The Rise of Australasia

Serbia and Greece's alliance to resist Bulgaria was actually planned during the London talks.

However, relying solely on Serbia and Greece, and Montenegro, which had expanded its territory slightly, could only achieve a balance in numbers with the Bulgarian army.

Given the combat capability of the Bulgarian army, it would not be difficult to defend the occupied land. This prompted both Serbia and Greece to consider attracting more allies to participate.

As for the strong countries in the Balkan Region besides the Balkan Alliance, Romania is the only one located in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula apart from the powerful nations and Turkey they had just jointly defeated.

Romania is located to the northeast of Serbia and north of Bulgaria. Before the outbreak of the Balkan War, it was the largest and most populous country on the Balkan Peninsula, apart from the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Because it did not border the Ottoman Turkish Empire directly, Romania had no reason to participate in the previous Balkan War and could only watch as the Balkan States acquired more territory and population.

Corizis's proposal was indeed attractive to Romania's Foreign Minister Tyrol.

It would enable Romania to address a potential threat while acquiring some territory. More importantly, among the allies opposing Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece are the countries adjacent to Bulgaria's new territory. Although they would acquire more territory after victory, they would also attract Bulgaria's hatred.

In this way, with the second and third strongest countries in the Balkan Region harboring irreconcilable hatred, Romania could sit back and watch the fight, even waiting for an opportunity to completely unify the Balkans.

However, it was almost impossible for a political veteran like Tyrol to commit to sending troops directly to Romania.

Politicians are as cunning as foxes. They won't make commitments until they believe they have enough chips to move them.

"I understand your Excellency's point of view, and I even highly appreciate your proposal. However, I'm sorry to say that a peasant uprising occurred in Romania not long ago, causing no small loss to Romania's political situation and economy.

At least before we fully recover, we have no power to send troops abroad," said Tyrol, Romania's Foreign Minister, spreading his hands, expressing that although he was tempted, he was powerless.

Romania's unique geographical location allowed it, as the strongest Balkan country in terms of area and population, to play little part in the Balkan situation.

The actual reason is also simple. To the north of Romania is the Russian Empire, and to the west is the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The two great powers both have great ambitions in the Balkan Region and naturally cannot allow Romania, the strongest Balkan country, to intervene.

More importantly, Romania borders Serbia to the southwest and Bulgaria to the south.

Except for the eastern part with access to the sea, countries bordering Romania on other sides have a certain degree of strength, and Romania cannot handle them.

Moreover, Serbia and Bulgaria were supported by the Tsardom of Russia, and it was impossible for a small Romanian kingdom to covet.

So, Tyrol's idea is also simple. Romania can send troops, but Greece and Serbia also have to give Romania enough rewards; otherwise, Romania is not willing to take the risk of alienating the powers and Bulgaria to make dowries for Serbia and Greece.

"Of course, Your Excellency Tyrol. We understand Romania's difficulties and sympathize with Romania's plight. We unanimously believe that if Romania can take domestic risks and agree to send troops, it should receive enough rewards. In addition to 4,000 square kilometers of southern Dobroga, Romanians scattered in Bulgaria and the Macedonian Region can return to their motherland.

As long as the war can achieve victory, our country will, together with Serbia, compensate your country after the war. The total value will definitely not be less than 3 million pounds," Corizis said with a smile.

When deciding to bring Romania into the anti-Bulgarian alliance, Greece and Serbia were already prepared to concede some interests.

However, the good news is that Romania does not border Macedonia and Sevres, which means that Romania can only obtain land from Bulgaria at most.

The views of the Greek and Serbian sides are also very unified. Romania's expansion can only be carried out through Bulgaria.

After obtaining Bulgarian land, Romania and Bulgaria will naturally have a considerable hatred.

If Bulgarian land and some financial compensation can be used to bring about Romania's demise, it is absolutely a win-win deal.

Seeing Tyrol seriously considering it, Corizis continued to agitate: "In fact, both emotionally and rationally, your country should join the alliance against Bulgaria. After the rise of Bulgaria, it is inevitable that there will be further foreign expansion. However, Constantinople is a taboo for the powers, and they will naturally not allow Bulgaria to continue to expand.

