Abstract
Introduction
The Macedonia Front has become one of the “forgotten fronts” of the First World War, a “sideshow”, whose significance has been eclipsed in Western European memory by the Western Front and the Gallipoli Campaign (Wilson, 1987, p.377; Strachan, 2006, p.154; Sondhaus, 2011, pp.224-8 ). As a battle-front, it was largely quiescent until the campaign of 1916, in which tens of thousands of British soldiers supported an offensive led by French commander, Maurice Sarrail, designed both to support Romania and to bring Greece into the war on the Allied side. Not only did the British and Dominion forces, who joined the wider Allied campaign meet with fierce opposition from the Bulgars, they also found themselves fighting over harsh, rocky terrain, and bivouacking in mosquito-infested river valleys. (Wilson, 1987, p.495).
The Macedonia Front has become one of the “forgotten fronts” of the First World War, a “sideshow”, whose significance has been eclipsed in Western European memory by the Western Front and the Gallipoli Campaign (Wilson, 1987, p.377; Strachan, 2006, p.154; Sondhaus, 2011, pp.224-8 ). As a battle-front, it was largely quiescent until the campaign of 1916, in which tens of thousands of British soldiers supported an offensive led by French commander, Maurice Sarrail, designed both to support Romania and to bring Greece into the war on the Allied side. Not only did the British and Dominion forces, who joined the wider Allied campaign meet with fierce opposition from the Bulgars, they also found themselves fighting over harsh, rocky terrain, and bivouacking in mosquito-infested river valleys. (Wilson, 1987, p.495).
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Macedonian Front, 1915-1918 |
Subtitle of host publication | Politics, Society and Culture in Time of War |
Editors | B. Gounaris, M. Llewellyn-Smith, I. Stefanidis |
Publisher | Routledge |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 27 Oct 2020 |