Balkan Wars of 1913

Soldiers of the East Division next to the fortress of Scutari

## Belligerents

 Serbian Officer Revolt

 *(after 27th of May)*
* Chetniks
* First Serbian Army
* Third Serbian Army
* East Division

 Unification or Death (Black Hand) *(after 27th of May)*
 Bosnian Sovjet Republic *(until 10th of August)*

 Kingdom of Montenegro *(after 27th of May)*
Kachaks *(after 27th of May)*
 Kingdom of Serbia

 *(until 10th of August)*
* Second Serbian Army

	+ 7th Rila Division
* First Cavalry Division
* Army of Ibar
* Javor brigade

 White Hand *(after 27th of May)*
 Bosnian Sovjet Republic *(after 10th of August)*
File:Illyria flag.png Illyrian Volunteers

 *(after 10th of August)** File:Illyria flag.png SDSHiS

## Commanders and Leaders

 Draža Mihailović
 Jovan Babunski
 Radomir Putnik
 Petar Bojović
 Božidar Janković
 Živojin Mišić
 Pavle Jurišić Šturm
 Janko Vukotić
 Dragutin Dimitrijević
 Dimitrije Tucović

 Peter I †
 Prince Alexander (WIA)
 Stepa Stepanović
 Georgi Todorov
Azem Galica
 Nicholas I
 Prince Danilo Petrović
 Prince Peter †
 Radomir Vešović
**error: undefined** Josip Broz Tito
 Dimitrije Tucović

## Strength

 200,000+ men
 15,100 men
 8,000+ men
 6,000+ men

**Total:** 229,100+ men
 115,000 men
 29,200 men
1,200+ men

**Total:** 145,400+ men

## Casualties and losses

 **Serbian Officer Revolt:**
7000 Killed
18200 wounded
1214 dead of disease
 **Black Hand:**
180 Killed
406 wounded
114 dead of disease
 **Bosnian Sovjet Republic:**
423 Killed
1360 wounded
 **East Division:**

126 Killed
406 wounded
95 dead of disease

**Total:** 29,524 killed, wounded, or died of disease
 **Kingdom of Serbia:**
3700 Killed
12800 wounded
759 dead of disease
**Kachaks:**
875 Killed
6 wounded
4 dead of disease
 **Montenegro:**

6 Killed
49 wounded
143 dead of disease

**Total:** 18,342 killed, wounded, or died of disease

The **Balkan Wars of 1913** were a series of conflicts involving the Kingdom of Serbia and its subsidaries. It lasted from 19 May of 1913 until the 19 August of 1913. It involved actions of the Serbian Officer Revolt, Unification of Death and the Bosnian Sovjet Republic against the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of Montenegro, the Kachaks and the White hand. The officer revolt managed to overcome the strategically and numerically inferior monarchy rapidly.

The war meant the end to the Kingdom of Serbia and marked the start of the Republic of Serbia. It ended with the Treaty of Bucharest(1913) and the Battle of Mostar, resulting in the creation of the Serbian Occupation of Bosnia and the Serbian Occupation of Montenegro. It also marked the beginning of guerilla warfare in the mountains of Herzegovina.

## Background

For a long time tension have been building up in the Army of Serbia between the White Hand and its rival, the Black Hand. Seeing an oppurtunity in the Balkan War they planned to coup the nation. At the same time the Montenegrin officer Janko Vukotić wanted to end the rule of the Petrović dynasty in Montenegro. Thus, he requested support from the Serbian Chetnik Organization. They, along with the young officer who led the coup, Draza Mihailović, promised him support in his struggle.

Meanwhile Bosnia had been occupied by Serbian forces since the Congress of Ragusa(1878) and a strong communist sentiment has started to build in it, which led to the formation of communist hideouts throughout the region. Because of the Balkan War most of the garrison had been removed, leaving behind only the small Javor Brigade.

## Operations

On May 19th of 1913 Dragutin "Dragiša" Lapčević officially declared the independence of the Bosnian Sovjet Republic in Sarajevo. In the same night a regiment of revolutionaries attacked the Javor Brigade, that was stationed in the city of Banja Luka at the time. Being taken by surprise the brigade suffered a catastrophic defeat and was forced to retreat towards Doboj, where it secured the river Bosna north of the town. This led to the redeployment of the Army of Ibar along the Krijava and Bosna river, where it fully arrived on the 21st of May. On the next day a plan was drafted and executed for the Javor Brigade to push the road Zenica. On the same day the Brigade arrived there without encountering any resistance. This led to the operational command to become more aggressive. Which is why they ordered a full advance on Sarajevo by the Army of Ibar from the east and the Javor Brigade from the west. Being faced by such a large force the Bosnian Sovjet Republic decided to retreat towards the more mountainous and easier to defend line of Bugoino-Konjic, leaving behind small partisan detachments, expertly trained in guerilla warfare. By 26th of May the Serbian Armed Forces managed to reach the battle line, where small scale skirmished happened.

On May 27th the Third Serbian Army stopped following orders and merged with the Montenegrin East Division while moving towards the city of Shkodër, where the Rest of the Montenegrin Army was stationed after the Siege of Scutari (1912–1913). Learning of this movement the Albanian Kachaks offered an alliance to the Kingdom of Montenegro in exchange for territorries gained in the Balkan War. Being faced with a superior force the Montenegrin King accepted the offer. Enraged by this decision many soldiers from the Montenegrin Army deserted into the East Division. By 28th of May the Third Serbian Army has encircled the city of Shkodër, where they kept the Montenegrin Army and its king confined, so far no shots have been fired. The East Division and a detachment of Chetniks moved towards Podgorica where the garrison surrendered without a fight in the night.

