December 3, 2007

On this date in 1912, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (also knows as "The Balkan League") signed an armistice treaty with Turkey ("The Turkish Delight"), bringing peace to the region for almost an entire OH NO EVERYBODY LOOK OUT WORLD WAR ("WORLD WAR"). This was "the end" of something called "The First Balkan War" ("Ridiculous Name"). The armistice bought the two sides time to work out a deal, but, The Balkans being the The Balkans, they didn't. Hostilities began again on February 16th.

The war finally ended on May 17th. Nobody, however, was pleased with the treaty's terms, so they all went to war again almost immediately in what was even more amusingly called "The Second Balkan War" as if the first one had ever really stopped.

Anyway, they eventually worked it out, and the region was peaceful forever more.(1)

This was why my high school World History teacher continually referred to The Balkans as "a powder keg." If I recall correctly (AND I DO), I think she said this phrase two to three times EVERY SINGLE DAY. After which we would color in world maps. Our final exam was open-book, multiple choice. Seriously. It's astonishing that I remember ANYTHING about world history.

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(1) In this context, "forever more" means "for the next like week or so, give or take."