Greece's participation in the First World War - The unknown battles

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Ο ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ ΕΓΧΡΩΜΑ ΕΠΕΙΣΟΔΙΟ 1 ΚΑΤΑΣΤΡΟΦΗ:

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GREECE'S PARTICIPATION
IN WORLD WAR ONE

Thousands of pages have been written

about both the the National Schism
and the epic war in Asia Minor

which ultimately was completed with the
destruction and uprooting of the Greeks in Ionia.

Since those 2 events have monopolised discussions,

the general public doesn't know much
about Greece's participation in WWI.

For reasons that we don't need to mention now,

Greece might have been late in entering

the conflict between
the Central Powers and the Entente,

however during the short period that it participated

it achieved an important victory

and played an active role in the conclusion of the war

on the Macedonian Front.

Some might say that Greece was participating
in this conflict indirectly before 1917

since on the one hand Eleftherios Venizelos
with the National Defence Coup D'État

and on the other hand the Anglo-French

were trying to force Greece
to join the war in various ways.

The Bulgarians had invaded Greece,
in Macedonia in 1916

and remained there until 1918.

During the Bulgarian occupation,

they proceeded with thousands
of murders and destruction

along with looting important archaeological
and religious treasures.

Despite the Bulgarian occupation in Macedonia
starting in August 1916

Greece eventually entered the war in June 1917

when the French invaded Piraeus

and bombed Athens

forcing the government to resign

and King Konstantinos then abdicated the throne
and left the country.

Venizelos then returned to Athens
as the prime minister

and declared war on the Central Powers on 28 June.

During its brief participation in the war,

Greece had a minimal participation.

The first battle was against the Bulgarians
on the massif of Skra di Legen

on 30 May 1918.

Four months later, in September,
Greek forces also participate

in the final assault and dissolution of the enemy
on the Macedonian front in the Battle of Doirani.

Doirani is a lake which today is split between
the borders of Greece and Skopje.

The Greek Army had a small contribution
to the Entente's victory.

However, it was enough for Greece
to sit at the table on the winning side

and assert territorial gains.

Now let's go back to the battles though.

In May 1916,

the Bulgarians took Fort Roupel without a fight,

and went all the way to Skra

where they occasionally skirmished
with the Anglo-French troops.

The Entente wanted to stop the Bulgarians
from sending troops westward

to reinforce the Germans on other fronts.

Therefore it kept them confined there,

blocking off the pass from the Skra massif.

On the other hand,
now that Greece had entered the war,

it wanted to retake these areas,

which the Bulgarians had
previously occupied without a fight.

French army general Guillaumat

decided that the fortified area of Skra
had to be occupied.

The Greek National Defence army corps
undertook carrying out this mission

under lieutenant general Emmanouil Zymvrakakis.

The task force was under the command
of major general Ioannou.

Greek forces were made up of 14,500 infantrymen

who were supported by 287 heavy and light artillery.

The Bulgarians on the other hand

had 5 infantry regiments

supported by powerful artillery, both heavy and light.

The Greek troops in the battle,
are shown on the map:

the 5th and 6th regiment of the Archipelago division,

the 7th and 8th regiment of the Cretan division,

and the 1st regiment of the Serres division.

The Greeks were also supported by a French division.

The offensive began at 5 in the morning on 16 May.

By the afternoon of the 17th,

the Greeks occupied Skra.

The Bulgarians resisted fiercely

resulting in casualties being high
for the Greek troops as well.

The number of dead reached 434

while the injured reached 1,925.

Not only did the Bulgarians suffer hundreds of dead,

but 2,000 of them were also taken captive.

"FALLEN IN BATTLE 1916-1918
CYPRIOT VOLUNTEERS
PVT APOSTOLOU K. APOS.
PVT KATSARIS CHR. GRIG.
PVT IKONOMIDIS LEON.
PVT IKONOMIDIS I. CHRYS.
PVT PAPACHRISTODOULOU A. D. "

That was the first and last epic battle of the Greek Army in WWI.

A second battle is fought a few months later,

in September 1918.

The Battle of Doirani is fought between
18-19 September.

The British cooperated with the Greek Army

and attacked the Bulgarian forces near Lake Doirani.

On the one side the Bulgarian forces
amounted up to 45,000 men.

On the other side was the British 22nd division

supported by the Greek Serres and Cretan divisions,

amounting to a total of 75,000 soldiers.

The battles lasted for 2 days,

during which the upper hand was
constantly changing between both sides.

Eventually the Bulgarians won a tactical victory

which is evident from the number of casualties.

The British and Greeks had 6,500-7,500 dead

while the Bulgarians had only suffered 2,700.

Three days before the Battle of Doirani,

on 15 September,

the Serbs and French had defeated
the Bulgarians and Germans

at the Battle of Dobro Pole,

in modern day Skopje.

The allied army kept marching towards Bulgaria.

The Bulgarians signed a truce and surrendered

in the camp where a riot broke out after this defeat.

This caused the Bulgarians in Doirani to withdraw

and the Greeks and British
easily occupied the regions.

Only the British Royal Air Force attacked
the columns of retreating Bulgarians.

Resulting in the Bulgarians suffering some casualties.

This formally ended the battles on the Macedonian Front.

Greece was one of the countries
with the least military losses

since it entered the war quite late.

Casualties amounted to a total of 27,000 men
on the battlefields

more specifically:

6,000 dead and missing

and 21,000 injured.

However difficulties hadn't started
for the Greek Army yet.

After constant wars:

2 Balkan Wars and a World War,

it was called to carry out another feat,

the one on the Asia Minor Front,

which was Greece's opportunity to fulfill
the dream of Great Greece.

A dream that would prove to be a nightmare

for the Greek population and for the
other Christian populations in Asia Minor.

Cognosco Team
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