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 against 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

Second Balkan War

The 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.

A 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 Macedonia, 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