I have a few questions though. Home come Albanians are not mentioned here. They played a huge role on these wars and they had the biggest loss both on territory an man. You mentioned "Muslims" a couple of times that they were moved from Sandjak but you never mentioned that they were Albanians living in their lands. At this time, Albania was divided from Ottomans under 4 vilayets where the majority of the population was Albanians: 1. Kosovo Vilayet, 2. Scutari Vilayet, 3. Manastir Vilayet, and 4. Janina Vilayet. I am quite shocked and surprised that you never mentioned any of these, furthermore the genocide towards this population from the slavs and the deportation of the "muslims" as you are saying towards Turkey. To this day there are 5 Million people living in Turkey with Albanian roots, all of them as a result of the deportation from these wars, starting from 1877. You need to pay a close attention to these facts because from this video it seems that Albanians did nothing, which is totally not true. Albanians always rebelled against Ottomans, since Skanderbeg times, then in 1821, the Albanians(Arvanites) started the revolution of Greece etc. To me it's a shame that your channel doesn't give the Albanians the respect they deserve.
I have to complain about a small thing, what you call Novi Pazar and Sandzak, it is Serbian and Montenegrin land, and Islamic peoples were intentionally settled because of the danger of merging the Christians of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia
I was raised listening to my grandma telling me stories of how her grandfather was tortured and executed, and how her grandma raped and half of her kids killed in her village near Drama/Greece. My great great grandma had to walk to Constantinople, losing one more child, only one surviving, my great grandma. My entire life I hated Greeks and Greece for it, until I listened to what their ancestors had gone through in the hands of mine. The past is full of horrible atrocities done by our ancestors who weren't necessarily bad people, but they all thought they were righteous in their actions. I just hope we are better than our ancestors. Greetings from a Turk
Same over here, horrible stories and massacres and eternal hate for Turks and (even worse) for all Muslims. For most people in Greece that know history in bits and pieces, a muslim is a Turk (go figure...) I don't know when this ends, i guess when we all get rid of nationalism and all "greatness" cause whenever a Balcan country goes "great" some other neighbouring Balkan country goes to grave...
This take on the Balkan Wars is much more humanist than any depiction of them in Balkan history books. I'm Bulgarian and our history books at school glorified the First Balkan War as the pinnacle of Bulgarian courage and military prowess. That part was pretty much true, but they conveniently omitted the part where Bulgarian troops destroyed villages and committed atrocities against Muslims and Greeks. From what I've seen, history books in my neighbouring countries follow the same pattern, glorifying their militaries and turning a blind eye to their atrocities. And this is the first time I've heard of Romanian troops suffering such high casualties from cholera while not really facing any serious military resistance from Bulgaria. Thanks for the nuanced look at these wars and for recognising that for all the glory and pride, they were also a source of tremendous tragedy!
In Turkey they just taught to us "Ottoman army wasn't ready and undeveloped because of that we lost" that's it because there is no victory. But you have to learn history with it's everything.
As a Greek ,we both did horrible things to each other at balkan wars and world war 2,atleast we are fine now and hold no grudge.But that's war,we can't change history unfortunately.
The pattern from 1912-1913 and the mass execution of Muslim civilians in the Balkans repeated again in 1992-1995 in Bosnia, where Serbs, inspired by the same wicked ideology fueled by a hatred mix of nationalism and religious fundamentalism of the Orthodox church, committed genocide.
Marvelous ! Not the horrendous extent of both military and, particularly, civilian agony throughout this conflict, but, the fact that this stellar channel has turned its expectedly nuanced and detailed attention to this seminal war. Many thanks ( from an enthusiast for Balkan history ).
Actually we were stronger at sea at the time, turkish navy was outdated and afraid of averof guns, we were always better at sea than them, long live greece!@@Echetlaeus
Oh one small correction, Montenegro didn't really start early because of their desire to claim more land and overshadow the Serbian dynasty, it was a planned move to see how the major powers would react, and then the rest of the members sent ultimatums. It's true that there was a rivalry between the two serb states, but it was generally, or somewhat, disregarded in times of war.
Additional explanation. The unification of Montenegro and Serbia was predicted to happen once they share common borders, which would happen after the war. The two dynasties competed over who should lead the unified state. The Petrovic (Montenegrin) dynasty was an ally of the old Obrenovic dynasty (Serbian dynasty before 1903) and once the Karadjordjevic's took power, tensions arose. Yet, the unification was imminent.
@@dvnk6971 Exactly! Unification wasn't discussed while the treaty was being signed in 1912 between Serbia and Montenegro, since the main concern was gaining a common border in the region of Raska/Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which was technically still under Austrian occupation. As you say unification was imminent in some sort of way, be it autonomous or full, the only roadblock was dynastic rivalry. It's interesting that even though Peter of Serbia was son-in-law to King Nicholas, Petrovic saw themselves as an older dynasty that also had ties to the Obrenovic. There was a race towards Prizren for example, a city that would give a lot of legitimacy to either side, and minor border squabbles, but nothing major at the time.
I am so pleased to have found this channel. I only found out about the Balkan wars long after my History A level which went long on the causes of the First World War but never mentioned these important events.
a byproduct of the Balkan Wars was the concept of population exchanges(basically an idea of Greek diplomats).It started with Greece and Bulagaria exchanging populations from Macedonia and Eastern Rumelia(southern Bulagaria) but that was dwarfed by the Greek-Turkish population exchange in 1923-1924(more than two million people involved)
And between India and Pakistan after 1947, no offence but these massacre number are rookie, we really increased the numbers . In your conflicts, 8000 people civilians i mean might be massacred , in ours during, 1947 less than 25000 death is just a simple riot .
Superb work Jesse and team. Having a look through your sources, it must have been a very complex video to write. Also fantastic photos that I haven’t seen before. A fascinating though heartbreaking episode. Terrible to think that as bad as the suffering was that was experienced in these wars, it would turn out to be a mere prelude before the fast approaching apocalypse. This episode gave great insight into some of the attitudes, rivalries, and thirst for revenge that were still so fresh by 1914. You did an excellent job of carrying the feeling of dread through the episode. Time for a rewatch of the channel from the beginning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Extremely well done, yet again. The way this channel balances a popular and accessible approach to complex and contested histories with real nuance is truly commendable.
This is briefly covered in a Netflix documentary which i recently watched(The long road to war) but you have given alot more detail. Great stuff as always
Excellent work, guys. Literally, the only nitpick is that the final borders didn't show Strumitsa (a tiny region that looks like a tiny tumor next to the Greek border) as Bulgarian. That was one of the compromises Russia arranged.
The youngest NCO in the history of the Greek Army is Gerasimos Raftopoulos, a Kephallonia native, who at the age of 12 received a Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle as a gift for his bravery as an auxiliary in the 1st Balkan War, during the Battle of Sarantaporos in 1912. In the 2nd Balkan War, he was made POW in the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas but he managed somehow to acquire a firegun, killed his three captors and on the way to the Greek lines, he found and helped a wounded Evzone. For his heroism he was field promoted to the rank of Corporal at the age of 13 on 28 August 1913
I'm from Shkoder (Scutari), Albania. My great grandfather died in the trenches by a sharpshooter's shot. A Montenegrin shell had fallen on the rooftop of the house, causing it to collapse. It left my then baby grandfather with a huge scar running through his forehead. I saw that scar as a child before he died. I'm 34 and I've seen a scar from that war. Strange thing. That war isn't as far in the past as it looks today.
No history is not far away. My own father, born in 1900, had American Civil War veterans living in his apartment building, my wife's grandmother (b. 1885) told us about seeing Queen Victoria. But the saying is too true that when the last veteran dies the next war becomes inevitable. People forget and think that next time they can easily win both the war and the peace, never learning the lessons of the past.
My great grandfather fought in the Balkan war, in WW I, Spanish civil war, and in WW II. He's my hero and role model. The stories he could tell... the horrors he survived...
My great grandfather came from Sparta to the U.S when he was 11. Went to fight in this war, according to my grandmother when he got his uniform it looked that was worn by someone else, and not properly washed as it was full of lice. He then on his return back the US with his wife, WW1 broke out. He enlisted again and survived. Different breed of men back then.
@@joejankoski8471 2-3 semester long tours of sitting around and occasionally shooting children does not compare with a decade of continued enlistment and total warfare, like many men of 1910s experienced ...
Thank you for covering this, as it often gets overlooked and people do need to know about that history especially during these troubled times. Greetings from Athens.
Thanks Jesse, love your work. Quite the challenge to retell the Balkan wars in 30 minutes. Incredibly confusing and chaotic episode of Balkan history. Not that Balkan history tends to be uncomplicated in otherr epochs either of course.
