The mobilization of the Bulgarian Army on the eve of the Kingdom of Bulgaria's entry into World War I took place between 11 and 30 September 1915. It was a direct consequence of the military convention between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria and the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance between Bulgaria and Germany that were signed on 6 September, marking the official alignment of the country with the Central Powers.
The overall internal situation of Bulgaria following the two Balkan Wars remained greatly strained. The acquisition of around 18,000 km2 of new land with its over 400,000 inhabitants failed to compensate for the loss of Southern Dobrudja, one of the country's most fertile regions; the approximately 176,000 casualties; and enormous financial costs. [1] Agriculture, which was the leading sector of the economy, was badly affected and could no longer rely on Southern Dobrudja's annual grain harvest of up to 150,000 tonnes. The number of available horses, sheep and cattle was also lower when compared with 1912. Annual meat production was about 105,629 tonnes when the amount needed to sustain an army of 600,000 for a year was estimated at 87,600 tonnes. [2] External trade and the public finances in this period were also characterized by a widening negative imbalance. It was reckoned that in case of war the country could not afford to feed, clothe and replace the manpower losses of an army greater than half a million men without severely undermining the economy. [3]
Following the end of the Second Balkan War the Bulgarian Army was demobilized and brought to a peacetime level of 5,220 officers and 80,079 soldiers. [4] The Bulgarian General Staff initially drafted several mobilization plans that required the armed forces to be deployed in times of war much in the same manner as in the First Balkan War in regards to their structure and organization. However, the analysis of the army's performance during the Balkan Wars yielded several lessons that served as the basis for several important structural changes in the planned wartime organization of the army and its units. Specifically, some of the infantry regiments were reformed to include three battalions instead of the usual four, new Etappe regiments were created (each army and division had one attached to it), and the two artillery regiments of each division formed an artillery brigade. [5]
Late in the evening of 9 September 1915, tsar Ferdinand and prime minister Vasil Radoslavov signed a decree of general mobilization declaring 11 September as its first operational day. [6] [7] The Bulgarian General Staff began carrying out all the tasks concerning the mobilization. Special attention was focused on the border with Serbia where the main Bulgarian forces had to be deployed. This was necessary as the Serbian high command was aware of the Bulgarian preparations and had deployed half its fully mobilized and organized army on the Bulgarian border, ready to deliver a heavy blow against the Bulgarian Army while it was still in a vulnerable stage of mobilization and concentration. This bold idea however was soon dropped because the Allied command still thought that Bulgaria could be persuaded to join the Entente. [8]
The initial phase of the mobilization was carried out with comparatively few difficulties but still was slower and lacked the widely displayed enthusiasm of its counterpart in 1912. The forces began deploying on the fifth day after the mobilization was ordered. Three armies were activated - two of them were to be used against Serbia and one was kept for protection of the border with Romania. Additional forces had to be posted to guard the still neutral Greece which had a defensive treaty with Serbia.
The mobilization period lasted between 17 and 18 days, during which it was covered from the Serbians only by border guards. By the end of September the total number of mobilized personnel reached 15,908 officers and 600,772 soldiers (12-13% of the population), some 19,224 reservists however were absent. [9] These forces were divided between the three field armies, several independent units and the troops stationed in the interior of the country. As planned and agreed with the Military Convention the 1st Army concentrated on the old border with Serbia and was placed under the command of Army Group Mackensen. The 2nd Army was deployed against Vardar Macedonia and remained under direct Bulgarian control. The 3rd Army was tasked with the protection of the Romanian border. Two divisions were stationed on the Greek border and another one was kept as reserve of the high command.
A total of 390 battalions were mobilized - some 232 infantry and 11 pioneer battalions within the eleven infantry divisions containing 469,140 men; another 75 battalions containing 86,444 men were independent; 31 militia and 41 supplementary battalions containing 64,845 men remained in the interior of the country. [10] The artillery of various caliber was deployed in 219 batteries - 94 batteries with 409 guns in the 1st Army, 44 batteries with 182 guns in the 2nd Army, 50 batteries with 401 guns in the 3rd Army and 31 batteries with 130 guns in the three independent divisions. [11] [12] [13] [14] The cavalry mobilized around 62 squadrons.
All but one division retained the three infantry brigade structure typical for a Bulgarian division. The total personnel of most divisions was over 40,000 men, which made them the equivalent of the army corps in other armies. [15]
The material situation of the mobilized army fell short of expectations as there were 372,603 rifles instead of the 521,509 that were envisaged in the plans, each artillery gun had about 500 shells, and the army was also short of clothes and footwear for all the troops. [16]
Following the mobilization of 1915 the Bulgarian General Staff was left with few unmobilized reservists. In order to secure a source of reinforcements for the army it opened new military schools for young infantry, cavalry, artillery officers and soldiers. Thus from the end of 1915 until the beginning of 1918 the four regular annual contingents of young conscripts were called and received their training. Their total number was 214,343 and was sufficient for the replacing the 181,515 casualties that had occurred. [17] The exact number of all the mobilized men during the war however remains unclear. Some sources point at a number of 1,200,000 men [18] which seems to be on the high side but still may be close to the truth. When trying to determine the precise number it must be taken into account that towards September 1918 the Bulgarian Army reached a strength ranging between 855,175 [19] and 877,392 [20] men under arms in all branches of the service, or some 18% of the population, and that for the duration of the war the army also used the manpower of the territories it had occupied – some 133,837 men from the Macedonian regions were mobilized. [21]
The Bulgarian First Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World War II.
