World War Zero: Balkan Wars 1912-1913

Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-b...
The Balkan Wars marked the end of Ottoman rule in Southeastern Europe, and they involved several countries that would join the First World War just a few years later. A complicated alliance between Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece imploded over disagreement of the war spoils after defeating the Ottomans. This led to the 2nd Balkan War and also created much resentment that would play a role between 1914 and 1918 too.
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» SOURCES
Clark, Christopher, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, (London : Penguin Books, 2013)
McMeekin, Sean. The Ottoman Endgame (Penguin, 2015)
Hall, Richard. The Balkan Wars: Prelude to the First World War (2000)
Erickson, Edward. Defeat in Detail: the Ottoman Army in the Balkans (2003)
Kemal, Mustafa. Zabit ve Kumandan ile Hasbihal (1918 (2017))
Scott, Georges. Dans les Balkans 1912-13. Récits et visions de guerre (nd)
Paunić, Dragutin and Milija Đorđević. Srbijice, dušo gorka (Novi Sad, 2019 (1988))
Popescu Vava, Lucian, “Mărturii contemporane despre epidemia de holeră din campania militară a Armatei Române în anul 1913,” in Oltenia. Studii şi comunicări. Arheologie - Istorie vol. XXV (2018)
Üngör, Ugur Ümit, “Mass Violence Against Civilian During the Balkan Wars,” in Mulligan, William, Andreas Rose and Dominik Geppert, eds. The Wars Before the Great War (Cambridge UP, 2015)
Ilinchev, Kiril. “Хора-реликви” (bnt.bg/news/hora-relikvi-2943...)
Constantine of Greece. “A King’s private letters. Being letters written by King Konstantine of Greece to Paola princess of Saxe-Weimar during the years 1912 to 1923, Eveleigh Nash & Greyson Ltd”, London, 1923.
Myrivilis, Stratis. “War”, in “Short Stories”, Mytilene, (1928)
Kolev, Valery and Christina Koulouri, eds. The Balkan Wars. (Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe, 2009)
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Jose Gamez, Toni Steller
Motion Design: Elise Hersink
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images and AP Archive
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2022

[@TheGreatWar]

Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end

[@andreaofcalia]

What is the names of the song in the video?

[@cd5433]

Great documentary. Saw it on nebula . I think it’s the reason I ended up getting nebula actually .

[@savosavic1222]

u forgot to mention that Serbia also send chunk of it men and one of their best generals to support war on that side

[@sonorous4008]

I have a few questions though. Home come Albanians are not mentioned here. They played a huge role on these wars and they had the biggest loss both on territory an man. You mentioned "Muslims" a couple of times that they were moved from Sandjak but you never mentioned that they were Albanians living in their lands. At this time, Albania was divided from Ottomans under 4 vilayets where the majority of the population was Albanians: 1. Kosovo Vilayet, 2. Scutari Vilayet, 3. Manastir Vilayet, and 4. Janina Vilayet. I am quite shocked and surprised that you never mentioned any of these, furthermore the genocide towards this population from the slavs and the deportation of the "muslims" as you are saying towards Turkey. To this day there are 5 Million people living in Turkey with Albanian roots, all of them as a result of the deportation from these wars, starting from 1877. You need to pay a close attention to these facts because from this video it seems that Albanians did nothing, which is totally not true. Albanians always rebelled against Ottomans, since Skanderbeg times, then in 1821, the Albanians(Arvanites) started the revolution of Greece etc. To me it's a shame that your channel doesn't give the Albanians the respect they deserve.

[@slavicduke]

I have to complain about a small thing, what you call Novi Pazar and Sandzak, it is Serbian and Montenegrin land, and Islamic peoples were intentionally settled because of the danger of merging the Christians of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia

[@Mertiy7]

I was raised listening to my grandma telling me stories of how her grandfather was tortured and executed, and how her grandma raped and half of her kids killed in her village near Drama/Greece. My great great grandma had to walk to Constantinople, losing one more child, only one surviving, my great grandma. My entire life I hated Greeks and Greece for it, until I listened to what their ancestors had gone through in the hands of mine. The past is full of horrible atrocities done by our ancestors who weren't necessarily bad people, but they all thought they were righteous in their actions. I just hope we are better than our ancestors. Greetings from a Turk

[@moremusic2]

Same over here, horrible stories and massacres and eternal hate for Turks and (even worse) for all Muslims. For most people in Greece that know history in bits and pieces, a muslim is a Turk (go figure...) I don't know when this ends, i guess when we all get rid of nationalism and all "greatness" cause whenever a Balcan country goes "great" some other neighbouring Balkan country goes to grave...

[@umarabdaziz]

I do believe that nationalism is one of the greatest disaster that had befallen mankind

[@umarabdaziz]

@@spotonnls3538 ?? I'm a Malay tho

[@umarabdaziz]

@@spotonnls3538 What's your problem with Arab name?