I'm Bulgarian, and the first Balkan War is one if not the most notorious wars in Bulgarian history after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire. First World War was also notorious, but this one had the peak of the desire for Bulgarian reunification. My family sent 4 men in total !! in this war. 3 of them come back alive. I hear stories passed from generations, stories from the trenches, stories of charges with knives, all that kinds of war things. When the mobilization was announced it was like a celebration, like Easter or Christmas. That's how strong was the Bulgarian willing to go to war with the Ottomans. 3 Years later in the First World War, we were allies, so yep history has strange plot twists
Hello brother from Serbia. Our ancestors fought brave against Turks. But they didn't need second Balkan war..it's so sad and tragic which led to the conflict in ww1 as well. Two very similar nations that share almost same fate during history.
@@Genessyss give yourself a break, please. It was a combined effort of Bulgarians, Romanians and mostly Russian empire forces (that were full of non-Russians.) But what is even funnier is that this point has nothing to do with the comment above
@@Genessyss russia never liberated us. They wanted to enslave. They are mongolian ghetto. The true name of russia is muskovi. In the west european archives they are named tatar muskovi. The most crazy thing is that they brutally enslaved us after 9th September 1944 and exterminated millions of Bulgarians and did not stop until 1989. They are the mongolians just like the turks. They are out biggest enemies. We still haven't got rid from russia they continue the genocide even today not directly using the schools and hospitals to kill us. One day we are going to get rid of them. They plan to destroy the european culture and white race!!!!
As a Canadian, I only found out about this originally because I'd read "Birds without Wings" by Louis De Bernières. I highly recommend the book! Like De Bernière's masterpiece, your coverage is humanistic and revealing. Thank you for this tremendous work!
My ex wife's ancestors came from the city of Kayaköy (Leivissi in modern Greek) in 1922 and along with other families from Makri Turkey (present day Fethiye), created the town of Nea Makri about 35 km away from Athens which we live today. The setting of Eskibahçe is based upon Kayaköy.
Wonderful work! Congratulations to your team for trying to tell this conflict from all its possible perspectives and compiling this comprehensive picture that logically describes the path to the Great War. :)
А не мислите ли, че спестяването на информация за етническия състав на определени области създава усещане у зрителите, че всички страни защитават равностойни интереси?
@@yavortashev С цел да избегнат вида на привърженик към една или повече от страните, те си спестяват факти, които биха породили конфликти в коментарите и национализъм в повечето зрители, а такива имаме предостатъчно.
@@emilbotev3656 със сигурност е така, но така се прикрива истината зад мотивите на всяка от страните. А те са от съществено значение. Не става въпрос за колонизацията на Африка.
@@yavortashev Съгласен съм. Спора за главната националност на населението във въпросните територии е сигурно най-важният фактор за исканията на участниците във войната както казахте(въпреки, че това трудно се доказва и е рядко достоверно), но не е чак толкова важна причината, а по-скоро последствията. Все пак идеята на видеото е да се проследят действията, довели до Голямата война. С други думи тях не ги интересува особено личните интереси на държавите и техните мотиви, поне не чак в такива подробности,които биха предизвикали обратна реакция.
I love how these videos intersperce quotes which illustrate the horrors of war in between the wider explanation of political and military manuevers. I think a lot of channels fail to convey how terrible conflict is.
@@P.L.D. Indeed, people of the past were just as intelligent, eloquent and creative as we are today. A lot of ignorami think people from the past were un-intelligent, but really this opinion is a reflection of their deficiency.
32:08 "To leave them to our slaves" that says everything there needs to be said to show why it was necessary to drive out the Turkish invaders. They always viewed the people of the Balkans as "their slaves." Well-deserved victory by the Bulgarians and Serbians against the Turks!
There is no deserved or eligible victory, if it contains the massacre of the locals. Moreover you should not generalize a quote. That was just what an racist individual considered.
@@oxia77 So following your concept, the territories across the world should be divided depending on who lived in an area for the most time in the past?
Exactly, it's odd, this video is biased to make us try to feel sympathetic to the turks, but let's just forget the bloodshed and long years of tyranny they put us through.
New to the channel. Binge watching the last couple of months. This is just another excellent episode on an obscure/overlooked, yet extremely important and influential part of modern history. Loooove it. Keep up the great work.
At that time Kingdom of Serbia was not at rivalry with Kingdom of Montenegro, they wanted to unite, those countrymen shared so much in common. Rivalry began after First world war, when both countries sacrificed their independence and merged into the Kingdom of SCS. Note*: What happened with the grandfather (who was also king) of newly baked king of Yugoslavia?
They did not merge unto the kingdom of SCS(this was basically Bosnia,Croatia and Slovenia)they merged with the kingodm of SCS to make kingodm of Yugoslavia. Bigest mistake in Serbian history. Sve dobro ti zelim moj pravoslavni brate, nebitno da li si Crnogorac ili Srbin. Ja i dalje mislim da smo jedan narod sa dve drzave!
@@НиколаЖивановић-ь7х Ни ја не волим када неко пише или говори како смо браћа са Црногорцима..Глупости, ми смо једно те исто, Срби! Браћа су нам, по вери: Грци, по крви остали Јужни Словени, а по крви, вери и као наши велики заштитници у прошлости, су нам велика браћа - Руси.. (ушли због нас у Први светски рат, пре тога нам помагали у толико ратова против Османског царства, а у Први светски рат нису морали ући, имали су око 4 милиона мртвих у Првом светском рату, око15 милиона у Грађанском рату, између Белих и Црвених Бољшевика, што се не би догодило да нису ЗБОГ НАС УШЛИ У ПРВИ СВЕТСКИ РАТ!).. изгубили су због тога Империју, имали 73 године комунизма и на десетине милиона побијених од стране комуниста+још 30 милина побијених у Другом светском рату!!/I also don't like it when someone writes or says that we are brothers with Montenegrins...Nonsense, we are one and the same, Serbs! They are our brothers, by faith: Greeks, by blood the rest of the South Slavs, and by blood, faith and as our great protectors in the past, they are our big brothers - the Russians.. (they entered the First World War because of us, before that they helped us in so many wars against the Ottoman Empire, and they did not have to enter the First World War, they had about 4 million dead in the First World War, about 15 million in the Civil War, between the White and Red Bolsheviks, which would not have happened if they had not entered the First World War BECAUSE OF US WORLD WAR!).. because of that they lost the Empire, had 73 years of communism and tens of millions killed by the communists + another 30 million killed in the Second World War!!
Cool video but I would like to mention that relationship between Serbia and Montenegro was portrayed a bit wrong, Its wrong to say that we were rivals since we are basically one nation divided by Ottomans at the time, one more thing id like to mention is that "Sandzak and Novi Pazar" should be called "Raska oblast" other then that pretty cool video well done.
you another Serb who didn't notice that this youtuber lied telling that Serbs found ressistance from LOCAL Albanians in Kosovo. If Albanians were LOCALS in Kosovo, why they didn't anexate it to Albania itself? By this statement, this youtuber wants to make us believe that Kosovo was inhabited by Albanians and not Serbs.
Thank you so much for covering this topic! As a Bulgarian it makes me happy to see our history retold in a correct and exciting manner! 🇧🇬 Immediately subscribed to the channel - can't wait to see your other content!
As a Romanian, I have to admit that I didn't know much about these conflicts. I knew they existed and that they might have played a role in preparing WW1, but that was it. This kind of documentary should be studied in schools, instead of the boring lessons I had 25-30 years ago, that were only focused on memorizing dates and never studying the reasons or the big picture... I'd like to believe that mankind has learned from its past, but sadly, it hasn't, as we saw in the 90's Yugoslav wars and now in Ukraine. Ethnical cleansing, mass killings, villages and towns beying destroyed are still a thing :(
Yes. The people of Bulgaria would volunteer to mobilize with no regard for their age, because they believed in the Liberation and the Unification of all the Bulgarians.
Thank You for shedding some light on this topic. A lot of western civilization does not even know about these events and only know about the assassination that "started the war". Much love from Serbia 💕
@@morewi wrong. If some wars in the past were "short," that doesn't mean all future wars will be short as well. Nothing naive about that. Grow up and have conversations rather than blatantly being disrespectful. Keep up your great work, keyboard warrior. Take care.
There was no mention of the two naval battles fought between Greece and the Ottomans neither of the capture of the eastern Aegean islands, which sealed off the ottoman navy and their reserves completely. You presented it as if the ottoman fleet didn't even try and fight.
Great video. I remembered seeing a week-by-week episode where Indy had said "Quarter was neither asked, nor given" when referring to Serbs and Bulgarians fighting each other during WW1
This channel is so educational. In the U.K THIS REGION AND THE HISTORY IS NEVER mentioned, yet it's so important to understand these facts and their importance till this day, which still affect the peoples and politics. Thank you. Superb information.
