View source for Macedonian front

{{Short description|World War I military theatre}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Macedonian front
| partof            = the [[Balkans theatre]] of [[World War I]]
| image             = Salonika Army Christmas Card 1916 displaying soldiers of all Allied nations.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = From left to right: [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] soldiers from [[French Indochina|Indochina]], [[French Third Republic|France]], [[French West Africa|Senegal]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]], and [[British Raj|India]].
| place             = [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]
| date              = 21 October 1915 – 30 September 1918<br>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=10|day1=21|year1=1915|month2=09|day2=30|year2=1918}})
| result            = {{ublist|Allied victory}}
*[[Armistice of Salonica]]
* End of the [[Balkans theatre]]
| combatant1        = {{plainlist|
'''[[Central Powers]]:'''
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Bulgaria}}
*{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
*{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}
*{{flag|Ottoman Empire}} {{small|(1916–1917)}}}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|
'''[[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]]:'''
*{{flagcountry|FRA-3}}
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Serbia}}
*{{flagcountry|UKGBI}}
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Greece|state}} {{small|(from 1917)}}
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}}
*{{flagcountry|Russian Empire}} {{small|(1916–1917)}}
*{{flagdeco|Russia|1914}} [[Russian Legion|Honorary Russian Legion]] {{small|(from 1917)}}<ref>Олейников А. Россия-щит Антанты. С предисловием Николая Старикова.-СПб.:Питер, 2016. – 336 с.-( серия «Николай Стариков рекомендует прочитать») ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4</ref>
}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} [[Nikola Zhekov]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} [[Georgi Todorov (general)|Georgi Todorov]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} [[Kliment Boyadzhiev]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} [[Dimitar Geshov]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} [[Stefan Nerezov]]
*{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[August von Mackensen]]
*{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Otto von Below]]
*{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Friedrich von Scholtz]]
*{{nowrap|{{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin]]}}
*{{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} [[Abdul Kerim Pasha]]
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|FRA-3}} [[Maurice Sarrail]]
*{{flagicon|FRA-3}} [[Adolphe Guillaumat]]
*{{flagicon|FRA-3}} [[Franchet d'Esperey|Louis F. d'Esperey]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Serbia}} [[Petar Bojović]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Serbia}} [[Živojin Mišić]]
*{{flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Bryan Mahon]]
*{{flagicon|UKGBI}} [[George Milne]]
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Greece|state}} [[Panagiotis Danglis]]
}}
| units1            = '''[[Army Group Scholtz]]'''
* [[11th German-Bulgarian Army|11th German Army]]{{efn|The German 11th Army was composed of mostly Bulgarian divisions.{{sfn|Korsun|1939|p=95}}|group=Note}}
* [[First Army (Bulgaria)|1st Bulgarian Army]]
{{plainlist|
*[[Second Army (Bulgaria)|2nd Bulgarian Army]]
*[[Fourth Army (Bulgaria)|4th Bulgarian Army]]
*[[XX Corps (Ottoman Empire)|Ottoman XX Corps]]<hr>
*[[Albania during World War I#Austro-Hungarian occupation of Albania (1916–1918)|Army Group Albania]]
}}
| units2            = '''[[Allied Army of the Orient]]'''
*[[Armée d'Orient (1915–19)|Armée d'Orient]]
*[[First Army (Serbia)|1st Serbian Army]]{{efn|name="Serb army"|The Serbian armies were corps sized formations.{{sfn|Thomas|Babac|2001|pp=12–13}}|group=Note}}
*[[Second Army (Serbia)|2nd Serbian Army]]{{efn|name="Serb army"}}
*[[Third Army (Serbia)|3rd Serbian Army]]{{efn|name="Serb army"}}
*[[British Salonika Army]]
*[[Army of National Defence|National Defence Army]]
*35th Italian division
*[[Allied Army of the Orient#Russia|Russian Expeditionary Force]]
----[[Italian protectorate over Albania|Italian XVI Corps]]
| strength1         = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} 550,000 men<ref name="Hall-1">Richard C. Hall, ''Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918'', 2010 – p. 134</ref>
*{{flagicon|German Empire}} 18,000 men<ref name="Hall-1"/>
*1,217 artillery pieces
*2,710 machine guns
*30 aeroplanes
*{{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} ''Unknown''
*{{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} 29,000 men {{small|(Dec 1916 – May 1917)}}, afterwards 4,300 {{small|(until May 1918)}}.<ref name="turkeyswar.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.turkeyswar.com/macedonia.html|access-date=2015-05-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231624/http://www.turkeyswar.com/macedonia.html |archive-date=2013-12-02 |title=Campaigns – Macedonia |website=Turkeyswar.com}}</ref>
}}
| strength2         = {{plainlist|
*717,000 men<ref name="Hall-1"/>
*2,609 artillery pieces
*2,682 machine guns
*6,434 automatic rifles
*200 aeroplanes
}}
| casualties1       = {{plainlist| *{{flagicon|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} 200,000 casualties{{efn|Losses for Bulgaria in the whole war are given as 266,919 (including killed and died 87,500; wounded 152,930; Prisoners and missing 27,029). Bar 30,250 casualties in the Romanian Campaign and 37,000 casualties in the Serbian Campaign losses were all taken on the Salonika front.<ref name="casualties">"Military Casualties-World War-Estimated" Statistics Branch, GS, War Department, 25 February 1924; cited in World War I: People, Politics, and Power, published by Britannica Educational Publishing (2010) p. 219.</ref>}} {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} {{flagicon|German Empire}} {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} Unknown

