Romanian landings in Bulgaria

Romanian landings in Bulgaria
	Part of the Second Balkan War
	; Romanian river monitor
Date	14–15 July [O.S. 1–2 July] 1913
Location	Across the Danube from Corabia, Romania43°44′53.26″N 24°34′9.83″E / 43.7481278°N 24.5693972°E
Result	Romanian victory Treaty of Bucharest;
Belligerents
Romania	Bulgaria
Commanders and leaders
Eustațiu Sebastian	Unknown
Strength
3 river monitors; 6 torpedo boats; 1 gunboat	4 gunboats; 4 motorboats
Casualties and losses
2 boats scuttled	4 gunboats scuttled

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The Romanian landings in Bulgaria were a decisive military action during the Second Balkan War. In as much as Bulgaria was fighting both Greece and Serbia at the time, the Romanian invasion made the situation untenable for the Bulgarians, who were forced to ask for peace two weeks later.

Background

Bulgarian dissatisfaction with its share of the spoils in the aftermath of the First Balkan War led to the souring of relations between Bulgaria and its former allies, Serbia and Greece. Tensions escalated towards the end of June [O.S. mid-June] 1913, when Bulgaria launched attacks against both Serbia and Greece, igniting the Second Balkan War.

Romania mobilised its army on 5 July [O.S. 23 June] 1913, with the intention of seizing Southern Dobruja, and declared war on Bulgaria on 10 July [O.S. 28 June] 1913. In a diplomatic circular that said, "Romania does not intend either to subjugate the polity nor defeat the army of Bulgaria", the Romanian government endeavoured to allay international concerns about its motives and increased bloodshed.^[1]

Romanian invasion

The Romanian warships which carried out the landings were concentrated at Corabia, on the Romanian side of the Danube, under the command of Admiral Eustațiu Sebastian. This group consisted of three monitors, six torpedo boats, and the gunboat Grivița. The first landing was carried out on 14 July [O.S. 1 July] 1913, with no Bulgarian resistance. A second landing was carried out on the following day, and a pontoon bridge was also built. Foreign military strategists considered the bridge a "masterpiece of warfare", as the 950-metre-long (3,120 ft) structure was finished in 26 hours, requiring 125 pontoons.^[2]

The Bulgarian naval forces on the Danube mainly consisted of four gunboats, with displacements of 400 to 600 tonnes (390 to 590 long tons; 440 to 660 short tons) and armed with two-to-four 75 mm (3.0 in) guns and two-to-four 47 mm (1.9 in) guns. There were also four motorboats.^[3] Faced with the overwhelming superiority of the Romanian warships, the Bulgarians scuttled their four gunboats.^[4]

Aftermath

The Romanian troops landed at Oryahovo, Gigen, and Nikopol.^[1] Unopposed, the Romanian ground forces advanced quickly, and on 23 July [O.S. 10 July] 1913, Romanian troops entered Vrazhdebna, a suburb just 11 km (7 mi) from Sofia.^[5]

The lack of resistance to the Romanian invasion convinced the Ottomans to invade territories just ceded to Bulgaria after the First Balkan War, with the main objective being to reclaim Edirne (Adrianople). The Ottomans advanced rapidly, against virtually no Bulgarian resistance.^[5]

An armistice was agreed upon on 31 July [O.S. 18 July] 1913^[6] followed by the 10 August [O.S. 29 July] 1913, Treaty of Bucharest, which ended the war.

Citations

^ ^a ^b Hall (2000), p. 117.
^ Stănescu and Crăciunoiu (2000), pp. 35–37.
^ Stănescu and Crăciunoiu (2000), p. 55.
^ Tucker and Roberts, p. 391.
^ ^a ^b Hall (2000), p. 118.
^ Hall (2000), pp. 123–124.

References

Hall, Richard C. (2000). The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: Prelude to the First World War. Routledge Publishing.
Stănescu, Raymond; Crăciunoiu, Cristian (2000). Marina română în primul război mondial [Romanian Navy in the First World War] (in Romanian). Modelism Publishing.
Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla Mary. World War I: A Student Encyclopedia.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000117-1] Hall (2000), p. 117.

[FOOTNOTEStănescu_and_Crăciunoiu200035–37-2] Stănescu and Crăciunoiu (2000), pp. 35–37.

[FOOTNOTEStănescu_and_Crăciunoiu200055-3] Stănescu and Crăciunoiu (2000), p. 55.

[FOOTNOTETucker_and_Roberts391-4] Tucker and Roberts, p. 391.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000118-5] Hall (2000), p. 118.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000123–124-6] Hall (2000), pp. 123–124.

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[6]

v t e Balkan Wars
Background	Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire Albanian Bulgarian Greek Serbian Congress of Berlin Annexation of Eastern Rumelia Serbo-Bulgarian War Greco-Turkish War of 1897 Cretan State IMRO & Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising Macedonian Struggle Young Turk Revolution Bosnian Crisis Bulgarian Independence 31 March Incident Goudi coup Italo-Turkish War Albanian revolt of 1912 Balkan League
First Balkan War
Battles	Sarantaporo Kardzhali Pente Pigadia Sorovich Kumanovo Kirk Kilisse Scutari Lule Burgas Yenidje Adrianople Prilep Himara Monastir First Çatalca Kaliakra Merhamli Driskos Elli Korytsa Lemnos Bulair Şarköy Bizani Second Çatalca
Diplomacy and politics	London Conference Albanian Independence 1913 Ottoman coup d'état Treaty of London
Second Balkan War
Battles	Kilkis–Lachanas Doiran Bregalnica Knjaževac Kalimanci Kresna Gorge Southern Dobruja Romanian landings in Bulgaria Vidin Pirot
Diplomacy and politics	Greek–Serbian Alliance Provisional Government of Western Thrace Treaty of Bucharest Treaty of Constantinople Treaty of Athens
Other	1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak
General
Aftermath	Autonomy of Northern Epirus Greco-Turkish crisis of 1914 Sarajevo Assassination and World War I Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance Balkans campaign of WWI Serbian campaign Macedonian front
Atrocities	Carnegie Commission Massacres of Albanians Bulgarians deportation program Massacres of Civilians Initial phase of the Greek genocide Places burned down
Participants	Bulgaria Ferdinand I Ivan Geshov Stoyan Danev Mihail Savov Ivan Fichev Vasil Kutinchev Nikola Ivanov Radko Dimitriev Stiliyan Kovachev Georgi Todorov Greece George I Constantine I Eleftherios Venizelos Panagiotis Danglis Pavlos Kountouriotis Konstantinos Sapountzakis Viktor Dousmanis Montenegro Nicholas I Crown Prince Danilo Janko Vukotić Ottoman Empire Mehmed V Nazim Pasha Zeki Pasha Esad Pasha Kölemen Abdullah Pasha Ali Rıza Pasha Hasan Tahsin Pasha Enver Bey Ahmed Izzet Pasha Romania Carol I Crown Prince Ferdinand Alexandru Averescu Serbia Peter I Crown Prince Alexander Radomir Putnik Petar Bojović Stepa Stepanović Božidar Janković Other Balkan states: Albania (Ismail Kemal)
Category