Serbia’s Diplomatic Preparations for the Creation of the First Balkan Alliance, 1861–1864

Abstract

Our aim in this article is to investigate the case of diplomatic preparations for the creation of the First Balkan Alliance (1866–1868) against the ottoman Empire by the Principality of Serbia in its initial stage which covers the years of 1861–1864 in the light of territorial requirements of the Balkan states and nations at the expense of the decreasing military and political power of the ottoman authorities and the territorial integration of the multi-ethnic ottoman Empire. Methodologically, the investigation is based primarilly on the use of the primary archival- historical material from different Serbian and international archives.