The Battle of Doiran was a battle of the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

, fought between the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The battle took place in June 1913. The

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

, after the victory at Kilkis-Lachanas, continued their advance north and successfully engaged the Bulgarians at

Lake Doiran Doiran Lake (, ''Dojransko Ezero''; , ''Límni Dhoïráni''), also spelled Dojran Lake is a lake with an area of shared between North Macedonia () and Greece (). To the west is the city of Nov Dojran (Нов Дојран), to the east the vill ...

. The

Bulgarian army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

had retreated to the lake, after having destroyed the bridges of

Strymon River The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its Ancient Greek, ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source fr ...

and burned the town of

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

. As a result of their subsequent defeat, the Bulgarian forces retreated further north.

Battle

The Doiran Lake was at the right wing of the Bulgarian line of defense. The 2nd Bulgarian Army was responsible for the defense of this sector.W. H. Crawfurd Price 2008, pages 307–309. The Bulgarian artillery was for some time successful against the Greek attack. When the

Evzones The Evzones or Evzonoi (, ) were a type of light infantry units in the Hellenic Army. Today, they are the members of the Presidential Guard (), a ceremonial unit that guards the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier () and the Presidential Mansion ...

captured the train station of Doiran, fearing that they would be encircled, retreated further north. Following orders by King Constantine, the Greek army captured

Gevgelija Gevgelija (; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point which links the motorway f ...

, Meleniko,

Petrich Petrich ( ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 inhabitants. ...

and advanced in the Bulgarian territory aiming to capture

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. Another part of the Greek army marched eastern to capture

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and Western Thrace, while ships of the Greek navy with an amphibious operation were landed at

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate, ''A concise history of the Balkan Wars 1912–1913'', Athens, 1998. * W. H. Crawfurd Price
The Balkan Cockpit – The Political and Military Story of the Balkan Wars
Read Books, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Doiran 1913 Battles of the Second Balkan War Conflicts in 1913 Battles involving Bulgaria Battles involving Greece Military history of North Macedonia 1913 in Bulgaria 1913 in Greece June 1913