Everything about Balkan Wars totally explained
|combatant2=
Balkan League:
Bulgaria Greece Serbia Montenegro
|commander1=
Ottoman Empire:
Nizam Paşa,
Zeki Paşa,
Esat Paşa,
Abdullah Paşa,
Ali Rıza Paşa
|commander2=
Bulgaria:
Vladimir Vazov,
Vasil Kutinchev,
Nikola Ivanov,
Radko Dimitriev Greece:
Crown Prince Constantine,
Panagiotis Danglis,
Pavlos Kountouriotis Serbia:
Radomir Putnik,
Petar Bojović,
Stepa Stepanović,
Živojin Mišić Montenegro:
King Nicholas I,
Prince Danilo Petrović, Mitar Martinović,
Janko Vukotić
|strength1=
|strength2=
|}}
The
Balkan Wars were two wars in South-eastern Europe in 1912–1913 in the course of which the
Balkan League (
Bulgaria,
Montenegro,
Greece, and
Serbia) first conquered
Ottoman-held
Macedonia,
Albania and most of
Thrace and then fell out over the division of the spoils.
Background
The background to the wars lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the fringes of the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. Serbians had gained substantial territory during the
Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, while Greece acquired
Thessaly in 1881 (although it lost a small area to the Ottoman Empire in 1897) and Bulgaria (an autonomous
principality since 1878) incorporated the formerly distinct province of
Eastern Rumelia (1885). All three as well as Montenegro sought additional territories within the large Ottoman-ruled region known as Roumelia, comprising Eastern Roumelia, Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace (
see map).
Policies of the Great Powers
Throughout the 19th Century, the
Great Powers had different aims over the "Eastern Question", the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Russia wished for access to the "warm waters" of the
Mediterranean and followed a
pan-Slavic foreign policy, supporting Bulgaria and Serbia. Britain wished to deny Russia access to the "warm waters" and supported the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, though it also supported a limited expansion of Greece as a backup plan in case integrity of the empire was no longer possible. France wished to strengthen her position in the region, especially in the
Levant. Austria-Hungary wished for a continuation of the existence of the Ottoman Empire, since both were multinational entities ruled by a small elite and thus the collapse of the one would affect the other as well. Also, in the eyes of the Habsburg (or
Hapsburg) empire, with its large Serbian and Croatian populations, the strengthening of Serbia was highly undesirable. While it has been argued that Italy from that time already wished to recreate the
Roman empire, her main aim at the time seems to have been primarily the denial of access to the
Adriatic Sea of another major sea power. Germany in turn, under the "
Drang nach Osten" policy, aspired to turn the empire into its own de-facto colony, and thus supported its integrity.
The Balkan countries themselves (except Serbia) sent armed bands inside the Empire (in Macedonia and Thrace) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to protect their own nationals and terrorize those of other nationalities. Low intensity warfare had broken out inside Macedonia between Greek and Bulgarian bands and the Ottoman army after 1904, the so-called
Macedonian Struggle. After the
Young Turk revolution of July 1908, the situation changed somewhat drastically.
The Young Turk revolution
It is no surprise that the "Young Turk"
revolution occurred in the troubled European provinces of the Empire. There the threat to its integrity was the most pronounced, and the need for reforms was most evident. When the revolt broke out, it was supported by intellectuals, the army, and almost all the ethnic minorities of the Empire, and forced Sultan
Abdul Hamid II to re-adopt the long defunct Ottoman constitution of 1877, ushering the so-called
Second Constitutional Era. Hopes were raised among the Balkan ethnicities of reforms and autonomy, and elections were held to form a representative, multi-ethnic, Ottoman parliament. However, following the Sultan's
attempted countercoup, the liberal element of the Young Turks was sidelined and the nationalist element became dominant.
At the same time, in October 1908, Austria-Hungary seized the opportunity of the Ottoman political upheaval to annex the
de jure Ottoman province of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, which it had occupied since 1878 (see
Bosnian Crisis), and Bulgaria declared itself a fully independent kingdom. The Greeks of the autonomous
Cretan state proclaimed unification with Greece, though the opposition of the Great Powers prevented the latter action from taking practical effect.
Reaction in the Balkan States
Frustrated in the north by Austria-Hungary's incorporation of Bosnia with its 975,000 Orthodox
Serbs (and many more Serbs and Serb-sympathizers of other faiths), and forced (March 1909) to accept the annexation and restrain anti-Habsburg agitation among Serbian nationalist groups, the Serbian government looked to formerly Serb territories in the south, notably "Old Serbia" (the
Sanjak of Novi Pazar and the province of
Kosovo).
On
August 15,
1909, the
Military League a group of Greek officers took action against the government to reform their country's national government and reorganize the army. The league found itself unable to create a new political system, till the league summoned the Cretan politician
Eleutherios Venizelos to Athens as its political adviser. Venizelos persuaded the king to revise the constitution and asked the league to disband in favor of a National Assembly. In March 1910 the Military League dissolved itself.
Bulgaria, which had secured Ottoman recognition of her independence in April 1909 and enjoyed the friendship of Russia, also looked to districts of Ottoman
Thrace and Macedonia. In March 1910, an Albanian insurrection broke out in Kosovo which was covertly supported by the young Turks. In August 1910 Montenegro followed Bulgaria's precedent by becoming a kingdom.
The Balkan League
Following Italy's victory in the
Italo-Turkish War of 1911-1912 the Young Turks fell from power after a coup. The Balkan countries saw this as an opportunity to attack and fulfil their desires of expansion.
