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Operations on the Epirus front in 1913. The commander-in-chief Constantine watches operations against the Bizani fort - Photographic Archive of the War Museum Athens

 

History of Athens

The Balkan Wars



During the two Balkan Wars between 1912 and 1914, the Balkan states (Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece and Serbia) confronted both the Ottoman Empire and each other for the annexation of Ottoman territories. All four sought additional territories within the large Ottoman-ruled regions known as Romylia, comprising Eastern Romylia, Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace. In the course of these wars they first conquered Ottoman-held Macedonia, Albania and most of Thrace and then fought each other over the division of these territories.


First Balkan War

Montenegro started the First Balkan War by declaring war The Battle of Yanitsa on 19-20 October 1912 - Photographic Archive of the War Museum in Athensagainst the Ottomans on 8 October 1912. The Greeks took Thessaloniki and then Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace fell to the allies. The Ottomans were pressed to maintain the defense of Constantinople. An armistice was signed between Bulgaria (representing also Serbia and Montenegro) and Turkey on 3 December 1912. Greece continued the war alone, aiming at the capture of Ioannina, while it participated in the London peace conferences. The Treaty of London ended the First Balkan War on 18 May 1913 but disputes over territory remained unresolved. As a result, the Second Balkan War immediately followed.

The victors of the war were eventually embroiled in war amongst themselves over the territories that Ottoman Turkey lost. Bulgaria felt that their territorial rewards from the war, particularly in Macedonia, were insufficient. Greece and Serbia responded by entering into a military pact, ostensibly aimed at preventing Bulgarian expansion. A further dispute of Bulgaria was with Romania, over the latter's claim on the Bulgarian fortress of Silistria on the Danube, as the prize for their neutrality in the First Balkan war. On 16 June 1912, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria ordered his troops to attack Serbian and Greek positions which, started the Second Balkan War.

Battles of the First Balkan War
Name
Land/Sea
Invading
General
Defending
General
Date
Battle of Sarantaporo
Land
Greeks
Crown Prince Constantine
Ottomans
 
9 October 1912
Battle of Yanitsa
Land
Greeks
Crown Prince Constantine
Ottomans
Hasan Tahsin Pasha
19 October 1912
Battle of Kumanovo
Land
Serbians
Gen. Radomir Putnik
Ottomans
Zekki-Pasha (Gen.)
23 October 1912
Battle of Kirk Kelesse
Land
Bulgarians
 
Ottomans
 
24 October 1912
Battle of Pente Pigadia
Land
Greeks
Lt Gen K. Sapountzakis
Ottomans
Esat Pasha
24-30 October 1912
Battle of Lule-Burgas
Land
Bulgarians
 
Ottomans
 
28-31 October 1912
Battle of Vevi
Land
Greeks
 
Ottomans
 
2 November 1912
Battle of Prilep
Land
Serbians
 
Ottomans
 
3 November 1912
Battle of Bitola
Land
Serbians
Gen. Petar Bojovic
Ottomans
Zekki-Pasha (Gen.)
16-19 November 1912
Siege of Adrianople
Land
Bulgarians & Serbians
Gen. Vladimir Vazov, Gen. Stepa Stepanovic
Ottomans
Gen Ghazi Shulkri Pasha
17 November-3 December 1912
Naval Battle of Elli
Sea
Greeks
Rear Adm Pavlos Kountouriotis
Ottomans
Adm Ramiz Bey
3 December 1912
Naval Battle of Lemnos
Sea
Greeks
Rear Adm Pavlos Kountouriotis
Ottomans
 
5-18 January 1913
Battle of Bizani
Land
Greeks
Crown Prince Constantine
Ottomans
Esat Pasha
20-21 February 1913
Top

Second Balkan War

Picture from the operations in Strumnitsa during the Second Balkan War - Photographic Archive of the War Museum AthensThe main Bulgarian attack was planned against the Serbs with their 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th army while the 2nd Army was tasked with an attack towards Greek positions at Gevgeli and Salonika. The Bulgarians were outnumbered on the Greek front and the low level fighting soon turned into Greek attack all along the line on 19 June. The Bulgarian forces immediately withdrew from their positions north of Salonika (except the isolated Salonika garrison which was overrun) to defensive positions at Kilkis. The plan to quickly destroy the Serbian army in central Macedonia by concentrated attack didn't succeed and the Bulgarians were stopped.

In the Battle of Kilkis, the Greek army, commanded by, now King, Constantine, heavily outnumbered the Bulgarian forces by three to one. The Bulgarians suffered 7.000 casualties at Kilkis. A further 6.000 were taken prisoner together with 130 guns. The Greeks also suffered heavily with 8.700 casualties. It was the decisive battle on this front and the greatest Greek success in both wars.

On 29 July the Bulgarian army launched attacks on both flanks of the excellent defensive position in Kresna Gorge pushing the Greeks down the Struma and Mesta River valleys. Facing with annihilation, Constantine asked his government to seek an armistice. The Greeks had lost around 10.000 soldiers in the ten days of fighting. The Bulgarian government equally wanted peace and Constantine was saved from destruction.

The plenary session of the Balkan states for the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest that had settled the borders of the Balkan states after the end of the Second Balkan War - History Foundation of E. Venizelos AthensA general armistice was agreed upon on 18 July and the territorial gain settled in the treaties of Bucharest and Constantinople. Bulgaria lost most of the territories gained in the First Balkan War including the Dobrudja, most of TimelineMacedonia, Thrace and its Aegean coastline with the exception of the port of Dedeagach (present day Alexandroupolis. Serbia became the dominant power in the Balkans and Greece gained Salonika and its environs along with most of the Western Thrace coast. It was only a temporary settlement. Ten months later the fighting would begin again at the start of the First World War.

Battles of the Seconf Balkan War
Name
Land/Sea
Invading
General
Defending
General
Date
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
Land
Bulgaria
General Ivanov
Greeks
King Constantine
19-21 January 1913
Battle of Bregalnica
Land
Bulgaria
General Misic
Serbs
 
30 June-9 July 1913
Battle of Kalimantsi
Land
Bulgaria
 
Serbs
 
15-18 July 1913
Battle of Kresna Gorge
Land
Bulgaria
 
Greeks
King Constantine
29 July-9 August 1913

Ethnic exchanges & expulsions between 1912 and 1915
Ottomans
Greeks
Bulgarians
Greek Macedonia
100.000
 
50.000
Greek and Serbian Macedonia
 
 
100.000
Thrace
 
150.000-160.000
 
Eastern section of Thrace
 
 
51.000
Western section of Thrace
40.000-50.000
 
 
Bulgaria-Ottoman Empire Border
47.000
 
49.000
Totals
190.000-200.000
150.000-160.000
250.000
Top

  

   HISTORY OF ATHENS
  ATHENS IN MODERN TIMES
  THE BALKAN WARS

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