Greece in the Balkan Wars
Encyclopedia
The participation of Greece
in the Balkan Wars
of 1912–1913 is one of the most important episodes in modern Greek history
, as it allowed the Greek state to almost double its size and achieve most of its present territorial size. It also served as a catalyst of political developments, as it brought to prominence two personalities, whose relationship would dominate the next decade and have long-lasting repercussions for Greece: the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos
, and the Army's commander-in-chief, the Crown Prince and later King, Constantine I
.
In the First Balkan War
, Greece was allied with Bulgaria
, Serbia
and Montenegro
in the "Balkan League
" against the Ottoman Empire
. The war began on with the declaration of war by Montenegro, while Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia joined on . During this war, Greece fought on two fronts on land, and also shouldered the main naval effort of the Balkan allies. The initial principal thrust on land was by the Army of Thessaly, which succeeded in occupying much of Macedonia
, including the strategically important port of Thessaloniki
, the latter just hours ahead of a Bulgarian division; this would result in increased tension between the two allies in the coming months, and would be one of the causes of the Second Balkan War
. Following the successful conclusion of operations in Macedonia, the Greek Army shifted its weight to the Epirus
front, where, after a prolonged siege, the city of Ioannina
fell, and the Greeks advanced into "Northern Epirus
" (modern southern Albania
). In the Aegean Sea
, the Greek Navy took possession of all the Aegean islands
except for the Italian-occupied Dodecanese
, and fought off two attempts by the Ottoman Navy
to sally forth from the Dardanelles
.
Although negotiations had started in London
in December 1912, the war continued until , when the Treaty of London was finally signed. The treaty failed to satisfy any party involved, with the chief point of friction being the partition of Macedonia. In the face of Bulgarian claims, Serbia and Greece formed an alliance, and on the evening of , Bulgarian forces launched a surprise attack against their erstwhile allies. The Bulgarian attacks were soon contained, and pushed back. For Greece in particular, the battles of the Second Balkan War were very costly, as the Greek Army pushed its way into Bulgaria. Following the entry of Romania
and the Ottoman Empire
in the war, the Bulgarian position became hopeless, and an armistice was declared on 30 July. The war was concluded with the Treaty of Bucharest on 10 August 1913, which confirmed the Greek gains of Macedonia
, Epirus (without Northern Epirus) and Crete.
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The Balkan Wars must be regarded within the context of the rising Balkan nationalisms during the 19th century, which ran counter to the established Ottoman religion-based millet
system. Inspired by the theories of nationalism
as expounded in contemporary France, Germany and Italy, Balkan intellectual elites sought to awaken the national consciousness of their compatriots and advocated the creation of ethnically homogeneous nation-state
s. The first states to be formed out of the Ottoman Empire were Serbia (as an autonomous principality in 1804–1817) and Greece (as a fully independent kingdom
in 1821–1832), in both cases following protracted wars. In both cases also, the new states formed only a fraction of the lands claimed as belonging to the respective nations. In the Greek case, fully three quarters of all Greeks still lived under Ottoman rule, and the drive to liberate their "unredeemed" brethren became known as the Megali Idea
, first articulated by the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis
before Parliament in 1844:
Kolettis thus united the nascent Greek state, which initially had hearkened back mostly to the glories of Classical Greece, with the vision of a restored Byzantine Empire
. The process of restoring the Byzantine Empire as an integral part of Greek national consciousness, and consequently claiming its cultural and territorial heritage, was carried out by Greece's "national historian", Constantine Paparrigopoulos.
Likewise, Serbia sought to revive the empire of Stefan Dusan, and the latecomers in the Balkan nation-building, the Bulgarians, the medieval Bulgarian Empire
s. Following the Treaty of San Stefano
in 1877, this "greater Bulgaria
" seemed to be realized, but was reduced drastically in the subsequent Treaty of Berlin, which also ceded Thessaly
to Greece. This episode however made clear that the Balkan nationalisms were mutually competitive, and nowhere was this competition clearer than in the great region that lay between the three states, Macedonia
.
