The Crimean War, fought for the rights of Christians in the Holy Land and controlled at the time by the Ottoman Empire, ended in 1856, Russia losing to an alliance. of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia and began to fear that its enemies would go to extreme lengths to prevent any further imperialism in the Mediterranean region. In preparation for this eventuality and with the aim of launching a preemptive strike against an enemy alliance, Russia began pursuing passive expansion goals throughout the Balkan region. Russia began providing military aid to the Balkan states in order to form indirect alliances with these countries. Russia helped cement an independent Bulgarian state and saved Serbia from Ottoman defeat in 1876, after which it forced the Ottomans to recognize an independent Serbia a few years later. After helping these two countries become autonomous states, Russia continued to feel the pressure from other European powers that had recently caused them defeat. When the Bosnian crisis broke out, when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Serbia protested but were not strong enough to fight a proponent of annexation, Germany. In a protective move, Russia attempted to create a “Slavic bloc” forcing Bulgaria and Serbia to form an alliance directed against both the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary. In the southernmost Balkan country of Greece, former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos had just been reappointed. in power during this period thanks to the Army Office Revolt in 1909. When Venizelos returned to the post of Prime Minister in 1910, much of Greece hoped that he would help Greece regain its status after having suffered the Ottoman defeat. ......in the Second Balkan War, the Greek king was assassinated in Thessaloniki, generating a foreign policy focused on neutrality. The war ended with the Treaty of Bucharest on August 10, 1913, resulting in Greece's conquest of Macedonia, part of Epirus and Crete. However, the negative effects of this war were felt long into Greece's future. The new king of Greece who replaced his father was pro-German and took every measure to keep Greece out of the next world war as pressure mounted to fight against Germany. The conflict over whether to enter World War I continued to cause problems between the king, who wanted to avoid war at all costs in an attempt to avoid conflict with Germany, and the Prime Minister who wanted desperately align Greece with the ruling Allied Powers. to the national schism, which dominated Greek politics for more than half a century.