The Balkan Peninsula, carrying too many tears and sacrifices, from the brutal rule of the Ottoman Empire to the intervention of European countries and the civil war of its own alliances, this beautiful land known as the "back garden of Europe" is recorded as the baptism of war after war.
In order to regain their freedom, the historical Balkan countries formed an alliance to overthrow the Ottoman Empire, and later the Alliance Civil War to divide the territory of the Ottoman Empire, in which about 1.3 million soldiers were thrown into battle, 220,000 were killed and about 360,000 were wounded. The famous Balkan Mountains have become a veritable "blood mountain".
National War of Independence – The First Balkan Bloody War
On October 18, 1912, the mountains of Montenegro were clouded and misty, and the heavens and the earth were silent. Suddenly, a rush of gunfire and cannon shots resounded through the valley, and people woke up from their dreams, and at this moment some people were terrified, some people were cheering, and they knew that the first shot of national independence had been fired.
The first Balkan War was divided into two phases: from mid-October to early December 1912, when the Balkan Allies attacked in all directions, while the Ottoman Turkish army was defeated and could only ask the European powers to intervene and mediate, and finally to negotiate in London, England; the second stage was from early January to the end of March 1913, when the Balkan Allies continued to compete for castles and fortresses, and the Ottoman Empire once again returned to London to negotiate, ending with the signing of the contract in May.
Battle of Kirklarelli
The Ottoman Empire was an old man in the first phase of the war, and now it was necessary to fight against the Balkan allies on four fronts: the Thracian and Bulgarian armies, the Macedonian and Bulgarian, Serbian and Greek armies, the Serbian and Montenegrin armies in northern Albania and Kosovo, the Greek army in southern Albania, and the fiercest fighting in Macedonia and Thrace.
In this situation, the Ottoman Turkish army was "willing to kill thieves and unable to return to heaven", and the Bulgarian army at that time was extremely heroic in its fighting style, so it was the main force of the Allied army.
Late on the night of 18 October, the strength of the three Bulgarian armies attacked Turkey, and on 21 October, the Bulgarian army approached the Turkish Odelin-Inneje-Krkrelli Line position. The first encounter took place, with 150,000 troops each thrown in on a 60-kilometer front. After three days of fighting, Bulgaria captured the town of Kirklarelli and won the first victory in the first six days of the battle, but both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Battle of Ljuleburgas-Bunalkhsar
Lyulai Burgas and Bunarkhsar are the names of the two villages, which are separated by 40 kilometers and are important areas of the second line of defense of the Turkish army. This period of war was also the most brutal and sacrificial battle of the two Balkan wars. Among them, 2,500 Bulgarian soldiers were killed and 17,500 wounded; 22,000 Turkish soldiers were killed and 2,000 captured.
The Ottoman Empire did not expect the battle to be so quick, and in the event of the collapse of the second line of defense, they set up a third line of defense 30 kilometers from Istanbul, and they wanted to use the swamps and waters of the coastal strip from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara to resist the attack of the Bulgarian army. However, King Mudanan of Bulgaria personally took command and was bound to advance isting to istanbul.
At this time, the Serbian army also attacked the Macedonian headquarters on October 19, while the Greek army went to southern Macedonia. After the outbreak of the war, the double engine did not expect the progress to be so fast, and the Ottoman army had been defeated and retreated, and in less than a month it collapsed completely. The Ottoman Empire could not but request an armistice, and Europe feared that the Balkan Allies would seize Istanbul, and that the European countries would lose their strategic position in the Two Straits of the Black Sea, and for their own benefit they intervened to mediate.
Tough London Pact – the second phase of the battle begins
On October 30, 1912, the Ottoman Empire's Istanbul was in danger and could only negotiate peace with the Bulgarian government, while the Bulgarian offensive forces were exhausted after successive conquests, and Vi dinan also accepted the Ottoman Proposal, and on December 3 the two sides signed an armistice.
By this time most of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey had fallen into the hands of the Allies, leaving only Odelin, Shkodïr, Yanina, and parts of Albania.
On 16 December, representatives of the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire began negotiations in London, but the negotiations reached an impasse as the two sides could not find common ground. On February 3, 1913, after fruitless negotiations, the war broke out again and entered the second phase.
The Balkan Allies attacked in full swing, and in less than a month the Bulgarian army captured Odeling, and Shukri Pasha led the city defenses to surrender; the Greek army captured Yanina Castle on March 3; and the Serbian and Montenegrin armies contributed to Skodër after two battles. In mid-March, the Ottoman Empire, forced to return to the negotiating table, had little leverage left.
Soldiers in the Balkan Alliance's war with the Ottoman Empire
In the second round of negotiations, not only were there some issues between the warring parties that were divided, but there were also sharp contradictions within the Balkan Alliance and other European powers because of complex interests. The paradox of the Balkan Confederacy was how to divide up the Ottoman Empire's territories in the Balkans, such as Macedonia and parts of Albania. The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, was strenuously opposed to montenegro's occupation of Shkodër and Serbia's possession of Adriatic access to the sea, and the Ottoman Empire wanted to control these areas and prevent the infiltration of Russian power.