7:50 not just any Armoured Cruiser. That was the Georgios Averof, easily the most legendary warship of Greece's modern history. Look it up, it has quite a fascinating story behind it
Captain of the Averoff was Pavlos Kountouriotis from the great Kountourioti family (his grandfather was one of the leaders in Greek revolution and a shipowner). They all come from the island of Hydra!
More wonderful history content. This channel is one of my favorites. Keep doing the great work yall have done. The Balkan Wars in the early 20th century and along with the aftermath, such as the border and religious disputes between nationalities and political power vacuums after the Ottomans were defeated lead to more of the same regional conflicts after the fall of communism, especially in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Kudos to the Great War team on another well done video that explores the complexities, military campaigns and the politics of the Balkan Wars. As a Greek-American, I really appreciate the thoughtful way the history was discussed as it contained the seeds of the Great War.
@@gj5679 Yeah I have visited the grave of Hasan Pasha a couple years ago. It's in the yard of the Villa the surrender was signed. His son actually followed our army during the Anatolian campaign making most of the popular Greek Army paintings of that period. He is also buried along with his father in that yard.
Crazy. Just watched the videos where Jessie slotted in after the great war 14-18 was covered. Great to see how you've settled into the told and make the channel as great as it is! Keep it up!
Why you didn't say anything about the Aegean islands and Crete. The Greek navy also occupied those islands and were given in 1913 by the treaty of Bucurest
@@TheGreatWar I didn't say I don't like the video it was pretty accurated to the facts of the Balkan wars. I just say why this part of the war wasn't mention. Maybe it wasn't mention because nowadays they government of Ankara doesn't recognize the Greek sovereign on this islands
@@spirosfatouros1372 No matter what Ankara says now, its a well known and undesputed fact that the islands are greek and even turkey agreed to that a few decades ago. They just have neo-ottoman dreams which will obviously fail and cause their ruin again
@@TheGreatWar I'm sure it's just an omission that the north Aegean islands were not painted as gained territory for Greece @30:56, but it's one of current significance seeing how turkish leadership increasingly disputes their sovereignty. The best way to counter such nationalistic propaganda is accurate representation of history, the last thing we need is sloppiness with maps.
If there is difference in the texts in the two nations someone must have forged it, I'm inclined to trust my side as a Bulgarian. What we study and what is written is suprisingly much more then the rest for those times and rarely go propagandist if at all. The historians are very fair to the facts.
Romania shouldnt have asked for South Dobrogea. We were always peaceful with our neighbours in the south. That created incentives for future conflicts. Its easy to say that now after more than 100 yrs but still...
Well, at least that was more or less the only modern conflict between our countries which says a lot. Greetings neighbour and let's hope our relations will continue to improve 🇧🇬🤝🇹🇩
@@runegold321 Greetings from Romania. And i hope the same for our relations. I think the Romanian government should do more for that to happen. Peace brothers🇷🇴❤️🇧🇬
Well this conflict is forgotten not just by the west but most countries in the world well of course except for countries that were directly involved in the conflict.
@@Wabu_227 people should study the Balkan wars unless they're idiots. The Balkan wars are the prime premise of the first World War, they're exactly what set up the chess pieces for the war, and that makes them incredibly important. But I forgot, no "important" countries (aka Britain, France, Germany, Russia, USA) were directly involved in combat, so the conflict can be forgotten, right?
You guys do such an amazing job of explaining all the sides in a conflict. Nothing is ever black and white in war. Terrific video, about a very crucial period that is under reported in human history.
These conflicts were the closest thing to black and white you can imagine. Former slaves retaking their lands after centuries of occupation, while a smug Ottoman officer laments losing his slaves and promising a revenge.
Perhaps it goes a bit deeper than that? Germany once had a military alliance with Russia but decided not to renew it because the Kaiser was cousins with the Czar. You could also include the pig wars between Serbia and Austria-Hungary that led to the Serbs getting closer with France. Or the French counting on their alliance with the steamroller Russia because war now was better than war later when Russia would be too powerful to care about liberating Alsace Lorraine from the Germans. There were lots of reasons and blame to pass around to everyone.
Very accurate and detailed, as Bulgarian even tho I havent finished the clip expect to be more fare that just "muh Bulgarians bad". In a way its fair to probably all.
An excellent documentary on a conflict that is not well known due to it taking place prior to The Great War. This video tells why the balkans were such a hot spot in Europe that help star the war
WE Muslims are humans also. One must treat us like humans. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that thousands and thousands of Bosniak women and young girls were RAPED In Bosnia ,during that aggression. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that even my own kind ,Bosniak girls,hurt me,many of them,by calling me ugly when that isn’t my fault,played me and lied, well,i still feel bad because many were unlucky in the aggression. And please don’t worry,i come in peace and hate injustice-i love Serbian women/girls. Other horrible war crimes were also done to Bosnian Muslims. ( Bosniaks ).
Amazing documentary. The level of detail is unparalleled, and I have seen quite a few videos on the topic. It's so sad that the Balkan states fought among themselves instead just liberating their nations from under the Ottoman occupation.
This is also why the byzantine empire fell because they were fighting among themselves the catholics vs. the orthodox it's sad otherwise Constantinopel would have stayed in christian hands.
All Aegean islands, apart from the Dodecanese, were liberated and at the hands of the greek navy by the end of the first Balkan War. This is not portrayed on your maps. Hope it is not intentional.
Two days ago we celebrated the 110 years from the start of the war in the village of Lilkovo in Rhodopes. The fire against ottomans started 32nd Srednogorski regiment of the bulgarian army.
@@revnitelj why serbians and Greeks didn't give a part of Macedonia to bulgaria. Bulgaria did more in Tracey than the serbians and greeks in west balkans. Bulgaria stopped the armies which were comming from Constantinople to Macedonia.
The more I watch these video's about the conflicts before ww1 and the lead up to it, the more it strikes me how badly Helmuth von Moltke (the younger) wanted this war.
@The Great War thank you for the historical objectivity effort by including comments from all sides involved in the conflict! The competitiveness of the European nations has brought progress and well enormous suffering throughout the ages. Hopefully, citizens in the Balkan nations will stay peaceful, and united and not fall for the Russian imperial efforts to meddle in their internal politics to steer division and hatred.
This is how you present it, as if Bulgaria attacked and Serbia and Greece decided to divide Macedonia. And the truth is that they made a secret agreement about this long before the first Balkan war ended.
Yet another completely brilliant historical analysis from Jesse Alexander and the 'The Great War.' Who would not choose to take a history degree at university. It is something which enriches one's entire life. Thank you so much. Love from England.
@@bojanbabovic111 some detail and sources would be nice. This youtube channel is known for its great research of objective fact and how it finds niche or not very well known personal accounts of events to get the peoples' opinions of the time. You cant just say "blahblah dont like it".
@@thenamescarter8279 It is not objective. Why should i write anything for an hour at midnight, when all of it will be censored. If i let out key censored words, i'll be missing the point.
It is little is known that in view of the surprising success of Bulgarians, the Russians considered to enter the war and rush to help the Ottomans! They, as you stated for other powers at that time, feared that the Balkan League, in that case in particular Bulgaria would gain control over the Bosphorus strait. Without the outbreak of Cholera that could have happened very likely. And by other Balkan League armys joining the siege to Constantinople most most probably.
I don't know why whenever the 1877-1878 war is mentioned, almost everyone fails to mention the Romanian army and only considers it a Russian victory. I mean even Prince (later King) Carol I of Romania commanded both Romanian and Russian troops and took Pleven, afterwards beating the Turks at Vidin and Smardan. The Romanian efforts and success in this war are literally what won the country its complete independence from the Ottomans.
Not really. The battle which decided the war was at Shipka pass. The Ottomans could not reinforce Pleven after it and Russia was safe from a complete disaster.
@@Фниксъ not really. Romania was the one who led the liberation of Bulgaria. Russia failed miserably and that's why overall command was hiven to Romania. Read a book before you comment!
@@Genessyss Done that. The Romanian troops did have a role in the war, however it was minor supporting one in securing the Danube and taking over some fortified positions around Pleven where the major fighting was carried out by the Russians often hand-to-hand. Carol I had fresh forces to reinforce the siege and help the Russians push deeper. If the Russians did not force march the Danubian delta and positioned themselves properly, there was not going to be any Romanian intervention at all.
@@Фниксъ false. The Romanians led the succesful invasion after the russians failed miserably. educate yourself please before talking. USSR have brainwashed the Bulgarians! Carol was the leader of the combined forces after the Tzar failed miserably to liberate you. That is fact!
