Second Balkan War
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| Second Balkan War | |||||||
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| Part of Balkan Wars | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Bulgaria |
 Greece Serbia Montenegro Romania Ottoman Empire |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Mihail Savov Nikola Ivanov, Vasil Kutinchev, Radko Dimitriev | Serbia: Radomir Putnik, Greece:King Constantine, Romania: Crown Prince Ferdinand, Alexandru Averescu |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 500,000 men | Serbia 220,000 men, Romania 200,000 men, Greece 150,000 men, Montenegro 12,000 men | ||||||
| Second Balkan War |
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| Kilkis-Lahanas - Doiran - Bregalnica - Kalimantsi - Kresna Gorge |
The Second Balkan War was fought in 1913 between Bulgaria on one side and its First Balkan War allies Greece and Serbia on the other side, with Romania and the Ottoman Empire intervening against Bulgaria. The outcome turned Serbia, an ally of the Russian Empire, into an important regional power, alarming Austria-Hungary and thereby indirectly providing an important cause for World War I.
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[edit] Background - The First Balkan War
During the First Balkan War, the Balkan League (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria) suceeded in conquering the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Albania, Macedonia and Thrace), leaving the Ottomans with only the Chatalja and Gallipoli peninsulas. The Treaty of London, signed on 30 May 1913, which ended the war, acknowledged the Balkan states' gains west of the Enos-Medea line and created an independent Albania.
However, the treaty did not satisfy anyone. The Balkan states had made no preliminary agreement on the partition of the conquered territories, especially with regards to Macedonia, and the London Conference simply recognized the status quo, whereby the territories went to the occupying power. Bulgaria felt that their territorial rewards from the war, particularly in Macedonia, were insufficient, and laid claim to the important city of Salonika, where already a Bulgarian regiment was stationed. Greece and Serbia were already displeased at being forced to evacuate Albania, and responded to the perceived Bulgarian threat by entering into negotiations, ostensibly aimed at preventing Bulgarian expansion. They settled their mutual differences and signed a military alliance on May 1/13, followed by a treaty of "mutual friendship and protection" on May 19/June 1. A further dispute of Bulgaria was with Romania, over the latter's claim on the Bulgarian fortress of Silistria on the Danube river, as the price for their neutrality in the First Balkan war.
Russian arbitration, provided for in the 1912 Serbo-Bulgarian treaty, was progressing slowly. Russia didn't wish to lose either of its allies in the Balkans (Serbia and Bulgaria). During the negotiations, low-level warfare continued in Macedonia, mainly between Serbian and Bulgarian troops. On June 16, the Bulgarian high command, without notifying the government, ordered Bulgarian troops to attack Serbian and Greek positions, and declarations of war ensued.
Bulgaria hoped to acquire all of Macedonia and dominate the Balkans, as envisaged in the Treaty of San Stefano, while Serbia and Greece hoped to secure their portions of Macedonia and prevent Bulgarian hegemony.
[edit] The Beginning of the Second Balkan War
The main Bulgarian attack was planned against the Serbs with their 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies, while the 2nd Army was tasked with an attack towards Greek positions towards 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.
[edit] Battle of Kilkis-Lahana
The Bulgarian 2nd Army in southern Macedonia commanded by General Ivanov held a line from Lake Doiran (a key battlefield for British troops three years later) south east to Lakes Langaza (modern Lake Koronia) and Beshik (modern Lake Volvi), then across to the port of Kavala on the Aegean. The army had been in place since May, and had fought at the siege of Adrianople in the First Balkan War. Bulgarians claim that their troops were overextended and that they numbered no more than 40,000 men in two weak divisions. Many of the gaps were filled with recruits from the local population. The Greeks estimated their opponents at at least 80,000 men. The Greek army, commanded by King Constantine, had nine divisions and a cavalry division (120,000 men), outnumbering the Bulgarian forces, which were however heavily fortified.
