Battle of Bregalnica

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Battle of Bregalnica
Part of Second Balkan War
Date June 30–, 1913 Location Bregalnica, Macedonia Result Decisive Serbian victory
Combatants
Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Montenegro	Kingdom of Bulgaria
Commanders
Field Marshal Putnik General Petar Bojović Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević General Živojin Mišić	General Savov General Ivanov General Kočevski
Strength
ca. 194,000 men, 235 guns (104 Infantry Battalions, 34 Cavalry Companies, 62 Artillery Batteries) * Montenegrin division ca. 13,000 men, 6 guns and 24 machineguns	ca. 130,000 men, guns (100 Infantry Battalions, 6 Cavalry Regiments, 63 Artillery Batteries)
Casualties
total 16,620; of whom 3,000 killed	est. unknown, probably significantly larger than Serbian

Second Balkan War
Kilkis-Lahanas - Doiran - Bregalnica - Kalimantsi - Kresna Gorge

The Battle of Bregalnica was fought between the Kingdom of Bulgaria army and the Kingdom of Serbia during the Second Balkan War.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Battle 3 After 4 References 5 Notes

[edit] Introduction

After the First Balkan War Serbia was prevented by major powers (esp. Austria-Hungary, fearing Serbia's growing strength and its influence on the majority of its population which was Slavic, especially southern Slavs: Slovenes, Croats and Austrian Serbs - Austrians and Hungarians were both minorities in both halves of their dualistic realm). On the other hand, Bulgarian army did conduct the costliest campaign in the war: approach to Constantinople and symbolic value of Edirne (Ottoman capital from 1365 until 1453 when it was transferred to then conquered Constantinople) was certainly the front where majority of Turkish forces were concentrated. After the war, Bulgarian animosity did grow especially due to Serbian insistence on compensation of its loss of sea access when its army was forced to abandon Shkodër - Skadar (slavic) with territory in Macedonia west of Vardar, around lake Ohrid and Bitola. Bulgaria showed no intention that it was prepared to giive in to Serbian demands for revision of the original pact on rebus sic stantibus legal grounds. This put Greece and Serbia on their guard, being aware that the possibility of war was becoming inevitable, because Serbia had no intention of giving up the lands it conquered in Macedonia. These two countries on June 2, 1913, signed a military convention and made all the necessary dispositions for resisting any aggression on Bulgaria's part.

[edit] The Battle

At one o'clock in the morning of June 30, without previous declaration of hostilities, Bulgarian 4th Army crossed the Bregalnica (a tributary of the Vardar) and attacked positions of Serbian 1st army. A most violent battle ensued which lasted for several days; at some points the Bulgarians, thanks to the suddenness of their offensive, were temporarily successful, but gradually the Serbs regained the upper hand and by July 1 the Bulgarians were beaten. The losses were very heavy on both sides, but the final issue was a complete triumph for the Serbian army.

[edit] After

The Battle of Slivnitsa was avenged by the battle of the Bregalnica, the defeat which lurked upon the Serbian army and, which was the cause of the optimism of Turkish central command and its Vardar Army operational plan during the First Balkans War. After a triumphant campaign of one month, in which the Serbs were joined by the Greeks, Bulgaria had to bow to the inevitable. The Romanian army had invaded northern Bulgaria, bent on maintaining the Balkan equilibrium and on securing compensation for having observed neutrality during the war of 1912-13, and famine reigned at Sofia. It should also be noted that epidemics of both typhus and cholera decimated Bulgarian ranks (later was also transmitted to Serbian troops during the Battle of Bregalnica, causing an estimate 5,000 deaths in Serbian ranks - number higher than those killed in the battle itself). A conference was arranged at Bucharest, and the treaty of that name was signed there on August 10, 1913. By the terms of this treaty Serbia retained the whole of northern and central Macedonia, including Monastir and Ohrid, and the famous sanjak of Novi Pazar was divided between Serbia and Montenegro. Some districts of east-central Macedonia, which were genuinely Bulgarian, were included in Serbian territory, as Serbia naturally did not wish, after the disquieting and costly experience of June and July 1913, to give the Bulgarians another chance of separating Greek from Serbian territory by a fresh surprise attack, and the further the Bulgarians could be kept from the Vardar river and railway the less likelihood there was of this.

[edit] References

• Savo Skoko Vojvoda Radomir Putnik Vol.1; Beogradsko Grafičko-Izdavčki Zavod, 1984.

[edit] Notes

• The numbers of the strength of Serbian army do not indicate exact strength of the forces deployed during the Battle of Bregalnica but rather the entire strength of Serbian Army in Macedonia (Operational group South which included combined 1st and 3rd Armies) at the beginning of hostilities.