Divided Albania

Well there weren't many agreements to beginwith. The only ones seemed to have been one between Romania and Bulgaria where Bulgaria was to cede Silistra in exchange for Romanian neutrality in the war and an agreement between Bulgaria and Serbia over a border in Macedonia which seemed to have been definitely delineated (at the very least everything south of a line running from Kriva Palanka to Ohrid was definitely agreed to be Bulgarian). Neither were that vague really.

There were very vague. Boundary negotiations have to be handled over a considerable period of time by joint commissions.

Did they argue greatly over the borders other than Silistra and the pre-war Serbian-Bulgarian agreement in OTL?

Yes; they argued over all borders. Bulgaria refused to even demobilize.

Why would the Albanians attack Bulgarian forces and Bulgaria? I agree that there are almost certain to be Albanian insurgents (in fact, weren't there Albanian insurgents already who were attempting to gain independence from the Ottomans?), but in the basic line in the pre-war agreement between Serbia and Bulgaria the only area with any Albanians I can think of that would fall to Bulgarian control according to that agreement is Ohrid/Ohri and even there Albanians don't seem to have been in a majority as one figure I've seen (which I take with salt) is that by the end of the 19th century 45% of the inhabitants were Muslim which of course means they could be all Turks, all Albanians or Turks and Albanians (I think it is more likely to be the third possibility). Bulgaria looks like it would be last on the hit-list of most Albanian insurgents.

Albanian insurgents would without a doubt attack Serbia and Greece (and probably Italy since giving Italy direct control over unoccupied Albania and thus direct control over the entrance of the Adriatic seems to be the only, remotely possible way to get Italy to drop it's support of A-H's position on Albania) and each state is very likely to support a different group of insurgents. It's more likely that Serbia will end up seeing A-H's hand behind every Albanian insurgent just as how A-H saw Serbia's hand behind every south Slav insurgent/assassin (no matter how tenuous or even doubtful) - this could result in an entirely different trigger for World War I actually, or at least a slightly different unfolding of events if Franz Ferdinand is still assassinated in Sarajevo. It's also possible that some (or in a much more unlikely situation, all) of the states involved could end up replicating the conduct of Prussia, Austria and Russia with regards to Poland: they may be suspicious of each other and have open disagreements, but will have a tacit (and at times open) agreement directed against the independence of the subjugated nationality in question. If Serbia had given up the area of Macedonia promised to Bulgaria, it may be possible that Serbia and Bulgaria could well come to new agreement directed against Albanian insurgents.

One could also expect that Serbia and A-H might well come to an agreement whereby A-H end's support for Albanian insurgents in return for Serbia ending support for south slav agitators and suddenly a major fuse has been cut, but I doubt it. Can't see either one be willing to make the first move in such an arrangement (unlike say an arrangement between Serbia and Greece against insurgents that they face in common).

Insurgents are insurgents. They will necessarily fight against anyone occupying "their" territory. It seems to me that you're saying that this arrangement is going to work better than historical. I don't see how that's possible - in my opinion this will be much worse for the reasons I've already discussed.
 
There were very vague. Boundary negotiations have to be handled over a considerable period of time by joint commissions.

If they were that vague how could maps be drawn up? And what was vague about Silistra?



Yes; they argued over all borders. Bulgaria refused to even demobilize.

Then how did a Bulgarian PM sign an agreement with Greece over the borders in 1913?


Insurgents are insurgents. They will necessarily fight against anyone occupying "their" territory.

Agreed. How many Albanians (as opposed to Turks and Albanians) were living in the area that was originally supposed to go to Bulgaria anyway?

It seems to me that you're saying that this arrangement is going to work better than historical. I don't see how that's possible - in my opinion this will be much worse for the reasons I've already discussed.

That isn't what I'm saying. I'm saying it would work differently and presented several possible results, which anyone can discuss individually (instead of lumping them all together). The only "better" solution is if nobody died (or would die) in the first place and that would belong in another thread entitled "WI No Balkan Wars?".
 
sl

The most likely scenario of dividing Albania would be: Montenegro getting Scutari and its surrounding region, Serbia getting Kosovo and part of northern Albania (what is called Gegeria) with a port in the Adriatic, Greece getting the south (what they consider North Epirus and South Epirus (what the Albanians call Cameria). Whatever is left over goes to Italy or is left as an “independent state”. If Italy agrees to this that is possible. The six major European powers at the time had no real interest in Albania. A-H opposed the partition of Albania and tried to get as many territories inside its borders as a counterbalance to the Slavs, Russia backed Serbia and Montenegro, France backed Russia, GB just wanted to keep the peace at all costs and was willing to go along with almost any decisions and you can say pretty much the same for Germany. Italy was the key to make it or break it. Italy at this time didn’t have a clear foreign policy and Albania sure wasn’t that important to them. As far as Serbia getting access to the Adriatic that didn’t mater much to them as look that some sort of Albanian state was left over for them. As far as Albania insurgency goes it would have been unsuccessful. Serbia and Greece had a whole plan prepared for this situation. Mass deportation to Turkey of the Albanian Muslims, physical liquidation, colonization program on the key areas of territory( in a few words the same things that the Serbs did in Kosovo from 1920-1939, and the Greeks to the Albanians and other Muslim populations after the defeat in Turkey 1921 and the massacres of the Albanian population after world war 2). So in a few words ethnic cleansing in a large scale. The rest of Albania would be under Italian indirect control and after Mussolini comes to power become a Italian province.
 
Top