, Turks and other Balkan Muslims, Albanians, and featured even a large community of Sephardic Jews, who were the dominant element in the region's major city, Thessaloniki. All countries with minorities in the region tried to make progress at the expense of the others, funding schools and publishing ethnographic statistics and maps that supported their claims.
In the late 1890s, the antagonism for Macedonia, hitherto mostly confined to a cultural and propaganda war, entered a new phase, as the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1893, initiated an armed guerrilla campaign against the Ottomans. Following the Ilinden Uprising, the Bulgarian efforts were countered by Serb and Greek armed groups, in what is known as the "Macedonian Struggle
" in Greece. These armed bands functioned as the military wing of national committees that carried out an intensive campaign of cultural assimilation amongst the rural populace, funding schools and orphanages, among other things. Sporadic fighting took place between Bulgarian komitadji
s, Greek andartes and Ottoman gendarmes. Looting, arson and assassinations were commonplace, as each side sought to intimidate the other's supporters. The clashes ended only with the outbreak of the Young Turk Revolution
in 1908, which promised equality to all Ottoman subjects.
The Young Turk Revolution
ushered a period of instability in the region. Seizing the opportunity, Bulgaria unilaterally declared its full independence, Austria-Hungary
annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina
, angering the Serbs and Russians
, while Crete
also declared its union (enosis
) with Greece, although the latter was not formalized. Initially, the liberal promises of the Young Turks caused much enthusiasm both inside the Empire and in the Balkan states, but they gradually adopted a policy of forced "Ottomanisation", which, coupled with the parallel rise of Albanian nationalism, threatened the interests of the other Balkan states. Italy too, in search of a colonial empire, took advantage of the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, attacking Libya
and seizing the Dodecanese
islands during the Italo-Turkish War
. The Italians promised to cede the Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands to Greece, but in the end kept them. This aroused indignation in Greece. Coupled with Bulgarian aspirations for Macedonia and Austrian designs on Thessaloniki, it made clear that, if Greece did not want to be left out of the Ottoman spoils, it had to act. Nevertheless, the new Greek Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos
, hesitated to act alone, not only because of the bitter memories of the disastrous war
of 1897, but also because the large Greek populations inside Ottoman territory might be exposed to reprisals.
to Serbia, Thrace
to Bulgaria; southern Macedonia would be received by Bulgaria, while its northern part would be partitioned between the two under the arbitration of the Russian Tsar. Feelers about a rapprochement and an alliance had also been put forward to Bulgaria by Venizelos in early 1911, but not until after the conclusion of the Serbian-Bulgarian pact did negotiations commence in earnest. Bulgaria, the "Prussia
of the Balkans", had the region's strongest army, and in light of the 1897 debacle, the Greek army was held in low esteem. But Greece could offer its navy, which alone could prevent Ottoman reinforcements from being transported from Asia directly to the European fronts. As the Greek ambassador to Sofia noted: "Greece can provide 600,000 men for the war effort. 200,000 men in the field, and the fleet will be able to stop 400,000 men being landed by Turkey between Salonica and Gallipoli." A treaty of defensive alliance was thus signed at Sofia
on . Unlike the treaty with Serbia, no provisions were made for the division of territory, primarily because the Bulgarians assumed that their army would seize most of its aims before the Greeks got there.
(except for Montenegro) staffed by officers educated abroad, a divisional
structure, and were equipped with European arms, chiefly of French or German origin. Their backbone was the infantry, composed mostly of conscripted peasants, while their officers hailed chiefly from the middle classes. Among the Balkan nations, only Greece possessed a considerable navy, while Bulgaria was limited to a few torpedo boats to guard its Black Sea
coast.
, which would strike in the direction of Epirus. The Army of Thessaly comprised seven infantry divisions, four independent Evzones
battalions, a cavalry brigade and various support units, as well as four Farman aircraft, a total of 100,000 men, 70 machine guns and 120 artillery pieces, with 80,000 in the field. The Army of Epirus was of divisional strength, being composed of 8 infantry and one Evzones battalions, one cavalry company and 24 field guns, with a total of ca. 10,000 men. It was later reinforced by a Cretan volunteer regiment and by a corps of Garibaldini volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi II
, reaching some 13,000 men.
