ДВЕ ПОСЕТЕ БУГАРСКОГ КРАЉА ФЕРДИНАНДА СРБИЈИ У ЈЕСЕН 1909. ГОДИНЕ
TWO VISITS OF THE BULGARIAN KING FERDINAND TO SERBIAIN THE AUTUMN OF 1909

Summary/Abstract: At the beginning of the twentieth century, complex international circumstances prompted Serbia and Bulgaria to intensify their efforts to reach a political agreement. Faced with the aggressive policy of Austria-Hungary, Serbia sought to secure greater stability in its foreign policy, while Bulgaria simultaneously attempted to protect itself from the threats posed by the Ottoman Empire. Increased diplomatic activity, initiated in 1904, led to the conclusion of an alliance in July 1905, which, however, never came fully into effect in practice due to unresolved disputes, primarily concerning the question of Macedonia. Following the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 and the growing fear of the expansionist aspirations of the Dual Monarchy, relations between the two states gradually became closer. In early 1909, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Milovan Milovanović, visited Sofia, followed by two visits of the Bulgarian monarch to Serbia in the autumn of the same year. These diplomatic activities represented a significant step toward the intensification of interstate relations. Although the visits of the Bulgarian King were not intended to result immediately in the conclusion of a formal political alliance between Sofia and Belgrade, they nevertheless contributed to strengthening mutual ties, particularly at the level of the ruling dynasties. However, the complex political situation in the Balkans, the conflicting interests of the Great Powers, and the prevailing mutual distrust continued to hinder a deeper and more concrete rapprochement. This paper is largely based on research conducted in the personal collection of Milovan Milovanović, preserved in the Archives of Serbia in Belgrade, as well as on published archival sources, especially Documents on the Foreign Policy of the Kingdom of Serbia 1903– 1914, published by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

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