[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-460":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365388,4632,"Chapter 460: The Second Balkan War","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-460",460,"\u003Cp>\"Your Majesty, these Balkan nations have put on quite a show for the whole world.\" Inside the Madrid Royal Palace, the Spanish Prime Minister, Orcajo, who had hurried over, said to Gao Da with a smile on his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The peace talks haven't even concluded, yet the countries of the original Balkan League have already turned against each other. Serbia and Greece have colluded with Romania; they hope Bulgaria will abandon its territorial claims on the Macedonia region, so that Serbia and Greece can partition it together.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even Romania, which didn't participate in the war, is demanding that Bulgaria cede Southern Dobruja. Aside from Bulgaria itself, the original members of the Balkan League seem to have transformed into members of an anti-Bulgaria alliance in a very short time.\" Orcajo, fully embracing the mindset of watching a good show, introduced the current situation and specific circumstances of the Balkan Peninsula to Gao Da with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da nodded with a calm expression; he was not at all surprised by the infighting among the Balkan League nations. The partitioning of territory could never be done perfectly, and that was even more true when Bulgaria was the country that had contributed the most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the influence of the European powers behind the Balkan states, an anti-Bulgaria alliance was inevitable, and even the Second Balkan War would likely break out in a short time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The culprit responsible for making the Balkan situation so chaotic should, theoretically, be blamed on the European powers that had been focusing on this region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, if it weren't for the fact that Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece themselves possessed immense ambition, it is unlikely that this land would have seen multiple wars break out in such a short period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regardless of who was right or wrong in this war, and regardless of how the situation on the Balkan Peninsula developed, it ultimately had little to do with Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, one thing could be confirmed from the Balkan War: the fuse for the First World War might still be ignited by an assassination that would shock Europe, just as it was in history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason is also simple: because the Austro-Hungarian Empire firmly opposed Serbia gaining Albania during these peace negotiations, the hatred between the Serbians and the Austrians surged instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such immense national hatred, it is very normal for some radicals to plot assassinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da did not intend to persuade Prince of the Blood Ferdinand in the future; after all, for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they did not take the weak Serbia seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing the Austro-Hungarian Empire truly valued was Russia, which stood behind Serbia; without Russia's support, Serbia was nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, even if the fate of Prince of the Blood Ferdinand were saved, it would be impossible to save the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The reason the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I was because they stood on the wrong side, not for any other reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as the war was won, the dual monarchy could be maintained; once the war was lost, Austria and Hungary were bound to split.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Judging by the speed at which the anti-Bulgaria alliance is being formed, the Balkan nations led by Serbia and Greece have perhaps already prepared to fight a war with Bulgaria to decide the final distribution of territory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Austro-Hungarian Empire certainly does not want to see Serbia become the sole power on the Balkan Peninsula; they will surely try every possible means to support Bulgaria, or even incite Bulgaria to initiate the war.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In this way, the Balkan War is bound to break out again. Although this war will have no impact on us, the weapons produced during the previous war with Britain could perhaps be sold off through this conflict.\" After thinking for a moment, Gao Da said to Prime Minister Orcajo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.\" Prime Minister Orcajo nodded, clearly in full agreement with Gao Da's proposal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, during the war with Britain, Spain had produced a large batch of weapons, equipment, and ammunition. Because the scale of the war with the British was truly limited, most of these weapons and ammunition had been placed in storage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the target practice held by the Spanish military every week consumed a portion of the weapons and ammunition, at this rate of consumption, the weapons and equipment currently stockpiled by Spain alone would be enough for the active-duty troops to use for several years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One could not simply let the military factories come to a complete standstill during these years; the best method was to sell these weapons and ammunition as much as possible, and the funds obtained would be enough to allow the military factories to produce more and newer weapons and equipment for the Spanish military—this was killing two birds with one stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On September 27, 1906, after a month of negotiations, the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire had made some progress regarding a peace treaty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the three parties—Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria—had developed major disagreements over the contention for Macedonian territory during the negotiations, the progress of the peace talks