}}
| casualties2       = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|FRA-3}} 6,700 killed, 15,600 missing and 16,200 wounded<ref>Until the Armistice of 11 November 1918. Max Schiavon. ''Le Front d'Orient. Des Dardanelles à la victoire finale''. Tallandier. 2014. p. 114, 368.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20181109-video-reporters-salonica-front-victory-wwi-world-war-one-1918-armistice-greece-macedonia|title = Reporters: How the Salonica Front led to victory in WWI|website=www.france24.com|date = 9 November 2018}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Serbia}} 40,000 casualties{{efn|Total Serbian military casualties in World War I numbered approximately 481,000, including 278,000 dead from all causes (including POWs),<ref>{{cite book|last=Urlanis|first=Boris|year=1971 |title=Wars and Population |location=Moscow |publisher=Progress Publishers |pages=66, 79, 83, 85, 160, 171, 268}}</ref> 133,000 wounded, and 70,000 living POWs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920|publisher=The War Office|page=353}}</ref> Of these 481,000, some 434,000 were suffered in the earlier [[Serbian Campaign of World War I|Serbian campaign]]. Most of the rest were taken on the Macedonian front following the evacuation of the Serbian army.}}
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Greece|state}} 27,000 casualties{{efn|Total casualties for Greece were 27,000 (killed and died 5,000; wounded 21,000; prisoners and missing 1,000)<ref name="casualties" />}}
*{{flagicon|UKGBI}} 26,207 casualties{{efn|Breakdown: 2,797 were killed, 1,299 died of wounds, 3,744 died of disease, 2,778 were missing/captured, 16,888 were wounded (minus DOW), 116,190 evacuated sick (34,726 to the UK, 81,428 elsewhere) of whom an unknown proportion returned to duty later. Overall, 481,262 were hospitalized for sickness.<ref>T. J. Mitchell and G.M. Smith. "Medical Services: Casualties and Medical Statistics of the Great War." From the "Official History of the Great War." pp. 190–191.</ref>}}
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} 10,538 casualties<ref>Ministero della Difesa: L’Esercito italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915–1918), vol. VII: Le operazioni fuori del territorio nazionale: Albania, Macedonia, Medio Oriente, t. 3° bis: documenti, Rome 1981, Parte Prima, doc. 77, p. 173 and Parte Seconda, doc. 78, p. 351; Mortara, La salute pubblica in Italia 1925, p. 37.</ref>{{efn|Losses are given as follows for 1916 to 1918. Macedonia: 8,324, including 2,971 dead or missing and 5,353 injured. Albania: 2,214, including 298 dead, 1,069 wounded, and 847 missing.}}
*{{flagicon|Russian Empire}} ''Unknown''
}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Balkan theatre (World War I)}}
{{Campaignbox Macedonian Front (World War I)}}
}}

The '''Macedonian front''', also known as the '''Salonica front''' (after [[Thessaloniki]]), was a military theatre of [[World War I]] formed as a result of an attempt by the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] to aid [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], in the autumn of 1915, against the [[Serbian Campaign (World War I)#1915|combined attack]] of [[Germany]], [[Austria-Hungary]] and [[Bulgaria during World War I|Bulgaria]]. The expedition came too late and with insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia and was complicated by the internal political crisis in [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] (the [[National Schism]]). Eventually, a stable front was established, running from the [[Albania]]n [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast to the [[Struma River]], pitting a [[Allied Army of the Orient|multinational Allied force]] against the [[Bulgarian army]], which was at various times bolstered with smaller units from the other [[Central Powers]]. The Macedonian front remained stable, despite local actions, until the [[Vardar offensive|Allied offensive in September 1918]] resulted in Bulgaria capitulating and the liberation of Serbia.

==Background==
Following the assassination of the Crown Prince by a Bosnian Serb, [[Austria-Hungary]] had attacked Serbia in August 1914 but had failed to overcome Serbian resistance. After the entry of the [[Ottoman Empire]] into the war on the side of the Central Powers (November 1914), the decisive factor in the Balkans became the attitude of Bulgaria. Bulgaria occupied a strategically important position on the Serbian flank, and its intervention on either side of the belligerents would be decisive. Bulgaria and Serbia had fought each other twice in the previous thirty years: in the [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]] of 1885 and the [[Second Balkan War]] of 1913. Bulgaria had suffered defeat in 1913, and the Bulgarian government and people generally felt that Serbia had seized land which rightfully belonged to Bulgaria. While the Allies could only offer Bulgaria small territorial concessions from Serbia and neutral Greece, the Central Powers' promises appeared far more enticing, offering to cede most of the land [[Greater Bulgaria|Bulgaria claimed]]. With the Allied defeats at the [[Battle of Gallipoli]] (April 1915 to January 1916) and the Russian defeat at [[Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive|Gorlice-Tarnów]] (May to September 1915) demonstrating the Central Powers' strength, [[Ferdinand of Bulgaria|King Ferdinand]] signed a treaty with Germany and on 21 September 1915 Bulgaria began mobilizing for war.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=1–22}}

===Triple invasion and the fall of Serbia===
{{main|Serbian Campaign of World War I}}
[[File:Pobedata nad syrbia.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A propaganda postcard commemorating the victory of the Central Powers over Serbia in 1915. The three monarchs depicted from left to right are Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, and King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. The caption in German reads "Serbia's End".]]
[[File:Од Пећи ка Андријевици.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Great Retreat (Serbian)|retreat]] of the Serbian troops in winter 1915/16 across a snowy mountain in Albania to Adriatic coast.]]
[[File:Death in the snow.jpg|thumb|left|A dead Serbian soldier in the snow.]]
[[File:Cekajuci ukrcavanje.jpg|thumb|left|Exhausted Serbian soldiers on the seashore in the expectation of Allied ships, February 1916.]]

After the victory of the Serbian army in the [[Battle of Kolubara]] in December 1914, the Serbian front saw a lull until the early autumn of 1915. Under the command of Field Marshal [[August von Mackensen]], the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army, the German 11th Army and river flotillas on the [[Danube]] and the [[Sava]] began an offensive on 6 October 1915, the largest offensive against Serbia. By September 1915, despite the extreme sacrifice of the Serbian army, the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army, having crossed the rivers Sava and [[Drina]], and the German 11th army after crossing the Danube, occupied [[Belgrade]], [[Smederevo]], [[Požarevac]] and [[Golubac]], creating a vast bridgehead south of the Sava and Danube rivers, and forcing Serbian forces to withdraw to southern Serbia.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=22–33}}

On 15 October 1915, two Bulgarian armies attacked, over-running Serbian units and penetrating the valley of the [[South Morava]] river near [[Vranje]] up to 22 October 1915. The Bulgarian forces occupied [[Kumanovo]], [[Štip]], and [[Skopje]] and prevented the withdrawal of the Serbian army to the [[Kingdom of Greece|Greek]] border and [[Thessaloniki]] (Salonika).{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=33–39}}

