WORTH A POMERANIAN GRENADIER'S BONES: THE BALKANS FROM 1877 TO 1914

Abstract

Bismarck emphasized the insignificance of the Balkans for Germany's interests inhis famous quote "it is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier".Butit could also be interpreted ashis way of avoiding the hardest dilemmas of Germany's geopolitical equation after Prussia defeated the French in 1870.His twoallies against French revanchism, Austria and Russia had conflicting interests inthe Balkans as Ottoman power was falling apart.They were watching over suspiciously each other while spoils of Turkey in Europe were up for grabs. This redesigning process of the region would continue for 35 years without triggering a major conflict. However the general European balance that absorbed the shock semanating from the region collapsed in July 1914 giving way to global scale warfare. In this paper, we will try to see why a region, seemingly of secondary importance to most of the global players, triggered a war that required so much sacrifice. Why did the major powers, which were adept at containing local conflicts before, let the events slip out of control in 1914? Was it the increasing significance of the region for them that they were less willing to compromise each time, or was it the disastrous result of failure of diplomacy?