The principal reason for the Ottoman defeat in the fall of 1912 was the decision on part of the Ottoman government to respond to the ultimatum from the Balkan League on 15 October 1912 by declaring war at a time when the Ottoman mobilization ordered on 1 October was only partially complete. At the time of the declaration of war there were 580,000 Ottoman soldiers in the Balkans facing 912,000 soldiers of the Balkan League. The bad condition of the roads together with sparse railroad network had led to the Ottoman mobilization being grossly behind schedule, and many of the commanders were new to their units, having only been appointed on 1 October 1912. The Turkish historian Handan Nezir Akmeșe wrote the best response when faced with the Balkan League ultimatum on 15 October on the part of the Ottomans would have been to try to stall for time via diplomacy while completing the mobilization instead of declaring war at once. The War Minister Nazim Pasha and the Navy Minister Mahmund Muhtar Pasha had presented over-optimistic pictures of the Ottoman readiness for war to the Cabinet in October 1912 and advised that the Ottoman forces should take the offensive at once at the outbreak of hostilities. By contrast, many senior army commanders were advocating taking the defensive when the war began, arguing that the incomplete mobilization together with serious logistic problems made taking the offensive impossible. Other reasons for the defeat were:

Question: How many more soldiers did The Balkan Leauge have than the Ottoman soldiers?
Answer: 332000

Question: How many days was it from the time that many new commanders were appointed to when the Ottoman government declared war?
Answer: 14

Question: How many days did the Balkan response come after ordering mobilization?
Answer: 15

Question: Which group had more soldiers in the Balkans when the war was declared, the Ottomans or the Balkan League?
Answer: the Balkan League

Question: Who had the most soldiers, Balkans 912,000 soldiers or Ottoman 580,000 soldiers?
Answer: Balkans

Question: How many had optimistic pictures of Ottoman readiness for war?
Answer: 2

Question: Which event happened first,  ultimatum from the Balkan League or many new commanders appointed?
Answer: new commanders

Question: How many more men were in the Balkan League than the Ottoman army?
Answer: 332000

Question: What was the main reason for the Ottoman's deaf?
Answer: incomplete mobilization, serious logistic problems

Question: How many months into the year was war declared?
Answer: 10

Question: How many few Ottoman solders were there than Balkan League soldiers?
Answer: 332000

Question: why did the Ottomans try to stall?
Answer: for time

Question: What led to the Ottoman defeat in the fall of 1912?
Answer: declaring war

Question: How many days passed between the Ottoman government ordering mobilization and them declaring war?
Answer: 15

Question: When war was declared, who had more soldiers, the Ottomans or the Balkan League?
Answer: Balkan League

Question: How many more soldiers did the Balkan League have than the Ottomans had when war was declared?
Answer: 332000

Question: How many days had many of the commanders been in their positions prior to the declaration of war?
Answer: 15

Question: Which was the Navy Minister, Nazim Pasha or Mahmund Muhtar Pasha ?
Answer: Mahmund Muhtar Pasha

Question: How many more soldiers were there in the Balkan League than Ottomans?
Answer: 332000

Question: How many days after the Ottoman mobilization was ordered did the Ottomans declare war?
Answer: 14

Question: How many more Balkan soldiers were there than Ottoman soldiers?
Answer: 332000

Question: How many troops were the Ottomans outnumbered by when they declared war?
Answer: 332000

Question: How many days had new commanders of Ottoman units been on the job when war was declared?
Answer: 14

Question: Which leaders wanted to take the offensive when war started?
Answer: War Minister Nazim Pasha, Navy Minister Mahmund Muhtar Pasha