What drove the Ottomans to declare war in the first Balkan war before they could fully mobilize?

by znihilist

Side question, my understanding is that the declaration of war was in a response to an ultimatum, what was being requested of the Ottomans to do in said ultimatum?

nemtrif

Your understanding of the beginning of the First Balkan War is not correct. There was no ultimatum: the war started when Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire on October 8. 1912 and the rest of the Balkan Coalition (Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece) joined soon afterwards.