[25] The defensive victory, along with the successes to the north of the 1st and 3rd armies, protected western Bulgaria from a Serbian invasion. Feel free to ask. 100,000 Bulgarian troops took part in the attack. Romania enlarged her territory by 5 percent and Montenegro by 62 percent. After pressure from the Great Powers towards Greece and Serbia, who had postponed signing in order to fortify their defensive positions, the signing of the Treaty of London took place on 30 May 1913. The Balkan League now fell out amongst themselves over the distribution of the spoils of war. However, the relations between the victorious Balkan allies quickly soured over the division of the spoils, especially Macedonia. [1] The Greek Headquarters also estimated the numbers of their opponents from 80,000 to 105,000 men.[17]. In the Second Balkan War, the erstwhile allies fought among themselves for the Ottoman spoils. The 2nd Army under general Nikola Ivanov was detailed against the Greek army. When the Romanian army closed in on Sofia, Bulgaria asked Russia to arbitrate. T. Werner Laurie LTD, p. 336. The Second Balkan War – Explained in 10 minutes. Another point of friction was Bulgaria's refusal to cede the fortress of Silistra to Romania. In the event, during the war, the Serbs succeeded in capturing an area far south of the agreed border, down to the Bitola–Gevgelija line (both in Serbian hands). This was highly unpopular with the local Greek population, who, after a revolt, managed to acquire local autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu.[33]. The retreat from the areas that had to be ceded to Bulgaria, together with the loss of Northern Epirus to Albania, was not well received in Greece; from the areas occupied during the war, Greece succeeded in retaining only the territories of Serres and Kavala after diplomatic support from Germany. This move precipitated the First World War. [26], Greek troops advancing in the Kresna Gorge, The Serbian front had become static. Second Balkan War medal.jpg 324 × 444; 63 KB Serbian Army, Second Balkan War, 1913.jpg 845 × 430; 123 KB Serbian soldiers in Kratovo, 7 June 1913.jpg 1,463 × 1,028; 636 KB The rise of nationality in Balkans, RW Senton-Watson, p. 235. Difference between Second Balkan War and Stepa Stepanović Second Balkan War vs. Stepa Stepanović. On 26 June the Bulgarian Army received orders to destroy the opposing Greek forces and to advance towards Thessaloniki. [28] At 15 July, the Bulgarian army, under heavy pressure, was forced to abandon Gorna Dzhumaya. [1] The Bulgarian behavior had also a long termed consequence over the Russo-Bulgarian relations as together with the uncompromising Bulgarian position tο review the prewar agreement with Serbia during a second Russian initiative for arbitration between them, finally led Russia to cancel its alliance with Bulgaria. "[1] Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was already angry with Bulgaria because of the later's denial to honor its recently signed agreement with Romania over Silistra succeeded only after Russian arbitration. In comparison, subtracting the actual number of casualties including wounded and adding the newly conscripted men produces a total of no less than 576,878 men. 282,667 Pages. Balkan war definition, a war (1912–13) in which Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece opposed Turkey. By early June, the army of the Kingdom of Greece had a grand total of some 142,000[citation needed] armed men with nine infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade. Bulgaria had unsuccessfully contested the distribution by its former allies of territory taken from the Turks during the First Balkan War (1912–13). With the delineation of the exact boundaries of the new state under the Protocol of Florence (17 December 1913), the Serbs lost their outlet to the Adriatic and the Greeks the region of Northern Epirus (Southern Albania). 1937. p. 566. See more. A general armistice was signed on 18/31 July 1913, ending the most bloodshed battle of the Second Balkan War. With this agreement, Serbia succeeded in making Greece a part of its dispute over northern Macedonia, since Greece had guaranteed Serbia's current (and disputed) occupation zone in Macedonia. Targeting civilians in war; Alexander B. Downes; 2008; Price, Crawfurd (1914). When Romanian troops approached the capital Sofia, Bulgaria asked for an armistice, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest, in which Bulgaria had to cede portions of its First Balkan War gains to Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottomans. [29], The Greek army was exhausted and faced logistical difficulties but resisted strenuously and launched local counter-attacks. Bulgaria's intention was to defeat Serbs and Greeks and to occupy areas as large as possible before the Great Powers interfered to stop the hostilities. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. On 5 February Romania settled her differences over Transylvania with Austro-Hungary signing a military alliance and on 28 June officially warned Bulgaria that it would not remain neutral in a new Balkan war.[8]. Bulgarian sources are giving a total of 6,971 casualties. Register Military. In the pass of Kresna (Battle of Kresna Gorge), the Greeks were ambushed by the Bulgarian 2nd and 4th Army army which had newly arrived from the Serbian front and had taken defensive positions there. When Romania after the (First Balkan) war demanded its cession, Bulgaria's foreign minister offered instead some minor border changes, which excluded Silistra, and assurances for the rights of the Kutzovlachs in Macedonia. Defeated by Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Turkey in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria signed an Armistice on July 31, 1913. During the First Balkan War, the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece) succeeded in driving out the Ottoman Empire from its European provinces (Albania, Macedonia, Sandžak and Thrace), leaving the Ottomans with only the Çatalca and Gallipoli peninsulas. On the eastern flank, the Greek army launched an counterattack towards Mehomia through the Predela pass. No provisions were made in case of a (officially declared) Romanian intervention or an Ottoman counterattack, strangely assuming that Russia would assure that no attack would come from those directions,[12] even though on 9 June Russia had angrily repudiated its Bulgarian alliance and shifted its diplomacy towards Romania (Russia already had named Romania's King Carol an honorary Russian Field Marshal, as a clear warning in shifting its policy towards Sofia in December 1912).