Balkan Wars
File:1913-Ottoman-Bulgaria-Peace Agreement-Turkey publications.jpg Original Peace Agreement between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire
Date 8 October 1912 – 18 July 1913 Location Adrianople, Scutari, Kosovo, Manastir, Salonica provinces, Aegean Islands and Aegean Sea[1] Result Treaty of London, Treaty of Bucharest
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire (First Balkan War)  Bulgaria (Second Balkan War)	Montenegro  Greece  Serbia  Romania (Second Balkan War)  Bulgaria (First Balkan War)  Ottoman Empire (Second Balkan War)
Commanders and leaders
Nazim Pasha Zeki Pasha Essad Pasha Abdullah Pasha Ali Rizah Pasha Hasan Tahsin Pasha	King Nicholas Prince Danilo Petrović Mitar Martinović Janko Vukotić Mihail Savov Ivan Fichev Vasil Kutinchev Nikola Ivanov Radko Dimitriev Crown Prince Constantine Panagiotis Danglis Pavlos Kountouriotis Radomir Putnik Petar Bojović Stepa Stepanović Živojin Mišić

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.

By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia had achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. But large parts of their ethnic populations remained under Ottoman rule. In 1912, these countries formed the Balkan League. The First Balkan War broke out when the League attacked Turkey on 8 October 1912 and was ended seven months later by the Treaty of London. After five centuries, Turkey lost virtually all of its possessions in the Balkans.

The Second Balkan War broke out on 16 June 1913. Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in Macedonia, made in secret by its former allies, Serbia and Greece, and attacked them. The Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked into Bulgaria, while Romania and Turkey also attacked Bulgaria and gained (or regained) territory. In the resulting Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War.

Background[link]

The background to the wars lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the European territory of the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 19th century. Serbia had gained substantial territory during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, while Greece acquired Thessaly in 1881 (although it lost a small area back 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 Rumelia, comprising Eastern Rumelia, Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace (see map).

Policies of the Great Powers[link]

Throughout the 19th century, the Great Powers shared different aims over the "Eastern Question" and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Russia wanted access to the "warm waters" of the Mediterranean; it pursued a pan-Slavic foreign policy and therefore supported Bulgaria and Serbia. Britain wished to deny Russia access to the "warm waters" and supported the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, although 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 its position in the region, especially in the Levant (today's Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories and Israel).

Habsburg-ruled Austria-Hungary wished for a continuation of the existence of the Ottoman Empire, since both were troubled multinational entities and thus the collapse of the one might weaken the other. The Habsburgs also saw a strong Ottoman presence in the area as a counterweight to the Serbian nationalistic call to their own Serb subjects in Bosnia. Italy, it has been argued, wished to recreate the Roman empire, though its primary aim at the time seems to have been the denial of access to the Adriatic Sea to another major sea power. Germany, in turn, under the "Drang nach Osten" policy, aspired to turn the Ottoman Empire into its own de facto colony, and thus supported its integrity.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Bulgaria and Greece contended for Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace. Ethnic Greeks sought the forced "Hellenization" of ethnic Bulgars, who sought "Bulgarization" of Greeks. Both nations sent armed irregulars into Ottoman territory to protect and assist their ethnic kindred. From 1904, there was low intensity warfare in Macedonia between the Greek and Bulgarian bands and the Ottoman army (the Struggle for Macedonia). After the Young Turk revolution of July 1908, the situation changed drastically.

Young Turk revolution[link]

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 in the 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 counter-coup, 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[link]

Muslims in Bosnia praying on a hillside during the Balkan Wars.

Serbia was frustrated in the north by Austria-Hungary's incorporation of Bosnia. In March 1909, Serbia was forced to accept the annexation and restrain anti-Habsburg agitation by Serbian nationalists. Instead, 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 15 August 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, until 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.^[2]

Bulgaria, which had secured Ottoman recognition of her independence in April 1909 and enjoyed the friendship of Russia,^[3] also looked to districts of Ottoman Thrace and Macedonia. In August 1910 Montenegro followed Bulgaria's precedent by becoming a kingdom.

Balkan League[link]

Bulgarian forces waiting to start their assault on Adrianople

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 Turkey and fulfill 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 Turkey would not be possible while it could bring reinforcements from Asia. The condition of the Turkish railways of the time was primitive, so most reinforcement would have to come by sea through the Aegean Sea. Greece was the only Balkan country with a navy powerful enough to deny use of the Aegean to Turkey, thus a treaty between Greece and Bulgaria became necessary; it was signed in May 1912.

Montenegro concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria later that year. Bulgaria signed treaties with Serbia to divide the territory of northern Macedonia, but refused any similar agreement with Greece. Bulgaria's policy was that the agreement would limit Serbia's access to Macedonia, while at the same time Bulgaria could take as much as its army could regardless of Greek wishes. Bulgaria thought it could occupy the larger part of Aegean Macedonia and the important port city of Salonika before the Greeks could get there.

