Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1867

Treaty of Vöslau

Treaty of Alliance and Friendship (Serbian: Уговор о савезу и пријатељству)
Signed	26 August [O.S. 14 August] 1867
Location	Vöslau, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)
Negotiators	Zanos and Garašanin (primary)
Parties	Greece Serbia

The Treaty of Vöslau (Greek: Συνθήκη της Φεσλάου, Serbian: уговор о савезу у Феслау), a military alliance treaty between the Kingdom of Greece and the Principality of Serbia, was signed on 26 August 1867. The treaty had been negotiated by Greek minister Zanos and Serbian ministers Ristić, Petronijević and Garašanin (who had met with Zanos at the beginning). Earlier discussions had been organized in Vienna. In the preamble, it is said that "the position of Christians in the East is unbearable" and that they need to free themselves. It was proposed by Greek Foreign Minister Charilaos Trikoupis and was the first and only alliance signed between Greece and another country during the 19th century. It was also the first attempt at an alliance between Balkan nations against the Ottoman Empire. The two states agreed on the lands each of them would occupy following a successful war against the Ottomans.

The talks had been made difficult by questions on division of territories: the Greeks sought to establish only the minimum based on the population, equality of origin and historical traditions, whereas Prince Mihailo Obrenović III sought the minimum of territory, assuming Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Old Serbia from the Drim to the Iskar. The Greeks, in that case, sought Thessaly, Epirus, and Macedonia between Thessaly and the Sea, Thrace and Balkan Mountains. Finally, the Greek proposal was accepted: Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia, Epirus and Thessaly with Crimea to Greece. The possibility of a Balkan alliance was predicted, and the establishment of it also as a principle for a national self-determination in the Near East. A special act included the rights of both sides, that if they were unable to realize the minimum of annexations in Article 4 (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Epirus and Thessaly), they would seek compensation in other neighboring provinces of the Ottoman Empire, based on mutual origin of the population. On 22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1868, the ratifications were exchanged. On 28 February [O.S. 16 February] 1868 the military convention on war operations against the Ottoman Empire was signed.

The treaty never came into effect, as Prince Mihailo III was murdered soon afterwards, on 10 June 1868.

See also

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Petros Zanos and Ilija Garašanin

• Greece–Serbia relations
• Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913
• History of modern Greece
• History of modern Serbia

Further reading

• Popović & Skerlić 1928, p. 77.
• S. Laskaris, Diplomatic History of Greece (1814-1914), Athens, 1947, pp. 117-124.