In OTL's First Balkan War, the Balkan League made substantial territorial gains into Albania, arguably an Ottoman ally. Serbia was close to acquiring a Mediterranean coastline (the Durres/Durazzo/Dyrrhachium port), Shkoder had been taken and Greece had made some inroads into southern Albania, but the Balkan League's occupation of the country was cut short at the war's end by Austria-Hungary, who feared that Serbian expansionism into that area would fuel ambitions elsewhere (mainly in Hungarian territory). As a compromise, an independent Albania was established under a minor German noble.
But could Austria-Hungary decide that playing its future enemies of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Italy against each other would be a better course of action than propping up an unstable Albanian principality? Something tells me that, with a delayed WWI, Albania would have fallen under Italy's orbit, thus giving Rome control over the Otranto Barrage and forcing the Austrians into a more precarious position in regards to whatever influence they had over the Mediterranean. Could a divided Adriatic have benefited Austria-Hungary in some way?
What sort of attached strings could Austria-Hungary's "carte blanche" over Serbian annexation of Albania have? A more favorable settlement for Bulgaria in Macedonia?
But could Austria-Hungary decide that playing its future enemies of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Italy against each other would be a better course of action than propping up an unstable Albanian principality? Something tells me that, with a delayed WWI, Albania would have fallen under Italy's orbit, thus giving Rome control over the Otranto Barrage and forcing the Austrians into a more precarious position in regards to whatever influence they had over the Mediterranean. Could a divided Adriatic have benefited Austria-Hungary in some way?
What sort of attached strings could Austria-Hungary's "carte blanche" over Serbian annexation of Albania have? A more favorable settlement for Bulgaria in Macedonia?