This 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 secret liaison officers were 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, to better prepare her navy, but Montenegro declared war on 8 October (25 September O.S.). Following an ultimatum to Turkey, the remaining members of the alliance entered the conflict on 17 October.

First Balkan War[link]

Territorial changes as a result of the First Balkan war, as of April 1913 showing the prewar agreed line of expansion between Serbia and Bulgaria

The apple of discord: King George I of Greece and Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria at Thessaloniki, December 1912. Despite their alliance, Greco-Bulgarian antagonism over the city and Macedonia in general did not abate.

The three Slavic allies (Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro) had laid out extensive plans to coordinate their war efforts, in continuation of their secret prewar settlements and under close Russian supervision. (Greece was not included.) Serbia and Montenegro would attack in the theater of Sandjak, Bulgarian and Serbia in Macedonia and Thrace.

Turkey's situation was difficult. Its population of about 26 million people provided a massive pool of manpower, but 3/4 of the population and nearly all of the Muslim component lived in the Asian part of the Empire. Reinforcements had to come from Asia mainly by sea, which depended on the result of battles between the Turkish and Greek navies in the Aegean.

With the outbreak of the war, Turkey activated three Army HQs: the Thracian HQ in Constantinople, the Western HQ in Salonika, and the Vardar HQ in Skopje, against the Bulgarians, the Greeks and the Serbians respectively. Most of their available forces were allocated to these fronts. Smaller independent units were allocated elsewhere, mostly around heavily fortified cities.

Montenegro was the first that declared war on 8 October(25 September O.S.).^{[citation needed]} Its main thrust was towards Shkodra, with secondary operations in the Novi Pazar area. The rest of the Allies, after giving a common ultimatum, declared war a week later. Bulgaria attacked towards Eastern Thrace, being stopped only at the outskirts of Constantinople at the Çatalca line and the isthmus of the Gallipoli peninsula, while secondary forces captured Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. Serbia attacked south towards Skopje and Monastir and then turned west to present-day Albania, reaching the Adriatic, while a second Army captured Kosovo and linked with the Montenegrin forces. Greece's main forces attacked from Thessaly into Macedonia through the Sarantaporo strait and after capturing Thessaloniki on 12 November (on 26 October 1912, O.S.) expanded its occupied area and linked up with the Serbian army to the northwest, while its main forces turned east towards Kavala, reaching the Bulgarians. Another Greek army attacked into Epirus towards Ioannina.^[4]

In the naval front the Ottoman fleet twice exited the Dardanelles and was twice defeated by the Greek Navy, in the battles of Elli and Lemnos. Greek dominance on the Aegean Sea made it impossible for the Ottomans to transfer the planned troops from the Middle East to the Thracian (against the Bulgarian) and to the Macedonian (against the Greeks and Serbians) fronts.^[5] According to the E.J.Erickson the Greek Navy also played a crucial, albeit indirect role, in the Thracian campaign by neutralizing no less than three Thracian Corps (see First Balkan War, the Bulgarian theater of operations), a significant portion of the Ottoman Army there, in the all-important opening round of the war.^[5] After the defeating of the Ottoman fleet the Greek Navy was also free to liberate the islands of the Aegean.^[6] General Nikola Ivanov identified the activity of the Greek Navy as the chief factor in the general success of the allies.^[5][7]

In January, after a successful coup by young army officers, the Ottoman Empire decided to continue the war. After a failed Ottoman counter-attack in the Western-Thracian front, Bulgarian forces with the help of the Serbian Army managed to conquer Adrianople while Greek forces managed to take Ioannina after defeating the Ottomans in the battle of Bizani. In the joint Serbian-Montenegrin theater of operation the Montenegrin army besieged and captured the Shkodra, ending the Ottoman presence in Europe west of the Çatalca line after nearly 500 years. The war ended with the Treaty of London on 30(17) May 1913.

Second Balkan War[link]

Boundaries on the Balkans after the First and the Second Balkan War (1912–1913)

Though the Balkan allies had fought together against the common enemy, that was not enough to overcome their mutual rivalries. In the original document for the Balkans league, Serbia promised Bulgaria most of Macedonia. But after the war, Serbia and Greece revealed their plan to keep part of the promised territory. This act forced the tsar of Bulgaria to invade his allies. The Second Balkan War broke out on 29(16) June 1913 when Bulgaria attacked its erstwhile allies in the First Balkan War, Serbia and Greece, while Montenegro, Romania and the Ottoman Empire intervened later against Bulgaria. When the Greek army entered Thessaloniki in the First Balkan War ahead of the Bulgarian 7th division by only a day, they were 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 48,000-strong division instead of the battalion, something which caused concern among the Greeks, who viewed it as a Bulgarian attempt to establish a condominium over the city. In the event, due to the urgently needed reinforcements in the Thracian front, Bulgarian Headquarters was soon forced to remove its troops from the city (while the Greeks agreed by mutual treaty to remove their units based in Serres) and transport them to Dedeağaç (modern Alexandroupolis), but still it left behind a battalion that started fortifying its positions.