The Battle of Kirk Kilisse or Battle of Kirkkilise or Battle of Lozengrad was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 24 October 1912, when the Bulgarian army defeated an Ottoman army in Eastern Thrace and occupied Kırklareli.
The Battle of Turtucaia, also known as Tutrakan Epopee in Bulgaria, was the opening battle of the first Central Powers offensive during the Romanian Campaign of World War I. The battle lasted for five days and ended with the capture of the fortress of Turtucaia and the surrender of its Romanian defenders.
The Morava Offensive Operation, was undertaken by the Bulgarian First Army between 14 October 1915 and 9 November 1915 as part of the strategic offensive operation of Army Group Mackensen against Serbia in 1915. Under the command of Lieutenant General Kliment Boyadzhiev the Bulgarians seized the fortified areas of Pirot, Niš and the valley of the river Morava. As a result, the Serbian forces were compelled to retreat towards Kosovo and Metohija.
The Ovche Pole Offensive Operation was an operation of the Bulgarian Army that occurred between 14 October 1915 and 15 November 1915 as part of the Serbian Campaign in World War I. Its aim was to seize the Vardar river valley, and to cut the vital railway linking Skopje with Thessaloniki to prevent the Serbian Army from being resupplied and reinforced by the Franco-British Allied forces. The Bulgarian forces consisted of the Second Army under the command of Lieutenant General Georgi Todorov.
The Kosovo offensive was an offensive launched part of the greater Serbian campaign of World War I, by German, Austro-Hungarian, and Bulgarian units under the command of Prussian Field Marshal Mackensen. It was conducted in the south west corner of Serbia, in the historic site of the medieval battle of Kosovo, where the three Serbian armies had successfully retreated, during the second half of November 1915.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria participated in World War I on the side of the Central Powers from 14 October 1915, when the country declared war on Serbia, until 30 September 1918, when the Armistice of Salonica came into effect.
Stefan Toshev was a Bulgarian general, from World War I. His mother was a teacher from the period of the National Revival. He volunteered in the Bulgarian Opalchentsi Corps during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and later served as a translator. On 10 May 1879, he graduated from the Military School in Sofia in its first year. Then he served in the Police force of Eastern Rumelia.
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.
The Bulgarian Second Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II.
The Bulgarian Third Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II.
The First Battle of Cobadin, also known as the First Battle of the Rasova–Cobadin–Tuzla Line, was a battle fought from 17 to 19 of September 1916 between the Bulgarian Third Army and the Romanian–Russian Army of the Dobruja. The battle ended in Entente tactical victory and forced the Central Powers to hold their offensive and assume a defensive stance till the middle of October.
The Second Battle of Cobadin was a battle fought from 19 to 25 October 1916 between the Central Powers, chiefly the Bulgarian Third Army, and the Entente, represented by the Russo–Romanian Dobruja Army. The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Central Powers; it resulted in the occupation of the strategic port of Constanța and the capture of the railway between that city and Cernavodă.
Ivan Kolev Stoyanov was a Bulgarian lieutenant general and distinguished cavalry commander during World War I.
The following is the Bulgarian order of battle at the beginning of the First Balkan War as of October 8, 1912. After its mobilization the field army counted for 366,209 men and represented half the field forces of the Balkan League. Its greater part was deployed in the main theater of the war in Thrace but the army also contributed to the allied war effort in Macedonia. This order of battle includes all combat units, including engineer and artillery units, but not medical, supply, signal and border guard units.
The following is the Bulgarian order of battle at the beginning of the second phase of the First Balkan War as of January 21, 1913. This order of battle includes all combat units, including engineer and artillery units, but not medical, supply, signal and border guard units.
The following is the Bulgarian order of battle at the start of the Second Balkan War as of 29 June [O.S. 16 June] 1913. This order of battle includes all combat units, including engineer and artillery units, but not medical, supply, signal, border guard and garrison units.
After a series of quick tactical victories on the numerically overpowered Austro-Hungarian forces in Transylvania, in the autumn of 1916, the Romanian Army suffered a series of devastating defeats, which forced the Romanian military and administration to withdraw to Western Moldavia, allowing the Central Powers to occupy two thirds of the national territory, including the state capital, Bucharest.
The First Battle of Caribrod, was a battle of the Serbo–Bulgarian War fought on November 2, 1885 (O.S.) between the Royal Serbian Army and Bulgarian Army around Caribrod, today Dimitrovgrad, Serbia.
The 11th Macedonian Infantry Division was a Bulgarian military unit formed by Macedonian Bulgarians that operated in the First World War. The division is the successor of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps.
| Theatres |
| ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Principal participants |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Timeline |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Aspects |
| ||||||||||||||||||
