The War in the Balkans
Thursday, July 17th, 2008Faced with Russia, Austria-Hungary could spare only one third of its army to attack Serbia. After suffering heavy losses, the Austrians briefly occupied the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Serbian counterattack in battle of Kolubara, however, succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 1914. For the first ten months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats, however, scored a coup by convincing Bulgaria to join in attacking Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian provinces of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia provided troops for Austria-Hungary, invading Serbia as well as fighting Russia and Italy. Montenegro allied itself with Serbia.
Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month. The attack began in October, when the Central Powers launched an offensive from the north; four days later the Bulgarians joined the attack from the east. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into Albania, halting only once, to make a stand against the Bulgarians. The Serbs suffered defeat near modern day Gnjilane in Kosovo. Montenegro covered Serbian retreat toward Adriatic coast on Battle of Mojkovac in 6-7 January 1916, but ultimately Austrians conquered Montenegro, too. Serbian forces being evacuated by ship to Greece.
In late 1915 a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece, to offer assistance and to pressure the government to declare war against the Central Powers. Unfortunately for the Allies, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos, before the allied expeditionary force could arrive.
After conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. Bulgarians commenced bulgarization of Serbian population in their occupation zone, banishing Serbian Cyrillic and Serbian orthodox church. After forceful drafting of the Serbian population into the Bulgarian army in 1917, Toplica Uprising begun. Serbian rebels liberated for the short time are between Kopaonik mountain and South Morava river. The uprising was crushed by joint efforts of Bulgarian and Austrian forces in the end March 1917.
The Macedonian Front proved static for the most of time. Serbian forces retook part of their country by liberating Bitolj on November 19, 1916. Only at the end of the conflict were the Entente powers able to break through, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been withdrawn. The Bulgarians suffered their only defeat of the war, at the Battle of Dobro Pole, but days later, they decisively defeated British and Greek forces at the Battle of Doiran, avoiding occupation. Bulgaria signed an armistice on 29 September 1918.
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