engleski

Hristofor Hesapchiev and the Balkan Wars

Hristofor Hesapchiev was an active representative of the Bulgarian military and diplomatic circles from 1878 until 1913. He began by serving in the army from 1878 till 1886 ; he then taught at the Bulgarian Military Academy and was the editor of army magazines (1886-1889) ; and finally, he filled a number of diplomatic positions – as a representative at the First Hague Conference ; as a military representative in Serbia ; as the ambassador to Rumania ; and as the representative to the Greek General Staff at the time of the Balkan Wars. The task set before him to perform in the Greek General Staff by the Prime Minister Geshov was extremely delicate. He had to work on retaining their alliance at the time of great military victories of both armies without a prior agreement about the future borders of the two countries. Since certain members of both the Greek and the Bulgarian high circles were opposed to making any compromises, preserving the status quo on the ground was extremely difficult. In this paper, the author will analyse Hesapchiev’s attempts at maintaining a precarious equilibrium and the vast obstacles he was faced with. In the numerous negotiations carried out, the principles of conduct in regions which were clearly conquered by a single army were set down successfully. However, throughout these negotiations, a clear demarcation line remained undefined. Hesapchiev drafted a proposal, but the Greeks never made a counter offer. The Greek Prime Minister Venizelos demanded clearly defined borders, rather than a demarcation line ; while the army commander Crown Prince Constantine was well aware of the opportunity to ensure a better starting position at the time when the Bulgarian army was engaged at Edirne. Concerning the Bulgarians, their general Savov was complacent about the strength of the Bulgarian army, and so neither he nor Tsar Ferdinand, wanted to hand over to the Greeks what they were confident that the Bulgarian army would conquer through military actions.

Balkan Wars ; Greek General Staff ; Mixed Committee ; the Greek-Bulgarian conflict ; Hristofor Hesapchiev ; line of demarcation

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