BALKAN CRISIS OF 1912 9 



and on the Senate. The aims of France, he said, would be " (i) continuity of her foreign 

 policy, and consequently attentive and persistent exercise of her alliances and friend- 

 ship, (2) sincere and constant endeavours to secure the agreement of Europe and peace, 

 (3) : a firm and calm resolve to make French rights respected and to maintain the 

 national dignity." Finally on December i8th the Russian Premier, M. Kokovtsoff, in 

 the Duma, said that while Russia could not remain indifferent to the efforts of the Slav 

 peoples to obtain better conditions, she had no selfish designs; " faithful to our alliances 

 and understandings, and sure of the support of our friends, we can see no use in setting 

 up groups of Powers one against the other." These declarations showed that, while 

 the grouping of the Powers remained firm, it was modified by a recognition that there 

 were common European interests above the group interests. The announcement on 

 December 8th that the Triple Alliance, which would nominally expire in May 1914, had 

 been renewed for another seven years, was obviously made in the interests of Austria. 

 But having made her demonstration, Austria was now taking the situation more calmly, 

 and relying on her power to assert herself, with her allies, only if necessity should arise. 

 Count Berchtold's own policy was a peaceful one, but his task was complicated by the 

 existence of a domestic party more inclined to wave the sword; and it was rather a mat- 

 ter of domestic interest than as bearing on European diplomacy that on December gth 

 the Austro-Hungarian War Minister (Gen. von Auffenburg) and Chief of the Staff (Gen. 

 von Schemua) resigned, and were succeeded by Gen. Krobatkin and Gen. Konrad von 

 Hotzendorf. What was of more importance, for international reasons, was the heavy 

 military expenditure in Austria, which was straining her finances and upsetting the 

 money markets. 



; London was now the scene both of the meeting of the Peace Delegates, and of the 

 conferences between the ambassadors of the Powers. By December i3th the pleni- 

 potentiaries had arrived, and their first meeting was held on December i6th. Bulgaria 

 was represented by Dr. Daneff, M. Majaroff, and Gen. Paprikoff , Greece by M. Vene- 

 zelos, M. Skoulidis, M. Gennadius, and Dr. Streit; Servia by M. Novakovich, M. Niko- 

 lich, and Dr. Vesnich; Montenegro by M. Mioutchkovich, M. Popovich, and Count 

 Voinovich ; Turkey by Mustafa Reshid Pasha, Gen. Salih Pasha, and Osman Nizami 

 Pasha. Little progress was made at the meetings held on December i jth, igth and 2ist, 

 owing first to the objection of Turkey to the Greeks being included, which was eventual- 

 ly waived, and then to Turkey asking for the revictualling of Adrianople, which was 

 flatly refused. Meanwhile the ambassadors had begun to meet on December I7th, and 

 at their third meeting on December 2oth they came to an important agreement as re- 

 gards Albania, which was promptly announced as follows: " The ambassadors have 

 recommended to their governments, and the latter have accepted, the principle of Al- 

 banian autonomy, together with a provision guaranteeing to Servia commercial access to 

 the Adriatic. The six governments have agreed in principle on these two points." 



On the 23'. d the Balkan allies presented their demands to the Turkish delegates, and 

 on the 28th Turkey made her first counter-proposals, which were promptly rejected, 

 and followed these on January ist (after an abortive session on Dec. 3oth) by others. 

 The Allies demanded the surrender by Turkey of all territory west of a line extending 

 from Rodosto to Cape Malatra, 5m. S. of Midia, and of all the islands of the Aegean, 

 including Crete, with the exception of certain islands near the mouth of the Dardanelles 

 to be specified by the Powers, but so as to leave the peninsula of Gallipoli to Turkey; 

 they were content to leave the Powers to decide as to the administration of Albania. 

 The Turkish proposals, as defined on January ist, conceded the surrender of all occupied 

 territory west of the vilayet of Adrianople, but insisted on the retention of the vilayet of 

 Adrianople subject to a rectification of frontier with Bulgaria, and of the Aegean Islands, 

 while leaving the protecting powers to decide as to Crete. In answer to these counter- 

 proposals the Allies " took note " of Turkey's agreement to cede the territories west of 

 Adrianople, with the proviso that this must include territory whether occupied or not 

 yet completely occupied; the rest they described as " unacceptable." On January 3rd 

 Reshid Pasha went a little further, and was prepared to cede even the south-western 