At Kilkis the Bulgarians had constructed strong defences, including captured Ottoman guns which dominated the plain below. On 3 July the Greek 4th, 2nd and 5th divisions attacked across the plain in rushes supported by artillery. They suffered heavy casualties but by the following day had carried the trenches. Meanwhile on the Bulgarian left the Greek 7th Division had captured Nigrita and the 1st and 6th divisions Lahana. On the Bulgarian right Evzoni captured Gevgelija and the heights of Matsikovo. As a consequence the Bulgarian line of retreat through Doiran was threatened and Ivanov's army began a desperate retreat which at times threatened to become a rout. Reinforcements in the form of the 14th Division came too late and joined the retreat towards Strumica and the Bulgarian border. The Greeks captured Doiran on 5 July but were unable to cut off the Bulgarian retreat through the Struma pass. On 11 July the Greeks joined up with the Serbs and then pushed on up the Struma River until they reached the Kresna Gorge on 24 July. At this point the exhausted Greeks had reached the end of their logistical systems and halted.
The Bulgarians admitted to some 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.
[edit] Bregalnica, Kalimantsi and Kresna Gorge
On the front in central Macedonia the Serbs pushed Bulgarian forces eastwards at the battle of Bregalnica (30 June - 9 July). Meanwhile on the north the Bulgarians started to advance towards Serbian town of Pirot (near the Serbian - Bulgarian border) and forced Serbian Command to send reinforcement to its 2nd Army that defended Pirot and Nis. This enabled Bulgarians to stop Serbian offensive in Macedonia at Kalimantsi on 18 July.
After the situation on Serbian front calmed down, the Bulgarians shifted their 1st Army to support the 2nd Army facing the Greeks in the excellent defensive position of Kresna Gorge. Constantine rejected his government's proposal for an armistice, seeking a decisive victory on the battlefield.
On 29 July the consolidated Bulgarian army launched attacks on both flanks pushing the Greeks down the Struma and Mesta River valleys. Constantine faced a Cannae type annihilation and pleaded for support from the Serbs. Unfortunately they were in no position to offer help after Kalimantsi and therefore Constantine asked his government to seek an armistice. The Greeks had sustained around 10,000 casualties in the previous ten days of fighting. The Bulgarian government was equally desirous of peace and therefore Constantine was saved from destruction.
| Battles of the Second Balkan War | ||||||||
| Name | Defending | Commander | Attacking | Commander | Date | Winner | ||
| Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas | Bulgarians | Gen Nikola Ivanov | Greeks | King Constantine I | June 19-21 1913 (O.S.) | Greeks | ||
| Battle of Doiran | Bulgarians | Gen Nikola Ivanov | Greeks | King Constantine I | June 22-23 1913 (O.S.) | Greeks | ||
| Battle of Bregalnica | Serbs | Bulgarians | June 17-25 1913 (O.S.) | Serbs | ||||
| Battle of Kalimantsi | Bulgarians | Serbs | July 15-18 1913 (O.S.) | Bulgarians | ||||
| Battle of Kresna Gorge | Bulgarians | Greeks | King Constantine I | July 8-18 1913 (O.S.) | stalemate(Bulgarians) | |||
[edit] End of the War
Despite stabilising the front in Macedonia the Bulgarian government's desire for peace was driven by events far from Macedonia. The Romanians invaded on 27 June/10 July occupying the undefended Southern Dobruja and marching through Northern Bulgaria threatening Sofia. To make matters worse the Ottomans took advantage of the situation to recover their former possessions in Thrace including Adrianople, which the Bulgarians abandoned on 23 July without firing a shot. Because of the relocation of all Bulgarian troops on the front with Serbia and Greece, the Ottoman and Romanian armies didn't lose any combat casualties although both armies suffered heavily from a renewed outbreak of cholera.
A general armistice was agreed on 18/31 July and the territorial spoils agreed in the treaties of Bucharest and Constantinople. Bulgaria lost most of the territories gained in the First Balkan War including the southern Dobrudja (to Romania), most of Macedonia, and Eastern Thrace (to the Ottomans), while retaining Western Thrace, its Aegean outlet, with the port of Dedeagach. Serbia made gains in northern Macedonia, while Greece gained the region's southern half with the coveted prize of Salonika, and Kavala. It was only a temporary settlement. Ten months later the fighting would begin again at the start of the First World War.
