# Canonical recap data for Balkan Wars Begin: Serbia Attacks Ottoman (1912)
# Source: https://recap.at/1912/first-balkan-war
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: first-balkan-war
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1912/first-balkan-war"
title: "Balkan Wars Begin: Serbia Attacks Ottoman"
subtitle: The Balkan League's assault on Ottoman territories fragmented the empire further and set the stage for World War I tensions.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1912-10-08
endDate: 1913-07-18
datePrecision: day
year: 1912
decade: 1910
country:
name: Serbia
slug: serbia
summaryShort: The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of their European provinces, leaving only Easte
summaryLong: The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of their European provinces, leaving only Eastern Thrace under Ottoman control. In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against the other four combatants of the first war. It also faced an attack from Romania from the north. The Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. Although not involved as a combatant, Austria-Hungary became relatively weaker as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavic peoples. The war set the stage for the July crisis of 1914 and as a prelude to the First World War.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Luleburgaz_Battle_Postcard.jpg/1280px-Luleburgaz_Battle_Postcard.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Balkan Wars"
importance: 76
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Wars"
  title: Balkan Wars
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
metaDescription: The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Mon
wikidataQid: Q165725
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260702041841/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Wars"
  capturedAt: 2026-07-02
  label: Balkan Wars
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Wars"
