Second Balkan War
The Balkan League fractured almost immediately over the division of Macedonia. Bulgaria, which had suffered the heaviest casualties in the First Balkan War and felt cheated of its promised territorial share, attacked its former allies Serbia and Greece on the night of 29-30 June 1913 without a formal declaration of war. The gamble was catastrophic: Romania invaded from the north while the Ottomans re-entered the war to recover Adrianople. Bulgaria was overwhelmed on four fronts simultaneously and sued for peace within a month. At the Treaty of Bucharest (10 August 1913), Bulgaria lost most of its First Balkan War gains: Macedonia was divided between Serbia and Greece, Romania took southern Dobruja, and the Ottomans recovered Adrianople. The Second Balkan War had consequences far exceeding its brief duration. Serbia emerged with its territory and population doubled within two years, militarily confident and nationally galvanised — a transformation that made Austria-Hungary's leadership regard Serbian nationalism as an existential threat. Bulgaria was left bitterly aggrieved, nursing revanchist ambitions that would lead it to join the Central Powers in 1915. Most critically, the wars had demonstrated to Balkan nationalists — including the conspirators of Young Bosnia — that violent action against empires could succeed spectacularly. Gavrilo Princip and his co-conspirators in Sarajevo were directly inspired by the Serbian successes of 1912-1913.
- Year: 1913 CE
- Category: Military
