Battle of Bazargic
Battle of Bazargic | |||||||
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Part of Romanian Campaign (World War I) | |||||||
![]() Map of the Romanian campaign | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Central Powers:![]() ![]() ![]() |
Allied Powers:![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
23 battalions,10 artillery batteries, 17 cavalry squadrons | 46 battalions,17 artillery batteries,19 cavalry squadrons | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,053 killed 2,324 wounded[1] | Unknown |
The Battle of Bazargic, also known as the Battle of Dobrich or the Dobrich epopee (Bulgarian: Добричка епопея), took place between 5 and 7 September 1916 between a joint Bulgarian–German–Ottoman force consisting mainly of the Bulgarian Third Army, and a Romanian–Russian force including a Division of Serbian Volunteers serving under the Russian 47th Corps. The battle was part of the Romanian campaign at the end of 1916.[2] It ended with a Central Powers victory.
Background
German Commander Field Marshal August von Mackensen was put in charge of the Romanian campaign in the Dobruja front. In September the 3rd Bulgarian Army was reinforced with two Ottoman divisions and part of a German division. The Central Powers' plan was to attack the Romanian forces in Transylvania, while at the same time attacking along the Black Sea, into the Dobruja, a region inhabited mainly by Bulgarians and taken from them in 1913,[2] as the result of the Second Balkan War.
Battle
Mackensen started with a surprise move on Turtucaia, a Romanian fortress. The besieging force was smaller than the garrison, most of which surrendered quickly while the rest fled including their commander.[3] On the Southern front Bulgarian units along with German and Turkish reinforcements, crossed the border and invaded the Dobrudja finding themselves facing the Romanian Third Army and two Russian infantry divisions, some Romanian units surrendered to the Russians, believing them to be Bulgarians.[4] Simultaneously with the assault of Turtucaia, the Bulgarian Third Army with the 75th Turkish regiment[5], defeated the Romanian-Russian force including the First Serbian Volunteer Division at the Battle of Bazargic, despite the almost double superiority of the Entente.[6] The outnumbered Central Powers force managed to push the Romanians and the Russians north while the Serbian Volunteer division suffered heavy casualties with 8,539 dead and wounded.[7] On 7 September after intense fighting the defeated Russian general ordered a withdrawal.[8]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/1916_-_Sarja_a_cavaleriei_romane_in_luptele_de_la_Bazargic_desen_de_D_Stoica.jpg/300px-1916_-_Sarja_a_cavaleriei_romane_in_luptele_de_la_Bazargic_desen_de_D_Stoica.jpg)
Aftermath
As the Romanian army withdrew into Moldavia by the beginning of November, the Central Powers had captured the whole of Dobruja.[9]
Notes
- ^ Симеонов, Радослав, Величка Михайлова и Донка Василева. Добричката епопея. Историко-библиографски справочник, Добрич 2006, с. 181.
- ^ a b Norman Stone 2008, p. 712–713.
- ^ Norman Stone 2008, p. 712-713.
- ^ Holger H. Herwig 2014, p. 213.
- ^ General Stefan Toshev 1921 “The activity of the 3rd Army in Dobrudja in 1916”, p.68; Действията на III армия в Добруджа 1916, стр. 68
- ^ Симеонов, Радослав, Величка Михайлова и Донка Василева. Добричката епопея. Историко-библиографски справочник, Добрич 2006
- ^ Ivo Banac 2015, p. 121–123.
- ^ Richard C. Hall 2010, p. 70-71.
- ^ Norman Stone 2008, p. 720.
References
- Norman Stone (2008). The Eastern Front 1914-1917. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-193885-1.
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(help) - Richard C. Hall (2010). Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00411-6.
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(help) - Ivo Banac (2015). The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-0193-1.
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(help) - Holger H. Herwig (24 April 2014). The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4725-1081-5.
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(help) - Българската армия в Първата световна война 1915-1918: Кратък енцикл. справ (in Bulgarian). Св. Георги Победоносец. 1939.
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(help)
External links
- Battles of World War I involving Bulgaria
- Battles of World War I involving Germany
- Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
- Battles of World War I involving Romania
- Battles of World War I involving Russia
- Battles of World War I involving Serbia
- Battles of the Balkans Theatre (World War I)
- Battles of the Eastern Front (World War I)
- Conflicts in 1916
- History of Dobrich Province
- Dobrich
- 1916 in Bulgaria
- 1916 in Romania
- September 1916 events