Battle of Lüleburgaz
| date | October 29, 1912 to November 2, 1912 |
|---|---|
| place | Lüleburgaz and Pınarhisar , Eastern Thrace |
| output | Bulgarian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 130,000 men | 110,000 men |
| losses | |
|
22,000 dead, wounded and prisoners |
20,162 dead, wounded and prisoners |
The Battle of Lüleburgaz took place between October 29 and November 2, 1912 in the First Balkan War .
Starting position
After the Battle of Kirk Kilisse , the Bulgarian army failed to pursue the defeated Ottoman troops and rested for two to three days. This allowed the Ottomans to bring reinforcements from Constantinople and dig a series of shallow trenches on a range of hills between Lüleburgaz and Pınarhisar . Artillery was brought into position at irregular intervals.
On October 27, the Bulgarians continued their advance. The 3rd Army under General Radko Dimitriew was separated from the 1st Army . The Bulgarians led 110,000 men into the field, the Ottomans had 130,000 men.
The Bulgarian plan provided that the 3rd Army should attack the Ottoman positions head-on, while the 1st Army fell on the enemy's left flank . The Ottomans had meanwhile divided their Thracian army. The 1st Army under Abdullah Pascha was at Lüleburgaz, the 2nd Army under Hamdi Pascha around Pınarhisar.
course
On October 29th, 3rd Army launched a frontal attack on the Ottoman positions along the whole front. Due to poor roads and rainy weather, the 1st Army did not reach the south of the battlefield until October 30th. On the same day, the Ottomans managed to repel the frontal attack. At the same time, however, the Ottoman supply of artillery ammunition dried up. General Dimitriev regrouped his troops and resumed the attack. He tried to march around the right flank of the Ottomans and so cut off their possibility of retreat to Constantinople. The Bulgarians also used searchlights during their night raids.
On October 31, the Bulgarians had managed to cross the Ergene and embrace the left flank of the Ottomans, which slowly gave way under this threat. At the same time, the advance of the Bulgarians separated the left flank of the Ottomans from their right. On November 2, the Ottoman army collapsed under this pressure and withdrew in disarray.
Evaluation, losses, consequences
The reasons for the Bulgarian victory were high morale, superior artillery and the use of bayonet and night attacks. The Ottoman attacks from their defensive positions contributed to the defeat. The Ottoman garrison located in Adrianople made no attempt to attack the right flank of the 1st Army and force it to regroup its troops to counter this threat.
Both sides suffered heavy losses. The Ottomans lost 22,000 men, including 2,000 prisoners and 45 guns. The Bulgarians lost 20,162 men, including 2,534 dead.
The Ottomans had now lost all of Thrace with the exception of the Adrianople fortress. The road to Constantinople was open and the Ottomans' supply logistics collapsed. Cholera and dysentery broke out among them, resulting in many deaths. The Bulgarians let their troops rest for five days and refrained from pursuing the disorganized and weakened Ottomans. This allowed them to bring reinforcements from Anatolia and to strengthen their positions at Çatalca , 25 kilometers west of the capital. When the Bulgarians got there, they too suffered from cholera and were beaten by the Ottoman defenders.
The Battle of Lüleburgaz was the largest battle in Europe between the Franco-German War (1870–1871) and the First World War .
See also
literature
- Richard C. Hall: Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge Publisher, London 2000, ISBN 0-415-22946-4 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Richard C. Hall: Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge Publishing House, London 2000. p. 29.
- ^ Richard C. Hall: Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge, London 2000. p. 33.
- ^ Richard C. Hall: Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge Publishing, London 2000. p. 31.