Indeed, the Romanian contribution to the victory of Russia against the Ottomans in the 1877-78 war is routinely disregarded and ignored - and the very first to do it were the Russian historians :( Also, Bulgarian historians contributed, in time, out of spite for Romanians (after the Second Balkan War), and in order to praise the Russians, their Slav benefactors. However, the historical truth is available to be known for everybody. The Russian troops started the siege of Pleven on 19 July 1899. Osman Pasha, the Ottoman fiedl marshal, managed to repel two Russian attacks with colossal casualties on the Russian side. At that point, the sides were almost equal in numbers and the Russian army was very discouraged. Russia had no more troops to throw against Pleven, so the Russians asked the Romanians to cross the Danube and help them. Romanian forces crossed the Danube and joined the siege. On 16 August, at Gorni-Studen, the armies around Pleven were placed under the command of the Romanian Prince Carol I, aided by the Russian general Pavel Dmitrievich Zotov and the Romanian general Alexandru Cernat. The Turks maintained several fortresses around Pleven which the Russian and Romanian forces gradually reduced. The Romanian 4th Division led by General Gheorghe Manu took the Grivitsa redoubt after four bloody assaults and managed to keep it until the very end of the siege. The siege of Pleven turned to victory only after Russian and Romanian forces cut off all supply routes to the fortified Ottomans. With supplies running low, Osman Pasha made an attempt to break the Russian siege in the direction of Opanets, on 9 December, over the Vit River. Outnumbering the Ottomans almost 5 to 1, the Russian and Romanian troops drove their enemy back across the Vit. The Ottomans lost 5,000 men, compared with the 2,000 lost by their opponents. Osman Pasha was wounded in the leg by a stray bullet. The next day, he surrendered the city, the garrison, and his sword to the Romanian colonel, Mihail Cerchez.
@@janeza382 I don't know, honestly I don't think it was for the Turkish side, since he was a Macedonian nationalist, but after the Balkan wars, he changed his age so as not to be recruited for the First World War, he said that when he was just married the French army entered his town, they were from Shulin in Pustec
@@ignaciofaus70 I guess he was Bulgarian from the small minority group in Albania (Pustec) in WW1 French army occupied for a short time the area of Korçë and were fighting Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian army there.
The dangerous myth about the WW1 was that it came as surprise to a continent that had known peace for almost a century. Now it is true that there had been no war on the scale of the Napoleonic era, but Europe had not been peaceful. Eastern Europe in particular had been in turmoil for decades before 1914 and the toxicity of its foreign relationships mixed in with nations whose ambitions exceeded their grasp was a deadly combination. The volcanos were going to blow sooner or later. The problem was that there where too many weak states pulling their patrons into perilous situations.
I’m not sure how it came as a surprise all of the major European powers only had one enemy left other European powers. What did come as a surprise is the utter destruction it caused. I don’t think any European power realized the destructive capability of modern warfare at the time Just look at the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia quite literally thought they could March right in now they’re close to a quarter million dead soldiers and they’ve failed miserably.
The various Balkan conflicts of the 20th Century were fueled by centuries of cruel Ottoman/Turk Muslim occupation. Countless atrocities were committed against the peoples of the Balkans during the centuries-old Ottoman occupation.
![เปิด อาณาจักร หมื่นล้าน "สาระตั้ม" l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XE0nPF4YkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end
What is the names of the song in the video?
Great documentary. Saw it on nebula . I think it’s the reason I ended up getting nebula actually .
u forgot to mention that Serbia also send chunk of it men and one of their best generals to support war on that side
I have a few questions though. Home come Albanians are not mentioned here. They played a huge role on these wars and they had the biggest loss both on territory an man. You mentioned "Muslims" a couple of times that they were moved from Sandjak but you never mentioned that they were Albanians living in their lands. At this time, Albania was divided from Ottomans under 4 vilayets where the majority of the population was Albanians: 1. Kosovo Vilayet, 2. Scutari Vilayet, 3. Manastir Vilayet, and 4. Janina Vilayet. I am quite shocked and surprised that you never mentioned any of these, furthermore the genocide towards this population from the slavs and the deportation of the "muslims" as you are saying towards Turkey. To this day there are 5 Million people living in Turkey with Albanian roots, all of them as a result of the deportation from these wars, starting from 1877. You need to pay a close attention to these facts because from this video it seems that Albanians did nothing, which is totally not true. Albanians always rebelled against Ottomans, since Skanderbeg times, then in 1821, the Albanians(Arvanites) started the revolution of Greece etc. To me it's a shame that your channel doesn't give the Albanians the respect they deserve.
I have to complain about a small thing, what you call Novi Pazar and Sandzak, it is Serbian and Montenegrin land, and Islamic peoples were intentionally settled because of the danger of merging the Christians of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia
I was raised listening to my grandma telling me stories of how her grandfather was tortured and executed, and how her grandma raped and half of her kids killed in her village near Drama/Greece. My great great grandma had to walk to Constantinople, losing one more child, only one surviving, my great grandma. My entire life I hated Greeks and Greece for it, until I listened to what their ancestors had gone through in the hands of mine. The past is full of horrible atrocities done by our ancestors who weren't necessarily bad people, but they all thought they were righteous in their actions. I just hope we are better than our ancestors. Greetings from a Turk
Same over here, horrible stories and massacres and eternal hate for Turks and (even worse) for all Muslims. For most people in Greece that know history in bits and pieces, a muslim is a Turk (go figure...)
I don't know when this ends, i guess when we all get rid of nationalism and all "greatness" cause whenever a Balcan country goes "great" some other neighbouring Balkan country goes to grave...
I do believe that nationalism is one of the greatest disaster that had befallen mankind
@@spotonnls3538 ?? I'm a Malay tho
@@spotonnls3538 What's your problem with Arab name?
@@umarabdaziz Religion is the greatest disaster. These atrocities had their origin in religion. Muslim vs Christian vs Jew.
As a bulgarian orthodox,this is the best video of the Balkan wars i have ever seen. For every Balkan reader-Peace brothers! 🇧🇬🇷🇸🇦🇱🇬🇷🇹🇷
Amen 🙏
Peace from Serbia brat
@@Pavlos_Charalambous Amen ☦
@@Earendilkg Мир,брат
Insallah Bulgarian bro
Can't believe this wasn't covered in school at all, it's so essential to explain WW1.
Also helpful in understanding the collapse of Yugoslavia
My history classes never made it past the Industrial Revolution
Can't fit everything in.
@@scottoxley8137I got fired today 😢
It was but it was covered by only one sentence. "Inner strife in the Balkins". 😢
This take on the Balkan Wars is much more humanist than any depiction of them in Balkan history books. I'm Bulgarian and our history books at school glorified the First Balkan War as the pinnacle of Bulgarian courage and military prowess. That part was pretty much true, but they conveniently omitted the part where Bulgarian troops destroyed villages and committed atrocities against Muslims and Greeks. From what I've seen, history books in my neighbouring countries follow the same pattern, glorifying their militaries and turning a blind eye to their atrocities. And this is the first time I've heard of Romanian troops suffering such high casualties from cholera while not really facing any serious military resistance from Bulgaria. Thanks for the nuanced look at these wars and for recognising that for all the glory and pride, they were also a source of tremendous tragedy!
In Turkey they just taught to us "Ottoman army wasn't ready and undeveloped because of that we lost" that's it because there is no victory. But you have to learn history with it's everything.
As a Greek ,we both did horrible things to each other at balkan wars and world war 2,atleast we are fine now and hold no grudge.But that's war,we can't change history unfortunately.
@@alexisz7 all we have to do is looking forward now one of my best friends is greek bro is a legend
The pattern from 1912-1913 and the mass execution of Muslim civilians in the Balkans repeated again in 1992-1995 in Bosnia, where Serbs, inspired by the same wicked ideology fueled by a hatred mix of nationalism and religious fundamentalism of the Orthodox church, committed genocide.
They displaced hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians from the Thrace and Macedonia prior the first balkan war, don't forget that
Marvelous ! Not the horrendous extent of both military and, particularly, civilian agony throughout this conflict, but, the fact that this stellar channel has turned its expectedly nuanced and detailed attention to this seminal war. Many thanks ( from an enthusiast for Balkan history ).
Fun fact: that Greek heavy cruiser you mentioned, is still in service in Greece as a museum
This is honor not fun...
The Greek was not stronger than Turkish navy but braver!
🇬🇷💙🇬🇷
Real
Actually we were stronger at sea at the time, turkish navy was outdated and afraid of averof guns, we were always better at sea than them, long live greece!@@Echetlaeus
Oh one small correction, Montenegro didn't really start early because of their desire to claim more land and overshadow the Serbian dynasty, it was a planned move to see how the major powers would react, and then the rest of the members sent ultimatums. It's true that there was a rivalry between the two serb states, but it was generally, or somewhat, disregarded in times of war.