[[File:French soldiers-salonika-1915.jpg|thumb|left|French soldiers halting in Thessaloniki (1915).]]
The Allies (Britain and France) had repeatedly promised to send military forces to Serbia, but nothing had materialized for a year. However, with Bulgaria's mobilization to its south, the situation for Serbia became desperate. The developments finally forced the French and the British to decide upon sending a small expedition force of two divisions from Gallipoli ([[156th Infantry Division (France)]]<ref name=GallipoliToSalonika>{{cite web|url=https://forum.pages14-18.com/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2938&start=10#p537863|title=De Gallipoli à Salonique |website=Forum |pages=14–18| language =fr|access-date=8 September 2020|quote=transcriptions of primary source documents, listing which units redeployed to Salonika }}</ref> and [[10th (Irish) Division]] respectively). Though the first troops landed in the port of Salonika on 5 October to combine into an [[Army of the Orient (1915)|Army of the Orient]] under the French commander [[Maurice Sarrail]], they arrived in the Greek port of [[Thessaloniki]] (Salonica) too late to contribute to the operations to help Serbia. The main reason for the delay was the lack of available Allied forces due to the critical situation in the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. The Entente used Greek neutrality as an excuse{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}, although they could have used the Albanian coast to rapidly deploy reinforcements and equipment during the first 14 months of the war. (As the Serbian Marshal [[Radomir Putnik|Putnik]] had suggested, the [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegrin]] army gave adequate cover to the Albanian coast from the north—at a safe distance from any Bulgarian advance in the south in the event of a Bulgarian intervention.) The Entente was also delayed due to protracted through finally fruitless secret negotiations to bring Bulgaria into the Allied camp, which would have alleviated Serbia's need for Franco-British help.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=31–32, 42–50}}

[[File:Arrivée du 2e régiment de zouaves sur le camp d'aviation de Salonique (18 novembre 1915) - Salonique (environs) - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APOR023642.jpg|thumb|right|Wearing new khaki uniforms, the 2nd [[Zouaves]] arrive at Salonika aerodrome following disembarkation.]]
In the event, the lack of Allied support sealed the fate of the Serbian army. Against Serbia, the Central Powers marshalled the Bulgarian Army, a [[German Army (German Empire)|German army]], and an [[Austro-Hungarian army]], all under the command of Field Marshal [[August von Mackensen|Mackensen]]. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians began their attack on 7 October with a massive artillery barrage, followed by attacks across the rivers. Then, on 11 October, the Bulgarian army attacked from two directions, one from the north of Bulgaria towards [[Niš]], the other from the south towards [[Skopje]] (see map). The Bulgarian army rapidly broke through the weaker Serbian forces that tried to block its advance. With the Bulgarian breakthrough, the Serbian position became hopeless; their main army in the north faced either encirclement and forced surrender or retreat.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=33–37}}

Marshal Putnik ordered a full [[Serbian army's retreat through Albania|Serbian retreat, southwards and westwards through Montenegro and into Albania]]. The Serbs faced great difficulties: terrible weather, poor roads and the need for the army to help the tens of thousands of civilians who retreated with them. Only {{nowrap|c. 125,000 Serbian}} soldiers reached the Adriatic coast and embarked on Italian transport ships that carried the army to [[Corfu]] and other Greek islands before it travelled on to Thessaloniki. Marshal Putnik had to be carried around during the entire retreat; he died just over a year later in a French hospital.

The French and British divisions marched north from Thessaloniki in October 1915 under the joint command of French General [[Maurice Sarrail]] and British General [[Bryan Mahon]] (Commander, [[British Salonika Army|British Salonika Force]], 1915). However, the London [[War Office]] was reluctant to advance too deep into Serbia. So the French divisions advanced up the [[Vardar]] river alone. This advance gave some limited help to the retreating Serbian army, as the Bulgarians had to concentrate larger forces on their southern flank to deal with the threat, which led to the [[Battle of Krivolak]] (October–November 1915).{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=57–62}} By the end of November, General Sarrail had to retreat in the face of massive Bulgarian assaults on his positions. During his retreat, the [[Battle of Kosturino|British at Kosturino]] were also forced to retreat. By 12 December, all Allied forces were back in Greece. The Germans ordered the Bulgarians not to cross the Greek borders, reluctant to risk a Greek entry into the war in response to a Bulgarian invasion in Macedonia. The Allies took advantage of that, reinforcing and consolidating their positions behind the borders.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=50–84}}

Thus there resulted in a clear, albeit incomplete, victory for the Central Powers. They opened the railway line from [[Baghdad Railway|Berlin to Constantinople]], allowing Germany to prop up its weaker partner, the Ottoman Empire. Despite the victory, the Allies managed to save a part of the [[Serbian army]], while although battered, seriously reduced, and almost unarmed, escaped destruction and reorganized, resuming operations six months later. And most damagingly for the Central Powers, the Allies—using the moral excuse of saving the Serbian army—managed to replace the impossible Serbian front with a viable one established in Macedonia (albeit by violating the territory of an officially neutral country); this front would prove key to their final victory three years later.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=85–103}}

==Establishment of the Macedonian front==
{{Main|Monastir Offensive}}
[[File:Serbia-WW1-4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|left|Fighting along the Greek border, 1916.]]

On 5 January 1916, the Austro-Hungarian Army [[Montenegrin Campaign of World War I|attacked Serbian ally Montenegro]]. The small Montenegrin army offered strong resistance in the [[Battle of Mojkovac]], which greatly helped the withdrawal of the Serbian army, but soon faced impossible odds and was compelled to surrender on 25 January.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=32–36}} The Austro-Hungarians advanced down the coast of the [[Adriatic Sea]] into Italian-controlled [[Albania]]. By the end of the winter, the small Italian army in Albania had been forced out of nearly the whole country.{{sfn|Falls|1933|p=110}} With the war in the Balkans almost lost, the British General Staff wanted to withdraw all British troops from Greece, but the French government protested strongly, and the troops remained. The Allied armies entrenched around Thessaloniki, which became a huge fortified camp, earning themselves the mocking nickname "the Gardeners of Salonika".{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=85–103}} The Serbian army (now under the command of General [[Petar Bojović]]), after rest and refit on Corfu, was transported by the French to the Macedonian front.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=119–120}}
[[File:LPDF 69 3 nos chasseurs au travail pour les tranchées.jpg|thumb|right|The lines of earthworks around Salonika, French troops dig trenches to defend the city.]]