Greek infantry divisions fielded three infantry regiments, one or two artillery battalions, and a cavalry-half-company for reconnaissance duties. Recently reorganized by a French military mission, the army was equipped with the Mannlicher-Schönauer
rifle, and French artillery guns, chiefly the Canon de 75 modèle 1897
and the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun
.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
of 1912–1913 is one of the most important episodes in modern Greek history
History of modern Greece
The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence to the present day.- Background :In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire...
, as it allowed the Greek state to almost double its size and achieve most of its present territorial size. It also served as a catalyst of political developments, as it brought to prominence two personalities, whose relationship would dominate the next decade and have long-lasting repercussions for Greece: the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
, and the Army's commander-in-chief, the Crown Prince and later King, Constantine I
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
.
In the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, Greece was allied with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
in the "Balkan League
Balkan League
The Balkan League was an alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Balkan states of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of the Balkan peninsula...
" against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The war began on with the declaration of war by Montenegro, while Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia joined on . During this war, Greece fought on two fronts on land, and also shouldered the main naval effort of the Balkan allies. The initial principal thrust on land was by the Army of Thessaly, which succeeded in occupying much of Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, including the strategically important port of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, the latter just hours ahead of a Bulgarian division; this would result in increased tension between the two allies in the coming months, and would be one of the causes of the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
. Following the successful conclusion of operations in Macedonia, the Greek Army shifted its weight to the Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
front, where, after a prolonged siege, the city of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
fell, and the Greeks advanced into "Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
" (modern southern Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
). In the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, the Greek Navy took possession of all the Aegean islands
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
except for the Italian-occupied Dodecanese
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...
, and fought off two attempts by the Ottoman Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
to sally forth from the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
.
Although negotiations had started in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in December 1912, the war continued until , when the Treaty of London was finally signed. The treaty failed to satisfy any party involved, with the chief point of friction being the partition of Macedonia. In the face of Bulgarian claims, Serbia and Greece formed an alliance, and on the evening of , Bulgarian forces launched a surprise attack against their erstwhile allies. The Bulgarian attacks were soon contained, and pushed back. For Greece in particular, the battles of the Second Balkan War were very costly, as the Greek Army pushed its way into Bulgaria. Following the entry of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the war, the Bulgarian position became hopeless, and an armistice was declared on 30 July. The war was concluded with the Treaty of Bucharest on 10 August 1913, which confirmed the Greek gains of Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
, Epirus (without Northern Epirus) and Crete.
The rise of Balkan nationalism
The Balkan Wars must be regarded within the context of the rising Balkan nationalisms during the 19th century, which ran counter to the established Ottoman religion-based millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
system. Inspired by the theories of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
as expounded in contemporary France, Germany and Italy, Balkan intellectual elites sought to awaken the national consciousness of their compatriots and advocated the creation of ethnically homogeneous nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
s. The first states to be formed out of the Ottoman Empire were Serbia (as an autonomous principality in 1804–1817) and Greece (as a fully independent kingdom
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
in 1821–1832), in both cases following protracted wars. In both cases also, the new states formed only a fraction of the lands claimed as belonging to the respective nations. In the Greek case, fully three quarters of all Greeks still lived under Ottoman rule, and the drive to liberate their "unredeemed" brethren became known as the Megali Idea
Megali Idea
The Megali Idea was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited areas, since large Greek populations after the restoration of Greek independence in 1830 still lived under Ottoman rule.The term...
, first articulated by the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis
Ioannis Kolettis
Ioannis Kolettis was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and serving twice as Prime Minister....
before Parliament in 1844:
Kolettis thus united the nascent Greek state, which initially had hearkened back mostly to the glories of Classical Greece, with the vision of a restored Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The process of restoring the Byzantine Empire as an integral part of Greek national consciousness, and consequently claiming its cultural and territorial heritage, was carried out by Greece's "national historian", Constantine Paparrigopoulos.
Likewise, Serbia sought to revive the empire of Stefan Dusan, and the latecomers in the Balkan nation-building, the Bulgarians, the medieval Bulgarian Empire
Bulgarian Empire
Bulgarian Empire is a term used to describe two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, during which it acted as a key regional power in Europe in general and in Southeastern Europe in particular, rivalling Byzantium...
s. Following the Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano
The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
in 1877, this "greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria is term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia...
