Serbo-Bulgarian War what-ifs

raharris1973

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1) What if Bulgaria is allowed to win, no Austrian ultimatum to stop? What does Bulgaria gain?

2) What if Serbs did not start the war, either because of less interest on their part, or because they do not get encouragement from Austria?

3) Can Bulgaria lose? Can this lead to Bulgarian losses of territory, or the Bulgarians being obliged to give up Eastern Rumelia? Maybe Ottomans get in to take back Rumelia, and the Rumanians invade to take southern Dobruja?

On the one hand, Bulgaria is much bigger than Serbia at the time.

However, I get the impression Bulgaria's move to expand into Eastern Rumelia was unpopular with the great powers, even though it turned out to be successful. In OTL the Ottomans did not like it, the Austrians seemed to oppose it and backed the Serbs, but the Russians also hated the Bulgarian King.
 

raharris1973

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If Bulgaria is allowed to win, Bulgaria takes Serbia up to the Morava? Possibly the Austro-Hungarians occupy the rest of Serbia, "for its own safety".
 
Realistically the most Bulgaria can demand is Nish. Unrealistically, up to the Morava, as raharris1973 said. But the lands after that up to the Negotin -- Krushevats line were already pretty serbianised at that point. But I don't think that was even a point in the agenda when Serbia attacked, anyway. Nish had only been in Serbian hands for seven years at that point, and it's still exotic enough for them that made a film about it "Zona Zamfirova". @Dementor ?
 
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If Bulgaria is allowed to win, Bulgaria takes Serbia up to the Morava? Possibly the Austro-Hungarians occupy the rest of Serbia, "for its own safety".

The first is unlikely, if not impossible, since there were not many Bulgarians in those regions. The second is likely, since there would be a revolution in Serbia against the Obrenovic dynasty by parliamentarian and Karadjordjevist forces backed by Montenegro - and Austria already had plans to invade, if that happens.
 
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