*rivaling dynasties Karadjordjevic and Petrovic
Additional explanation. The unification of Montenegro and Serbia was predicted to happen once they share common borders, which would happen after the war. The two dynasties competed over who should lead the unified state. The Petrovic (Montenegrin) dynasty was an ally of the old Obrenovic dynasty (Serbian dynasty before 1903) and once the Karadjordjevic's took power, tensions arose. Yet, the unification was imminent.
@@dvnk6971 Exactly! Unification wasn't discussed while the treaty was being signed in 1912 between Serbia and Montenegro, since the main concern was gaining a common border in the region of Raska/Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which was technically still under Austrian occupation. As you say unification was imminent in some sort of way, be it autonomous or full, the only roadblock was dynastic rivalry. It's interesting that even though Peter of Serbia was son-in-law to King Nicholas, Petrovic saw themselves as an older dynasty that also had ties to the Obrenovic. There was a race towards Prizren for example, a city that would give a lot of legitimacy to either side, and minor border squabbles, but nothing major at the time.
Montenegro is not "Serb state".
@@igcuric Lol, lmao
Again, accurate, unbiased, and un-sanitized narrative of an important episode of history. Great work from the Great War team.
Thats what I love, but comments will be biased
Nah, biased. Calling what happened to the turks, mere killings, while it was clear it was a genocide, that´s what being biased means.
They know what we want: the facts and the 'truth', at least as far as can be discerned by the facts
I'm 8 minutes in and he hasn't even acknowledged Croatia's EXISTENCE.
Accurate, unbiased... Sure...
@@misssummersalt It DID not exist as separate state at time
I am so pleased to have found this channel. I only found out about the Balkan wars long after my History A level which went long on the causes of the First World War but never mentioned these important events.
a byproduct of the Balkan Wars was the concept of population exchanges(basically an idea of Greek diplomats).It started with Greece and Bulagaria exchanging populations from Macedonia and Eastern Rumelia(southern Bulagaria) but that was dwarfed by the Greek-Turkish population exchange in 1923-1924(more than two million people involved)
And between India and Pakistan after 1947, no offence but these massacre number are rookie, we really increased the numbers .
In your conflicts, 8000 people civilians i mean might be massacred , in ours during, 1947 less than 25000 death is just a simple riot .
@@hellomoto1426 that’s cuz y’all have 4 times the population smh if you do ratios it’s still high buddy
@@hellomoto1426 it's not a contest...
@@hellomoto1426
congratulations!!
@@TheBard1999 For balkan people war crimes, genocide and population exchanges seem like a contest sometimes... a brutal one
Superb work Jesse and team. Having a look through your sources, it must have been a very complex video to write. Also fantastic photos that I haven’t seen before. A fascinating though heartbreaking episode. Terrible to think that as bad as the suffering was that was experienced in these wars, it would turn out to be a mere prelude before the fast approaching apocalypse. This episode gave great insight into some of the attitudes, rivalries, and thirst for revenge that were still so fresh by 1914. You did an excellent job of carrying the feeling of dread through the episode. Time for a rewatch of the channel from the beginning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
shout out to our fans from the Balkans who got us archive access and looked for primary accounts from their countries.
@@TheGreatWar 👏😎 nice
@@TheGreatWar nice the channel
Extremely well done, yet again. The way this channel balances a popular and accessible approach to complex and contested histories with real nuance is truly commendable.
Thank you very much!
This is briefly covered in a Netflix documentary which i recently watched(The long road to war) but you have given alot more detail. Great stuff as always
Excellent work, guys. Literally, the only nitpick is that the final borders didn't show Strumitsa (a tiny region that looks like a tiny tumor next to the Greek border) as Bulgarian. That was one of the compromises Russia arranged.
oh wow, that's a deep cut
@@TheGreatWar Yeah too deep, even for me as a Bulgarian😆😆😆
That’s probably because strumica is in Macedonia.
@@zacjigerr2370 Strumica was ceeded to Yugoslavia only after WW1
It can not be coincidence that you pronounce most of the names as the native speakers do! Big admiration for this.
As a person who has always wanted to learn more about the forgotten wars of the early 20th century, this is definitely my go-to channel, keep it up!
The youngest NCO in the history of the Greek Army is Gerasimos Raftopoulos, a Kephallonia native, who at the age of 12 received a Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle as a gift for his bravery as an auxiliary in the 1st Balkan War, during the Battle of Sarantaporos in 1912. In the 2nd Balkan War, he was made POW in the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas but he managed somehow to acquire a firegun, killed his three captors and on the way to the Greek lines, he found and helped a wounded Evzone. For his heroism he was field promoted to the rank of Corporal at the age of 13 on 28 August 1913
lol his captors were probably sleeping or didn't use their hands?
@@aleksk4151 Or underestimated him, he was a 13 yo boy after all
@@apmoy70 Yeah right. A bit fictional but ok maybe the boy was trained to do such things
At the age of 14, Geronimos Pederopoulos killed Superman and Batman on the same day
@@goce7641 hahahaha
I'm from Shkoder (Scutari), Albania. My great grandfather died in the trenches by a sharpshooter's shot. A Montenegrin shell had fallen on the rooftop of the house, causing it to collapse. It left my then baby grandfather with a huge scar running through his forehead. I saw that scar as a child before he died. I'm 34 and I've seen a scar from that war. Strange thing. That war isn't as far in the past as it looks today.
No history is not far away. My own father, born in 1900, had American Civil War veterans living in his apartment building, my wife's grandmother (b. 1885) told us about seeing Queen Victoria. But the saying is too true that when the last veteran dies the next war becomes inevitable. People forget and think that next time they can easily win both the war and the peace, never learning the lessons of the past.
Happy to see this channel continues. The balkan wars are a critical part of world history
My great grandfather fought in the Balkan war, in WW I, Spanish civil war, and in WW II. He's my hero and role model. The stories he could tell... the horrors he survived...
My great grandfather came from Sparta to the U.S when he was 11. Went to fight in this war, according to my grandmother when he got his uniform it looked that was worn by someone else, and not properly washed as it was full of lice. He then on his return back the US with his wife, WW1 broke out. He enlisted again and survived. Different breed of men back then.
Ellhnika milas ?
Yeah. I mean like it's not like there weren't US Service members who served 2, 3, or more tours in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
@@joejankoski8471 2-3 semester long tours of sitting around and occasionally shooting children does not compare with a decade of continued enlistment and total warfare, like many men of 1910s experienced ...
Sparta? Sparta? Spartaaaa??????
Thank you for covering this, as it often gets overlooked and people do need to know about that history especially during these troubled times. Greetings from Athens.
Often overlooked yet very important wars, well done!
Thanks Jesse, love your work. Quite the challenge to retell the Balkan wars in 30 minutes. Incredibly confusing and chaotic episode of Balkan history. Not that Balkan history tends to be uncomplicated in otherr epochs either of course.
I'm Bulgarian, and the first Balkan War is one if not the most notorious wars in Bulgarian history after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire. First World War was also notorious, but this one had the peak of the desire for Bulgarian reunification. My family sent 4 men in total !! in this war. 3 of them come back alive. I hear stories passed from generations, stories from the trenches, stories of charges with knives, all that kinds of war things. When the mobilization was announced it was like a celebration, like Easter or Christmas. That's how strong was the Bulgarian willing to go to war with the Ottomans. 3 Years later in the First World War, we were allies, so yep history has strange plot twists
Hello brother from Serbia. Our ancestors fought brave against Turks. But they didn't need second Balkan war..it's so sad and tragic which led to the conflict in ww1 as well. Two very similar nations that share almost same fate during history.
İmagine being proud after living under control of Turks for 500 years and fight them when they fought all eruopeans and win. pathetic Balkans
funny how you bulgarians think it was the Russians who eliberated you from Turks when it was actually us Romanians that did it
@@Genessyss give yourself a break, please. It was a combined effort of Bulgarians, Romanians and mostly Russian empire forces (that were full of non-Russians.) But what is even funnier is that this point has nothing to do with the comment above
@@Genessyss russia never liberated us. They wanted to enslave. They are mongolian ghetto. The true name of russia is muskovi. In the west european archives they are named tatar muskovi. The most crazy thing is that they brutally enslaved us after 9th September 1944 and exterminated millions of Bulgarians and did not stop until 1989. They are the mongolians just like the turks. They are out biggest enemies. We still haven't got rid from russia they continue the genocide even today not directly using the schools and hospitals to kill us. One day we are going to get rid of them. They plan to destroy the european culture and white race!!!!
As a Canadian, I only found out about this originally because I'd read "Birds without Wings" by Louis De Bernières. I highly recommend the book! Like De Bernière's masterpiece, your coverage is humanistic and revealing. Thank you for this tremendous work!
