THE SECOND BALKAN WAR Negotiations with a view to bringing the contest to an end had by this time been in progress for some weeks, and peace was signed in London on May 3o. Under its terms, Turkey in Europe was, with the exception of the country lying close to Constanti nople and to the Gallipoli peninsula, partitioned between the victors, Bulgaria acquiring the lion's share. But the Balkan League was on the point of explosion, the Great Powers were trying to establish an independent Albania, Rumania in alarm at Bulgaria's aggrandizement was preparing to intervene, and a por tion of northern Macedonia and Kosovo Polye remained in dispute between that kingdom and Serbia. Bulgaria also coveted Salonika, and had during April and May transferred her military forces from Thrace to the vicinity of the old Serbian frontier and of the borders of Macedonia, in preparation for making good her claims in the west. A state of tension consequently existed throughout the month of June, and at last, on the 3oth, without warning or declaration of war, Bulgaria assumed the offensive against both Serbia and Greece.
The Bulgarian staff had arranged their forces as five armies, the Army facing the Serbian frontier between Vidin and Berko vitsa, the 5th Army on its left, the 3rd Army about Kiustendil, the 4th Army about Kocani and Radoviste, and the 2nd Army between Strumitsa and Seres facing the Greeks. The Serbian forces were disposed in three armies, the 2nd Army guarding the old Serbo-Bulgarian frontier, the Est Army in the centre about Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka, and the 3rd Army on its right about the Bregalnica; the Greek forces were holding a front be tween Gjevgjelija on the lower Vardar and the mouth of the river Struma.
The Bulgarian offensive, benefiting by surprise, was in the first instance successful. Their 4th Army broke in between the allies, reached the Vardar at Krivolak, and with the aid of the 3rd Army thrust back the Serbian front for some distance between that point and Kriva Palanka; their 2nd Army at the same time drove the Greek advanced troops in all along the front. But the allies were disposed in considerable depth, the Bulgarian soldiery had little heart for fighting once it became apparent that their antago nists meant to resist, by the night of July I the offensive had already died down, and it was then the turn for the Serbian and Greek troops to counter-attack.
Pressing forward on July 2, the Serbian 1st Army drove a wedge through the Bulgarian line in the direction of Kyustendil, and on the two following days hustled the defenders in a south easterly direction ; the Serbian 3rd Army was in the meantime effectually checking any further advance on the part of the enemy about the upper Bregalnica. The Greek Army had brought up its reserves, and on the 3rd and 4th it counter-attacked, forced the Bulgarian 2nd Army back all along the line, and by the 7th had effectually outflanked the enemy's left. The result of these opera tions in the south was that the Bulgarian 2nd Army found itself obliged to retreat northwards up the narrow Struma valley, run ning the risk of being cut off by Serbian forces should these, ad vancing from Kocani and Kriva Palanka, succeed in occupying Jum`a-i-Bala. So, in view of the critical position of affairs, the Bulgarians made a desperate effort to retrieve the situation by initiating a fresh offensive. Their 1st and 5th Armies moved f or ward by several routes to threaten old Serbia, only to be repulsed at all points by the Serbian 2nd and 1st Armies. The Bulgarian 3rd and 4th Armies at the same time advanced against the Serbian 3rd Army in the direction of the upper Bregalnica, and this latter effort achieved some measure of success; but it also had been definitely checked by July io.
A brief pause ensued. Then, on the i 5th, both Serbians and Greeks began pressing slowly forward. Bulgaria was by this time in a sorry plight, for Rumania had declared war and had begun an unopposed march on Sofia, while the Turks had issued from Chatalja and Bulair and had re-occupied Adrianople. By trans ferring their i st Army from the north to the hills east of Jum`a-i-Bala, and attacking the Greeks in the Struma valley with this and their 2nd Army, the Bulgarian staff made a final attempt to stem the pressure. But the venture came to nothing, and on July 31 the aggressors in this second campaign, surrounded by hostile columns that were converging on their capital from every quarter, sued for peace. This was signed at Bucharest on Aug. i o.