The Battle of Monastir took place near the town of Bitola, Macedonia (then known as Monastir) during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, between Serbian and Ottoman forces from 16 to 19 November 1912. It resulted in a Serbian victory after heavy fighting north of the city, the routed Turks fled abandoning their guns.

Battle

As an ongoing part of the Balkan Wars, the Ottoman Vardar Army retreated from the defeat at

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the largest municipality in the country. Kumanovo lies above sea level and is surrounded by the K ...

and regrouped around Bitola. The Serbs seized

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

then sent forces to help their Bulgarian ally besiege Adrianople. The Serbian 1st Army, advancing south on Monastir (modern Bitola), encountered heavy Ottoman artillery fire and had to wait for its own artillery to arrive. According to French Captain G. Bellenger, writing in ''Notes on the Employment of Artillery in the Balkan Campaign'', unlike the Ottomans, Serbian field artillery was very mobile, at some point the Serbian Morava Division dragged four long-range artillery pieces up a mountain, then each night hauled the guns closer to the Turkish forces to better support the infantry. On 18 November, following the destruction of the Ottoman artillery by Serbian artillery, the Serbian right flank pushed through the Vardar Army. The Serbs then entered Bitola on 19 November. With the conquest of Bitola the Serbs controlled southwestern Macedonia, including the symbolically important town of

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

Aftermath

After the battle of Monastir, the five-century-long Ottoman rule of Macedonia was over. The Serbian 1st Army continued fighting in the First Balkan War. At this point some officers wanted the 1st Army to continue its advance down the valley of the

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. Vojvoda Putnik refused. The threat of war with

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

loomed over the issue of a Serbian presence on the Adriatic. In addition, with the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

and

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

already in Thessaloniki, the appearance of Serbian forces there would only muddle an already complicated situation.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monastir 1912 Battles of the First Balkan War Conflicts in 1912 1912 in the Ottoman Empire Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Battles involving Serbia Military history of North Macedonia 1912 in Europe Manastir vilayet History of Bitola Bitola Municipality Vardar Macedonia (1912–1918) Battles of the Ottoman–Serbian Wars November 1912 events