Balkan Wars
- Period
- October 1912 – August 1913
- Battles
- 31
The Balkan Wars were 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 their European provinces, leaving only Eastern Thrace under Ottoman control. In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against the other four combatants of the first war. It also faced an attack from Romania from the north. The Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. Although not involved as a combatant, Austria-Hungary became relatively weaker as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavic peoples. The war set the stage for the July crisis of 1914 and was a prelude to the First World War.
Sources: Wikipedia — Balkan Wars · CC BY-SA 4.0
Battles 31
October 1912
Battle of Kumanovo
The Battle of Kumanovo, on 23–24 October 1912, was a major battle of the First Balkan War. It was an important Serbian victory over the Ottoman army in the Kosovo Vilayet, shortly after the outbreak of the war.
October 1912 – April 1913
Siege of Scutari (1912–1913)
The siege of Scutari, also referred to as the siege of Shkodër, known in Turkish as İşkodra Müdafaası (in Turkish) or İşkodra Savunması, took place from 28 October 1912 to 23 April 1913 when the army of the Kingdom of Montenegro defeated the forces of the Ottoman Empire and captured Shkodër.
October 1912 – November 1912
Battle of Lule Burgas
The Battle of Lule Burgas or Battle of Luleburgas – Bunarhisar took place between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire and was the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War. The battle took place from 28 October to 2 November 1912. The outnumbered Bulgarian forces made the Ottomans retreat to Çatalca line, 30 km from the Ottoman capital Constantinople. In terms of forces engaged it was the largest battle fought in Europe between the end of the Franco-Prussian War and the beginning of the First World War.
October 1912
Battle of Kirk Kilisse
The Battle of Kirk Kilisse or Battle of Kirklareli or Battle of Lozengrad was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 22–24 October 1912. Bulgarian forces of the First and Third Armies defeated the Ottoman Eastern Army and captured Lozengrad. The victory forced the Ottoman forces to retreat toward the Lüleburgaz–Bunarhisar line and opened much of northern Thrace to the Bulgarians.
October 1912
Battle of Sarantaporo
The Battle of Sarantaporo, also variously transliterated as Sarantaporon or Sarandaporon, took place on 9–10 October, 1912. It was the first major battle fought between Greek forces under Crown Prince Constantine and Ottoman forces under General Hasan Tahsin Pasha during the First Balkan War. The battle began when the Greek army attacked the Ottoman defensive line at the Sarantaporo pass, which connected Thessaly with central Macedonia.
October 1912
Battle of Kardzhali
The Battle of Kircaali or Battle of Kardzhali was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 21 October 1912, when the Bulgarian Haskovo Detachment defeated the Ottoman Kırcaali Detachment of Yaver Pasha and permanently joined Kardzhali and the Eastern Rhodopes to Bulgaria. The anniversary of that event is celebrated annually on 21 October as a holiday of the city.
October 1912 – November 1912
Battle of Pente Pigadia
The Battle of Pente Pigadia or Battle of Beshpinar, took place on 22–30 October (O.S.), 1912. It was fought between Greek forces under Lieutenant General Konstantinos Sapountzakis and Ottoman forces under General Esad Pasha during the First Balkan War. The battle began when the Ottomans attacked Greek positions at Anogi. Early snowfall prevented the Ottomans from launching a big offensive, while the Greeks managed to hold their ground for six days in the ensuing series of skirmishes.
November 1912 – March 1913
Siege of Adrianople (1912–1913)
The siege of Adrianople, was fought during the First Balkan War. The siege began on 3 November 1912 and ended on 26 March 1913 with the capture of Edirne (Adrianople) by the Bulgarian 2nd Army and the Serbian 2nd Army.
November 1912
Battle of Monastir
The Battle of Monastir took place near the town of Bitola, Macedonia region during the First Balkan War, between Serbian and Ottoman forces from 16 to 19 November 1912. It resulted in a Serbian victory after heavy fighting north of the city, the routed Turks fled abandoning their guns.
