Secret treaty between Austria-Hungary and Serbia

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Austria-Hungary and Serbia around 1899

The treaty consisting of a trade agreement (May 6th) and an alliance agreement (June 28th), which contained several secret additional clauses, is referred to as the secret agreement between Austria-Hungary and Serbia or also the secret convention . With the secret treaty, Serbia effectively recognized the suzerainty of Austria-Hungary .

prehistory

Disappointed with Russia's Bulgaria policy, Serbia turned to the Imperial House of Austria as an ally and temporarily postponed its national claims to Bosnia and Herzegovina . With the conclusion of a trade agreement on April 21, 1881, Serbia was to become an economic subsidiary of the Danube Monarchy for two decades . Almost 90% of exports and 70% of imports were handled with Austria-Hungary.

Contract

The secret political treaty of June 28, 1881 granted Austria-Hungary extensive privileges in determining Serbian foreign policy. Serbia was not allowed to conclude any treaties with other states without the prior consent of the Danube monarchy. Serbia also undertook to expand a railway line from Belgrade to Sofia and Istanbul and to regulate the Danube around the Iron Gate for shipping. In return, Austria-Hungary would support Serbia on an international level. The recognition of Serbia as a kingdom by the great powers in 1882 was achieved with the help of Austro-Hungarian diplomacy. Serbia committed itself for at least ten years not to make any territorial claims on Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sanjak Novi Pazar . In return, it would have a free hand in the south against the Ottoman Empire or Macedonia and Bulgaria , if in the interests of the Danube Monarchy .

Domestically, Serbia undertook not to allow any Greater Serbian or Pan-Slavic propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary on its territory. After the treaty became known in Serbia, however, there was considerable opposition in Russophile circles, which also contributed to the rise of the Radical People's Party to become the strongest party in the elections in 1883.

consequences

Based on the military clauses, Serbia's King Milan I decided to compensate for territorial claims deferred in favor of Austria at the expense of Bulgarian territories, and in 1885 a Serbian-Bulgarian war began . Viennese banks granted war loans to Serbia, and threats of intervention from Vienna to Sofia saved Serbia from defeat, peace with Bulgaria was made on the basis of the status quo ante.

epilogue

In 1887, after Russian interference in the Bulgarian succession to the throne and an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Serbian King Milan, the secret treaty was expanded to include a clause, according to which Austria-Hungary would also protect the interests of the Obrenović dynasty both in the Serbian country and abroad .

The secret treaty ended in 1903 with the murder of the royal couple Alexander Obrenović and Draga Mašin and the enthronement of Peter I Karađorđević as the new king of Serbia. Despite its contractual obligations to protect the fallen dynasty, Austria-Hungary did not intervene.

literature