[@kelleychilton2524]

@@umarabdaziz Religion is the greatest disaster. These atrocities had their origin in religion. Muslim vs Christian vs Jew.

[@hilding2063]

Can't believe this wasn't covered in school at all, it's so essential to explain WW1.

[@oliversissonphone6143]

Also helpful in understanding the collapse of Yugoslavia

[@NightingaleSunset]

My history classes never made it past the Industrial Revolution

[@KunChou]

This take on the Balkan Wars is much more humanist than any depiction of them in Balkan history books. I'm Bulgarian and our history books at school glorified the First Balkan War as the pinnacle of Bulgarian courage and military prowess. That part was pretty much true, but they conveniently omitted the part where Bulgarian troops destroyed villages and committed atrocities against Muslims and Greeks. From what I've seen, history books in my neighbouring countries follow the same pattern, glorifying their militaries and turning a blind eye to their atrocities. And this is the first time I've heard of Romanian troops suffering such high casualties from cholera while not really facing any serious military resistance from Bulgaria. Thanks for the nuanced look at these wars and for recognising that for all the glory and pride, they were also a source of tremendous tragedy!

[@Mighty_Yobama]

In Turkey they just taught to us "Ottoman army wasn't ready and undeveloped because of that we lost" that's it because there is no victory. But you have to learn history with it's everything.

[@alexisz7]

As a Greek ,we both did horrible things to each other at balkan wars and world war 2,atleast we are fine now and hold no grudge.But that's war,we can't change history unfortunately.

[@Mighty_Yobama]

@@alexisz7 all we have to do is looking forward now one of my best friends is greek bro is a legend

[@libertas5005]

The pattern from 1912-1913 and the mass execution of Muslim civilians in the Balkans repeated again in 1992-1995 in Bosnia, where Serbs, inspired by the same wicked ideology fueled by a hatred mix of nationalism and religious fundamentalism of the Orthodox church, committed genocide.

[@none2912]

They displaced hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians from the Thrace and Macedonia prior the first balkan war, don't forget that

[@alexandrosgialamidis430]

Fun fact: that Greek heavy cruiser you mentioned, is still in service in Greece as a museum

[@Echetlaeus]

This is honor not fun... The Greek was not stronger than Turkish navy but braver! 🇬🇷💙🇬🇷

[@DomnulDarius]

Real

[@user-fl3nb9kq3s]

As a bulgarian orthodox,this is the best video of the Balkan wars i have ever seen. For every Balkan reader-Peace brothers! 🇧🇬🇷🇸🇦🇱🇬🇷🇹🇷

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Amen 🙏

[@Earendilkg]

Peace from Serbia brat

[@user-fl3nb9kq3s]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous Amen ☦

[@user-fl3nb9kq3s]

@@Earendilkg Мир,брат

[@kadudeduder5103]

Insallah Bulgarian bro

[@matthewwhitton5720]

Marvelous ! Not the horrendous extent of both military and, particularly, civilian agony throughout this conflict, but, the fact that this stellar channel has turned its expectedly nuanced and detailed attention to this seminal war. Many thanks ( from an enthusiast for Balkan history ).

[@Oliverg8sr]

I am so pleased to have found this channel. I only found out about the Balkan wars long after my History A level which went long on the causes of the First World War but never mentioned these important events.

[@nicholas2827]

My great grandfather came from Sparta to the U.S when he was 11. Went to fight in this war, according to my grandmother when he got his uniform it looked that was worn by someone else, and not properly washed as it was full of lice. He then on his return back the US with his wife, WW1 broke out. He enlisted again and survived. Different breed of men back then.

[@blasphemergrc6794]

Ellhnika milas ?

[@joejankoski8471]

Yeah. I mean like it's not like there weren't US Service members who served 2, 3, or more tours in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

[@MrPanos2000]

@@joejankoski8471 2-3 semester long tours of sitting around and occasionally shooting children does not compare with a decade of continued enlistment and total warfare, like many men of 1910s experienced ...

[@dushanovac]

Sparta? Sparta? Spartaaaa??????

[@void_wyrm]

Oh one small correction, Montenegro didn't really start early because of their desire to claim more land and overshadow the Serbian dynasty, it was a planned move to see how the major powers would react, and then the rest of the members sent ultimatums. It's true that there was a rivalry between the two serb states, but it was generally, or somewhat, disregarded in times of war.

[@bdleo300]

*rivaling dynasties Karadjordjevic and Petrovic

[@dvnk6971]

Additional explanation. The unification of Montenegro and Serbia was predicted to happen once they share common borders, which would happen after the war. The two dynasties competed over who should lead the unified state. The Petrovic (Montenegrin) dynasty was an ally of the old Obrenovic dynasty (Serbian dynasty before 1903) and once the Karadjordjevic's took power, tensions arose. Yet, the unification was imminent.

