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Battle of Bazargic
Part of Romanian Campaign (World War I)
Romanian Campaign (1916)
Map of the Romanian campaign
Date5 September 1916 - 7 September 1916
LocationBazargic, Kingdom of Romania (now Dobrich, Bulgaria)
43°34′0″N 27°50′0″E / 43.566667°N 27.833333°E / 43.566667; 27.833333
Result Central Powers victory
Belligerents
Central Powers:
Bulgaria Bulgaria
Flag of the German Empire German Empire
Ottoman Flag Ottoman Empire
Allied Powers:
Romania Romania
Russia Russian Empire
State Flag of Serbia (1882-1918) Kingdom of Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Bulgaria Stefan Toshev
Bulgaria Ivan Kolev
Bulgaria Todor Kantardzhiev
Russian Empire Andrei Zayonchkovski
Strength
23 battalions,10 artillery batteries, 17 cavalry squadrons 46 battalions,17 artillery batteries,19 cavalry squadrons
Casualties and losses
1,053 killed
2,324 wounded[1]
Unknown


The Battle of Bazargic, also known as the Battle of Dobrich or the Dobrich epopee (Bulgarian language: Добричка епопея ), took place between 5 and 7 September 1916 between a joint Bulgarian–German–Ottoman force consisting mainly of the Bulgarian Third Army, and a Romanian–Russian force including a Division of Serbian Volunteers serving under the Russian 47th Corps. The battle was part of the Romanian campaign at the end of 1916.[2] It ended with a Central Powers victory.

Background[]

German Commander Field Marshal August von Mackensen was put in charge of the Romanian campaign in the Dobruja front. In September the 3rd Bulgarian Army was reinforced with two Ottoman divisions and part of a German division. The Central Powers' plan was to attack the Romanian forces in Transylvania, while at the same time attacking along the Black Sea, into the Dobruja, a region inhabited mainly by Bulgarians and taken from them in 1913,[2] as the result of the Second Balkan War.

Battle[]

Mackensen started with a surprise move on Turtucaia, a Romanian fortress. The besieging force was smaller than the garrison, most of which surrendered quickly while the rest fled including their commander.[3] On the Southern front German and Bulgarian units along with Turkish reinforcements, crossed the border and invaded the Dobrogea finding themselves facing the Romanian Third Army and two Russian infantry divisions, some Romanian units surrendered to the Russians, believing them to be Bulgarians.[4] The outnumbered Central Powers force managed to push the Russians north while the Serbian Volunteer division suffered heavy casualties with 8,539 dead and wounded.[5] On 7 September after intense fighting the defeated Russian general ordered a withdrawal.[6]

1916 - Sarja a cavaleriei romane in luptele de la Bazargic desen de D Stoica

Romanian cavalry charge during the battle of Bazargic

Aftermath[]

As the Romanian army withdrew into Moldavia by the beginning of November, the Central Powers had captured the whole of Dobruja.[7]

Notes[]

  1. Симеонов, Радослав, Величка Михайлова и Донка Василева. Добричката епопея. Историко-библиографски справочник, Добрич 2006, с. 181.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Norman Stone 2008, p. 712–713.
  3. Norman Stone 2008, p. 712-713.
  4. Holger H. Herwig 2014, p. 213.
  5. Ivo Banac 2015, p. 121–123.
  6. Richard C. Hall 2010, p. 70-71.
  7. Norman Stone 2008, p. 720.

References[]

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Battle of Bazargic and the edit history here.




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