Page - 27 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

 The Powder Keg 27 hands of the Montenegrins.36 The Ambassadors’ Conference then made it absolutely clear that the major powers would not accept the behaviour of the Montenegrins. Re- ports on events in the western Balkans, not least descriptions by the Red Cross of acts of mass violence, only served to confirm the opinion that ‘the Balkans’ were populated by an uncivilised people. The Ballhausplatz (Austro-Hungarian Imperial Chancellery) threatened to respond with violence. A plan of operation was developed known as ‘war scenario M’ (Montenegro), which until then had not been finalised. German support came promptly and unconditionally. Finally, the Joint Council of Ministers of Aus- tria-Hungary decided on 2 May 1913 to begin mobilisation measures along the Mon- tenegrin border. This proved a successful deterrent : On the same day, King Nikola I of Montenegro announced the unconditional evacuation of Scutari. Yet the situation in the Balkans refused to quietdown. Romania, which had gained nothing from the Balkan War, demanded that Bulgaria hand over Silistria on the Black Sea, as well as providing numerous other territories and benefits, which it described as ‘reparations’. Serbia, in dispute with Bulgaria over the division of Macedonia, which had been taken from the Turks, also presented a front against Bulgaria. It was antici- pated that Austria-Hungary would support Romania, which was allied to the German Empire, Italy and the Danube Monarchy. Germany was already prepared to provide such support purely out of dynastic interest, since King Carol I of Romania was a prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and was related to the German Emperor. However, at the Ballhausplatz in Vienna, further attempts were made at manoeu- vring, while at the same time taking a stand against the increasingly powerful Russian influence in the Balkans. The Danube Monarchy could have no particular interest in ultimately helping Serbia by intervening against Bulgaria. The treatment of Romania was also a sensitive issue, since there were around three million Romanians living in Transylvania who were more or less openly supported by Bucharest. The view was even voiced in Hungary that the Romanians in Transylvania had no cause for complaint, since their situation had markedly improved since the signing of the military conven- tion with Romania.37 However, this did not impress Romania in the slightest, and above all failed to convince the country to ally itself unconditionally with Austria-Hungary and Germany. Romania therefore remained a loose cannon, adding several particularly colourful facets to the kaleidoscopic political landscape of the Balkans. The failure of Vienna to provide any real support to Bucharest generated a massive degree of resentment against Austria in Romania. When the Second Balkan War broke out in July 1913, demonstrators in Romania were just as hostile to Vienna as they were to Sofia, with calls of ‘Long live Serbia !’.38 The situation was just the same as it had been during the Crimean War of 1854/1855. Austria had sat on the fence and ultimately received no thanks from any quarter for its attempts to stay out of the dispute. However Bulgaria, which on the one hand had