In the meantime, the political situation in Greece was confusing. Officially, Greece was neutral, but King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]] was pro-German, while Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] was pro-Allied. Venizelos invited the Entente into Thessaloniki.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=107, 130}} With the knowledge that [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] was about to join the Allied side, General Sarrail began preparations for an attack on the Bulgarian armies facing his forces.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=104–111}} The Germans made plans of their own for a "spoiling attack". The German offensive was launched on 17 August, just three days before the French offensive was scheduled to start. This was a Bulgarian offensive, as the Austro-Hungarian army was in Albania, and only one German division was on the Greek border. The Bulgarians attacked on two fronts. In the east, they easily conquered all Greek territory east of the river Struma (see [[Struma Offensive]]) since the Greek army was ordered not to resist by the pro-German King Constantine. The attack achieved early success in the west thanks to surprise, but the Allied forces held a defensive line after two weeks. Having halted the Bulgarian offensive, the Allies staged a counter-attack starting on 12 September ([[Battle of Kaymakchalan]]).{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=152–184}} The terrain was rough, and the Bulgarians were on the defensive, but the Allied forces made steady gains. Slow advances by the Allies continued throughout October and into November, even as the weather turned cold and snow fell on the hills. Though the Germans sent two more divisions to help bolster the Bulgarian army, by 19 November, the French and Serbian armies captured [[Kaymakchalan]], the highest peak of [[Nidže]] mountain and compelled the Central powers to abandon [[Bitola]] to the Entente; {{nowrap|c. 60,000}} Bulgarians and Germans were killed, wounded or captured. The Allies suffered c. 50,000 battle casualties while another 80,000 men died or were evacuated due to sickness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://militera.lib.ru/h/korsun_ng4/03.html|title=ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА – [Военная история] – Корсун Н. Г. Балканский фронт мировой войны 1914–1918 гг.|website=militera.lib.ru|access-date=May 11, 2023}}</ref> The front moved about {{convert|25|mi|km}}.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=172–196, 234–240}}

[[File:Veljko Stanojević 1976 Yugoslavia stamp.jpg|thumb|left|A 1976 Yugoslav postage stamp depicting the collapse of the Salonika front by war artist Veljko Stanojević]]
The unopposed Bulgarian advance into Greek-held eastern Macedonia precipitated a crisis in Greece. Though the royalist government ordered its troops in the area (the demobilized [[IV Army Corps (Greece)|IV Corps]]) not to resist and to retreat to the port of [[Kavala]] for evacuation, naval vessels did not turn up to permit the evacuation to take place. Despite occasional local resistance from a few officers and their nucleus units, most of the troops, including their commander, surrendered to a token German force and were interned for the remainder of the war at [[Görlitz]], Germany. The surrender of territory recently won with difficulty in the [[Second Balkan War]] of 1913 was the last straw for many Venizelist army officers. With Allied assistance, they launched a coup which secured Thessaloniki and most of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek Macedonia]] for Venizelos. From that point, Greece had two governments: the "official" royal government at Athens, which maintained Greek neutrality, and the "revolutionary" Venizelist "[[Provisional Government of National Defence]]" at Thessaloniki. At the same time, the Italians had deployed more forces to Albania, which managed to push the Austrian corps back through very hilly country south of [[Lake Vegoritida|Lake Ostrovo]].{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=208–230, 348–261}}

The Allies treated Salonika very much like a colony.{{sfn|Horne|2022|pp=28–29}} [[Thessaloniki]] was more ethically and religiously mixed than today, was viewed by the British and French soldiers as an exotic "Oriental" city with its winding, cramped streets, domes, churches, synagogues, mosques, and the very striking [[White Tower of Thessaloniki|White Tower]] that overlooked the city.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=29}} Thessaloniki had been part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912 when it was won by Greece in the First Balkan War, and in 1915 the city still had a very Ottoman feel to it. Etienne Burnet, a French bacteriologist sent out from Paris to take part in an anti-malaria campaign marveled: "What a multi-colored crowd on the quayside! Caftans, turbans, western suites in the latest style, black robes and scarlet fezzes like poppies" and Thessaloniki was "both wretched and splendid, just like the Orient".{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=29}} Burnet's reaction to Thessaloniki was very typical of the Anglo-French responses to Thessaloniki, a city that did not match expectations of classical Greece and seemed to them to be more Ottoman than Greek.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=29}} The treatment of the local women by their menfolk created much disgust as the women were always cloistered away or treated as "beasts of burden".{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=29}} Many of the French soldiers were peasants who were much incensed by the backward state of agriculture in the farms outside of Thessaloniki, which led many French soldiers to complain about the primitive farming methods of Macedonia.{{sfn|Horne|2022|pp=29–30}} The French in particular saw themselves as engaged in the ''mission civilisatrice'' ("civilizing mission"), which led for the French Army to embark upon a series of public works projects such as building bridges, improving roads, providing piped water to rural villages, trying to eradicate malaria, and so forth.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=30}} Such projects were intended primarily to benefit the French Army, but many French officers genuinely believed that helping the local people "come to love France" as one French colonel put it was an idealistic goal in and of itself that was worth pursuing.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=30}} Of the 8 French Army divisions stationed on the Salonika front, three were colonial divisions while the 156th French Division had a significant number of colonial units attached to it.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=32}} Of the 221, 000 French troops who served in Macedonia, at least 47,000 (21%) were colonial units, mostly the ''[[tirailleurs sénégalais]]'' from West Africa, a number of units from Algeria, and the ''[[Tirailleurs indochinois]]'' from Vietnam.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=32}}  Algeria was considered part of France at the time and a significant minority in Algeria were ''pied noirs'' as the European settlers were called, and the French did not necessarily consider Algerian units to be colonial units, and it is possible that at least third of the French ''Armée d' Orient'' were colonial units.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=32}} The presence of so many colonial units from Algeria, French West Africa, Madagascar and Indochina led to a "reverse exoticism" for the Greek Macedonia as Vietnamese soldiers serving in the ''tirailleurs indochinois'' celebrated their traditional Vietnamese holidays, which provided unusual spectacles in the Balkans.{{sfn|Horne|2022|p=33}}

The troops of the 10th (Irish) Division of the British Army had very a "live and let live" attitude towards their Bulgarian enemies, and refrained from trench raids, only shelled each other's trenches at specific times to avoid too inconvenience to the other side and often avoided shooting at the enemy.{{sfn|McDermott|Power|2006|pp=31–32}} The mostly Irish troops in their letters to their families back home often described Bulgarians as "Brother Bulgar", and reserved all their hatred for the Germans and the British General Staff, which was they accused of neglecting them.{{sfn|McDermott|Power|2006|p=32}}

