ABSTRACT
Serbia was the only Balkan state involved in the European war from the beginning. To show its solidarity, however, Montenegro declared war upon Austria-Hungary on August 7, 1914. The other factors in the Balkan situation, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Rumania, contained influential partizans of both groups of the great powers, and an internal struggle immediately took place, these states had become belligerents. The secret treaty, according to the anti-Venizelists, was intended to prevent any attempt of Bulgaria to upset the territorial balance of power in the Balkans and did not provide for the contingency of a general European war. After the Bulgarian declaration of war upon Serbia, this interpretation seemed to be a quibble, and many Greeks believed with Venizelos not only that the treaty was operative but also that the vital interests of Greece demanded an alliance with the group of powers that were fighting Greece's two hereditary enemies, Turkey and Bulgaria.