[@void_wyrm]

@@dvnk6971 Exactly! Unification wasn't discussed while the treaty was being signed in 1912 between Serbia and Montenegro, since the main concern was gaining a common border in the region of Raska/Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which was technically still under Austrian occupation. As you say unification was imminent in some sort of way, be it autonomous or full, the only roadblock was dynastic rivalry. It's interesting that even though Peter of Serbia was son-in-law to King Nicholas, Petrovic saw themselves as an older dynasty that also had ties to the Obrenovic. There was a race towards Prizren for example, a city that would give a lot of legitimacy to either side, and minor border squabbles, but nothing major at the time.

[@igcuric]

Montenegro is not "Serb state".

[@void_wyrm]

@@igcuric Lol, lmao

[@johnmullen7775]

Again, accurate, unbiased, and un-sanitized narrative of an important episode of history. Great work from the Great War team.

[@RasVoja]

Thats what I love, but comments will be biased

[@adidoki]

Nah, biased. Calling what happened to the turks, mere killings, while it was clear it was a genocide, that´s what being biased means.

[@TerminalConstipation]

They know what we want: the facts and the 'truth', at least as far as can be discerned by the facts

[@misssummersalt]

I'm 8 minutes in and he hasn't even acknowledged Croatia's EXISTENCE. Accurate, unbiased... Sure...

[@RasVoja]

@@misssummersalt It DID not exist as separate state at time

[@user-fc1ep2xy7k]

I'm Bulgarian, and the first Balkan War is one if not the most notorious wars in Bulgarian history after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire. First World War was also notorious, but this one had the peak of the desire for Bulgarian reunification. My family sent 4 men in total !! in this war. 3 of them come back alive. I hear stories passed from generations, stories from the trenches, stories of charges with knives, all that kinds of war things. When the mobilization was announced it was like a celebration, like Easter or Christmas. That's how strong was the Bulgarian willing to go to war with the Ottomans. 3 Years later in the First World War, we were allies, so yep history has strange plot twists

[@goxyeagle8446]

Hello brother from Serbia. Our ancestors fought brave against Turks. But they didn't need second Balkan war..it's so sad and tragic which led to the conflict in ww1 as well. Two very similar nations that share almost same fate during history.

[@apojhe1488]

İmagine being proud after living under control of Turks for 500 years and fight them when they fought all eruopeans and win. pathetic Balkans

[@Genessyss]

funny how you bulgarians think it was the Russians who eliberated you from Turks when it was actually us Romanians that did it

[@kostadinboev9255]

@@Genessyss give yourself a break, please. It was a combined effort of Bulgarians, Romanians and mostly Russian empire forces (that were full of non-Russians.) But what is even funnier is that this point has nothing to do with the comment above

[@-unionforhelptothepoorpeople]

@@Genessyss russia never liberated us. They wanted to enslave. They are mongolian ghetto. The true name of russia is muskovi. In the west european archives they are named tatar muskovi. The most crazy thing is that they brutally enslaved us after 9th September 1944 and exterminated millions of Bulgarians and did not stop until 1989. They are the mongolians just like the turks. They are out biggest enemies. We still haven't got rid from russia they continue the genocide even today not directly using the schools and hospitals to kill us. One day we are going to get rid of them. They plan to destroy the european culture and white race!!!!

[@jackharvey7750]

Crazy. Just watched the videos where Jessie slotted in after the great war 14-18 was covered. Great to see how you've settled into the told and make the channel as great as it is! Keep it up!

[@Arhiroukounas]

a byproduct of the Balkan Wars was the concept of population exchanges(basically an idea of Greek diplomats).It started with Greece and Bulagaria exchanging populations from Macedonia and Eastern Rumelia(southern Bulagaria) but that was dwarfed by the Greek-Turkish population exchange in 1923-1924(more than two million people involved)

[@hellomoto1426]

And between India and Pakistan after 1947, no offence but these massacre number are rookie, we really increased the numbers . In your conflicts, 8000 people civilians i mean might be massacred , in ours during, 1947 less than 25000 death is just a simple riot .

[@chrispalazis6501]

@@hellomoto1426 that’s cuz y’all have 4 times the population smh if you do ratios it’s still high buddy

[@TheBard1999]

@@hellomoto1426 it's not a contest...

[@ursodermatt8809]

@@hellomoto1426 congratulations!!

[@Molkepulver]

@@TheBard1999 For balkan people war crimes, genocide and population exchanges seem like a contest sometimes... a brutal one

[@jatelvidio]

Imennsly important but a forgotten episode in history. Thanks for covering this topic as well.

[@RasVoja]

True!

[@johnshelton1141]

If only Italy had joined them imediately. They might have taken Constantinople.

