Austria-Hungary, having reconciled itself to exclusion from…
1864 CE to 1875 CE
Foreign Minister Andrassy is opposed to any annexation of Balkan territories because that would have increased the empire's Slavic population.
Ideally, he favors maintenance of Turkish authority in order to check the expansion of Russian influence.
This option, however, is not viable.
To prevent either Russia from replacing Turkey as the dominant power in the region or the already independent Balkan states (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Romania) from dividing up the remaining Turkish territory, Austria-Hungary is forced to seek a partition of the Balkans with Russia.