November 1912
First Battle of Çatalca
The First Battle of Çatalca was one of the heaviest battles of the First Balkan War fought between 17 and 18 November [O.S. 4–5 November] 1912. It was initiated as an attempt of the combined Bulgarian First and Third armies, under the overall command of lieutenant general Radko Dimitriev, to defeat the Ottoman Army stationed in Çatalca and break through the last Turkish defensive line before the capital Constantinople. The high casualties however forced the Bulgarians to call off the attack.
November 1912
Battle of Yenidje
The Battle of Yenidje, also transliterated as Yenice, was a major battle between Greek forces under Crown Prince Constantine and Ottoman forces under General Hasan Tahsin Pasha and took place between October 19–20 (O.S.), 1912 during the First Balkan War. The battle began when the Greek army attacked the Ottoman fortified position at Yenidje, which was the last line of defense for the city of Thessaloniki.
November 1912
Battle of Prilep
The Battle of Prilep in the First Balkan War took place on 3-5 November 1912 when the Serbian army encountered Ottoman troops near the town of Prilep, in today's North Macedonia. The clash lasted for three days. Eventually the Ottoman army was overwhelmed and forced to retreat.
November 1912
Battle of Kaliakra (1912)
The Battle of Kaliakra, usually known as the Attack of the Drazki in Bulgaria, was a maritime action between four Bulgarian torpedo boats and the Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye in the Black Sea. It took place on 21 November 1912 at 32 miles off Bulgaria's primary port of Varna.
November 1912
Battle of Sorovich
The Battle of Sorovich took place between 21–24 October 1912 (O.S.). It was fought between Greek and Ottoman forces during the First Balkan War, and revolved around the Sorovich (Amyntaio) area. The 5th Greek Division which had been advancing through western Macedonia separately from the bulk of the Greek Army of Thessaly, was attacked outside the village of Zabardeni (Lofoi) and fell back to Sorovich. It found itself to be heavily outnumbered by an opposing Ottoman force.
November 1912
Battle of Merhamli
The Battle of Merhamli was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire which took place on 14/27 November 1912. After a long chase throughout Western Thrace the Bulgarian troops led by General Nikola Genev and Colonel Aleksandar Tanev surrounded the 10,000-strong Kırcaali Detachment under the command of Mehmed Yaver Pasha. Attacked in the surrounding of the village Merhamli, only a few of the Ottomans managed to cross the Maritsa River. The rest surrendered in the following day on 28 November.
November 1912
Battle of Driskos
The Battle of Driskos, took place on 26–28 November (O.S.), 1912. It was fought between Greek forces under General Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos and Ottoman forces under General Esad Pasha during the First Balkan War. The battle began when a unit of Greek Redshirt volunteers attacked the Ottoman defensive line at Mount Driskos, Epirus.
November 1912 – January 1913
Battle of Chios (1912)
The Battle of Chios took place from 24 November 1912 to 3 January 1913 during the First Balkan War. It resulted in the capture of the eastern Aegean island of Chios by the Kingdom of Greece, ending almost 350 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire.
November 1912 – December 1912
Battle of Lesbos (1912)
The Battle of Lesbos took place from 21 November – 21 December 1912 during the First Balkan War, resulting in the capture of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos by the Kingdom of Greece.
December 1912
Battle of Elli
The Battle of Elli or the Battle of the Dardanelles took place near the mouth of the Dardanelles on 16 December [O.S. 3 December] 1912 as part of the First Balkan War between the fleets of the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire. It was the largest sea battle of the Balkan Wars.
December 1912
Capture of Korytsa
The Capture of Korytsa by the Hellenic armed forces, happened on 20 December 1912, during the First Balkan War.
December 1912
Battle of Lumë
The Battle of Lumë was a series of clashes during the First Balkan War between Albanian local forces and the army of the Kingdom of Serbia. The conflict took place between 15 November and 5 December 1912 in the Lumë.
