Battle of Bazargic

Battle of Bazargic
Part of Romanian Campaign (World War I)
Map of the Romanian campaign
Date 5 September 1916 - 7 September 1916 Location Bazargic, Kingdom of Romania (now Dobrich, Bulgaria) 43°34′0″N 27°50′0″E Result Central Powers victory
Belligerents
Central Powers: Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire	Allied Powers: Romania Russian Empire Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Stefan Toshev Ivan Kolev Todor Kantardzhiev	Andrei Zayonchkovski
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	Unknown

The Battle of Bazargic, also known as the Battle of Dobrich or the Dobrich epopee (Template:Lang-bg), 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. It ended with a Central Powers victory.

Background

Main article: Romanian Campaign (1916)

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, 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. 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. Simultaneously with the assault of Turtucaia, the Bulgarian Third Army with the 75th Turkish regiment, defeated the Romanian-Russian force including the First Serbian Volunteer Division at the Battle of Bazargic, despite the almost double superiority of the Entente. 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. On 7 September after intense fighting the defeated Russian general ordered a withdrawal.

Romanian cavalry charge during the battle of Bazargic

Aftermath

As the Romanian army withdrew into Moldavia by the beginning of November, the Central Powers had captured the whole of Dobruja.

References

• Norman Stone (2008). The Eastern Front 1914-1917. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-193885-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Richard C. Hall (2010). Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00411-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ivo Banac (2015). The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-0193-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (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. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Българската армия в Първата световна война 1915-1918: Кратък енцикл. справ (in Bulgarian). Св. Георги Победоносец. 1939. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Romanian Encyclopedia