The Balkan Pact of 1953, officially known as the Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation, was a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...

signed by

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

on 28 February 1953. It was signed in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. The treaty was to act as a deterrence against

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

expansion in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and provided for the eventual creation of a joint military staff for the three countries. When the pact was created, Turkey and Greece were members of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO), and Yugoslavia was a non-aligned communist state. The Balkan Pact allowed Yugoslavia to associate itself with NATO indirectly. In October 1954,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

showed some interest in joining the alliance in expectation that Yugoslavia could help in the development of the

Egypt–Israel relations Egypt–Israel relations are foreign relations between Egypt and Israel. The state of war between both countries which dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was followed by the 1979 Egypt–Israe ...

. However, Israel never ended up joining the alliance.

Background

Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union had been allies in the aftermath of World War II, but bilateral co-operation halted in 1948 through the

Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

. Fearing a Soviet invasion, Yugoslavia quickly established political and defensive agreements with the Western countries. NATO considered Yugoslavia to be strategically important country, and the Balkan Pact was perceived as a way for the West to protect Yugoslavia from the Soviets. The Balkan Pact was signed in 1953 by Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey. The plan was to integrate Yugoslavia into the Western defensive system and economic aid system because of the increasing threats that Yugoslavia was receiving from Moscow.

Agreement

The agreements regarding the creation of the Balkan Pact started with a political treaty in

in February 1953 and ended with a military treaty in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

in August 1954. The 14 articles included the settlement international disputes without force, military assistance for each country if one of the members were attacked and the maintenance and the strengthening of the members' defensive capacity. The countries agreed that representatives from each country would meet twice a year until 1974. The agreement also kept previous treaties then in place such as the Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation and the

Charter of the United Nations The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

Effects

The new alliance showed its weakness from the very beginning for several reasons. First of all,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

died a few days after it was signed. Also, the new Soviet government, led by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, started to relax its criticism towards Yugoslavia. Finally, the Yugoslav communist leaders were more willing to abandon open cooperation with the Western countries. In 1954 and 1955, Yugoslav overtures to the Soviet Union gradually resulted in a change of Yugoslav views regarding the military significance of the Balkan Pact. The visit of Turkish Prime Minister

Adnan Menderes Adnan Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He ...

to Yugoslavia in May 1955, only three weeks before Khrushchev's visit to

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

, showed the difference between the Yugoslav and the Turkish views of the international situation. Menderes was interested in the whole field of co-operation within the Balkan Pact. Yugoslavia was reluctant to take any steps that might then appear to give added significance to the military side of the Balkan Pact. The

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the occupation of the island ...

between Turkey and Greece soon broke out and became a new danger for the Balkan Pact. After the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, Tito showed some interest in reviving the alliance, but because of the Cyprus dispute, Tito's attempt to mediate between Turkey and Greece failed. The Balkan Pact included Yugoslavia into the Western defence system, which strengthened the country's security. It also raised problems for Tito and the

League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

and brought Yugoslavia and Greece together. The pact indirectly heightened international and ideological conflicts.

References

Sources

David R. Stone David Russell Stone (born 1968) is an American military historian and the William Eldridge Odom Professor of Russian Studies in the Strategy and Policy Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Stone received a Bachelor of Arts degree in histo ...

, "The Balkan Pact and American Policy, 1950-1955," ''East European Quarterly'' 28.3 (September 1994), pp. 393–407. {{Josip Broz Tito 1953 in Greece 1953 in Turkey 1953 in Yugoslavia History of the Balkans Treaties concluded in 1953 20th-century military alliances Treaties of the Kingdom of Greece Treaties of Yugoslavia Military alliances involving Turkey Military alliances involving Greece Military alliances involving Yugoslavia Greece–Yugoslavia relations Greece–Turkey relations February 1953 events in Europe 1953 establishments in Europe

Background

Agreement

Effects

See also

References

Sources