Throughout the 19th century, the Great Powers shared different aims over the

"Eastern Question" and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Russia wanted access to
the "warm waters" of the Mediterranean from the Black Sea; it pursued a pan-Slavic
foreign policy and therefore supported Bulgaria and Serbia. Britain wished to deny
Russia access to the "warm waters" and supported the integrity of the Ottoman
Empire, although it also supported a limited expansion of Greece as a backup plan
in case integrity of the Ottoman Empire was no longer possible. France wished to
strengthen its position in the region, especially in the Levant (today's Lebanon,
Syria, and Israel).[7]

Habsburg-ruled Austria-Hungary wished for a continuation of the existence of the

Ottoman Empire, since both were troubled multinational entities and thus the
collapse of the one might weaken the other. The Habsburgs also saw a strong Ottoman
presence in the area as a counterweight to the Serbian nationalistic call to their
own Serb subjects in Bosnia, Vojvodina and other parts of the empire. Italy's
primary aim at the time seems to have been the denial of access to the Adriatic Sea
to another major sea power. The German Empire, in turn, under the "Drang nach
Osten" policy, aspired to turn the Ottoman Empire into its own de facto colony, and
thus supported its integrity. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Bulgaria and
Greece contended for Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace. Ethnic Greeks sought the forced
"Hellenization" of ethnic Bulgars, who sought "Bulgarization" of Greeks (Rise of
nationalism). Both nations sent armed irregulars into Ottoman territory to protect
and assist their ethnic kindred. From 1904, there was low intensity warfare in
Macedonia between the Greek and Bulgarian bands and the Ottoman army (the Struggle
for Macedonia). After the Young Turk revolution of July 1908, the situation changed
drastically.