Agree! Great book!
My ex wife's ancestors came from the city of Kayaköy (Leivissi in modern Greek) in 1922 and along with other families from Makri Turkey (present day Fethiye), created the town of Nea Makri about 35 km away from Athens which we live today. The setting of Eskibahçe is based upon Kayaköy.
"As a" 💀
Wonderful work! Congratulations to your team for trying to tell this conflict from all its possible perspectives and compiling this comprehensive picture that logically describes the path to the Great War. :)
И вие продължавайте отличната работа, за да знаят новите поколения, че "и ние сме имали царство и господарство" както е казал Паисий.
А не мислите ли, че спестяването на информация за етническия състав на определени области създава усещане у зрителите, че всички страни защитават равностойни интереси?
@@yavortashev С цел да избегнат вида на привърженик към една или повече от страните, те си спестяват факти, които биха породили конфликти в коментарите и национализъм в повечето зрители, а такива имаме предостатъчно.
@@emilbotev3656 със сигурност е така, но така се прикрива истината зад мотивите на всяка от страните. А те са от съществено значение. Не става въпрос за колонизацията на Африка.
@@yavortashev Съгласен съм. Спора за главната националност на населението във въпросните територии е сигурно най-важният фактор за исканията на участниците във войната както казахте(въпреки, че това трудно се доказва и е рядко достоверно), но не е чак толкова важна причината, а по-скоро последствията. Все пак идеята на видеото е да се проследят действията, довели до Голямата война. С други думи тях не ги интересува особено личните интереси на държавите и техните мотиви, поне не чак в такива подробности,които биха предизвикали обратна реакция.
I love how these videos intersperce quotes which illustrate the horrors of war in between the wider explanation of political and military manuevers. I think a lot of channels fail to convey how terrible conflict is.
Exactly my words! And note how rich the vocabulary was among the people from the past although is translated.
@@P.L.D. Indeed, people of the past were just as intelligent, eloquent and creative as we are today. A lot of ignorami think people from the past were un-intelligent, but really this opinion is a reflection of their deficiency.
32:08 "To leave them to our slaves" that says everything there needs to be said to show why it was necessary to drive out the Turkish invaders. They always viewed the people of the Balkans as "their slaves." Well-deserved victory by the Bulgarians and Serbians against the Turks!
Exactly. He also says that for 400 years they ruled the land. How about the thousands of years before?
There is no deserved or eligible victory, if it contains the massacre of the locals.
Moreover you should not generalize a quote. That was just what an racist individual considered.
@@oxia77 So following your concept, the territories across the world should be divided depending on who lived in an area for the most time in the past?
Exactly, it's odd, this video is biased to make us try to feel sympathetic to the turks, but let's just forget the bloodshed and long years of tyranny they put us through.
@@thedaciana How is the video biased? Byzantine was no less killer than Ottomans.
New to the channel. Binge watching the last couple of months. This is just another excellent episode on an obscure/overlooked, yet extremely important and influential part of modern history. Loooove it. Keep up the great work.
thabks Mr chimp
Enjoy!
At that time Kingdom of Serbia was not at rivalry with Kingdom of Montenegro, they wanted to unite, those countrymen shared so much in common. Rivalry began after First world war, when both countries sacrificed their independence and merged into the Kingdom of SCS.
Note*: What happened with the grandfather (who was also king) of newly baked king of Yugoslavia?
Rivalry began with communism
They did not merge unto the kingdom of SCS(this was basically Bosnia,Croatia and Slovenia)they merged with the kingodm of SCS to make kingodm of Yugoslavia.
Bigest mistake in Serbian history.
Sve dobro ti zelim moj pravoslavni brate, nebitno da li si Crnogorac ili Srbin. Ja i dalje mislim da smo jedan narod sa dve drzave!
@@НиколаЖивановић-ь7х Ни ја не волим када неко пише или говори како смо браћа са Црногорцима..Глупости, ми смо једно те исто, Срби! Браћа су нам, по вери: Грци, по крви остали Јужни Словени, а по крви, вери и као наши велики заштитници у прошлости, су нам велика браћа - Руси.. (ушли због нас у Први светски рат, пре тога нам помагали у толико ратова против Османског царства, а у Први светски рат нису морали ући, имали су око 4 милиона мртвих у Првом светском рату, око15 милиона у Грађанском рату, између Белих и Црвених Бољшевика, што се не би догодило да нису ЗБОГ НАС УШЛИ У ПРВИ СВЕТСКИ РАТ!).. изгубили су због тога Империју, имали 73 године комунизма и на десетине милиона побијених од стране комуниста+још 30 милина побијених у Другом светском рату!!/I also don't like it when someone writes or says that we are brothers with Montenegrins...Nonsense, we are one and the same, Serbs! They are our brothers, by faith: Greeks, by blood the rest of the South Slavs, and by blood, faith and as our great protectors in the past, they are our big brothers - the Russians.. (they entered the First World War because of us, before that they helped us in so many wars against the Ottoman Empire, and they did not have to enter the First World War, they had about 4 million dead in the First World War, about 15 million in the Civil War, between the White and Red Bolsheviks, which would not have happened if they had not entered the First World War BECAUSE OF US WORLD WAR!).. because of that they lost the Empire, had 73 years of communism and tens of millions killed by the communists + another 30 million killed in the Second World War!!
That's why I don't like these videos. They are never accurate.
Cool video but I would like to mention that relationship between Serbia and Montenegro was portrayed a bit wrong, Its wrong to say that we were rivals since we are basically one nation divided by Ottomans at the time, one more thing id like to mention is that "Sandzak and Novi Pazar" should be called "Raska oblast" other then that pretty cool video well done.
you another Serb who didn't notice that this youtuber lied telling that Serbs found ressistance from LOCAL Albanians in Kosovo. If Albanians were LOCALS in Kosovo, why they didn't anexate it to Albania itself? By this statement, this youtuber wants to make us believe that Kosovo was inhabited by Albanians and not Serbs.
Stratis Myrivilis also has written an excellent book about life in the trenches of the Macedonian front, it's called Η ζωή εν τάφω (Life in the grave)
Ευχαριστώ φίλε, θα το ψάξω.
Thank you so much for covering this topic! As a Bulgarian it makes me happy to see our history retold in a correct and exciting manner! 🇧🇬 Immediately subscribed to the channel - can't wait to see your other content!
As a Romanian, I have to admit that I didn't know much about these conflicts. I knew they existed and that they might have played a role in preparing WW1, but that was it. This kind of documentary should be studied in schools, instead of the boring lessons I had 25-30 years ago, that were only focused on memorizing dates and never studying the reasons or the big picture...
I'd like to believe that mankind has learned from its past, but sadly, it hasn't, as we saw in the 90's Yugoslav wars and now in Ukraine. Ethnical cleansing, mass killings, villages and towns beying destroyed are still a thing :(
And the Balkans is still a powderkeg, sadly.
It's a war.
This episode was badly needed! I'd wish you took a new look at the Baltic wars of independence in the future. Keep up that brilliant work :)
check our videos from 2019-2021, we covered the Baltics in multiple videos
Balkan normalno Baltic.
I knew a man named CHris Petcoff who fled to America as a stowaway when his Army was overrun. He was only 14 or so but in the Army of Bulgaria.
Yes. The people of Bulgaria would volunteer to mobilize with no regard for their age, because they believed in the Liberation and the Unification of all the Bulgarians.
Thank You for shedding some light on this topic. A lot of western civilization does not even know about these events and only know about the assassination that "started the war". Much love from Serbia 💕
I can see why the army's that mobilized in 1914 thought the war would be over by Christmas. Every war prior lasted a year at most.
That’s definitely not true. Like at all. Europe is famous for its long wars
@@Fractured_Unity in their immediate past the wars were quick
@@morewi immediate doesn't equate to future outcomes. A statistic to take into account.
@@Atlas2040 you are very naive
@@morewi wrong. If some wars in the past were "short," that doesn't mean all future wars will be short as well. Nothing naive about that. Grow up and have conversations rather than blatantly being disrespectful. Keep up your great work, keyboard warrior. Take care.
There was no mention of the two naval battles fought between Greece and the Ottomans neither of the capture of the eastern Aegean islands, which sealed off the ottoman navy and their reserves completely. You presented it as if the ottoman fleet didn't even try and fight.
We have the uberchad Averof...
the reason why the Ottomans lost is the disagreement between the commanders
Barbaros Hayreddin's armour is better cope @@kornaros96
It is mentioned that Greece occupied islands without a big resistence.
@@miroslavkozarov8803 which is false since the ottoman fleet tried twice to fight for control of the aegean.
Amazing well made documentaries! Really enjoy watching them, thank you!
There is just something so incredibly fascinating about this era. We are fortunate to have you covering it!