==1917==
By spring 1917, General Sarrail's ''[[Allied Army of the Orient]]'' had been reinforced to {{nowrap|24 divisions,}} six French, six Serbian, seven British, one Italian, three Greek and [[Russian Expeditionary Force in France|two Russian brigades]]. An offensive was planned for late April, but the initial attack failed with significant losses, and the offensive was called off on 21 May.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=302–345}} To put more pressure on Athens, the Venizelists and the Entente occupied Thessaly and [[Isthmus of Corinth]], dividing the country. After an attempt to occupy Athens by force, which caused the reaction of the local royalist forces and ended in a fiasco in December (see [[Noemvriana]]), the Allies established a naval blockade around southern Greece which was still loyal to King Constantine, causing extreme hardship to the people in those areas. Six months later, in June, the Venizelists presented a list of conditions, resulting in the exile of the Greek king (on 14 June, his son [[Alexander of Greece|Alexander]] became king) and the reunification of the country under Venizelos. The new government immediately declared war on the Central Powers and created a new army.{{sfn|Falls|1933|pp=348–362}}

==1918==
===Opposing forces in the middle of September===
====Central Powers====
{| class="wikitable" width=100% style="font-size:90%;  margin: 0;"
! colspan=6 style=" background: #E0EEE0;" | Order of battle: Army Group Scholtz (General of the Artillery [[Friedrich von Scholtz]])
|-
| '''Army''' || '''Commander''' || '''Corps''' || '''Commander''' || '''Divisions'''
|-
| [[11th Army (German Empire)|11th German Army]] || [[General of the Infantry (Germany)|Gen.d.Inf.]] [[Kuno von Steuben]] || [[61st Corps (German Empire)|LXI. Corps]] || Lt-Gen. Friedrich Fleck || 1st, 6th & Mixed Bulgarian Division
|-
| || || [[62nd Corps (German Empire)|LXII. Corps]] || Lt-Gen. Karl Suren || 302nd German Division, 4th, 2nd & 3rd Bulgarian Division
|-
| [[First Army (Bulgaria)|1st Bulgarian Army]] || [[Lieutenant General|Lt-Gen]]. [[Stefan Nerezov]] ||  ||  || 5th, Mountain, 9th Bulgarian Infantry Divisions & 1/11 Infantry Brigade
|}
{| class="wikitable" width=100% style="font-size:90%;  margin: 0;"
! colspan=6 style="background: #E0EEE0;" | Order of battle: Bulgarian High Command (Lieutenant General [[Georgi Todorov (general)|Georgi Todorov]])
|-
| '''Army''' || '''Commander''' || '''Corps''' || '''Commander''' || '''Divisions'''
|-
| [[Second Army(Bulgaria)|2nd Bulgarian Army]] || [[Lieutenant General|Lt-Gen]] [[Ivan Lukov]] || || || 11th, 7th & 8th Bulgarian Infantry Division
|-
| [[Fourth Army (Bulgaria)|4th Bulgarian Army]] || [[Lieutenant General|Lt-Gen]] [[Stefan Toshev]] || || || 10th Bulgarian Infantry division & 2nd Bulgarian Cavalry Division
|}

====Entente====
{| class="wikitable" width=100% style="font-size:90%;  margin: 0;"
! colspan=6 style=" background: #BCD4E6;" | Order of battle:  Allied Armies of the East (General [[Louis Franchet d'Espèrey]])
|-
| '''Army''' || '''Commander''' || '''Corps''' || '''Commander''' || '''Division'''
|-
| [[Armée d'Orient (1915–19)|French Army of the Orient]] || General [[Paul Prosper Henrys|Paul Henrys]] || || || 30th, 76th, [[57th Infantry Division (France)|57th]], [[156th Infantry Division (France)|156th]] French Infantry Divisions, 35th Italian Infantry Division, 11th French Colonial Division, [[3rd Infantry Division (Greece)|3rd]] & [[4th Infantry Division (Greece)|4th]] Greek Infantry Divisions
|-
|rowspan=2| Serbian Army ||rowspan=2| [[Voivode|Field Marshal]] [[Živojin Mišić]] || [[First Army (Serbia)|I Serbian Corps]] & One battalion || [[Voivode|Field Marshal]] [[Petar Bojović]] || Morava, Dunav & Drina Infantry Divisions, Cavalry Division, Prilep Battalion
|-
| [[Second Army (Serbia)|II Serbian Corps]] & Two French Divisions || [[Voivode|Field Marshal]] [[Stepa Stepanović]] || Šumadija, Yugoslav (renamed Vardar Division) & Timok Infantry Divisions, [[122nd Infantry Division (France)|122nd]] & [[17th Colonial Infantry Division (France)|17th]] French Infantry Division
|-
| 1st Group of Divisions || General [[Philippe Henri Joseph d'Anselme|Philippe d'Anselm]] || || || 16th French Colonial Division, Greek [[Archipelago Division]] & [[27th Division (United Kingdom)|27th]] British Infantry Division
|-
|rowspan=2| [[British Salonika Army]] ||rowspan=2| General [[George Milne, 1st Baron Milne|George Milne]] || [[XII Corps (United Kingdom)|XII Corps]] || Lt-Gen. [[Sir Henry Fuller Maitland Wilson|Henry Wilson]] || [[22nd Division (United Kingdom)|22nd]] & [[26th Division (United Kingdom)|26th]] British Infantry Division, Greek [[Serres Division]]
|-
| [[XVI Corps (United Kingdom)|XVI Corps]] || Lt-Gen. [[Charles James Briggs]] || [[28th Division (United Kingdom)|28th]] British Infantry Division & Greek [[Crete Division]]
|-
|rowspan=3| [[National Defence Army Corps|Greek Army]] ||rowspan=3| Lt.-Gen. [[Panagiotis Danglis]] || [[I Army Corps (Greece)|I Greek Corps]] || Lt.-Gen. [[Leonidas Paraskevopoulos]] || [[1st Infantry Division (Greece)|1st]], [[2nd Infantry Division (Greece)|2nd]] & [[13th Infantry Division (Greece)|13th]] Greek Infantry Divisions
|-
| [[II Army Corps (Greece)|II Greek Corps]] || Lt.-Gen. [[Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos]] || [[Xanthi Division|Xanthi]] & [[14th Infantry Division (Greece)|14th]] Greek Infantry Divisions
|-
| || || [[9th Infantry Division (Greece)|9th]] Greek Infantry Division (training)
|}

===Military operations===
{{Main|Battle of Skra-di-Legen|Vardar offensive}}
[[File: Colonel Christodoulou interrogates Bulgarian POWs.jpg|thumb|Colonel [[Nikolaos Christodoulou]], one of the leaders of the Greek National Defence Army, interrogates Bulgarian prisoners of war.]]

