The Balkan Pact, or Balkan Entente, was a treaty signed by Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia on 9 February 1934 in Athens, aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region after the end of World War I. To present a united front against Bulgarian designs on their territories, the signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against one another and their immediate neighbours following the aftermath of the war and a rise in various regional irredentist tensions.
Other nations in the region that had been involved in related diplomacy refused to sign the document, including Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Soviet Union. The pact became effective on the day that it was signed and was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 1 October 1934.The Balkan Pact helped to ensure peace between the signatory nations but failed to end regional intrigues. Although the pact was designed against Bulgaria, on 31 July 1938, its members signed the Salonika Agreement with Bulgaria, which repealed the clauses of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Treaty of Lausanne that had mandated demilitarised zones at Bulgaria's borders with Greece and Turkey, which allowed Bulgaria to rearm.
After the 1940 Treaty of Craiova, signed under Nazi Germany's pressure and with the 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, the pact effectively ceased to exist.
1934Feb, 9
The Balkan Entente is formed.
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Events on 1934
- 23May
Bonnie and Clyde
Infamous American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. - 2Aug
Adolf Hitler
Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. - 26Sep
RMS Queen Mary
Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched. - 9Oct
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Regicide at Marseille: The assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou, Foreign Minister of France. - 6Nov
Tennessee Valley Authority
Memphis, Tennessee becomes the first major city to join the Tennessee Valley Authority.