[@johnshelton1141]

My correction if only the Balkan league had joined the Italians. Also Bosnia should had been given to Serbia in 1878.

[@alexzero3736]

Actually Italy was licking wounds after Italo- Ottomaj war, they suffered on land but won at the sea. And other problem was ignorance of major powers, who wanted to prevent any new player gaining too much power.

[@alexzero3736]

Italo- Ottoman*

[@joelgonzalez9248]

More wonderful history content. This channel is one of my favorites. Keep doing the great work yall have done. The Balkan Wars in the early 20th century and along with the aftermath, such as the border and religious disputes between nationalities and political power vacuums after the Ottomans were defeated lead to more of the same regional conflicts after the fall of communism, especially in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.

[@connorstevenson1173]

Happy to see this channel continues. The balkan wars are a critical part of world history

[@mammuchan8923]

Superb work Jesse and team. Having a look through your sources, it must have been a very complex video to write. Also fantastic photos that I haven’t seen before. A fascinating though heartbreaking episode. Terrible to think that as bad as the suffering was that was experienced in these wars, it would turn out to be a mere prelude before the fast approaching apocalypse. This episode gave great insight into some of the attitudes, rivalries, and thirst for revenge that were still so fresh by 1914. You did an excellent job of carrying the feeling of dread through the episode. Time for a rewatch of the channel from the beginning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@TheGreatWar]

shout out to our fans from the Balkans who got us archive access and looked for primary accounts from their countries.

[@mammuchan8923]

@@TheGreatWar 👏😎 nice

[@emmanuelawosusi2365]

@@TheGreatWar nice the channel

[@BulgarianHistory1]

Wonderful work! Congratulations to your team for trying to tell this conflict from all its possible perspectives and compiling this comprehensive picture that logically describes the path to the Great War. :)

[@ra-ge]

И вие продължавайте отличната работа, за да знаят новите поколения, че "и ние сме имали царство и господарство" както е казал Паисий.

[@yavortashev]

А не мислите ли, че спестяването на информация за етническия състав на определени области създава усещане у зрителите, че всички страни защитават равностойни интереси?

[@emilbotev3656]

@@yavortashev С цел да избегнат вида на привърженик към една или повече от страните, те си спестяват факти, които биха породили конфликти в коментарите и национализъм в повечето зрители, а такива имаме предостатъчно.

[@yavortashev]

@@emilbotev3656 със сигурност е така, но така се прикрива истината зад мотивите на всяка от страните. А те са от съществено значение. Не става въпрос за колонизацията на Африка.

[@emilbotev3656]

@@yavortashev Съгласен съм. Спора за главната националност на населението във въпросните територии е сигурно най-важният фактор за исканията на участниците във войната както казахте(въпреки, че това трудно се доказва и е рядко достоверно), но не е чак толкова важна причината, а по-скоро последствията. Все пак идеята на видеото е да се проследят действията, довели до Голямата война. С други думи тях не ги интересува особено личните интереси на държавите и техните мотиви, поне не чак в такива подробности,които биха предизвикали обратна реакция.

[@jonathandentler7158]

Extremely well done, yet again. The way this channel balances a popular and accessible approach to complex and contested histories with real nuance is truly commendable.

[@TheGreatWar]

Thank you very much!

[@apmoy70]

The youngest NCO in the history of the Greek Army is Gerasimos Raftopoulos, a Kephallonia native, who at the age of 12 received a Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle as a gift for his bravery as an auxiliary in the 1st Balkan War, during the Battle of Sarantaporos in 1912. In the 2nd Balkan War, he was made POW in the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas but he managed somehow to acquire a firegun, killed his three captors and on the way to the Greek lines, he found and helped a wounded Evzone. For his heroism he was field promoted to the rank of Corporal at the age of 13 on 28 August 1913

[@aleksk4151]

lol his captors were probably sleeping or didn't use their hands?

[@apmoy70]

@@aleksk4151 Or underestimated him, he was a 13 yo boy after all

[@aleksk4151]

@@apmoy70 Yeah right. A bit fictional but ok maybe the boy was trained to do such things

[@goce7641]

At the age of 14, Geronimos Pederopoulos killed Superman and Batman on the same day

[@aleksk4151]

@@goce7641 hahahaha

[@demonblood8841]

This is briefly covered in a Netflix documentary which i recently watched(The long road to war) but you have given alot more detail. Great stuff as always

[@obiwanbul]

Excellent work, guys. Literally, the only nitpick is that the final borders didn't show Strumitsa (a tiny region that looks like a tiny tumor next to the Greek border) as Bulgarian. That was one of the compromises Russia arranged.

[@TheGreatWar]

oh wow, that's a deep cut

[@ra-ge]

@@TheGreatWar Yeah too deep, even for me as a Bulgarian😆😆😆

[@zacjigerr2370]

That’s probably because strumica is in Macedonia.