February 1913
Battle of Bulair
The Battle of Bulair took place on 8 February 1913 between the Bulgarian Seventh Rila Infantry Division under General Georgi Todorov and the Ottoman 27th Infantry Division. The result was a Bulgarian victory. Lack of communication between the Ottoman Vanguard and their landing force and stubbornness of Enver Pasha against the combined criticism from officers Ali Fethi and Mustafa Kemal against his plans costed the Ottoman 27th Brigade their full offensive capabilities. As a result, Ottoman Army could not conduct any further large-scale offensives to relieve the Siege of Edirne.
February 1913 – April 1913
Second Battle of Çatalca
The Second Battle of Çatalca fought between 3 February 1913 and 3 April 1913 was a major "continuous skirmish" of the First Balkan War.
March 1913
Battle of Bizani
The Battle of Bizani took place in Epirus on 4–6 March [O.S. 19–21 February] 1913. The battle was fought between Greek and Ottoman forces during the last stages of the First Balkan War, and revolved around the forts of Bizani, which covered the approaches to Ioannina, the largest city in the region.
June 1913
Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas
The Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas took place between Greece and Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. The two countries fought for the town of Kilkis in Central Macedonia from 19 to 21 June 1913 O.S. with Greece ultimately being victorious
June 1913
Battle of Doiran (1913)
The Battle of Doiran was a battle of the Second Balkan War, fought between the Bulgaria and Greece. The battle took place in June 1913.
July 1913
Battle of Kresna Gorge
The Battle of Kresna Gorge was fought in 1913 between the Greeks and the Bulgarians during the Second Balkan War. The battle was fought over an eleven-day period, between 8–18 July, over a front of 20 km, in a maze of forests and mountains. The battle marked the last phase of Greek advances into Bulgarian territory before the ceasefire and the peace treaty.
July 1913
Siege of Vidin (1913)
The siege of Vidin was an attempt by the Serbian Army to seize the Bulgarian city of Vidin during the Second Balkan War. The siege took place between 12 and 18 July 1913.
July 1913
Battle of Kalimanci
The Battle of Kalimanci was fought between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. The battle started on the 18th and ended on the 19th of July 1913.
July 1913
Siege of Adrianople (1913)
The siege of Adrianople was a 1913 siege by the Ottoman Empire of Adrianople, which was defended by Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. The Ottoman Empire recaptured Edirne.
July 1913
Battle for Knjaževac
The Battle for Knjaževac was a minor engagement during the Second Balkan War between the Bulgarian 1st Army and Serbian forces near the town of Knjaževac, fought from 4 to 7 July 1913. Although Bulgarian troops captured the town after heavy fighting, a strategic withdrawal was ordered the next day. Elements of the retreating force were then ambushed by Serbian artillery, resulting in severe losses.
Earlier and later events nearby
- AD 380Christianity becomes the Roman state religion
- 1389Battle of Kosovo
- 1526Battle of Mohács
- October 1912 – August 1913Balkan WarsThis page
- 1912–1913First Balkan War
- 1913Second Balkan War
- 1998–1999Kosovo War
Who ruled this land
States that held this place in the historical borders data (Cliopatria). Years are approximate, as fine as the data's snapshots (every few years to a century). Tap to open the map for that year.
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- 1200 BCMycenaean Greece
- 550–300 BCMacedonia
- 250–200 BCAntigonid dynasty
- 150 BCAncient Greece
- 100–50 BCRoman Republic
- AD 1–375Roman Empire
- AD 400–675Byzantine Empire
- AD 700–725Pannonian Avars
- AD 750–1000First Bulgarian Empire
- 1020–1180Byzantine Empire
- 1200–1240Second Bulgarian Empire
- 1260Empire of Nicaea
- 1280Byzantine Empire
Other maps for this period
- War mapsMexican Revolution
- Epidemics mapThird plague pandemic
- Inventions mapAssembly line
- Epidemics map1899–1923 cholera pandemic