The Treaty of Bucharest, August 10, 1913.
1. NEGOTIATION.
The Treaty of Bucharest was concluded on August 10, 1913, by the
delegates of Bulgaria, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece. As Bulgaria had been
completely isolated in the Second Balkan War, and as she was closely invested on her
northern boundary by the of Roumania on her western frontier by the allied armies of
Greece and Serbia, and in the East by the Turkish Army, she was obliged, in her
helplessness, to submit to such terms as her victorious enemies chose to impose upon her.
All important arrangements and concessions involving the rectification of the controverted
international boundary lines were perfected in a series of committee meetings,
incorporated in separate protocols, and formally ratified by subsequent action of the
general assembly of delegates.
2. TERMS.
By the terms of the treaty, Bulgaria ceded to Roumania all that portion
of the Dobrudja lying north of a line extending from the Danube just above Turtukaia to
the western shore of the Black Sea, south of Ekrene. This important territorial Concession
has an approximate area of 2,687 square miles, a population of 286,000, and includes the
fortress of Silistria and the cities of Turtukaia on the Danube and Baltchik on the Black
Sea. In addition, Bulgaria agreed to dismantle all existing fortresses and bound herself
not to construct forts at Rustchuk or at Schumla or in any of the territory between these
two cities, or within a radius of 20 kilometers around Baltchick.
8. SERBIA'S GAIN IN TERRITORY.
The eastern frontier of Serbia was drawn from the summit of Patarika, on
the old frontier, and followed the watershed between the Vardar and the Struma Rivers to
the Greek-Bulgarian boundary, except that the upper valley of the Strumnitza remained in
the possession of Bulgaria. The territory thus obtained embraced central Macedonia,
including Ochrida, Monastir, Kossovo, Istib, and Kotchana, and the eastern half of the
sanjak of Novi-Bazar. By this arrangement Serbia increased her territory from 18,650 to
33,891 square miles and her population by more than 1,500,000.
4. GREECE'S GAIN IN TERRITORY.
The boundary line separating Greece from Bulgaria was drawn from the
crest of Mount Belashitcha to the mouth of the Mesta River, on the Aegean Sea. This
important territorial concession, which Bulgaria resolutely contested, in compliance with
the instructions embraced in the notes which Russia and Austria-Hungary presented to the
conference, increased the area of Greece from 25,014 to 41,933 square miles and her
population from 2,660,000 to 4,363,000. The territory thus annexed included Epirus,
southern Macedonia, Salonika, Kavala, and the Aegean littoral as far east as the Mesta
River, and restricted the Aegean seaboard of Bulgaria to an inconsiderable extent of 70
miles, extending from the Mesta to the Maritza, and giving access to the Aegean at the
inferior port of Dedeagatch. Greece also extended her northwestern frontier to include the
great fortress of Janina. In addition, Crete was definitely assigned to Greece and was
formally taken over on December 14, 1913.
5. BULGARIA'S GAIN IN TERRITORY.
Bulgaria's share of the spoils, although greatly reduced, was not
entirely negligible. Her net gains in territory, which embraced a. portion of Macedonia,
including the town of Strumnitza, western Thrace, and 70 miles of the Aegean littoral,
were about 9,663 square miles, and her population was increased by 129,490.
6. APPRAISEMENT OF THE TREATY.
By the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest, Roumania profited most in proportion to her sacrifices. The unredeemed Roumanians live mostly in Transylvania, the Bukovina, and Bessarabia, and therefore the Balkan wars afforded her no adequate opportunity to perfect the rectification of her boundaries on ethnographic lines.
The humiliating terms imposed on Bulgaria were due to her own impatience and intemperate folly. The territory she secured was relatively circumscribed; she had failed to emancipate Macedonia, which was her avowed purpose in entering the war; she lost the districts of Ochrida and Monastir, which she especially coveted; she was assigned only a small line on the Aegean, with the wretched port of Dedeagatch; and she was obliged to forfeit her ambition as the leader of the Balkan hegemony.
Greece, though gaining much, was greatly dissatisfied. The acquisition of Saloniki was a triumph; she was assigned the port of Kavala and the territory eastward at the insistence of the King and the army and contrary to the advice of Venizelos; in the northwest Greece encountered the opposition of Italy by urging her claims to southern Albania; in the assignment of the Aegean Islands she was profoundly dissatisfied; and she still claims 3,000,000 unredeemed conationals.
The fundamental defects of the Treaty of Bucharest were that (1) the
boundaries which it drew bore little relation to the nationality of the inhabitants of the
districts affected, and that (2) the punishment meted out to Bulgaria, while perhaps
deserved in the light of her great offense in bringing on the, Second Balkan War, was so
severe that she could not accept the treaty as a permanent settlement. While Serbia,
Greece, and Roumania can not escape a large share of the blame for the character of the
treaty, it should not be forgotten that their action at Bucharest was in large measure due
to the settlement forced upon the Balkan States by the great powers at the London
conferences.
Source: Anderson, Frank Maloy and Amos Shartle Hershey, Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa 1870-1914. Prepared for the National Board for Historical Service. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1918.