On 30 May 1918, the Allies launched an offensive on the heavily fortified [[Skra, Kilkis|Skra]] salient, commencing the [[battle of Skra-di-Legen]].
The battle marked the first significant Greek action for the Allied side.{{sfn|Falls|1935|p=89}} Utilizing the cover of heavy artillery, a Franco-[[Greece|Hellenic]] force made a rapid push into the enemy trenches, conquering Skra and the surrounding system of fortifications. Greek casualties amounted to 434–440 killed in action, 154–164 missing in action and 1,974–2,220 wounded, while France lost approximately 150 men killed or injured. A total of 1,782 soldiers of the Central Powers became prisoners of war, including a small number of German engineers and artillery specialists that served in Bulgarian units; considerable amounts of military equipment also fell into Allied hands. The plan for a Bulgarian counteroffensive against Skra remained unfulfilled as Bulgarian soldiers refused to participate in the operation. Both the Greek and the French press used the opportunity to laud the efforts of the Greek army, favourably influencing the Greek mobilization.{{sfn|Geramanis|1980|p=89}}{{sfn|Villari|1922|pp=196–198}}{{sfn|Omiridis Skylitzes|1961|pp=38–44}}

The fall of Skra prompted Bulgarian prime minister [[Vasil Radoslavov]] to resign on 21 June 1918. [[Aleksandar Malinov]], who assumed office immediately afterwards, pursued secret negotiations with Britain, offering to withdraw Bulgaria from the war with the condition that Bulgaria fully retain eastern Macedonia. However, British prime minister [[David Lloyd George]] rejected the proposal, assuring the Greek ambassador in London [[Ioannis Gennadius]] that Britain would not act against Greek interests.{{sfn|Vaidis|1979|pp=258–262}}
[[File:French 75mm AA gun Salonika Front WWI LOC LC-USZ62-48585.jpg|thumb|upright|left|French gunners with [[Canon de 75 modèle 1897|75 mm anti-aircraft gun]] in Thessaloniki.]]
With the German spring offensive threatening France, Guillaumat was recalled to [[Paris]] and replaced by General [[Franchet d'Espèrey]]. Although d'Espèrey urged an attack on the Bulgarian army, the French government refused to allow an offensive unless all the countries agreed. General Guillaumat, no longer needed in France, travelled from [[London]] to [[Rome]], trying to win approval for an attack. Finally, in September 1918, an agreement was reached, allowing d'Espèrey to launch his grand offensive.{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=101–112}}

The Allied forces were now large, despite the Russian exit from the war due to the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] in March 1918. Greece and its army (nine divisions) were fully committed to the Entente, while 6,000 Czech and Slovak former prisoners of war held on the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian front]] were re-armed, reorganized, and transferred to the Macedonian front to fight for the Entente.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metropostcard.com/war7b-czechoslovakia.html|title=MetroPostcard Guide to Czechoslovakia in World War One on postcards|website=www.metropostcard.com|access-date=2019-05-27|archive-date=2019-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118042411/http://www.metropostcard.com/war7b-czechoslovakia.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Bulgarians had also increased their army during 1917, leading both sides to have roughly equal military power {{nowrap|(291 Allied}} battalions vs. {{nowrap|300 Bulgarian}} battalions and ten German battalions). However, as 1918 progressed, it was clear that the Entente had the momentum the Central Powers lacked. Russian defeat had yielded no meaningful benefit to the Central Powers. The Ottoman Empire faced a progressive loss of Arab lands. In Austria-Hungary, non-German and non-Hungarian parts of the multinational empire grew more openly restive. On the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], intense German spring offensives had not defeated France, and American deployment was increasingly effective, with US forces operating under independent command from June 1918. Though Bulgaria was not at war with the United States, German victory over the United States appeared conceptually infeasible. Finally, and most importantly for Bulgaria, although almost all of its [[Treaty of San Stefano|territorial war aims]] were already achieved, because World War I was not merely a third [[First Balkan War|Balkan War]], Bulgaria could not quit. Alongside its partners, Bulgaria continued to suffer high casualties and civilian privation, including food shortages, seemingly to achieve the unrealized objectives of its allies. As a constitutional monarchy, Bulgaria depended on the consent of its people to keep fighting while stress and discontent with the war grew.

An unintentional result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ended the war with Russia and the Treaty of Bucharest which ended the war with Romania was to undermine morale in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army.{{sfn|Rauchensteiner|2014|pp=663–670}} Besides for the peace treaties, Serbia had been defeated in 1915 and Italy had been almost defeated in 1917, meaning that most of the Austrian war aims had already achieved, and from the Austrian point of view, there was no more point in continuing the war.{{sfn|Rauchensteiner|2014|pp=663–670}} However, the Austrian Empire was very much the junior partner in its alliance with Germany, and under strong German pressure Austria-Hungary had to continue the war, which caused serious morale problems in the Imperial and Royal Army by 1918.{{sfn|Rauchensteiner|2014|pp=663–670}} Within the Imperial and Royal Army, Germany was cursed as the "secret enemy" that had bullied the Austrian empire into continuing the war in order to achieve German war aims.{{sfn|Rauchensteiner|2014|pp=663–670}}

[[File:Bulgarian major Ivanov with white flag surrendering to Serbian 7th Danube ragiment.jpg|thumb|Bulgarian major Ivanov with white flag surrendering to Serbian 7th Danube regiment near [[Kumanovo]]]]
The preparatory artillery bombardment of Bulgarian and Central Powers positions for the [[Battle of Dobro Pole]] began on 14 September. The following day, the French and Serbians attacked and captured their objective.{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=147–158}} On 18 September, the Greeks and the British attacked but were stopped with heavy losses by the Bulgarians in the [[Battle of Doiran (1918)|Battle of Doiran]].{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=159–192}} The Franco-Serbian army continued advancing vigorously, and the next day, some Bulgarian units started surrendering positions without a fight, and the Bulgarian command ordered a retreat.{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=193–202}}

In the [[History of the Great War|official British government history]] of the Macedonian campaign, [[Cyril Falls]] wrote a detailed analysis of the situation of the Bulgarian forces and the situation of the front. Although a breakthrough was achieved at Dobro Pole and the Allied forces continued their advance, the Bulgarian army was not routed and managed an orderly retreat. By 29 September (a day before Bulgaria exited World War I), Skopje fell, but a Bulgarian and German force had been ordered to try and retake it the next day; the number of Bulgarian prisoners-of-war in allied hands around that day was only {{nowrap|15,000.}}{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=203–245}}

