Balkan Wars

BALKAN WARS, This article gives an account of the campaigns of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro, as allies, against Turkey, in 1912 and 1913, and also of the brief struggle that followed between the former allies, with Turkey and Rumania intervening, in the summer of 1913. When war broke out, all Macedonia, Albania and Epirus still formed part of the Ottoman Empire.

The Balkan League.

Military alliances, directed against Turkey, had been adjusted between Bulgaria and Serbia, and be tween Bulgaria and Greece during the early part of 1912; and the state of Macedonia, under Ottoman rule, served as an excuse for them to order mobilization on Sept. 3o and Oct. 1. War was declared as soon as their armies were on their war footing, and active operations at once followed, Montenegro, which had no formal agreement with the others, actually starting the hostilities. The Turkish regular forces in Europe at the time comprised 12 divisions of very weak establishment in Thrace, and 12 similar divisions stationed at various points in the extensive Ottoman territories further to the west; organization of a sort also existed for about doubling the number of divisions on mobilization ; but the actual numbers available during the opening and decisive weeks of the struggle did not exceed about 1 oo,000 combatants in Thrace and about 140,000 in the western theatres. Large mili tary forces, it is true, existed in Turkey in Asia; but, owing to the activities of the Greek fleet, these could not be transferred to any part of European Turkey other than Thrace.

Against this, Bulgaria possessed nine very strong regular divi sions, numbering about 18o,000 combatants, with two strong re serve divisions formed after mobilization. Serbia promptly placed five somewhat weaker regular divisions in the field, making up a total of about 8o,000 combatants, with five well-organized re serve divisions ready to follow. Greece could muster four regular divisions of somewhat weak establishment, the combatants at the start numbering perhaps 50,00o, with four reserve divisions to be set up on mobilization. The Montenegrin Army on the other hand was wholly on a militia basis and ill-suited for fighting except among its own mountains or immediately outside its own fron tiers. Thus the allies, at the outset, enjoyed the advantage in numbers ; and, thanks to their reserve formations being much the better organized, they retained and indeed increased this advan tage during the weeks of hostilities that followed.