In addition to the direction towards Constantinople, other countries would suffer if Bulgaria wants to expand further. In this case, it is better to completely resolve the threat before the danger occurs and let the Balkan Region usher in a longer peace."

For a professional diplomat, it is a piece of cake to claim that turning against each other due to uneven distribution of interests is a contribution to human peace.

In this era of survival of the fittest, falling behind invites attack, a timeless truth that never goes out of fashion.

If Bulgaria were a great power, the anti-Bulgarian alliance would not have been possible.

But if the gap between Bulgaria and the Balkan nations is not too large, Bulgaria, which has acquired the most land, will naturally attract hatred from neighboring countries, even if it is Romania, which did not participate in the Balkan Wars.

As the saying goes, an innocent man may be guilty of possessing a precious treasure. Before having enough strength, vast territory, a developed economy, and rich mineral resources are all reasons for a country to be invaded.

"Your Excellency Corizis, I have to admit, you have persuaded me. But I'm sorry, such a major matter must be reported to His Majesty the King.

At the same time, we also need a promise that during the war between us and Bulgaria, even if Russia does not express support for the war, it cannot intervene in this war," Tyrol, obviously being moved by Corizis' offensive, said, not forgetting his diplomatic responsibility.

For Romania, it's not difficult to join forces with Serbia and Greece against Bulgaria.

But the most critical issue is to ensure that Russia will not interfere in this war, otherwise, Romania will not only offend Russia for nothing but also face the hatred and invasion of the rising Bulgaria.

You should know that the Balkan nations almost all launched wars with the support of Russia, but Romania did not.

Simply put, Romania has no hidden cards, which is why Tyrol is so cautious.

As a third-rate country neighboring two great powers, Romania must be extremely cautious in every action and must also consider the choices of the two surrounding great powers.

"You can rest assured, Your Excellency Tyrol. We can guarantee that the Russians will not interfere in this war and will not provide any help to Bulgaria. Even German-Austrian would not interfere in this war, which is purely an internal war between the Balkan states," Corizis responded decisively and without hesitation after hearing Tyrol's request.

In theory, the members of the Balkan League are supported by Russia and are Russia's allies.

However, there must always be a difference in closeness. Compared to Bulgaria, the connection between Serbia and Russia is closer, and Russia attaches great importance to its alliance with Serbia.

How much does Russia value its alliance with Serbia? World War I broke out because neither the Austro-Hungarian Empire nor Russia was willing to give in on the issue of Serbia, which led to a full-scale war between the two military blocs.

After the Sarajevo incident, both Austria-Hungary and Germany rashly believed that Russia, with its backward weapons and equipment, and slow war preparations, was not ready for war and would give in on the issue of Serbia.

Unexpectedly, Russia attached great importance to its alliance with Serbia and refused to back down on the issue of Serbia.

At that time, the situation in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had developed beyond the control of Emperor William II of Germany and Emperor Francis Walters. The military, industrialists, capitalists, and nationalists all called for war.

Under such circumstances, a war that none of the European monarchs wanted to see broke out, dealing a crushing blow to European monarchism.

The reason Corizis can confidently guarantee is that Serbia has already informed Russia that, although Russia is in a difficult position, it still chooses to stand on Serbia's side.

Actually, this is normal, for the relationship between Serbia and Russia has been long-lasting, while Bulgaria was only a country that temporarily sided with Russia before the Balkan War.

After receiving Corizis' confident guarantee, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Tyrol nodded in satisfaction, asking Corizis to wait a few more days; he would seek an audience with the king tomorrow and wait for the king's decision.

With the current situation, it is inevitable that Romania will join the anti-Bulgarian alliance.

The King of Romania cannot oppose it and has no reason to oppose Romania's expansion.

This is actually a common problem for European monarchs, as there are hardly any monarchs who can completely suppress domestic forces and keep the domestic situation calm when war enthusiasm is high.

As Tsar Nicholas II wrote to his cousin and ally, King George V of Britain, when he announced the mobilization order for the whole country, "I do not know what will happen. The war recklessly initiated by the Austro-Hungarian Empire is likely to escalate into a large-scale war involving many countries. Perhaps it is just a local war, or it may drag Europe into the abyss."

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