Hasan Tahsin Pasha signs the protocol of surrender of the Ottoman forces in Salonica, on 26 October 1912 (O.S.)

The Greek Army of Thessaly under Crown Prince Constantine advanced towards Salonica from the south, successfully overcoming Ottoman opposition at Sarantaporo. After a renewed victory at Giannitsa, the city and its garrison surrendered to the Greeks on October 27 (O.S.)/November 9. At the same time, the Bulgarians had dispatched their 7th 'Rila' division from the north in the direction of the city, but arrived there a day after its surrender. Until November 10, the Greek-occupied zone had been expanded to the line from Lake Doirani to the river Strymon. In Western Macedonia however, the Greeks had suffered a setback in the Battle of Vevi on 2/15 November, and the stiff resistance offered by Ottoman forces centered at Monastir meant that the city was eventually captured by the Serbs.

At Epirus, the Greek army had successfully conquered Preveza, but was not strong enough to conquer the German-designed defensive positions of Bizani that protected the apporaches to Ioannina. After the campaign in Macedonia was complete, however, a large part of the army under the Crown Prince was redeployed to Epirus, and in the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were overcome and Ioannina taken on 22 February/6 March 1913.

At sea, the Greek fleet took action since the first day of the war. From 6 October until 20 December 1912, Greek naval and army detachments liberated almost all islands of the Eastern and North Aegean sea, and established a forward base at Moudros bay in Lemnos, controlling the exits of the Dardanelles. Lieutenant Nikolaos Votsis scored a major success for Greek morale on 8 November, when he sailed his torpedo boat into the harbor of Thessaloniki under the cover of night, and sank the old Ottoman ironclad Feth-i-Bulend.

The Ottoman fleet remained inside the Dardanelles for the early part of the war; on its two sorties out of the Straits on 3/16 December 1912 and 5/18 January 1913, it was defeated in the naval battles of Elli and Lemnos, largely through the tactical initiative of Rear Adm Kountouriotis. The only Ottoman success were the actions of the light cruiser Hamidiye. In the days before the battle of Lemnos, Hamidiye was sent to raid Greek merchant shipping, thus creating a diversion that would hopefully be large enough to draw the Greek flagship Averof in pursuit, and leave the remainder of the Greek fleet weakened. The Ottoman plan ultimately failed, but the Hamidiye scored a few successes, sinking some ships and bombarding Greek harbors.

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Conclusion of the war and aftermath

The Treaty of London ended the First Balkan War on 17 May 1913. All Ottoman territory west of the Ainos-Medea line was ceded to the Balkan League, according to the status quo at the time of the armistice. The treaty also declared Albania to be an independent state. Almost all of the territory that was declared to form the Albanian state was currently occupied by either Greece or Serbia, which only reluctantly withdrew their troops. Combined with unresolved disputes with Bulgaria over the division of the region of Macedonia, the Second Balkan War immediately followed.

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See also

• History of the Serbian-Turkish wars

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Notes

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Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Balkan Wars

• Erickson, Edward J.; Bush, Brighton C. (2003). Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0275978885. 
• Hall, Richard C. (2000). The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War. Routledge. ISBN 0415229464. 
• Schurman, Jacob Gould (2004). The Balkan Wars 1912 To 1913. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1419153455.