Battle of Kresna Gorge: Difference between revisions

| conflict = Battle of Kresna Gorge

| partof = [[Second Balkan War]]

| image= Greek advance = File:Velissariou in Kresna 1913.jpgJPG

| image_size= 240px = 300px

| date = {{OldStyleDate|July, 21–31 July|1913|July, 8–18 July}}

| place = [[Kresna Gorge]], [[Bulgaria]]

The '''Battle of Kresna Gorge''' was fought in 1913 between the [[Greeks]] and the [[Bulgarians]] during the [[Second Balkan War]]. ItThe battle was fought over an eleven-day period, between 8–18 July, over a front of 20 km, in a maze of forests and mountains. The battle marked the last phase of the Greek advanceadvances into Bulgarian territory before the ceasefire and the following[[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|peace treaty]].

AfterWith the Serbian front became static, and seeing that the Bulgarian Army defeated in his front had already suffered defeatGreece, [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine I]] orderedof theGreece Greekordered Armyhis army to march furtherdeeper into Bulgarian territory and takecapture the Bulgarian capital, city[[Sofia]]. Constantine desired a decisive victory in the war despite the objections of Prime Minister [[SofiaEleftherios Venizelos]]. who realized that the Serbs, having won their territorial objectives, were now trying to put the remaining combat of the war onto the Greeks by staying passive.

===Greek advance and breaking through the Kresna passPass ===

After the victorious [[Battle of Doiran (1913)|Battle of Doiran]] the Greek forces continued their penetrationadvances north. On July 18 July, the [[1st Infantry Division (Greece)|1st Greek Division]], managed to drive back the Bulgarian rear guard and captured an important foothold at the southern end of the [[Kresna passGorge|Kresna]] Pass.<ref>{{cite booksfnp|author=Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate. [Ed. committee: Dimitrios Gedeon|title=A concise history of the Balkan Wars, 1912–1913|year=1998|publisher=Hellenic Army General Staff|location=Athens|isbn=9789607897077|pagesp=254|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ci9pAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

In the pass, the Greeks were ambushed by the Bulgarian 2nd and 4th Armies which waswere newly arrived from the Serbian front and had taken up defensive positions there. However, afterAfter bitter fighting, however, the Greek sideGreeks managed to break through the Kresna passPass. The Greek advance continued and on July 25 July, the village of [[Krupnik, Blagoevgrad Province|Krupnik]], north of the pass, was captured, forcing the Bulgarian troops to withdraw to [[Simitli]].<ref>{{cite booksfnp|last=Gedeon|first=Dimitrios|title=A concise history of the Balkan Wars, 1912–1913|year=1998|publisher=Hellenic Army General Staff|location=Athens1998|isbn=978-960-7897-07-7|pagesp=257|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4-RAAAAIAAJ|edition=1.udg.}}</ref> Simitli was also captured on July 26 July,<ref>{{cite booksfnp|last=Gedeon|first=Dimitrios|title=A concise history of the Balkan Wars, 1912–1913|year=1998|publisher=Hellenic Army General Staff|location=Athens|isbn=978-960-7897-07-71998|pagesp=259|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ci9pAAAAMAAJ|edition=1.udg.}}</ref> while atduring the night of 27–28 July 27–28 the Bulgarian forces were pushed north to Gorna Dzhumaya (now [[Blagoevgrad]]), 76&nbsp;km south of [[Sofia]].<ref name=Gedeon260>{{cite booksfnp|last=Gedeon|first=Dimitrios|title=A concise history of the Balkan Wars, 1912–1913|year=1998|publisher=Hellenic Army General Staff|location=Athens1998|isbn=978-960-7897-07-7|pagesp=260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4-RAAAAIAAJ|edition=1.udg.}}</ref>

ArmisticeThe armistice left both parties claiming victory. From the Greek point of view, after 11eleven days of attackbattle, the Bulgarians had clearly failed to turn the Greek army's flanks, and consequently theythe considerGreeks considered the battle a defensive victory.<ref name="{{sfnp|Price"/>|1914}} To theThe Bulgarians, thebelieved battlethat wasthey awere victorythe victors since their attack successfully stopped the Greek Army's advance towards Sofia and thus inducedcaused the Greeks to accept the proposedan armistice. This view is supported by the opinion held by somemost historians that although the battle was ended inconclusively by the armistice, byat the end of the war, the Greek army was threatened by encirclement and annihilation.<ref name="Hall">{{cite booksfnp| last =Hall | first =Richard | title =The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: Prelude to the First World War| publisher =Routledge| year =2000 | isbn pp=0121-415-22946-4 | pages =121–122 122}}</ref> The Greek sideclaimed, on the other claimshowever, that during the prolonged battle, the Bulgarians had progressively involved all their available forces, in the prolonged battle and lacked the additional manpower to complete thean encirclement of the Greek forces.

==References Gallery ==

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