Topic summary
Second Balkan War
Bulgaria
- 348,000
- 330,000
- 148,000
- 12,800
- 255,000
- Total: 1,093,802
Kingdom of Bulgaria:- 7,583 killed
- 9,694 missing
- 42,911 wounded
- 3,049 deceased
- 140 artillery pieces captured or destroyed
- Total: 65,927 killed or wounded
Serbia: 50,000- 9,000 killed
- 36,000 wounded
- 5,000 dead of disease
Romania: 1,600- negligible combat casualties
- 1,600 dead of a cholera outbreak
Greece: 29,886- 5,851 killed in action
- 23,847 wounded in action
- 188 missing in action
Montenegro: 1,201- 240 killed
- 961 wounded
Ottoman Empire: 4,000+- negligible combat casualties
- 4,000 dead of disease
- Total:
- c. 76,000 combat casualties
- c. 91,000 total losses
The Second Balkan War (29 June – 10 August 1913) was a conflict fought between the Tsardom of Bulgaria and its former Balkan League allies, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, who were later joined by Romania and the Ottoman Empire.
The war began when Bulgaria, unhappy with the division of territory after the First Balkan War, launched attacks on Serbian and Greek forces, who repelled the offensive and pushed into Bulgarian territory. With most of Bulgaria's army committed in the south, Romania intervened from the north. The Ottoman Empire also took advantage of the situation to recover territories lost the previous year.
As Bulgaria suffered military setbacks on multiple fronts and Romanian forces advanced towards its capital, Sofia, it requested an armistice. The war ended with the Treaty of Bucharest, which compelled Bulgaria to cede significant territory: Southern Dobruja to Romania, parts of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Adrianople (Edirne) to the Ottoman Empire under the separate Treaty of Constantinople.
The war altered the political balance in the Balkans and intensified regional tensions. Serbia expanded its territory and influence, heightening its rivalry with Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria, weakened by defeat and territorial losses, would later align with the Central Powers in the First World War.