Another major factor contributed to the Bulgarian request for an armistice. A mass of retreating Bulgarian mutineers had converged on the railway centre of Radomir in Bulgaria, {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the capital city of Sofia. On 27 September, leaders of the [[Bulgarian Agrarian National Union]] took control of these troops and proclaimed the overthrow of the monarchy and a Bulgarian republic. About {{nowrap|4,000–5,000}} rebellious troops threatened Sofia the next day. Under those chaotic circumstances, a Bulgarian delegation arrived in Thessaloniki to request an armistice. On 29 September, the Bulgarians were granted the [[Armistice of Salonica]] by General d'Espèrey, ending their war. The Macedonian front ended at noon on 30 September 1918 when the ceasefire came into effect. The Soldiers' Uprising was finally put down by 2 October.{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=246–253}}

German Emperor [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], in his telegram to Bulgarian Tsar [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]], stated: "Disgraceful! 62,000 Serbs decided the war!"<ref>{{Cite web |author=James Lyon |date=12 October 2020 |title=The Battle of Dobro Polje – The Forgotten Balkan Skirmish That Ended WW1 |website=Military History Now |url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2020/10/12/knock-out-blow-at-dobro-polje-six-facts-about-the-obscure-battle-that-ended-ww1/ |access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historycollection.co/ten-facts-battle-dobro-polje-battle-led-allied-victory-world-war/9/|title=The Germans Could no Longer Keep up the Fight |website=History Collection |author=Stephanie Schoppert |date=22 February 2017 |access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref> On 29 September 1918, the [[Oberste Heeresleitung|German Supreme Army Command]] informed Wilhelm II and the [[Chancellor of Germany#Under the Emperor (1871–1918)|Imperial Chancellor]] [[Count]] [[Georg von Hertling]], that the military situation facing Germany was hopeless.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2018|p=260}} Ferdinand I abdicated and went into exile on 3 October.

The British army headed east towards the European side of the Ottoman Empire as the French and Serbian forces continued north and [[Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)|liberated Serbia, Albania and Montenegro]]. The British army neared Constantinople, and with no Ottoman forces capable of stopping it, the Ottoman government asked for an armistice (the [[Armistice of Mudros]]) on 26 October; [[Enver Pasha]] and his partners had fled several days earlier to Berlin. The Serbo-French army recaptured Serbia and overran several weak German divisions that tried to block its advance near [[Niš]]. On 3 November, Austria-Hungary was forced to sign an armistice on the Italian front ending the war there. On 10 November, d'Espèrey's army crossed the [[Danube]] river and was poised to enter the heartland of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]]. At the request of the French General, Count [[Mihály Károlyi|Károlyi]], leading the Hungarian government, came to Belgrade and signed another armistice, the [[Armistice of Belgrade]].{{sfn|Falls|1935|pp=254–279}}

==Memorials==

[[File: Λατόμι Μνημείο.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Inter-Alliance Memorial of the victory on the Macedonian Front on the 94th anniversary, in [[Latomeio, Kilkis|Latomi Kilkis]], built on a site donated by Christos Th. Karathodoros]]

* [[Inter-Alliance Polykastro Memorial]] for the victory on the Macedonian Front, in [[Latomeio, Kilkis|Latomi Kilkis]].
* Memorials erected in the area include the [[Doiran Memorial]] to the dead of the British Salonika army.{{citation needed|date = December 2022}}
{{Clear}}

==Legacy==
[[Winston Churchill]] in his memoirs/history of the First World War, ''The World Crisis'', assigned much importance to the defeat of Bulgaria in September 1918, which he saw as beginning a series of events that led to the defeat of Germany in November 1918, and which led him to place the operations in the Balkans as one the decisive theaters of the war.{{sfn|Reynolds|2004|p=175}} The idea that the lands around the Mediterranean Sea were the weak point for the opposing side influenced Churchill's strategy in World War Two, where consistently showed a preference for operations in the Mediterranean area as the supposed weak point in the Axis.{{sfn|Reynolds|2004|p=175}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Vojski vo Solun, Makedonski front.jpg|Armies in Thessaloniki, First World War
Makedonski front, borbena linija.jpg|Macedonian front, front line
Vojni;ki kamp, Makedonski front.jpg|Military camp near Thessaloniki, First World War
Rovovi, Makedonski front.jpg|Trenches, Macedonian front, World War I
File: Royal Fusiliers in trench Macedonia 1917 IWM Q 32896.jpg|British soldiers in a trench
French Training Serbians on 58mm Mortar.jpg|Frenchman instructing Serbian in the use of a trench mortar, 1916–1917
Λατόμι Μνημείο.jpg|The Monument of the Alliance for the Split of the Macedonian Front, during the 94th anniversary, in [[Latomeio, Kilkis]] (constructed in an area donation of Christos Karathodoros)
Συμμαχικά - panoramio.jpg|[[Zeitenlik]], Allied cemetery in [[Thessaloniki]]
</gallery>