Merging back up with the Third Army on the next day the formation advanced into the city of Shkodër. As prime minister the commander of the East Division Janko Vukotić ordered the surrender of the forces in the city. During the day the whole Primorje Division under Mitar Martinović swithed sides and the lions share of the Zeta Division deserted, leaving behind only a few dozens of Montenegrin troops and 1200 Kachaks in the fortress of Shkodër. Because of this Draža Mihailović ordered the assault of the fortress on the 30th of May. In the resulting struggle Prince Peter of Montenegro died, while the rest of the royal family managed to flee to France. All Kachaks who didn't manage to flee were executed on the spot. The signing of peace with the Ottoman Empire on the same day led to crownprince Alexander I ordering the First Army under his command to advance into Albania. Petar Bojović however ignored the order and tried to arrest him. The crownprince however managed to flee with the first cavalry division that stayed loyal. Assessing the situation Peter I of Serbia ordered the retreat of all armed forces, excluding the Javor Brigade, into Northern Serbia. Only the Second Army, the Army of Ibar and the First Cavalry Divison heeded the command. The Army of Ibar however didn't manage to reach Tuzla before the end of July and only arrived in Serbia proper on the 7th of August, after the the kingdom has already capitulated. This was due to delays caused by the Partisans of the Bosnian Sovjet Republic.

### The Fight for Serbia

Having regrouped along the Niš-Kraljevo line the Second Army together with the First Cavalry Division were about 65,000 men strong. It was reorganised into the Loyalist Army commanded by crownprince Alexander I and subdivided into one corps and two independent divisions:

* Niš Corps, led by Stepa Stepanović
* VII Rila Division (Bulgaria), led by Georgi Todorov
* First Cavalry Division, led by Prince Arsen of Yugoslavia

At the same time the Montenegrin Armed forces had been fully integrated into the Armed Forces of the Serbian Officer Revolt and were numbering over 240,000 men. They also were reorganised into two armies and one corps:

* Army of Belgrade, led by Draža Mihailović, 84,000 men strong, stationed in Kosovo
* First Serbian Army, led by Petar Bojović, 130,000 men strong, stationed around Vranje
* Serbo-Montenegrin Corps, led by Janko Vukotić, 39,800 men strong, stationed in Zlatibor

On the 12th of June the First Serbian Army started to advance towards Niš, where it encountered the Third Brigade of the 7th Rila division on the 14th 20km before Niš and completely obliterated it. This happened because the First Cavalry Division which was supposed to be scouting in the area, so the brigade can retreat in time if needed abandoned its mission and started disrupting the supply lines between Niš and Belgrade. This happened because their commander was a memeber of the Black Hand. Hearing of the events and no longer receiving any supplies Georgi Todorov, the commander of the 7th Rila Division surrendered and the remnants of the division were allowed to retreat into Bulgaria unharmed. This event led to Peter I of Serbia ordering the retreat of the Loyalist Army and planned to meet up with the Niš Corps 73km from Belgrade to form a new defensive line. This however did not succeed, as the First Cavalry Division managed to halt both units, which led to the Niš Corps fortifying in the city of Valjevo and the Royal Guard in the castle Žrnov on a hill in the south of Belgrade. This led to the fall of practically all of Serbia proper by 2nd of July. The siege of Valjevo was conducted by the Army of Belgrade and the Serbo-Montenegrin Corps, who managed to crush the defenders within two weeks. In the siege Alexander I was wounded by artillery shelling. By the 20th of July the Army of Belgrade met up with the First Serbian Army and helped in the siege of Žrnov, which ended just 2 days later. In the assault of the fort King Peter I of Serbia was killed in action.

### Last Stages of the War

With the death of the monarch and the capture of the crownprince, the remnants of the Kingdom surrendered on the 22nd of July and a congress was called in Bucharest, where the Balkan League settled not just the **Balkan Wars of 1913** but also disputes resulting from the Balkan War of 1912. In addition an armistice was signed with the Bosnian Sovjet Republic and both the Army of Ibar and the Javor Brigade were recalled into Serbia proper. Due to slow communication the Army of Ibar was still harassed by Partisans up to the 7th of August.

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While the Republic of Serbia did not want to fight for Bosnia initially the other Balkan League members insisted that the Bosnian Sovjet Republic must cease to exist. At the same time Bulgaria didn't want a non-monarchy to gain too much power in the Balkans. Thus a solution was proposed by Ragusa: The lands were granted to Varnava I and held with the help of the Serbian Armed Forces. Thus the First Army of Serbia and the Army of Belgrade began to intrude into the territorry of the Bosnian Sovjet Republic. Being outnumbered overwhelmingly the republic evacuated Sarajevo once more and retreated to Mostar once more, where they met up with Croatian Volunteers led by Josip Broz Tito. Later Italian Volunteers who recently fought in the Balkan War joined them. The Serbian Armies who grew impatient and aggressive due to the small numbers of the Republic subsequently rushed for Mostar, where they faced a pyrrhic victory in the Battle of Mostar despite their numerical advantage. This led to the Balkan League permitting the legislation for the Serbian Occupation of Bosnia and the Serbian Occupation of Montenegro.