Monastir offensive
Monastir offensive | |||||||
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Part of the Macedonian front of World War I | |||||||
The Macedonian Front in 1916 | |||||||
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The Monastir offensive was an
Background
In August 1916, Romania chose to join the war effort on the side of the Entente and concentrated most of its forces for an invasion of Transylvania, leaving its 3rd army to guard the border with Bulgaria. The Russian and French proposals for a joint attack of the Romanian Army and the Allied Salonika Army against Bulgaria were no longer realistic. The Allies, however, still planned a large offensive in the Macedonian front for the middle of August to support Romania's entry into the war and pin down as many Bulgarian forces as possible.
The Bulgarian High Command suspected an impending offensive, and the fighting around Doiran that erupted on 9 August only confirmed these suspicions. On their part, the Bulgarians had urged for an offensive in Macedonia since the beginning of the year, now planning to strike with the First Army and Second Army on both Allied flanks. The Germans also gave their sanction for the plan as the former army was part of Army Group Mackensen.
On 17 August, the
The need for an Allied attack against Bulgaria became even more urgent in early September 1916, as the Bulgarian
Opposing forces
By September 1916, the Allies had gathered a substantial force of 6 Serbian, 5 British, 4 French, 1 Italian infantry division and 1 Russian infantry brigade for operations on the Macedonian front. The ratio strength of this army reached between 369,000[2] and 400,000 men. The battle strength was deployed in 201 infantry battalions with 1,025 artillery pieces[3] and 1,300 machine guns.[4]
The Central Powers could initially oppose these forces with the Bulgarian First Army, German Eleventh Army and Bulgarian Second Army in total 172 infantry battalions, c. 900 artillery pieces.[3] In addition, there was also the 10th Bulgarian Infantry Division and the forces protecting the Aegean coast from the river Struma to the border with the Ottoman Empire – 25 infantry battalions, 31 artillery batteries and 24 machine guns.
General Sarrail planned to strike at the right wing and center of the overextended First Army with his Serbian, French, Russian and Italian forces and content himself with only demonstrative attacks against the Vardar valley and the Struma, that were to be conducted by the British to pin down as many Bulgarian and German troops as possible.
The offensive
Opening phase
On 12 September, the Allies opened their offensive with a powerful two-day artillery barrage and an attack by the Serbian
The Bulgarian First Army's western flank now managed to hold the Allies on the
The Bulgarian setbacks attracted greater attention from both the Bulgarian and German high commands, and soon, several vital changes in the command structure were made. On 27 September, General
On 30 September, after 18 days of heavy fighting, the Serbian Drina Division finally captured
Secondary operations
Around that time, when it became clear that the Allies were pulling troops from the eastern flank and were concentrating them against Monastir, the commander of the Bulgarian Second Army General Todorov ordered the 7th Rila Division to take positions for an attack over the Struma river, to assist the hard pressed Bulgarians and Germans west of the Vardar. The Bulgarian high command, however, refused to permit the attack. This hesitation allowed the British to consolidate their positions on the left bank of the Struma around the village of Karacaköy on 30 September. On 3 October, the 10th (Irish) Division attacked the Bulgarian positions in the village of Yenikoy that were defended by the 13th Rila Regiment of the 7th Division. The battle lasted for the entire day, and the Bulgarians, reinforced by the 14th Macedonian Regiment and 17th Artillery Regiment, retook the village twice after a fierce bayonet struggle. During the night after a third and final attack, the Irish division occupied it. Casualties on both sides were heavy due to the accurate artillery and machine gun fire. After the battle, the Bulgarian 13th Regiment was reorganized to a three-battalion strength instead of the usual four battalions. After 4 October, the Bulgarians set up positions on the nearby heights to the east while the right flank of the 7th Rila division remained in the valley to protect the Rupel Pass. From this point on, no large operations were conducted on the Struma front until the end of the offensive.
Prelude to decisive battle
A prime problem for the Bulgarians was that their army and resources were stretched to the limits from Dobruja to Macedonia and Albania. The Bulgarian high command turned to its German allies. The Germans themselves had few reinforcements to offer as the Brusilov offensive had taken its toll, and the Battle of the Somme was still raging. They turned to the Ottoman Empire and convinced Enver Pasha to send the 11,979 men of the 50th Division to Macedonia. In October, these forces took up position on the Struma and, a month later, were joined by the 12,609 men of the 46th Ottoman Division. The two divisions formed the XX Corps and remained in the region until May 1917, when they were recalled to Mesopotamia.[5] This freed some Bulgarian forces that could now be directed to reinforce the Eleventh Army. In addition, the Ottoman Rumeli Detachment (177th Regiment) of 3,598 men was also attached to General Winkler's forces.
On 30 September, General
Fall of Monastir and end of the offensive
The
By this time, however, General Below had decided to abandon
Aftermath
For the duration of the offensive, the Allies suffered around 50,000 battle casualties, the bulk of them Serbians. In addition, some 80,000 Allied troops died or had to be evacuated due to sickness and disease. This brought the total casualties to as high as 130,000 men, or a third of all Entente forces in the theatre.[6] The front was moved by only about 50km at a heavy price, and in the end, the offensive did not prevent the defeat of Romania or knock Bulgaria out of the war.
The Bulgarians and German casualties totalled around 61,000 men, and even though Monastir had to be abandoned, the new positions a few kilometres to the north provided excellent conditions for defence, assuring the dominance of the Bulgarian artillery over the town. The line here remained intact until the end of the war in Macedonia when the forces occupying it had to retreat due to the breakthrough at Dobro Pole.
However, the offensive also provided some satisfaction as the Serbian troops managed to return to their country's border. The Bulgarians and Germans alike were also satisfied with their resistance to the superior numbers of the Entente. General
Notes
- ^ Петър Дошкинов. Боятъ на Малка Нидже 12–14.09.1916.Артилерийски прегледъ, година 5, кн. 7 и 8, януарий 1932 p. 722.
- ^ Корсун 1939, p. 71.
- ^ a b Tucker 2005, p. 810
- ^ Luigi 1922, p. 42.
- ^ Hall 2010, p. 74.
- ^ Корсун 1939, p. 75.
- ^ Hall 2010, p. 78.
References
- Tucker, Spencer (2005). World War I: Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-420-2.
- Корсун (1939). Балканский фронт. Воениздат НКО СССР.(In Russian)
- Hall, Richard (2010). Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35452-5.
- Дошкинов, Петър (1948). Есенното сражение на Македонския боенъ театъръ - 1916 год. XI-а германо-българска армия въ борбата съ френско-руската и сръбскитъ армии (I, III и II) – Книга I. София.
- Villari, Luigi (1922). The Macedonian campaign. T.F. Unwin ltd.
- ISBN 9780674018808