The Italo-Turkish war was arguably the time, during which the Ottoman Empire was at its weakest state before its imminent collapse a few years later. During the conflict for the last Turkish possessions in Africa the nations of the Balkans saw the opportunity to grab some territory for themselves. Unfortunately, internal conflicts and disagreements over the partition of the spoils prevented the newly independent Balkan states to unite against the common enemy.
The Great War erupted out of what could be seen today as a regional conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. A domino effect of alliances is what caused the wide-scale escalation. As the war did not meet the expected quick end, the neutral Balkan states found themselves sandwiched between on one hand - the German-aligned Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire who want to secure the region, and the Allies, who are now seeking for alternative allies to support their war effort. The combination of the panic caused by the unprecedented global conflict and external pressure resulted in a region-wide alliance consisting of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. The Balkan League has been established.
The consequent offensives in Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus, Bosnia, Transylvania and Vojvodina proved to be a success as the tide of the war slowly turned and the allies started gaining the upper hand on the Western Front. The Ottoman Empire finally descended into anarchy with different factions having mixed support for the unconditional surrender following the fall of Constantinople to the Greek-Russian fleet and Bulgarian army. However, the Balkan League again faced major drawbacks with the onset of the Russian Civil War. The occupation of a territory roughly equivalent to the subsequent lands of the Balkan nations and maintaining a front, even against the decaying Habsburg forces and Turkish factions proved to be an almost unbearable task to the underdeveloped Balkan states. Moreover, the old question of the consequent land division started popping up again, and to top it all, the Croats much preferred to collaborate with the Italians in contrast to their neighbors to the East. Eventually, further internal conflicts were temporarily resolved until the ceasing of hostilities between the two major power blocs. As the war came to an end a lot of questions were left unanswered.
The ratification of the Treaty of Neuilly marked the creation of the new status quo on the Balkans. Its most significant creation is The Kingdom of Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians, later renamed to Yugoslavia. To prevent internal conflict in the newly created federation its territory has been divided in four key regions. The relatively equally divided population prevents any of them of becoming dominant. They are West and East Moesia and their predominant Serbian and Bulgarian residents, Vardar with its mix of Serbian, Bulgarian and Macedonian population was not named Macedonia in order not give Greece wrong ideas, and Thrace where almost all the population consists of Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks. Ironically, with the unification of the Bulgaria, Serbia and their conquered territories, their bitter competition ended. Italy has gained South Tyrol, Istria and parts of Dalmatia. The Italian-leaning state of Croatia which includes an autonomous Bosnia, and Albania along with already present Montenegro cut off Yugoslavian access to the Adriatic. Greece had acquired huge swaths of territory around Smyrna and the Dardanelles only to lose them back to Turkey in the subsequent Greco-Turkish war which put an end to the Megali Idea.
In the long run, however, the main reason for the Yugoslavian unity prove to be external. The first blow came with the withdrawal of Romania from the Balkan League. As this alliance for them was one of convenience against Austria-Hungary, the highly unstable post-war kingdom wanted nothing to do with Yugoslavian and Greek conflicts with the new Turkish Republic and focused on organizing its now doubled territory. What is more, ever since the fascist regime was established in Italy, the country has been following an aggressive foreign policies, legitimizing their actions with various irredentist claims. However, these misfortunes have resulted in the close binding of the only three remaining Balkan League members against the Italian ambitions and, now formally aligned with Italy, Croatia.
Albania has become a major flashpoint where the Italian interest for control over the entrance to the Adriatic clashes with the determination of Yugoslavia and Greece not to allow Italy to form a strategic beachhead on their borders. Tensions, however, have been on the rise all around Europe and the imminent confrontation between the Trieste Pact and the Balkan League had begun. The Italian invasion started rather swiftly, but eventually slowed down allowing Yugoslavian and Greek forces to gain significant ground. Amidst all this Montenegro reluctantly accepted “protection” from its eastern neighbor. While not formally at war the, two alliances have already occupied most of Albania and the first engagements between Yugoslavian and Italian troops are already taking place...