[@stevanvasiljevic6072]

@@zacjigerr2370 Strumica was ceeded to Yugoslavia only after WW1

[@espeon91]

Great video. I remembered seeing a week-by-week episode where Indy had said "Quarter was neither asked, nor given" when referring to Serbs and Bulgarians fighting each other during WW1

[@m.miskicreativeartarchitec733]

Great job! Everything looks and sounds well-researched. from maps to footage to excerpts. And on top of that, it is not biased. Keep them coming!

[@mohammadyeasinkhan6885]

As a person who has always wanted to learn more about the forgotten wars of the early 20th century, this is definitely my go-to channel, keep it up!

[@nodspruductionss3812]

Thank you for covering this, as it often gets overlooked and people do need to know about that history especially during these troubled times. Greetings from Athens.

[@merdus69]

As a Canadian, I only found out about this originally because I'd read "Birds without Wings" by Louis De Bernières. I highly recommend the book! Like De Bernière's masterpiece, your coverage is humanistic and revealing. Thank you for this tremendous work!

[@MrCasper652]

Agree! Great book!

[@Jim-yv7rm]

My ex wife's ancestors came from the city of Kayaköy (Leivissi in modern Greek) in 1922 and along with other families from Makri Turkey (present day Fethiye), created the town of Nea Makri about 35 km away from Athens which we live today. The setting of Eskibahçe is based upon Kayaköy.

[@Daphne70]

"As a" 💀

[@stevenv.surawski1178]

Thank You very much for this great review of the Balkan Wars. Very much appreciated. Well done.

[@SNAIP]

Incredible! Thank you so much for creating this documentary! Fantastic work as ways, Jesse.

[@mz9514]

Thank You for shedding some light on this topic. A lot of western civilization does not even know about these events and only know about the assassination that "started the war". Much love from Serbia 💕

[@pablopeter3564]

EXCELLENT video and the explanation. The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 is so complex, you did a GREAT JOB explaining. Greetings from Mexico City.

[@Zogerpogger]

I love how these videos intersperce quotes which illustrate the horrors of war in between the wider explanation of political and military manuevers. I think a lot of channels fail to convey how terrible conflict is.

[@P.L.D.]

Exactly my words! And note how rich the vocabulary was among the people from the past although is translated.

[@Zogerpogger]

@@P.L.D. Indeed, people of the past were just as intelligent, eloquent and creative as we are today. A lot of ignorami think people from the past were un-intelligent, but really this opinion is a reflection of their deficiency.

[@maximillianschonhausen]

Thanks Jesse, love your work. Quite the challenge to retell the Balkan wars in 30 minutes. Incredibly confusing and chaotic episode of Balkan history. Not that Balkan history tends to be uncomplicated in otherr epochs either of course.

[@mitzyismad]

A fine presentation of an incredibly complex situations that prevails to this day. Thank you.

[@kelleychilton2524]

So true. The legacy of that era, including World War I, remains with us today .... over a century later.

[@paulallen9150]

Great video. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@kungfuchimp5788]

New to the channel. Binge watching the last couple of months. This is just another excellent episode on an obscure/overlooked, yet extremely important and influential part of modern history. Loooove it. Keep up the great work.

[@TheGreatWar]

thabks Mr chimp

[@mammuchan8923]

Enjoy!

[@indianajones4321]

Often overlooked yet very important wars, well done!

[@DRSWIFT1987]

The amount of work and research done for this video, very educational. Thank you for putting this all together.

[@scottcameron174]

This was incredibly well done. Hats off!

[@georgios_5342]

Stratis Myrivilis also has written an excellent book about life in the trenches of the Macedonian front, it's called Η ζωή εν τάφω (Life in the grave)

[@MegasKeratas]

Ευχαριστώ φίλε, θα το ψάξω.

[@tinabraxton4906]

Excellent video. I have always wondered about the complexities of this history. Thanks.

[@otterkarman8740]

This channel is so educational. In the U.K THIS REGION AND THE HISTORY IS NEVER mentioned, yet it's so important to understand these facts and their importance till this day, which still affect the peoples and politics. Thank you. Superb information.

[@hunter-9957]

Amazing well made documentaries! Really enjoy watching them, thank you!

[@Masada1911]

I remember Indy touching on this topic briefly in the Prelude to War series you guys did back in 1914/2014. Its nice to it fleshed out a bit here.

[@Dukeybookey]

Buddy weve been doing this stoo

[@mortenpoulsen1496]

I have said it before and I will again. What depth. Nuance and details. Impressive as always.

[@dadanene1197]

It can not be coincidence that you pronounce most of the names as the native speakers do! Big admiration for this.

[@alexandruursu3323]

Great stuff. Thanks for the amazing work.