Germany and Italy supported the Ottoman Empire, but Russia and should show understanding of Serbia and Montenegro's demands. Of course, the so-called understanding and support are only out of self-interest.
After 5 months of negotiations, the contract was finally signed in London. The Ottoman Empire announced the return of all European territories west of the Midia-Enos line and the islands in the Aegean Sea to the Balkan League. At this point, the first Balkan War ended with bloodshed and sacrifice.
The Allied War sparked by infighting – the Second Bloody Balkan War
Because of the defeat of ottoman Turkey in the Balkan Wars, the balance between countries was broken in such a situation, so what is in front of them now is how to divide this "cake" of the Ottoman Empire, each country has a place to contribute, so they all want to occupy more territory and population.
Before the smoke of the war had cleared, the victors began to clash over the partition of Macedonia:
Bulgaria believes that most of the Macedonian military and civilians are Bulgarians and that it should occupy places such as Skopje and Thessannica. They even believe that Bulgaria made the greatest contribution and sacrifice in the war, and that the blood of soldiers could not be shed in vain.
Most of the area occupied by Serbia was in Albanian territory, but at this moment Albania had declared its independence, and the London Peace Conference opposed Serbia's access to the Adriatic sea. Therefore, Serbia demanded that the secret treaty with Bulgaria be amended and that more "compensation" be obtained in Macedonia.
The Greek side was also not satisfied with the territory it had now acquired, much less willing to withdraw its troops from Northern Epirus, wanted to occupy more land in Macedonia and Thrace, and resolutely opposed Bulgaria's territorial claims to the port city of Sanonica and its neighboring areas.
Montenegro sided with Serbia and Greece, but it also did not want to withdraw its troops from northern Albania in an attempt to acquire the new Pazar region so that it could border Serbia.
So Serbia and Greece walked together again. On June 1, 1913, the two countries secretly signed an alliance treaty and a military agreement, taking aim at Bulgaria. At this time, the nationalist ghost of Bulgaria in the Bulgarian ruling clique was still in place, and on June 16 King Fernandi suddenly ordered an attack on the Serbian and Greek troops stationed in Macedonia. The war that has just been extinguished in the Balkans has been rekindled, and this second Bloody Balkan War was waged by the same roommates, according to history."
Alliance Wars
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At the beginning of the war, there were about 500,000 troops in Bulgaria, 348,000 in Serbia, 230,000 in Greek and 20,000 in Montenegro. The Subsequent Battle was followed by a 500,000-strong Romanian army and 250,000 Ottoman Turks, all of which had not only military superiority, but also made more political and diplomatic preparations than Bulgaria had done before. In the face of a surprise attack in Bulgaria, they made a strong counterattack.
Greece attacked the bulgarian defenses of 4 regiments in the Kukush region with 5 divisions, and after capturing Kukush, the Greek army crossed the Strumicha River into the Bulgarian mainland. From 17 June, Serbian troops began to attack Shtip and Kočani in Macedonia, and because the mainland was invaded, Bulgaria had to abandon its Macedonian positions and defend its own homeland.
Immediately afterwards, Montenegro and Romania took the opportunity to declare war on Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Turks took advantage of the opportunity to make a comeback to attack Thrace. The Bulgarian government at this moment is facing an embattled situation. In desperation, on June 25, he asked Russia to mediate and sign an armistice agreement.
From 28 June to 2 July, hundreds of thousands of Romanian troops crossed the Danube River and approached the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, and on 29 June, ottoman Turkey unilaterally broke the London Pact, pooling all its forces to attack Eastern Thrace, which was controlled by Bulgaria, and soon after crossing the Midia-Enos border delineated in the London Pact. After fierce fighting, on 23 July the Ottoman Turks captured the castle of Odelin and marched towards the Bulgarian mainland.
The Bulgarian army, concentrating its forces on the west and south against the Serbian and Greek armies, was poorly attacked by the Romanian and Ottoman Turkish armies in the north and east. As a result, in less than a month, Bulgaria was attacked on its back, and in early July the capital, Sofia, was in a hurry. Therefore, the government could only ask the great powers to mediate and negotiate a peace treaty in the name of King Fernandi. Thus, on 17 July 1913, the belligerents began to negotiate in Bucharest, with Bulgaria on the one hand and Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Romania on the other.
The two bloody wars in the Balkans can fully reflect the desire of each nation for territory and population, and also for its own people to completely break away from the rule of the Ottoman Empire and fight for freedom. But the damage caused by war is cruel, with large numbers of people dying and hundreds of people losing their homes. The balkan peninsula was once a place of fertile land full of life, known as the "back garden of Europe" because of its geographical location, but unfortunately, in order to meet its own interests, the great powers participated in it and turned it into a "powder keg".
The gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire, the civil war of the Balkan Alliance for territory, and the eyes of other great powers have made this once beautiful place smoke and the beauty of the past no longer exist. The name of the Balkan Peninsula is derived from the Balkan Mountains, which were called "Blood Mountain" by the Slavs, a name with a negative nature, but after two bloody battles, the Balkans became a veritable "Blood Mountain".