Balkan Pact
| Balkan Pact Βαλκανικό Σύμφωνο Balkan Antantı Înțelegerea Balcanică Балкански пакт | |
|---|---|
| 1934–1938 | |
 Members of the Balkan Pact
Balkan Pact:
| |
| Status | Military alliance |
| Historical era | Interwar |
• | 7 October 1879 |
• Formation | 9 February 1934 |
| 1938 | |
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The Balkan Pact was a treaty signed by Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia—the Balkan Entente—on 9 February 1934[1] in Athens,[2] aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region following World War I. In order to present a united front against Bulgarian designs on their territories, the signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against each other and their immediate neighbors. This followed 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. The pact became effective on the day it was signed. It was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 1 October 1934.[3]
The Balkan Pact helped to ensure peace between the signatory nations, but failed to stem regional intrigue. The countries of the pact surrounded Bulgaria, but on 31 July 1938 they signed an agreement with her in Salonika, repealing those clauses of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Treaty of Lausanne that mandated demilitarised zones on the Greco-Bulgarian and -Turkish borders, and allowing Bulgaria to re-arm herself.
See also
References
- ↑ Pact of Balkan Agreement Between Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 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.