[@jakubknopp1964]

This episode was badly needed! I'd wish you took a new look at the Baltic wars of independence in the future. Keep up that brilliant work :)

[@TheGreatWar]

check our videos from 2019-2021, we covered the Baltics in multiple videos

[@antoniostanojevic8572]

Balkan normalno Baltic.

[@anthonyryan30]

Thanks for this great doc and all your work.

[@wadejustanamerican1201]

Always great content, thank you.

[@jessyalexander3985]

Kudos to the Great War team on another well done video that explores the complexities, military campaigns and the politics of the Balkan Wars. As a Greek-American, I really appreciate the thoughtful way the history was discussed as it contained the seeds of the Great War.

[@AimForMyHead81]

❤

[@Shadowkainine]

There is just something so incredibly fascinating about this era. We are fortunate to have you covering it!

[@garretth8224]

Imo war and genocide aren't fascinating. These things should be remembered to honor the dead, fascinating is an inappropriate term for this.

[@user-th3nx6zj2f]

@@garretth8224 I don't think he meant war and genocide. Balkan people usually see this era as times of national awakening and revival.

[@kinginexile7139]

Thank you so much for covering this topic! As a Bulgarian it makes me happy to see our history retold in a correct and exciting manner! 🇧🇬 Immediately subscribed to the channel - can't wait to see your other content!

[@HellenicWolf]

Fantastic work, thank you guys!

[@OwenPhillipsMBA]

This is great. Along with your other videos, its uncovered areas of history that I sadly only had a vague awareness of. It makes the current structure of Europe more understandable. Thank you!

[@mihailrangelov8343]

Great content! Thank you!

[@adastesting]

really interesting, thx Jesse and team.

[@Moonlight-kx9zk]

Correction Macedonia didn’t exist till 1990, In this balkan war Serbia Greec won most of the Bulgarian and Albanian land with a help of Russia,

[@michaelallport5816]

Magnificient site! Thank you for all the postings.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci for this. Very informative.

[@ilija1584]

At that time Kingdom of Serbia was not at rivalry with Kingdom of Montenegro, they wanted to unite, those countrymen shared so much in common. Rivalry began after First world war, when both countries sacrificed their independence and merged into the Kingdom of SCS. Note*: What happened with the grandfather (who was also king) of newly baked king of Yugoslavia?

[@milosav7314]

Rivalry began with communism

[@user-wg2yx1oo9i]

They did not merge unto the kingdom of SCS(this was basically Bosnia,Croatia and Slovenia)they merged with the kingodm of SCS to make kingodm of Yugoslavia. Bigest mistake in Serbian history. Sve dobro ti zelim moj pravoslavni brate, nebitno da li si Crnogorac ili Srbin. Ja i dalje mislim da smo jedan narod sa dve drzave!

[@ilijaspasojevic7031]

@@user-wg2yx1oo9i Ни ја не волим када неко пише или говори како смо браћа са Црногорцима..Глупости, ми смо једно те исто, Срби! Браћа су нам, по вери: Грци, по крви остали Јужни Словени, а по крви, вери и као наши велики заштитници у прошлости, су нам велика браћа - Руси.. (ушли због нас у Први светски рат, пре тога нам помагали у толико ратова против Османског царства, а у Први светски рат нису морали ући, имали су око 4 милиона мртвих у Првом светском рату, око15 милиона у Грађанском рату, између Белих и Црвених Бољшевика, што се не би догодило да нису ЗБОГ НАС УШЛИ У ПРВИ СВЕТСКИ РАТ!).. изгубили су због тога Империју, имали 73 године комунизма и на десетине милиона побијених од стране комуниста+још 30 милина побијених у Другом светском рату!!/I also don't like it when someone writes or says that we are brothers with Montenegrins...Nonsense, we are one and the same, Serbs! They are our brothers, by faith: Greeks, by blood the rest of the South Slavs, and by blood, faith and as our great protectors in the past, they are our big brothers - the Russians.. (they entered the First World War because of us, before that they helped us in so many wars against the Ottoman Empire, and they did not have to enter the First World War, they had about 4 million dead in the First World War, about 15 million in the Civil War, between the White and Red Bolsheviks, which would not have happened if they had not entered the First World War BECAUSE OF US WORLD WAR!).. because of that they lost the Empire, had 73 years of communism and tens of millions killed by the communists + another 30 million killed in the Second World War!!

[@vladimirdosen6677]

That's why I don't like these videos. They are never accurate.

[@657449]

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the events leading to June 1914 and the Great War.

[@handlequeue]

Thank you! This was a Great video.

[@kennethblachlyjr3040]

A new favorite history Channel. Love pre world war 1 central/eastern European history and conflict!!! Look forward to more

[@morgan97475]

Great video. I knew of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, but not of the details you've provided.

