The Young Turk Period, 1908-1918 - PSI424

292 The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808-1975
mainly by former officers sympathizing with the Liberating Officers. This was followed
with an amendment to article 43 to provide that if Parliament was dissolved,
the new Chamber of Deputies could be called to an extraordinary session for two
months and that this in turn could be prolonged if necessary. The sultan then dissolved
the Parliament (August 5), and new elections were called, with the general
feeling being that this was the end of the CUP. 76 Now it was the CUP that was
restricted by the government during the campaign. Its principal newspaper, Tanin,
was suspended entirely. The CUP at first considered condemning the entire procedure
as illegal and refusing to participate in the election, but when Talat convinced
his colleagues that this would only lead to its destruction, they decided to
participate and the campaign went on.
Background to the Balkan Wars
At this point politics was overshadowed by a new threat from the empire's Balkan
neighbors. Austrian annexation of Bosnia stimulated the aggressive desires of the
Balkan states to gain compensation and also ended the cooperation between Russia
and Austria that had previously kept the peace. Serbia, encouraged by Russia,
began to demand new territory and proposed a new Balkan alliance to prevent
Austria from making further advances. Though continued rivalries in Macedonia
prevented such an alliance right after Bosnia was annexed, the Italian attack on
Tripoli convinced the Balkan leaders that their rivalries in Macedonia had to be
subordinated to take advantage of the Ottoman preoccupation across the Mediterranean.
The first alliance reached was between Serbia and Bulgaria (March 13,
1912) on the basis of autonomy for Macedonia as a means of settling their dispute
as to which should control it. In the case of victory over the Ottomans, Serbia
would receive the sancak of Novipazar and the district of Ni§ and Bulgaria would
get the lands east of the Rhodope Mountains and the Struma. In addition, if Macedonian
autonomy proved impractical, then Bulgaria would get Monastir and
Ohrid, Serbia would take over northern Macedonia, and the balance, including
Komanovo and t)skiip, would be divided between the two by arbitration of the
czar. A Greco-Bulgarian alliance followed (May 29, 1912), the Macedonian problem
simply being ignored while the two agreed on joint assistance in case of an
Ottoman "attack." Bulgaria was to remain neutral if the Ottomans and Greeks
again fought over Crete. Montenegro completed the ring around the Porte by
reaching similar military agreements with Bulgaria (September 27) and Serbia
(October 6), the latter actually specifying that hostilities would commence with
the Porte no later than October. 77
The Ottomans hardly were in a position to fight all their Balkan neighbors. The
attempt to vitalize the army after its neglect late in Abdulhamit's reign had only
begun to produce results. Thousands of cannon and rifles lay in storehouses, and
the men were still untrained in their use. Political dissent in the officer corps had
destroyed much of the morale and unity that had been encouraged in Abdulhamit's
early years. Furthermore, Mahmut §evket's resignation as minister of war had been
followed by a general replacement of most of the officers on the General Staff, and
the new departmental chiefs had not yet been able to familiarize themselves with
the mobilization and war plans that had been prepared. The diversion in Tripoli
had not been as serious as the Balkan allies expected, simply because the Italian
blockade had prevented the Ottomans from sending more than a few detachments
to support the guerrilla war. Even then, however, the Porte had no more than
250,000 men under arms, far fewer than the combined Balkan armies.