" seemed to be realized, but was reduced drastically in the subsequent Treaty of Berlin, which also ceded Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
to Greece. This episode however made clear that the Balkan nationalisms were mutually competitive, and nowhere was this competition clearer than in the great region that lay between the three states, Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
.
Macedonia
Macedonia was inhabited by a dense mixture of nationalities, including Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, VlachsVlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
, Turks and other Balkan Muslims, Albanians, and featured even a large community of Sephardic Jews, who were the dominant element in the region's major city, Thessaloniki. All countries with minorities in the region tried to make progress at the expense of the others, funding schools and publishing ethnographic statistics and maps that supported their claims.
| Bulgarian Estimate (1900) | Serbian Estimate (1900) | Greek Estimate (1904) | Ottoman Estimate (1905) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | ||||
| Bulgarians | ||||
| Greeks | unknown | |||
| Serbs | 700 | unknown | unknown | |
| Turks (Muslims) | unknown | |||
In the late 1890s, the antagonism for Macedonia, hitherto mostly confined to a cultural and propaganda war, entered a new phase, as the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1893, initiated an armed guerrilla campaign against the Ottomans. Following the Ilinden Uprising, the Bulgarian efforts were countered by Serb and Greek armed groups, in what is known as the "Macedonian Struggle
Macedonian Struggle
The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts between Greeks and Bulgarians in the region of Ottoman Macedonia between 1904 and 1908...
" in Greece. These armed bands functioned as the military wing of national committees that carried out an intensive campaign of cultural assimilation amongst the rural populace, funding schools and orphanages, among other things. Sporadic fighting took place between Bulgarian komitadji
Komitadji
The term Komiti meaning "a rebel, member of a secret revolutionary society", refers to members of rebel bands operating in the Balkans during the final period of the Ottoman Empire, fighting against Turkish authorities in Macedonia...
s, Greek andartes and Ottoman gendarmes. Looting, arson and assassinations were commonplace, as each side sought to intimidate the other's supporters. The clashes ended only with the outbreak of the Young Turk Revolution
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional Era...
in 1908, which promised equality to all Ottoman subjects.
Ottoman weakness
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional Era...
ushered a period of instability in the region. Seizing the opportunity, Bulgaria unilaterally declared its full independence, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, angering the Serbs and Russians
Bosnian crisis
The Bosnian Crisis of 1908–1909, also known as the Annexation crisis, or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted into public view when on 6 October 1908, Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany and France...
, while Crete
Cretan State
The Cretan State was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers on the island of Crete. In 1897 an insurrection in Crete led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece, which led the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia to intervene on the grounds that the Ottoman...
also declared its union (enosis
Enosis
Enosis refers to the movement of the Greek-Cypriot population to incorporate the island of Cyprus into Greece.Similar movements had previously developed in other regions with ethnic Greek majorities such as the Ionian Islands, Crete and the Dodecanese. These regions were eventually incorporated...
) with Greece, although the latter was not formalized. Initially, the liberal promises of the Young Turks caused much enthusiasm both inside the Empire and in the Balkan states, but they gradually adopted a policy of forced "Ottomanisation", which, coupled with the parallel rise of Albanian nationalism, threatened the interests of the other Balkan states. Italy too, in search of a colonial empire, took advantage of the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, attacking Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and seizing the Dodecanese
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...
islands during the Italo-Turkish War
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
. The Italians promised to cede the Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands to Greece, but in the end kept them. This aroused indignation in Greece. Coupled with Bulgarian aspirations for Macedonia and Austrian designs on Thessaloniki, it made clear that, if Greece did not want to be left out of the Ottoman spoils, it had to act. Nevertheless, the new Greek Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
, hesitated to act alone, not only because of the bitter memories of the disastrous war
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...
of 1897, but also because the large Greek populations inside Ottoman territory might be exposed to reprisals.