[@provocateur83]

There was no mention of the two naval battles fought between Greece and the Ottomans neither of the capture of the eastern Aegean islands, which sealed off the ottoman navy and their reserves completely. You presented it as if the ottoman fleet didn't even try and fight.

[@kornaros96]

We have the uberchad Averof...

[@matteus1035]

the reason why the Ottomans lost is the disagreement between the commanders

[@matteus1035]

Barbaros Hayreddin's armour is better cope @@kornaros96

[@redcossack245]

Excellent reporting. Thank you for making this video. Very helpful.

[@nielsenflemming2000]

Great video. I've long known that the Balkan troubles were important to the start of the Great War. Never really bothered to look too much into it though. Very glad that this video gave me a quick and thorough look of the wars.

[@edwardmeade9439]

Thank you for covering these historical details that I never learned about in history classes here in the US.

[@justthetruth6896]

WE Muslims are humans also. One must treat us like humans. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that thousands and thousands of Bosniak women and young girls were RAPED In Bosnia ,during that aggression. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that even my own kind ,Bosniak girls,hurt me,many of them,by calling me ugly when that isn’t my fault,played me and lied, well,i still feel bad because many were unlucky in the aggression. And please don’t worry,i come in peace and hate injustice-i love Serbian women/girls. Other horrible war crimes were also done to Bosnian Muslims. ( Bosniaks ).

[@user-vi4zw6zu4c]

Unfortunately, a lot of things are wrong. Straight up stuff that didn't happen

[@brandonmejia7050]

An excellent documentary on a conflict that is not well known due to it taking place prior to The Great War. This video tells why the balkans were such a hot spot in Europe that help star the war

[@dinke19]

Great video, thanks a lot for creating it.

[@pomodorino1766]

What an amazing channel! Thanks for your videos!

[@jacklarkin1383]

I can see why the army's that mobilized in 1914 thought the war would be over by Christmas. Every war prior lasted a year at most.

[@Fractured_Unity]

That’s definitely not true. Like at all. Europe is famous for its long wars

[@morewi]

@@Fractured_Unity in their immediate past the wars were quick

[@Atlas2040]

@@morewi immediate doesn't equate to future outcomes. A statistic to take into account.

[@morewi]

@@Atlas2040 you are very naive

[@Atlas2040]

@@morewi wrong. If some wars in the past were "short," that doesn't mean all future wars will be short as well. Nothing naive about that. Grow up and have conversations rather than blatantly being disrespectful. Keep up your great work, keyboard warrior. Take care.

[@spanordschleifeenjoyer]

Cool video but I would like to mention that relationship between Serbia and Montenegro was portrayed a bit wrong, Its wrong to say that we were rivals since we are basically one nation divided by Ottomans at the time, one more thing id like to mention is that "Sandzak and Novi Pazar" should be called "Raska oblast" other then that pretty cool video well done.

[@jdspainful]

New favorite history channel. Thank you!

[@flyingcow4194]

Great production value as usual I do miss the post-war month by month videos though

[@RoboticDragon]

You guys do such an amazing job of explaining all the sides in a conflict. Nothing is ever black and white in war. Terrific video, about a very crucial period that is under reported in human history.

[@julius43461]

These conflicts were the closest thing to black and white you can imagine. Former slaves retaking their lands after centuries of occupation, while a smug Ottoman officer laments losing his slaves and promising a revenge.

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@varovaro1967]

This Channel is part of my life!

[@sstarrgazerr142]

Great pronunciation of names and places all over Balkan, Jesse! Thank you!

[@rocksandoil2241]

I knew a man named CHris Petcoff who fled to America as a stowaway when his Army was overrun. He was only 14 or so but in the Army of Bulgaria.

[@user-th3nx6zj2f]

Yes. The people of Bulgaria would volunteer to mobilize with no regard for their age, because they believed in the Liberation and the Unification of all the Bulgarians.

[@HistoryandWhiskey]

You guys are really delivering outstanding content.

[@kyrgyzsanjar]

Another excellent video from the greatest channel on KZbin! You guys should do Netflix documentary series!

[@Johnny12575]

7:50 not just any Armoured Cruiser. That was the Georgios Averof, easily the most legendary warship of Greece's modern history. Look it up, it has quite a fascinating story behind it

[@gbarberis7402]

It took part in 5 wars!

[@alecrazypokeyocool7676]

The Turkish Navy who have faced it many times they use to call it Devils Ship.

[@sinkrock1]

Captain of the Averoff was Pavlos Kountouriotis from the great Kountourioti family (his grandfather was one of the leaders in Greek revolution and a shipowner). They all come from the island of Hydra!

[@constantius4654]

Yet another completely brilliant historical analysis from Jesse Alexander and the 'The Great War.' Who would not choose to take a history degree at university. It is something which enriches one's entire life. Thank you so much. Love from England.

