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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 nineteenth 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 regions known as Roumelia, comprising Eastern Roumelia, Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace (see map). The great Powers had different aims throughout the 19th century over the question of the integrity of the Ottoman empire. Russia wished for access into the "warm waters" of the Mediterranean and supported Bulgaria. Britain wished to deny Russia access to the "warm waters" and supported the integrity of the Ottoman empire, though it seems that Britain supported 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. Austria-Hungary wished for a continuation of the existence of the Ottoman Empire since both empire were multinational entities ruled by a small elite and thus one empire's fall might bring the fall of the other. Also the strengthening of Serbia was highly undesirable. While it has been argued that Italy from that time already wished to recreate the Roman empire (as it did later under Mussolini) the main aim at the time seems to have been to deny entry into the Adriatic Sea of another sea power. Germany wished to turn the empire into its own colony, and thus supported its integrity. The Balkan countries in the late 19th and early 20th century sent inside the Empire (in Macedonia and Thrace) armed bands to try to protect their national and terrorise those of other nationalities. Low intensity warfare had broken out inside Macedonia between Greek and Bulgarian bands after 1904, the Macedonian struggle. After the Young Turk revolution of July 1908 which compelled the Sultan to restore the suspended Ottoman constitution of 1877 the situation changed dramatically. Aftermath of the Young Turks revolution The Young Turks originally proclaimed equality for all inhabitants of the empire, independently of religion and nationality. It is dubious though whether they trully intended to broaden the base of power in the empire beyond those of the Turkish nation, that was a minority popluation wise. They dictated how many members of each nation were elected in the parliament that followed the 1909 elections and made sure that over 50% of those elected were Turks. Following the 1909 royalist countercoup, which was defeated with difficulty, the liberal element of the Young Turks was sidelined and the nationalist element became dominant. While Austria-Hungary seized the opportunity of the resulting Ottoman political uncertainty to annex the officially Ottoman province of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which it had occupied since 1878, Bulgaria declared itself a fully independent kingdom (October 1908) and the Greeks of Crete proclaimed unification with Greece, though the opposition of the great powers prevented the latter action from taking practical effect. Frustrated in the north by Austria-Hungary's incorporation of Bosnia with its 825,000 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 28, 1909, a group of demonstrating Greek officers (Stratiotikos Syndesmos) urging constitutional revision, removal of the royal family from the leadership of the armed forces and a more nationalist foreign policy secured the appointment of a more sympathetic government which they hoped would resolve the Cretan issue in Greece's favour and reverse the defeat of 1897. 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 for expansion. 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. Formation of the Balkan League Following the Italy's victory in the Turkish Italian War of 1911 the Young Turks fell from power after a coup. The Balkan countries saw this as an opportunity to attack and fulfill their desires of expansion. There were also rumors of Turkish plans to end the problem of the Christian population through massacres. Initially under the encouragement of Russian agents, a series of agreements were concluded between Serbia and Bulgaria in March 1912. Military victory against the Ottoman empire was not possible while it could bring reinforcements from Asia. The condition of the Ottoman railways of the time were primitive, thus most reinforcement would 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 subsequently concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria respectively in October 1912. The alliance formed by the agreements became known as the Balkan League, whose existence was undesirable by all the Great powers. Furthermore the league was loose at best, a liaison officer between the Greek and the Serbian army was exchanged after war broke out. While Serbia and Bulgaria had signed treaties to split between them the land of Macedonia, the agreement became obsolete after Greece's entry into the League. The unwritten agreement was that each side would keep whatever it liberated. After Greece vetoed the breakout of war several times in the summer, in order to better prepare her navy, the First Balkan War broke out in October 1912 following an impossible ultimatum given to the Porte. 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 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 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 Bitola. 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 (October 26 1912, Julian calendar) 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. Following the declaration of war the Ottoman Navy did not 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 Elle 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 was not enough to overcome their mutual rivalries. While Serbian and Bulgarian claims, or Serbian and Greek claims, could be compromised upon, Greek and Bulgarian claims proved irreconcilable. When the Greek army entered Thessaloniki, the Bulgarian 7th division was only a day away, and they asked to allow a Bulgarian battalion to enter the city. Greece accepted in exchange for allowing a Greek unit to enter the city of Serres. The Bulgarian unit that entered Thessaloniki turned out to be a brigade instead of a battalion and caused concern among the Greeks, who viewed it as an attempt to establish a condominium over the city. It was removed (along with the Greek unit from Serres) by mutual treaty and was transported to Dedeagac (modern Alexandroupolis), leaving only a small force behind. Greece had also allowed the Bulgarians to control the stretch of the Thessaloniki-Constantinople railroad that lay in Greek-occupied territory, since Bulgaria controlled the largest part of this railroad anyway. Bulgaria however was not satisfied with the territory it controlled in Macedonia and asked Greece to relinquish control of land even west of Thessaloniki, in Pieria. This alarmed Greece, which decided to maintain a high level of alert on its army. Furthermore tension between Serbia and Bulgaria was rising. After a series of negotiations Greece and Serbia signed a treaty of mutual defence against an attack on any part, not only Bulgarian but also Austro-Hungarian on May 19/June 1 1913. With this treaty a mutual border was agreed between the two and an agreement for mutual diplomatic support. Both countries decided to remain on the defensive and not attack Bulgaria, even though there were border skirmishes between Serbia and Bulgaria since early May. It was Bulgaria that first attacked, without declaring war first, on June 17 1913 both the Serbian army in Gevgelija and the Greek army in Nigrita. While the Serb army lost Gevgelija and spent the war recovering the city before advancing towards the Sofia plain, the Greek army was more successful. Retreating according to plan for two days while Thessaloniki was being cleared of the remaining Bulgarian detachments, the Greek army counterattacked. Defeating the Bulgarian army in the Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas the Greek army did not enter the city of Serres in time to prevent its arson by irregular Bulgarian units. The Greek army then advanced into two directions: part of the army went east and liberated all land west of the Evros River while the rest advance up the Strymon River valley, defeating the Bulgarian army in the battles of Doiran, Mt. Beles and the Kresna straights. At the end of its advance, on July 17 the Greek army was only a few hours from Sofia. Seeing the serious defeats of the Bulgarian army Romania and the Ottoman Empire decided to take advantage of the situation. Romania raised an army and declared war on June 27. They found little resistance and by the time of the ceasefire were only 30 kilometers from Sofia. The Ottomans raised limited forces and advanced to Adrianople. They also encountered limited resistance, Andrianople wbeing defended only by an artillery regiment. 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. Then the Austro-Hungarian Army had a 3-year struggle to annex Serbia and Montenegro. This was accomplished when Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria joined the central powers along with Germany. Urlanis estimated in Voini I Narodo-Nacelenie Europi (1960) that in the first and second Balkan war there were 122,000 killed in action, 20,000 dead of wounds, and 82,000 dead of disease. See also Since the area has been referred to as the Balkans, notable conflicts have included: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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