The early establishment of the Kingdom of Montenegro did not stir the world situation. Even in the Balkans, it barely raised a ripple.
A small country was still a small country; the Kingdom of Montenegro was not worth the world's attention. After the Balkan Wars, the world's focus returned once more to South Africa.
The British were still locked in a death struggle with the Boer Republic. It did not seem likely to end anytime soon. Of course, the British would still claim final victory—Ferdinand had no doubt about that.
It was only that the conflict might drag on far longer than in the parallel timeline. From intelligence sent by the South African department, Ferdinand learned that the Boers now had many volunteers in the form of "mercenaries."
European countries were behind this as well. The French, Germans, Russians, Austro-Hungarians, Italians, Spaniards, Dutch... practically all of them had gotten involved.
This time, the British were fighting alone. To a certain extent, the Balkan Wars that had just ended had actually helped them.
The Russians and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had their energies tied up there and could no longer keep causing trouble for Britain in South Africa. More importantly, neither country had much at stake in South Africa.
Of course, the British had not simply sat idle either. As Ferdinand understood it, the upper echelons of Germany and France had long intended to cooperate over South Africa, but thanks to British efforts, no progress had ever been made!
Even in the Near East, Britain's show of weakness toward Russia and its acquiescence to Russian control of the Black Sea Straits were all part of its efforts to divide continental Europe and prevent it from acting in unison against Britain!
Ferdinand did not know what other moves the British had in store,