Battle of Çatalca

[doruk akyüz]

I just readed Richard C. Hall's book; The Balkan Wars. He insists that the Battle of Çatalca (Bulgarian offensive to Istanbul) was the mirror of the Western Front and if the authorites observed Balkan Wars well the soldiers of First World War wouldn't suffer the same experiences again.

I think, Germans had a special chance for it. Because German officers had trained the Ottoman Army at this time and they could observe the battle directly. The Çatalca Fortifications were 35km. away from Istanbul. Bulgarians stick at there like Germans at the Marne River. German militiary adviser of Ottoman, General Colmar von Der Goltz could go there personally and could write a report about effects of the modern Warfare.

Any comments?

Doruk Akyüz

[Nikolay]

Well, I believe there was a study of the Balkan war by the German GStaff that was published in 1914 if I am not mistaken. And they indeed should have paid more attention to what happened in Cataldga and Bulair - I would say a typical example of a trench war. Edirne (Odrin) siege and its attack in March 1913 also showed the big role of the heavy artillery in the modern warfare.
Another example of "trench war" in Balkans was the bloody battle of Kalimantzi in July 1913 between Bulgarian and Serbo-Montenegrinian troops that led to the loss of almost 10 000 lifes in two weeks on just 20 km of frontline...

[adolpheit]

Both Germanian and Austrian General Staff paid great attention to what happened during Balkan War.
I know these books:

Der Balkankrieg 1912/13. Erstes Heft: Die Ereignisse auf dem thrazischen Kriegsschauplatz bis zum Waffenstillstand. (Kriegsgeschichtliche Einzelschriften, hg. v. Großen Generalstabe, Heft 50). Berlin : Mittler 1914

RHODE. Hans : Die Operationen an den Dardanellen im Balkankriege 1912/13. Berlin : Eisenschmidt 1914

The best analysis of trench warfare was :
KLEINER. Karl : Die Belagerung von Adrianopel (Oktober 1912 bis März 1913). Wien : R.v. Waldheim, Jos. Eberle & Co. 1914