Macedonian front – First World War
The First World War started in Europe on 28thJuly, 1914 and lasted until 11th November, 1918. More than 70 million soldiers were recruited, out of who 9 million lost their lives, together with 7 million civilians. As one of the deadliest conflicts in the history of mankind, this war caused great political changes. The unsolved issues of the First World War brought to the beginning of the Second World War.
The Macedonian front which is also known as the Thessaloniki and South front, stretched from the Orfano Gulf in the Aegean Sea to the Adriatic Sea, with the length of around 600 km. It passed through four countries: Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia as it was at the time, having the territory of the Republic of N. Macedonia in its borders. In the period from October 1915 to September 1918, south of the front line, the forces of the Triple Entente were positioned there (French, Serbian, British, Russian, Italian and Greek soldiers), and on the north were the Central forces (Bulgarian, German and Austro-Hungarian). There were around 1.200.000 soldiers of both sides in total.
The breakthrough of the Macedonian front happened on Dobro Pole on 15th September 1918. Fifteen days later, on 30th September in Thessaloniki, an armistice was signed with Bulgaria, and the forces of the Triple Entente had their way opened towards Turkey, which signed armistice on 30th October and towards Austro-Hungary, which had already suffered great losses on the Italian front, signing its armistice on 4th November.
The armistice with Germany was signed on 11thNovember 1918, notifying the end of the First World War. Although the battle on Dobro Pole was incomparably smaller military operation compared to other fronts, a great number of historians agree that the battle brought to a faster end of the First World War.