[@bojanbabovic111]

its not.

[@thenamescarter8279]

@@bojanbabovic111 whats wrong with the vid bruv

[@bojanbabovic111]

@@thenamescarter8279 every thing

[@thenamescarter8279]

@@bojanbabovic111 some detail and sources would be nice. This youtube channel is known for its great research of objective fact and how it finds niche or not very well known personal accounts of events to get the peoples' opinions of the time. You cant just say "blahblah dont like it".

[@bojanbabovic111]

@@thenamescarter8279 It is not objective. Why should i write anything for an hour at midnight, when all of it will be censored. If i let out key censored words, i'll be missing the point.

[@anthonyseta4566]

I love this channel. This particular pre-WW1 video and the several others, plus the various videos that the "The Great War" has prepared on the post-WW1 conflicts has greatly improved my understanding of this time period. In one form or another, I have read about all of these conflicts and these various battles and wars are stored across my cluttered bookshelves. But the shifting alliances, overt and covert political objectives and geographic ambitions of all belligerents... plus the goals of the Great Powers operating from the sidelines has proven to be quite a challenge to process. In my mind anyway... So I am always grateful to authors and production teams that can present these complex tapestries of events into a digestible and entertaining format. It's not easy to do. Thank you again The Great War! Very much appreciated.

[@ASH9366]

Thank you Sir for this great video 😀

[@MarcusML]

Greetings from Bulgaria! Well done video!

[@emil_rainbow]

Superb breakdown.

[@alexy590]

Great documentary as always. I have a question about the future. Will you make a documentary about the 1923 Klaipėda Revolt? Not exactly a huge event but it is somewhat directly related to WW1 (what happened to the territories Germany lost after the war, in this case Memel).

[@TheTubeDude]

Great work Jessie.

[@cipriancimpan5538]

Amazing content! 💙

[@Zogerpogger]

Yes! I've been waiting for the Great War to cover the Balkan Wars!

[@CatalinBogdan]

As a Romanian, I have to admit that I didn't know much about these conflicts. I knew they existed and that they might have played a role in preparing WW1, but that was it. This kind of documentary should be studied in schools, instead of the boring lessons I had 25-30 years ago, that were only focused on memorizing dates and never studying the reasons or the big picture... I'd like to believe that mankind has learned from its past, but sadly, it hasn't, as we saw in the 90's Yugoslav wars and now in Ukraine. Ethnical cleansing, mass killings, villages and towns beying destroyed are still a thing :(

[@andriandrason1318]

And the Balkans is still a powderkeg, sadly.

[@ms-jl6dl]

It's a war.

[@mateuszmazurek7991]

very informative and interesting!!

[@d-phoenix2198]

Great timing since tomorrow marks 110 years since the surrender of Salonika. Superb job as always!

[@gj5679]

The liberation of Thessaloniki is on the 26th of October .

[@d-phoenix2198]

@@gj5679 Yes indeed however the agreement of its surrender was made several days prior to the official event. Just watch that part of the vid.

[@gj5679]

@@d-phoenix2198 The general that surrendered the city became an honorary Greek after the incident .

[@d-phoenix2198]

@@gj5679 Yeah I have visited the grave of Hasan Pasha a couple years ago. It's in the yard of the Villa the surrender was signed. His son actually followed our army during the Anatolian campaign making most of the popular Greek Army paintings of that period. He is also buried along with his father in that yard.

[@tombombadil9123]

Atrocities were result of a mix of pent up anger and desire for retaliation for past injustices, prolonged tradition of ethic hatred and in some instances simple criminal opportunity. Sometimes the perpetrators were Bulgarian, Greek or Serbian/Montenegrin soldiers, but more often revenge was done by the local population. There were also atrocities committed by the Ottoman forces and irregulars against the civilians on the "opposite side", which are still ignored by historians.

[@ahmetturankaradag68]

Bütün mesele Balkan ülkelerinin Osmanlı imparatorluğu na nankörlük etmeleri arkadan vurmaya çalışmaları sizin dediğiniz gibi değil, Osmanlı 500 yıl kimsenin dinine diline karışmamış geniş hoşgörü göstermiş öyle ki kendi ırkdaslarından daha fazla özgürlük tanımıştır ama Balkan ülkeleri Osmanlı biraz zayıflayınca fırsatları değerlendirmek istediler bütün mesele bu,sizin dediğiniz gibi zulüm falan yok.Mesela Fransız, İngiliz gibi de yapabilir dilini dinini her şeyi zorla empoze edebilirdi.iyi araştırın lütfen ön yargı ve kulaktan dolma bilgilerle değil

[@McIntyreBible]

A helpful explanation on the conflict that ultimately led to World War I.

[@guimkuderlingrene7473]

Love this channel