Imo war and genocide aren't fascinating. These things should be remembered to honor the dead, fascinating is an inappropriate term for this.
@@garretth8224 I don't think he meant war and genocide. Balkan people usually see this era as times of national awakening and revival.
Great video. I remembered seeing a week-by-week episode where Indy had said "Quarter was neither asked, nor given" when referring to Serbs and Bulgarians fighting each other during WW1
This channel is so educational. In the U.K THIS REGION AND THE HISTORY IS NEVER mentioned, yet it's so important to understand these facts and their importance till this day, which still affect the peoples and politics. Thank you. Superb information.
You guys are really delivering outstanding content.
7:50 not just any Armoured Cruiser. That was the Georgios Averof, easily the most legendary warship of Greece's modern history. Look it up, it has quite a fascinating story behind it
It took part in 5 wars!
The Turkish Navy who have faced it many times they use to call it Devils Ship.
Captain of the Averoff was Pavlos Kountouriotis from the great Kountourioti family (his grandfather was one of the leaders in Greek revolution and a shipowner).
They all come from the island of Hydra!
More wonderful history content. This channel is one of my favorites. Keep doing the great work yall have done.
The Balkan Wars in the early 20th century and along with the aftermath, such as the border and religious disputes between nationalities and political power vacuums after the Ottomans were defeated lead to more of the same regional conflicts after the fall of communism, especially in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Thank You very much for this great review of the Balkan Wars. Very much appreciated. Well done.
Kudos to the Great War team on another well done video that explores the complexities, military campaigns and the politics of the Balkan Wars. As a Greek-American, I really appreciate the thoughtful way the history was discussed as it contained the seeds of the Great War.
❤
EXCELLENT video and the explanation. The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 is so complex, you did a GREAT JOB explaining. Greetings from Mexico City.
I remember Indy touching on this topic briefly in the Prelude to War series you guys did back in 1914/2014. Its nice to it fleshed out a bit here.
Buddy weve been doing this stoo
A fine presentation of an incredibly complex situations that prevails to this day. Thank you.
So true. The legacy of that era, including World War I, remains with us today .... over a century later.
Great timing since tomorrow marks 110 years since the surrender of Salonika. Superb job as always!
The liberation of Thessaloniki is on the 26th of October .
@@gj5679 Yes indeed however the agreement of its surrender was made several days prior to the official event. Just watch that part of the vid.
@@d-phoenix2198 The general that surrendered the city became an honorary Greek after the incident .
@@gj5679 Yeah I have visited the grave of Hasan Pasha a couple years ago. It's in the yard of the Villa the surrender was signed. His son actually followed our army during the Anatolian campaign making most of the popular Greek Army paintings of that period. He is also buried along with his father in that yard.
Greeks were not even a majority. It was mainly jewish. Who were expelled or exterminated along with the muslims and turks.
Crazy. Just watched the videos where Jessie slotted in after the great war 14-18 was covered. Great to see how you've settled into the told and make the channel as great as it is! Keep it up!
This just shows how thanks to BULGARIAN MAN POWER ON LAND and COURAGE, the first Balkan war was carried.
Why you didn't say anything about the Aegean islands and Crete. The Greek navy also occupied those islands and were given in 1913 by the treaty of Bucurest
always something to leave out when you make a documentary. always a difficult decision and always someone who disagrees with the decision
@@TheGreatWar I didn't say I don't like the video it was pretty accurated to the facts of the Balkan wars. I just say why this part of the war wasn't mention.
Maybe it wasn't mention because nowadays they government of Ankara doesn't recognize the Greek sovereign on this islands
@@spirosfatouros1372 No matter what Ankara says now, its a well known and undesputed fact that the islands are greek and even turkey agreed to that a few decades ago. They just have neo-ottoman dreams which will obviously fail and cause their ruin again
@@TheHunterOfYharnam since when you are sure they would fail?
@@TheGreatWar I'm sure it's just an omission that the north Aegean islands were not painted as gained territory for Greece @30:56, but it's one of current significance seeing how turkish leadership increasingly disputes their sovereignty. The best way to counter such nationalistic propaganda is accurate representation of history, the last thing we need is sloppiness with maps.
14:45 he also said "I have taken the city (Thessaloniki) from the Greeks, and to them I must return it"
If there is difference in the texts in the two nations someone must have forged it, I'm inclined to trust my side as a Bulgarian. What we study and what is written is suprisingly much more then the rest for those times and rarely go propagandist if at all. The historians are very fair to the facts.
He also mentioned that he didn't fight and lose against Bulgarians but against Greeks and to them he must surrender the city.
1912: ottoman empire vs balkans
1913: Bulgaria vs balkans & ottoman empire
1914: balkans vs ottoman empire & Bulgaria
Romania shouldnt have asked for South Dobrogea. We were always peaceful with our neighbours in the south. That created incentives for future conflicts. Its easy to say that now after more than 100 yrs but still...
Well, at least that was more or less the only modern conflict between our countries which says a lot.
Greetings neighbour and let's hope our relations will continue to improve 🇧🇬🤝🇹🇩
@@runegold321 Greetings from Romania. And i hope the same for our relations. I think the Romanian government should do more for that to happen. Peace brothers🇷🇴❤️🇧🇬
I guess everyone in those times was somewhat nationalistic crazy and wanting too much
For staying neutral in a war it was fair to ask for compensation.
Excuse me, Forgotten? As a greek, let me say that has got to be the most western thing I've read lately
Well this conflict is forgotten not just by the west but most countries in the world well of course except for countries that were directly involved in the conflict.
@@Wabu_227 people should study the Balkan wars unless they're idiots. The Balkan wars are the prime premise of the first World War, they're exactly what set up the chess pieces for the war, and that makes them incredibly important.
But I forgot, no "important" countries (aka Britain, France, Germany, Russia, USA) were directly involved in combat, so the conflict can be forgotten, right?
It also shaped our countries till today.
All greetings to my bulgarian brothers and sisters❤️❤️🇷🇴🇧🇬!
Thank you brother
Multumim frate
You guys do such an amazing job of explaining all the sides in a conflict. Nothing is ever black and white in war. Terrific video, about a very crucial period that is under reported in human history.
These conflicts were the closest thing to black and white you can imagine. Former slaves retaking their lands after centuries of occupation, while a smug Ottoman officer laments losing his slaves and promising a revenge.
I wish you all peace, brothers and sisters from the Balkans! May we be friends not foes in the present and future!
Great video. I knew of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, but not of the details you've provided.
Jesse has a very engaging way of presenting these events. Enjoying this very much.
Perhaps it goes a bit deeper than that? Germany once had a military alliance with Russia but decided not to renew it because the Kaiser was cousins with the Czar. You could also include the pig wars between Serbia and Austria-Hungary that led to the Serbs getting closer with France. Or the French counting on their alliance with the steamroller Russia because war now was better than war later when Russia would be too powerful to care about liberating Alsace Lorraine from the Germans. There were lots of reasons and blame to pass around to everyone.
Very accurate and detailed, as Bulgarian even tho I havent finished the clip expect to be more fare that just "muh Bulgarians bad". In a way its fair to probably all.
Great job! Everything looks and sounds well-researched. from maps to footage to excerpts. And on top of that, it is not biased. Keep them coming!
Surprise! Looks like yet another incredible The Great War upload.
These wars are very interesting but they are ignored by many. I'd like to see a game of these was similar to Verdun,Tannenberg and Isonzo
This was an EXCELLENT Documentary on the Origins of "The Great War"
An excellent documentary on a conflict that is not well known due to it taking place prior to The Great War. This video tells why the balkans were such a hot spot in Europe that help star the war
I have said it before and I will again. What depth. Nuance and details.
Impressive as always.
United Balkans. Stretching from Turkey to Albania and from Romania to Greece. That is something that nobody from the great powers would salute.
Greetings from Bulgaria! Well done video!
I have an Albanian grandfather and know very little about the history / culture. This has been great for me to understand.
Grandfather and what are u ? Ethnicl
Why is the only history channel that is tongue tied?
Incredible! Thank you so much for creating this documentary! Fantastic work as ways, Jesse.
Thank you for covering these historical details that I never learned about in history classes here in the US.
WE Muslims are humans also. One must treat us like humans. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that thousands and thousands of Bosniak women and young girls were RAPED In Bosnia ,during that aggression. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that even my own kind ,Bosniak girls,hurt me,many of them,by calling me ugly when that isn’t my fault,played me and lied, well,i still feel bad because many were unlucky in the aggression. And please don’t worry,i come in peace and hate injustice-i love Serbian women/girls. Other horrible war crimes were also done to Bosnian Muslims. ( Bosniaks ).