had been delayed again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ottoman Empire had taken less than half a month to determine the scope of its remaining territory, and the diplomatic representatives sent by the Ottoman Empire had generally agreed to this peace proposal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although after the peace treaty was signed, the Ottoman Empire would lose a large portion of its European territory, leaving only the area around Constantinople and a narrow peninsula that would still belong to the Ottoman Empire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for an Ottoman Empire that had faced a disastrous defeat in the war, being able to keep its capital was already quite good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, according to the agreement between the two sides of the peace negotiations, the Ottoman Empire only needed to pay the Balkan League a total of less than 2 million pounds in war reparations. This war indemnity was not harsh; at the very least, the Ottoman Empire, with the help of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, could grit its teeth and pay it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to this peace treaty, the Ottoman Empire would lose most of its European territory. The remaining European territory would be bounded by four cities: the parts south of Midye, east of Adrianople and Enez, and west of Constantinople would still belong to the Ottoman Empire. The rest, including most of Thrace and Macedonia, would be partitioned among Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Albania would also become independent from the Ottoman Empire, which also meant the number of countries on the Balkan Peninsula had increased by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to the loss of land on the Balkan Peninsula, the sea areas and islands the Ottoman Empire lost in the Aegean Sea were also countless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over 90% of the islands and archipelagos in the entire Aegean Sea would belong to Greece, and even the Dodecanese Islands—the Twelve Islands—right at the doorstep of the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire would be directly incorporated into Greece's rule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This point was completely different from the original history. In the original history, before the Balkan War broke out, a war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire had also occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That war allowed Italy to gain sovereignty over the Dodecanese Islands, which were not handed over to Greece until after World War II.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, because the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire had not yet broken out, the Greek government, with the strong support of Britain, had obtained the Dodecanese Islands, officially turning the Aegean Sea into an internal sea of Greece, which left the Ottoman Empire wanting to cry but having no tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ottoman Empire, which had once defeated the Eastern Roman Empire, now had territory that was almost entirely limited to its Asian portion. Being bullied by the great powers before was one thing, but now even these small countries on the Balkan Peninsula could easily defeat the Ottoman Empire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also represented a very terrifying thing: if you are backward, you will be beaten. No matter what kind of glory a country's history possesses, as long as it continues to weaken in recent times, it may face bullying from all sorts of countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To avoid this situation, the only thing that could be done was to push the country forward continuously and stay at the forefront of the world in terms of technology and industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The diplomatic representatives of the Ottoman Empire were the first to sign the peace treaty. After signing the contract, the several Ottoman diplomatic representatives left the negotiation site quickly, without even greeting the diplomatic representatives of the great powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These Ottoman diplomatic representatives did not even dare to imagine what kind of uproar would be caused when the specific contents of this peace treaty were transmitted back to their country, especially when the more radical party members learned of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could be concluded that the internal situation of the Ottoman Empire would definitely change because of this peace treaty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Ottoman Empire's part in the peace treaty concluded, the most exciting part—the good show of Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece partitioning the European territory of the Ottoman Empire—officially began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After successfully winning over Romania, Serbia and Greece completely stopped pretending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They did not make any concessions during the peace negotiations and even used public opinion to incite the dissatisfaction of the masses, stirring up a wave of opposition to Bulgarian hegemony within Serbia and Greece.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the site of the peace negotiations, the diplomatic representatives of the three countries argued fiercely over their respective disputes regarding the partitioning of territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And within their respective countries, the governments and the masses of the three nations were also erupting into quite intense arguments, which even evolved into a war of words between the governments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Greek Prime Minister angrily denounced the Bulgarians for not showing the slightest respect for Greece's contribution to this war, stating that Greece had the right to obtain Southern Macedonia and Thessaloniki, and even demanded half of the Thrace region.\u003C\u002Fp>",1678,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","0d126ba5a45a2e5c461701275ab4ec1a042487dfb8dde38eb342f6492abda10c","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-461","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-459",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]