With the initial encouragement of Russian agents, a series of agreements was concluded between Serbia and Bulgaria in March 1912. Military victory against the Ottoman empire wouldn't be possible while it could bring reinforcements from Asia. The condition of the Ottoman railways of the time were primitive, so most reinforcement would have to come by sea through the Aegean. Greece was the only Balkan country with a navy powerful enough to deny use of the Aegean to the Turks; thus a treaty was signed between Greece and Bulgaria in May 1912. Montenegro concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria later that year. Serbia and Bulgaria signed treaties to divide between them the territory of northern
Macedonia, but no such concrete agreement was signed by Greece.
The resulting alliance between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro became known as the
Balkan League; its existence was undesirable for all the Great Powers. The league was loose at best, though a secret liaison officer was exchanged between the Greek and the Serbian army after the war began. Greece delayed the start of the war several times in the summer of 1912, in order to better prepare her navy, but Montenegro declared war on October 8 (September 25
O.S.). Following an ultimatum to the Ottomans, the remaining members of the alliance entered the conflict on October 17.
The First Balkan War
No formal plan existed between the Balkan allies on how to wage the war, except for some cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro over
Novi Pazar. The war was practically four different wars fought against the same enemy, at the same time, and in the same region. The Ottoman plans called for the use of an army from Syria to be transferred in the Balkans as part of the defense. Due to Greek maritime operations this proved impossible. The Turks raised their normal forces and in order to make up for the shortfall they raised the Army of Axios, which proved to be of low quality.
Before the ultimatum Montenegro first declared war on October 5th. The main thrust was towards
Shkodra, with secondary operations in the Novi Pazar area. Bulgaria attacked towards Eastern Thrace, being stopped only at the outskirts of
Constantinople in the
Chataldja line. Serbia attacked south towards
Skopje and
Monastir. Meeting the Greek army later, they turned west towards the Adriatic. Greece landed forces in the
Halkidiki peninsula while the main force of the army attacked from
Thessaly into Macedonian through the
Sarantaporo straight. After the liberation of
Thessaloniki (on 26 October 1912, O.S.) the Greek army linked up with the Serb army north and they turned west. Another Greek army had attacked into Epirus, and forces were deployed to that front. Meanwhile the Greek navy rapidly occupied the Aegean islands still under Ottoman rule.
Following the declaration of war the Ottoman Navy didn't dare exit the safety of the
Dardanelles and spent most of its time in Nagaras. The
Greek Navy was free to liberate the islands of the Aegean, starting with Lemnos which was used as a base to monitor the Dardanelles. Following a ceasefire in December between the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, the Turkish fleet twice exited the Dardanelles but was twice defeated in the battles of
Elli and
Lemnos. In January after a coup, Turkey decided to continue the war. Bulgarian forces managed to
conquer Adrianople while Greek forces liberated
Ioannina. The war was ended with the
Treaty of London on May 17, 1913.
Second Balkan War
Though the Balkan allies had fought together against the common enemy, that wasn't enough to overcome their mutual rivalries. The Second Balkan War began when Serbia, Greece, and Romania quarreled with Bulgaria over the division of their joint conquests in Macedonia. That day is to be called in Bulgarian history "the day of criminal madness". On June 17, 1913 they attacked the Serbian army in
Gevgelija and then the Greek army in
Nigrita.
While the Serbian army faced superior Bulgarian forces and had problems, the Greek army was more successful. Retreating according to plan for two days while
Thessaloniki was cleared of remaining Bulgarian detachments, the Greek army counterattacked and defeated the Bulgarians at
Kilkis-Lahanas. However, the Greek army didn't enter the city of
Serres in time to prevent it being razed by irregular Bulgarian units. The Greek army then divided their forces and advanced in two directions. Part proceeded east and occupied all land west of the
Mesta River. The rest of the Greek army advanced up the
Struma River valley, defeating the Bulgarian army in the battles of
Doiran and Mt. Beles before themselves being defeated at the
Kresna straits and facing total annihilation. The Greeks offered a ceasefire and the Bulgarians accepted due to the danger posed by the Romanian army in the north.
Seeing the military position of the Bulgarian army,
Romania and the
Ottoman Empire decided to intervene. Romania raised an army and declared war on Bulgaria on June 27. They encountered little resistance from the Bulgarians, and by the time of the ceasefire were only 30 kilometers from
Sofia.
The
Ottomans managed to retake
Adrianople (
Edirne) which had historic significance for the Turks, being a former Ottoman capital city (see
Adrianople). The Ottomans also managed to recover eastern
Thrace, which had largely been lost in the First Balkan War, and thus regained a land mass in Europe which was only slightly larger than the present-day European territory of the
Republic of Turkey.
Aftermath
The wars were an important precursor to
World War I, to the extent that
Austria-Hungary took alarm at the great increase in Serbia's territory and regional status. This concern was shared by
Germany, which saw Serbia as a
satellite of
Russia. Serbia's rise in power thus contributed to the two
Central Powers' willingness to risk war following the
assassination in Sarajevo of the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914.
Urlanis estimated in
Voini I Narodo-Nacelenie Europi (1960) that in the first and second Balkan wars there were 122,000 killed in action, 20,000 dead of wounds, and 82,000 dead of disease.
| Ethnic exchanges & expulsions between 1912 and 1915 |
|
Ottomans |
Greeks |
Bulgarians |
| Aegean Macedonia |
100,000 |
|
50,000 |
| Vardar Macedonia |
|
|
50,000 |
| 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 |
200,000 |
Further Information
Get more info on 'Balkan Wars'.
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