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Montenegro was the first to declare war on 25 September ( O.S. )/8 October. After issuing an impossible ultimatum to the Ottoman Porte on 13 October, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece declared war on the Ottomans on 17 October (1912). The declarations of war attracted a large number of war correspondents.
- .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}, 8 October 1912 – 30 May 1913, (7 months, 3 weeks and 1 day)
- Balkan Peninsula
- Ottoman European territory divided between the Balkan League States.
1912: Turkey: From November 18 to December 3, U.S. forces guarded the American legation at Constantinople during the First Balkan War. 1912–1925: Nicaragua: From August to November 1912, U.S. forces protected American interests during an attempted revolution. A small force, serving as a legation guard and seeking to promote peace and ...
- Overview
- Origin of the Balkan Wars
- The First Balkan War
- The Second Balkan War
- Results of the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars, (1912–13), two successive military conflicts that deprived the Ottoman Empire of all its remaining territory in Europe except part of Thrace and the city of Adrianople (Edirne). The second conflict erupted when the Balkan allies Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria quarreled over the partitioning of their conquests. The result was a resumption...
The Balkan Wars had their origin in the discontent produced in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece by disorder in Macedonia. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 brought into power in Constantinople (now Istanbul) a ministry determined on reform but insisting on the principle of centralized control. There were, therefore, no concessions to the Christian nationalities of Macedonia, which consisted not only of Macedonians but also of Serbs, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Vlachs. The Albanians, whose growing sense of nationalism had been awakened by the Albanian League, were likewise discontented with the Young Turks’ centralist policy.
Balkan Wars events
Siege of Adrianople
November 3, 1912 - March 26, 1913
Second Balkan War
June 29, 1913 - August 10, 1913
The First Balkan War was fought between the members of the Balkan League—Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro—and the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan League was formed under Russian auspices in the spring of 1912 to take Macedonia away from Turkey, which was already involved in a war with Italy. The league was able to field a combined force of 750,000 men. Montenegro opened hostilities by declaring war on Turkey on October 8, 1912, and the other members of the league followed suit 10 days later.
The Balkan allies were soon victorious. In Thrace the Bulgarians defeated the main Ottoman forces, advancing to the outskirts of Constantinople and laying siege to Adrianople (Edirne). In Macedonia the Serbian army achieved a great victory at Kumanovo that enabled it to capture Bitola and to join forces with the Montenegrins and enter Skopje. The Greeks, meanwhile, occupied Salonika (Thessaloníki) and advanced on Ioánnina. In Albania the Montenegrins besieged Shkodër and the Serbs entered Durrës.
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The Second Balkan War began when Serbia, Greece, and Romania quarreled with Bulgaria over the division of their joint conquests in Macedonia. On June 1, 1913, Serbia and Greece formed an alliance against Bulgaria, and the war began on the night of June 29–30, 1913, when King Ferdinand of Bulgaria ordered his troops to attack Serbian and Greek forces in Macedonia. The Bulgarian offensive, benefiting by surprise, was initially successful, but Greek and Serbian defenders retired in good order.
The Serbian army counterattacked on July 2 and drove a wedge into the Bulgarian line. Greek reserves advanced to the front on July 3, and a series of attacks over the following days threatened to turn the left flank of an entire Bulgarian army. In an effort to save their force from being cut off entirely, the Bulgarians launched a desperate attack on the Serbian lines. Once again, the Bulgarians achieved momentary success, but by July 10 the offensive had completely stalled. On July 11 the Romanian army crossed the Bulgarian frontier and began an unopposed march on Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. The following day, the Turks violated their armistice with Bulgaria and entered Thrace. The Greeks and the Serbs launched a general offensive on July 15, and the Turks reoccupied Adrianople on July 22. With enemy columns converging on Sofia, the Bulgarians bowed to the inevitable. On July 30 they concluded an armistice to end hostilities, and a peace treaty was signed between the combatants on August 10, 1913. Under the terms of the treaty, Greece and Serbia divided most of Macedonia between themselves, leaving Bulgaria with only a small part of the region.
As a result of the Balkan Wars, Greece gained southern Macedonia as well as the island of Crete. Serbia gained the Kosovo region and extended into northern and central Macedonia. Albania was made an independent state under a German prince.
The political consequences of the wars were considerable. Apart from Turkey, the real loser was Austria-Hungary. The partitioning of the sanjak of Novi Pazar between Serbia and Montenegro made it impossible in the subsequent crisis of June–July 1914 for Austria-Hungary to intervene in the Balkans. The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914, was thus made to appear as naked aggression. The wars likewise altered the structure of alliances in the Balkans. Dissatisfied Bulgaria henceforth looked to Austria-Hungary for support, whereas Romania tended to move out of the influence of the Triple Alliance and toward the Triple Entente. The Turks, moreover, began to put their house in order and secured in November 1913 the services of German Gen. Otto Liman von Sanders with a group of technical advisers to strengthen the organization of their army.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Graph of global conflict deaths from 1900 to 1944 from various sources. This is a list of wars that began between 1900 and 1944.. This period saw the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945), which are among the deadliest conflicts in human history, with many of the world's great powers partaking in total war and some partaking in genocides.
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The British conquer Palestine. ( Details ) Battle of Nablus, a phase of the Battle of Meggido. ( Details ) Third Transjordan attack, a phase of the Battle of Nablus. Battle of Sharon, a phase of the Battle of Megiddo. Battle of Tulkarm, a phase of the Battle of Sharon. Battle of Arara, a phase of the Battle of Sharon.
The timeline of wars has been split up in the following periods: List of wars: before 1000. List of wars: 1000–1499. List of wars: 1500–1799. List of wars: 1800–1899. List of wars: 1900–1944. List of wars: 1945–1989. List of wars: 1990–2002.
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of its European provinces, leaving only Eastern Thrace under the Ottoman Empire's control.