==Annotations==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Axelrod|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Axelrod|title=How America Won World War I|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1493031924 |year=2018 }}
* {{cite book|first=Collinson|last=Owen|author-link=Harry Collinson Owen|title=Salonica and After, the Sideshow That Ended the War|publisher=Forgotten Books|location=Charleston, SC|year=2012|asin=B008VGLK3Q}}
* {{cite book|last=Dieterich|first=Alfred|title=Weltkriegsende an der mazedonischen Front|trans-title=The End of the World War at the Macedonian Front|publisher=Gerhard Stalling|location=Berlin|language=de |year=1928 |url=http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC00633956/1/#topDocAnchor|oclc=248900490}}
* {{cite book |last=Falls |first=C. |author-link=Cyril Falls|series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations Macedonia: From the Outbreak of War to the Spring of 1917 |volume=I |year=1996 |orig-year=1933 |publisher=[[HMSO]] |location=London |edition=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press |isbn=089839242X |ref={{harvid|Falls|1933}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Falls |first=C. |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations Macedonia: From the Spring of 1917 to the End of the War |volume=II |year=1996 |orig-year=1935 |publisher=HMSO |edition=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press |location=Nashville, TN |isbn=0898392438 |ref={{harvid|Falls|1935}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Horne|first=John|chapter=Unintentional Colonialism? The Armée Française d'Orient and Macedonia|pages=28–37|title=The Macedonian front, 1915–1918 politics, society and culture in time of war|editor=Basil C. Gounaris, Michael Llewellyn-Smith, Ioannis D. Stefanidis|publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group|location=Abingdon|date=2022|isbn=9780367353780}} 
* {{cite book|last=Geramanis|first=Athanasios|title=Πολεμική Ιστορία Νεωτέρας Ελλάδος: Επιχειρήσεις εν Μακεδονία κατά τον Α' παγκόσμιον πόλεμον 1915–1918|trans-title=Military History of Modern Greece Operations in Macedonia During WWI 1915–1918|volume=IV|language=el|publisher=Kefallinos|location=Athens|year=1980}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McDermott |first1=Alice |last2=Power |first2=Mark |title='It's a Long Way to Salonika': Irish Soldiers in the Balkans in World War I |journal=History Ireland |date=November–December 2006 |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=29–34}}
* {{cite book |first=Nikolay |last=Korsun |title=Балканский фронт мировой войны 1914–1918 гг. |trans-title=Balkan Front of the World War 1914–1918 |language=ru |publisher=Boenizdat |location=Moscow |year=1939 |oclc=7970969}}
* {{cite book|last=Omiridis Skylitzes |first=Aristeidis|title=Ο Ελληνικός Στρατός κατά τον Πρώτον Παγκόσμιον Πόλεμον, Τόμος Δεύτερος, Η Συμμετοχή της Ελλάδος εις τον Πόλεμον 1918|trans-title=Hellenic Army During the First World War 1914–1918: Hellenic Participation in the War 1918 |volume=II |publisher=Hellenic Army History Department|language=el|location=Athens|year=1961 }}
* {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Palmer|title=The Gardeners of Salonika: The Macedonian Campaign 1915–1918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AM1b1XzPFUC|year=2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0571280933}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rauchensteiner |first1=Manfried |title=The First World War And the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914–1918 |date=2014 |publisher=Böhlau Wien |location=Vienna |isbn=9783205793700}}
* {{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=David |title=In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War |date=2004 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0679457437}}
* {{cite book|last=Strachan|first=Hew|pages=219–236|chapter=The breakthrough on the Salonika front and the German armistice, 1918|title=The Macedonian front, 1915–1918 politics, society and culture in time of war|editor=Basil C. Gounaris, Michael Llewellyn-Smith, Ioannis D. Stefanidis|publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group|location=Abingdon|date=2022|isbn=9780367353780}}
* {{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Nigel|last2=Babac|first2=Dusan|title=Armies in the Balkans 1914–18|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=184176194X}}
* {{cite book |last=Vaidis|first=Theodoros |title=Η Βιβλος του Ελευθεριου Βενιζελου:Ιστορια της Νεωτερας Ελλαδος, 1917–1922 |trans-title=The Bible of Eleftherios Venizelos: History of Modern Greece, 1917–1922 |volume=IV |language=el |publisher=Smyrniotakis |location=Athens |year=1979}}
* {{cite book |last=Villari|first=Luigi |author-link=Luigi Villari |title=The Macedonian Campaign |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |location=London |year=1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/macedoniancampai00vill |access-date=13 September 2015 |oclc=6388448}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Macedonian Front}}

{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Azmanov|first=Dimitar|title=Урокът от Добро поле|trans-title=The Lesson of Dobro Pole|publisher=Knipegraf|location=Sofia|language=bg|year=1935}}
* {{cite book|author=Richard Harding Davis|year=2014|title=With the French in France and Salonika |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4J-CgAAQBAJ|publisher=Read Books Limited|isbn=978-1-4733-9677-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Leontaritis|first=Georgios|title=Ελλάδα στον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο πόλεμο 1917–1918|trans-title=Greece during the First World War 1917–1918 |publisher=Hellenic National Bank Educational Institution |language=el |location=Athens|year=2005|isbn=960-250-195-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Jon B |year=2023 |title=The Forgotten Front: The Macedonian Campaign, 1915–1918 |publisher=Helion |location=Solihull |isbn=978-1-91-511373-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Mitrović|first=Andrej|year=2007|title=Serbia's Great War, 1914–1918|publisher=Hurst |location=London|isbn=978-1-55753-477-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Nedev|first=Nikola|year=1923|title=Дойранската епопея 1915–1918|trans-title=The Doiran Epopee 1915–1918|location=Sofia|language=bg|publisher=Armeiski voenno-izdatelski fond|isbn=978-954-8247-05-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Saint-Ramond |first=Francine |title=Les Désorientés: Expériences des soldats français aux Dardanelles et en Macédoine, 1915–1919 |language=fr |publisher=Presses de l’Inalco |date=2019 |isbn=978-2-85-831299-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Vittos|first=Christos|title=Εθνικός διχασμός και η Γαλλική κατοχή : (1915–1920)|trans-title=National Schism and the French Occupation: (1915–1920)|publisher=Olympos|language=el|location=[[Thessaloniki]] |year=2008|isbn=978-960-8237-30-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Wakefield|first1=Alan|last2=Moody|first2=Simon|title=Under the Devil's Eye: Britain's Forgotten Army at Salonika 1915–1918|publisher=The History Press|location=London|year=2004|isbn=978-0750935371}}
* {{cite book|author=Ethniko Hidryma Ereunōn kai Meletōn "Eleutherios K. Venizelos".|title=The Salonica theatre of operations and the outcome of the Great War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1EYAQAAMAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Institute for Balkan Studies|isbn=978-960-7387-39-4}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hassiotis |first=Loukianos |date=2015 |title=Macedonia in the Great War (1914–1918) |url=https://ojs.aims.edu.au/index.php/msj/article/view/1 |journal=Macedonian Studies Journal |volume=2 |issue=1}}
{{refend}}

{{Balkan Wars}}
{{Bulgaria in World War I}}
{{Greece during World War I}}
{{Wars and battles involving Serbs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macedonian Front}}
[[Category:Macedonian front| ]]
[[Category:European theatre of World War I]]
[[Category:Campaigns and theatres of World War I]]
[[Category:Albania in World War I]]
[[Category:Bulgaria in World War I]]
[[Category:Greece in World War I]]
[[Category:Serbia in World War I]]
[[Category:Modern history of Greek Macedonia]]
[[Category:Modern history of the Balkans]]
[[Category:Vardar Macedonia (1912–1918)]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Balkans]]
[[Category:Military campaigns and theatres of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps]]
[[Category:Thessaloniki in World War I]]
[[Category:Alexander of Greece]]
[[Category:Constantine I of Greece]]
[[Category:Eleftherios Venizelos]]