Unfortunately, a lot of things are wrong. Straight up stuff that didn't happen
Amazing documentary. The level of detail is unparalleled, and I have seen quite a few videos on the topic.
It's so sad that the Balkan states fought among themselves instead just liberating their nations from under the Ottoman occupation.
This is also why the byzantine empire fell because they were fighting among themselves the catholics vs. the orthodox it's sad otherwise Constantinopel would have stayed in christian hands.
All Aegean islands, apart from the Dodecanese, were liberated and at the hands of the greek navy by the end of the first Balkan War. This is not portrayed on your maps. Hope it is not intentional.
Two days ago we celebrated the 110 years from the start of the war in the village of Lilkovo in Rhodopes. The fire against ottomans started 32nd Srednogorski regiment of the bulgarian army.
A new favorite history Channel. Love pre world war 1 central/eastern European history and conflict!!! Look forward to more
With allies like this you don't need enemies
Serbians & Greeks should say that.
@@revnitelj why serbians and Greeks didn't give a part of Macedonia to bulgaria. Bulgaria did more in Tracey than the serbians and greeks in west balkans. Bulgaria stopped the armies which were comming from Constantinople to Macedonia.
Greece also stop the armies come from the sea.stop underestimate other Balkan states
The more I watch these video's about the conflicts before ww1 and the lead up to it, the more it strikes me how badly Helmuth von Moltke (the younger) wanted this war.
I swear. "The world undone" book explains it really well.
They all wanted it one way or another. Different world now.
@The Great War thank you for the historical objectivity effort by including comments from all sides involved in the conflict! The competitiveness of the European nations has brought progress and well enormous suffering throughout the ages. Hopefully, citizens in the Balkan nations will stay peaceful, and united and not fall for the Russian imperial efforts to meddle in their internal politics to steer division and hatred.
1:33 the sheer amount of moustache in the room was palpable... XD
This is how you present it, as if Bulgaria attacked and Serbia and Greece decided to divide Macedonia. And the truth is that they made a secret agreement about this long before the first Balkan war ended.
Exactly! Serbia and Greece planned before the start of the war - to fight mainly against Bulgaria!!!
My grandfather from Santorini faught in this war. My mother said he was left for dead on the side of the road but he lived.
Yet another completely brilliant historical analysis from Jesse Alexander and the 'The Great War.' Who would not choose to take a history degree at university. It is something which enriches one's entire life. Thank you so much. Love from England.
its not.
@@bojanbabovic111 whats wrong with the vid bruv
@@thenamescarter8279 every thing
@@bojanbabovic111 some detail and sources would be nice. This youtube channel is known for its great research of objective fact and how it finds niche or not very well known personal accounts of events to get the peoples' opinions of the time. You cant just say "blahblah dont like it".
@@thenamescarter8279 It is not objective. Why should i write anything for an hour at midnight, when all of it will be censored. If i let out key censored words, i'll be missing the point.
日本からこんにちは。
この動画とても面白くて、ためになる動画でした。
あと、バルカン諸国の中ではブルガリアが好きです。
Благодаря from Bulgaria.
It is little is known that in view of the surprising success of Bulgarians, the Russians considered to enter the war and rush to help the Ottomans! They, as you stated for other powers at that time, feared that the Balkan League, in that case in particular Bulgaria would gain control over the Bosphorus strait. Without the outbreak of Cholera that could have happened very likely. And by other Balkan League armys joining the siege to Constantinople most most probably.
Very true, excellent point.
Bullshit. Russia wanted the collapse of the ottoman empire to make Bulgaria big.
I don't know why whenever the 1877-1878 war is mentioned, almost everyone fails to mention the Romanian army and only considers it a Russian victory. I mean even Prince (later King) Carol I of Romania commanded both Romanian and Russian troops and took Pleven, afterwards beating the Turks at Vidin and Smardan. The Romanian efforts and success in this war are literally what won the country its complete independence from the Ottomans.
Not really. The battle which decided the war was at Shipka pass. The Ottomans could not reinforce Pleven after it and Russia was safe from a complete disaster.
@@Фниксъ not really. Romania was the one who led the liberation of Bulgaria. Russia failed miserably and that's why overall command was hiven to Romania. Read a book before you comment!
@@Genessyss Done that. The Romanian troops did have a role in the war, however it was minor supporting one in securing the Danube and taking over some fortified positions around Pleven where the major fighting was carried out by the Russians often hand-to-hand. Carol I had fresh forces to reinforce the siege and help the Russians push deeper. If the Russians did not force march the Danubian delta and positioned themselves properly, there was not going to be any Romanian intervention at all.
@@Фниксъ false. The Romanians led the succesful invasion after the russians failed miserably. educate yourself please before talking. USSR have brainwashed the Bulgarians! Carol was the leader of the combined forces after the Tzar failed miserably to liberate you. That is fact!
Indeed, the Romanian contribution to the victory of Russia against the Ottomans in the 1877-78 war is routinely disregarded and ignored - and the very first to do it were the Russian historians :( Also, Bulgarian historians contributed, in time, out of spite for Romanians (after the Second Balkan War), and in order to praise the Russians, their Slav benefactors.
However, the historical truth is available to be known for everybody.
The Russian troops started the siege of Pleven on 19 July 1899. Osman Pasha, the Ottoman fiedl marshal, managed to repel two Russian attacks with colossal casualties on the Russian side. At that point, the sides were almost equal in numbers and the Russian army was very discouraged. Russia had no more troops to throw against Pleven, so the Russians asked the Romanians to cross the Danube and help them. Romanian forces crossed the Danube and joined the siege. On 16 August, at Gorni-Studen, the armies around Pleven were placed under the command of the Romanian Prince Carol I, aided by the Russian general Pavel Dmitrievich Zotov and the Romanian general Alexandru Cernat.
The Turks maintained several fortresses around Pleven which the Russian and Romanian forces gradually reduced. The Romanian 4th Division led by General Gheorghe Manu took the Grivitsa redoubt after four bloody assaults and managed to keep it until the very end of the siege. The siege of Pleven turned to victory only after Russian and Romanian forces cut off all supply routes to the fortified Ottomans. With supplies running low, Osman Pasha made an attempt to break the Russian siege in the direction of Opanets, on 9 December, over the Vit River. Outnumbering the Ottomans almost 5 to 1, the Russian and Romanian troops drove their enemy back across the Vit. The Ottomans lost 5,000 men, compared with the 2,000 lost by their opponents. Osman Pasha was wounded in the leg by a stray bullet. The next day, he surrendered the city, the garrison, and his sword to the Romanian colonel, Mihail Cerchez.
My great-grandfather fought in that war, he lived on the border between Greece, Albania and Serbia, they lived from invasion to invasion.
On which side ...
@@janeza382 I don't know, honestly I don't think it was for the Turkish side, since he was a Macedonian nationalist, but after the Balkan wars, he changed his age so as not to be recruited for the First World War, he said that when he was just married the French army entered his town, they were from Shulin in Pustec
@@ignaciofaus70 I am Macedonian ,too. Yes Balkan imperil puppet kingdoms recruited Macedonians to their side whit propaganda.
@@ignaciofaus70Macedonian? Do he was Greek 🇬🇷
@@ignaciofaus70 I guess he was Bulgarian from the small minority group in Albania (Pustec) in WW1 French army occupied for a short time the area of Korçë and were fighting Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian army there.
It's important to look at these events as History, and don't forget them otherwise they may repeat.
The dangerous myth about the WW1 was that it came as surprise to a continent that had known peace for almost a century. Now it is true that there had been no war on the scale of the Napoleonic era, but Europe had not been peaceful. Eastern Europe in particular had been in turmoil for decades before 1914 and the toxicity of its foreign relationships mixed in with nations whose ambitions exceeded their grasp was a deadly combination. The volcanos were going to blow sooner or later. The problem was that there where too many weak states pulling their patrons into perilous situations.
I suggest united states of Macedonia ... as new kingdoms are imperialistic puppets Romans feed them whit nationalism and used them against Ottomans.
I’m not sure how it came as a surprise all of the major European powers only had one enemy left other European powers. What did come as a surprise is the utter destruction it caused. I don’t think any European power realized the destructive capability of modern warfare at the time Just look at the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia quite literally thought they could March right in now they’re close to a quarter million dead soldiers and they’ve failed miserably.
Although more than a century passed, seems like the Balkan Wars never really ended and still produce a certain antagonism in the region.
The various Balkan conflicts of the 20th Century were fueled by centuries of cruel Ottoman/Turk Muslim occupation. Countless atrocities were committed against the peoples of the Balkans during the centuries-old Ottoman occupation.
I love your channel. I’m learning so much I was never taught in school
These few years of Balkan history still have a profound impact on the region today.
They are but a culmination of decades old rivalries even under Ottoman flag.
@@Фниксъ absolutely!