Creation of the Balkan League
Spurred by the Ottomans' entanglement with Italy, Serbia and Bulgaria accelerated their negotiations for an alliance; however, their differences proved difficult to overcome, and only pressure from the Russian government, which was eager to regain ground in the Balkans, led to the signing of a treaty of alliance on . It was ostensibly directed against Austria-Hungary, but it also envisaged a partition of European Turkey: Albania and KosovoKosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
to Serbia, Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
to Bulgaria; southern Macedonia would be received by Bulgaria, while its northern part would be partitioned between the two under the arbitration of the Russian Tsar. Feelers about a rapprochement and an alliance had also been put forward to Bulgaria by Venizelos in early 1911, but not until after the conclusion of the Serbian-Bulgarian pact did negotiations commence in earnest. Bulgaria, the "Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
of the Balkans", had the region's strongest army, and in light of the 1897 debacle, the Greek army was held in low esteem. But Greece could offer its navy, which alone could prevent Ottoman reinforcements from being transported from Asia directly to the European fronts. As the Greek ambassador to Sofia noted: "Greece can provide 600,000 men for the war effort. 200,000 men in the field, and the fleet will be able to stop 400,000 men being landed by Turkey between Salonica and Gallipoli." A treaty of defensive alliance was thus signed at Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
on . Unlike the treaty with Serbia, no provisions were made for the division of territory, primarily because the Bulgarians assumed that their army would seize most of its aims before the Greeks got there.
Opposing forces
The various Balkan armies shared many similarities: they were organized along Western European lines, with a General StaffGeneral Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
(except for Montenegro) staffed by officers educated abroad, a divisional
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
structure, and were equipped with European arms, chiefly of French or German origin. Their backbone was the infantry, composed mostly of conscripted peasants, while their officers hailed chiefly from the middle classes. Among the Balkan nations, only Greece possessed a considerable navy, while Bulgaria was limited to a few torpedo boats to guard its Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast.
Greece
Greece had a peacetime army of ca. 25,000 men, which, upon mobilization on grew to an overall strength of 110,000 men. This was divided into two major armies: the Army of Thessaly (Στρατός Θεσσαλίας), commanded by the Crown Prince Constantine, which would strike in the direction of Macedonia, and the Army of Epirus (Στρατός Ηπείρου) under Lieutenant General Konstantinos SapountzakisKonstantinos Sapountzakis
Konstantinos Sapountzakis was a Greek Army officer. He is notable as the first head of the Hellenic Army General Staff and as the first commander of the Army of Epirus during the First Balkan War.- Early career :...
, which would strike in the direction of Epirus. The Army of Thessaly comprised seven infantry divisions, four independent Evzones
Evzones
The Evzones, or Evzoni, is the name of several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, it refers to the members of the Proedriki Froura , an elite ceremonial unit that guards the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential...
battalions, a cavalry brigade and various support units, as well as four Farman aircraft, a total of 100,000 men, 70 machine guns and 120 artillery pieces, with 80,000 in the field. The Army of Epirus was of divisional strength, being composed of 8 infantry and one Evzones battalions, one cavalry company and 24 field guns, with a total of ca. 10,000 men. It was later reinforced by a Cretan volunteer regiment and by a corps of Garibaldini volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi II
Giuseppe Garibaldi II
Brigadier-General Giuseppe Garibaldi II was an Italian soldier, grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi.Garibaldi was born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Ricciotti Garibaldi....
, reaching some 13,000 men.
Greek infantry divisions fielded three infantry regiments, one or two artillery battalions, and a cavalry-half-company for reconnaissance duties. Recently reorganized by a French military mission, the army was equipped with the Mannlicher-Schönauer
Mannlicher-Schönauer
The Mannlicher-Schönauer is a type of rotary magazine bolt action rifle produced by Steyr-Mannlicher for the Greek Army in 1903 and later was also used in small numbers by the Austro-Hungarian Armies.-Design Characteristics:In the late 19th century, the...
rifle, and French artillery guns, chiefly the Canon de 75 modèle 1897
Canon de 75 modèle 1897
The French 75mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze .The French 75 is widely regarded as the first modern artillery piece...
and the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun
75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09
The 75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09 was a Greek-designed and French-manufactured mountain gun....
.