because of mounting Graeco-Turkish tensions over Cyprus.
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Balkan Pact
For the 1953 Balkan Pact, see Balkan Pact (1953).
| Balkan Pact | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 1940 Romanian stamp featuring the Balkan Entente |
|
 Members of the Balkan Pact |
|
| Formation | February 9, 1934 |
| Extinction | 1938 |
| Type | International defense organization |
| Region served | The Balkans |
| Membership |
|
| Official languages | French |
The Balkan Pact was a treaty signed by Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia on February 9, 1934[1] in Athens[2], aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region following World War I. The signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against each other and their immediate neighbors following the aftermath of the war and a rise in various regional ethnic minority tensions. Other nations in the region that had been involved in related diplomacy refused to sign the document, including Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Soviet Union. Nonsignatories were mostly those governments with territorial expansion in mind. The pact became effective on the day it was signed. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on October 1, 1934.[3]
The Balkan Pact helped to ensure peace between Turkey and the independent countries in southeastern Europe that had been part of the Ottoman Empire, most importantly Greece, but failed to stem regional intrigue that encouraged military intervention by Germany, Britain, and the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
References
- ^ Pact of Balkan Agreement Between Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey
- ^ Army History Directorate, An Abridged History of the Greek-Italian and Greek-German War, 1940-1941: Land Operations, Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate, 1997, p. 2.
- ^ League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 153, pp. 154-159.
External links
- Text of the pact
- Romania and the Balkan Pact (1934-1940)
- The Hidden Side of the Balkan Pact
- BALKAN PACT AND TURKEY
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