Vardar Offensive
| Vardar Offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Allied advance 15-29 September 1918 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Central Powers: Bulgaria Germany |
Allied Powers:.svg.png){kind=small} Serbia France United Kingdom.svg.png){kind=small} Greece_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Georgi Todorov Hristo Burmov Stefan Nerezov Ivan Lukov Stefan Toshev Friedrich von Scholtz Kuno von Steuben |
Louis Franchet d'Esperey Petar Bojović Živojin Mišić George Milne Panagiotis Danglis Ernesto Mombelli | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
550,000 18,000 Total: c. 568,000, supported by 1217 artillery pieces, 2710 machine guns and 30 airplanes[1] |
| ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 90,000 men and 800 guns captured as of the 30th of September[2] |
3,449 3,215 4,589 5,295 747 Total:17,295 killed, missing and wounded[3] | ||||||
The Vardar Offensive that took place between 14 and 29 of September 1918 was the last major military operation on the Macedonian Front during World War I.
After much preparation the multinational Allied Army of the East was able to break the deadlock that had been reigning on this theater for several years, by breaking through the enemy lines in the Battle of Dobro Pole on 14-15 September.
After this victory, the Entente army continued to liberate southern Serbia. On 21 September Demir Kapija was liberated, on the 23rd Prilep, on the 25th Kruševo, on the 26th Veles and finally on the 29th Skopje. The German 11th Army fled towards the north-west in the direction of Tetovo, while the Bulgarian First Army fell back on Sofia.[4]
This offensive forced the capitulation of Bulgaria, thus decidedly turning the strategic and operational balance of the war against the Central Powers.[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918, Richard C. Hall, 2010, p.134
- ↑ Τόμος Δεύτερος, Η Συμμετοχή της Ελλάδος εις τον Πόλεμον 1918, Ο Ελληνικός Στρατός κατά τον Πρώτον Παγκόσμιον Πόλεμον 1914-1918, Διεύθυνσις Ιστορίας Στρατού, Αθήναι 1961, page 184
- ↑ Τόμος Δεύτερος, Η Συμμετοχή της Ελλάδος εις τον Πόλεμον 1918, Ο Ελληνικός Στρατός κατά τον Πρώτον Παγκόσμιον Πόλεμον 1914-1918, Διεύθυνσις Ιστορίας Στρατού, Αθήναι 1961, Appendix 16, page 224
- ↑ Offensive du Drobopolje en Serbie
- ↑ Doughty 2005, p. 491.
References
In English:
- Hall, Richard (2010). Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-35452-8.
- Tucker, Spencer C; Roberts, Priscilla Mary (2005). Encyclopedia of World War I. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-420-2. OCLC 61247250.
- Mitrović, Andrej (2007). Serbia's Great War, 1914–1918. ISBN 978-1-55753-477-4.
- Owen, Collinson (2009). Salonica and After the Sideshow That Ended the War. ISBN 978-1-115-40803-5.
- Doughty, R. A. (2005). Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University. ISBN 0-67401-880-X.
- Thomas, Nigel; Babac, Dusan (2001). Armies in the Balkans 1914–18. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-194-7.
- Villari, Luigi (1922). The Macedonian Campaign (PDF). T.F. Unwin. OCLC 6388448. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
In Russian:
- Kursun, N. Балканский фронт мировой войны 1914–1918 гг. militera.lib.ru.
- Zayonchkovsky, Andrey (2010). Первая мировая война. militera.lib.ru.
- Rostunov, I. (2010). История Первой мировой войны 1914—1918 гг. militera.lib.ru.
In Bulgarian
- Noykov, Stefan (1922). Защо не победихме. Печатница на армейския военно издателски фонд, София.
- Azmanov, Dimitar (1935). Урокът от Добро поле. Печатница Книпеграф.
- Недев, Никола (1923). Дойранската епопея 1915 - 1918. Печатница на Армейския Военно - Издателски Фонд; София. ISBN 978-954-8247-05-4.
In German:
- Dieterich, Alfred (1928). Weltkriegsende an der mazedonischen Front. G. Stalling. OCLC 248900490.
In Greek:
- Ο Ελληνικός Στρατός κατά τον Πρώτον Παγκόσμιον Πόλεμον 1914-1918, Τόμος Δεύτερος, Η Συμμετοχή της Ελλάδος εις τον Πόλεμον 1918. Διεύθυνσις Ιστορίας Στρατού, Αθήναι. 1961.
External links
Where is Macedonia. The end of the Macedonian Front
