The Bulgarian First Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World War II.
Balkan Wars
First Balkan War
Following the military reforms of 1907 the territory of the Bulgarian Kingdom was divided into three Army Inspectorates. Each of them was further divided into three division districts and in war time formed a field army.
The First Army was formed by the First Army Inspectorate, which had its headquarters in Sofia and controlled the First, Sixth and Seventh divisions. However, because of different circumstances the 7th and 6th divisions were detached from the First Army and replaced by the 3rd and newly formed 10th division, which were otherwise part of the Second Army Inspectorate. Thus after the declaration of general mobilization in September 1912 the army consisted of three infantry division and a cavalry regiment. However, only the 3rd division had its full wartime strength of three infantry brigades while the 10th division was formed by one brigade from the 1st division and another one from the 6th division. Hence it was called the "Mixed" division.
The order of battle on 4 of October 1912 O.S. was as follows:
+First Army Order of BattleВойната между България и Турция, vol. II , pag. 649–652,София 1928BattalionsMenRiflesMachine gunsCannonsArmy Staff and Services1,439424First "Sofia" Infantry Division1724,97617,8851660Third "Balkan" Infantry Division2534,99125,1062472Tenth "Mixed" Infantry Division1723,69317,2691648Ninth Cavalry Regiment504373Supply Trains3,000Total5988,60361,06756180
The Bulgarian plan placed the First Army commanded by Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev in the center of the battle line and its task was to advance rapidly, engage the main Ottoman forces positioned between Kirk Kilisse and Adrianople and position itself so it could assist both the Second Army on the right flank and the Third Army on the left flank. To achieve this as soon as the advance began the 1st Brigade of the 3rd division was temporary assigned to the Second Army while the rest of the army advanced in the space between the two fortresses. In the ensuing Battle of Kirk Kilisse, in which the Ottoman Eastern Army was defeated and retreated, the First Army bore the brunt of the fighting and suffered the greater part of the 5,745 Bulgarian casualties in that battle. The Bulgarian command ordered a couple of days' rest so that the forces can regroup before pursuing the enemy.
When the advance was renewed the First Army left behind the entire 3rd division around Adrianople to protect against attacks from the right flank. The Ottoman Army meanwhile had consolidated and reinforced itself on a new line from Lule Burgas to Bunar Hisar. The Bulgarians decided to carry out a frontal assault with the Third Army while the weakened First Army tried to enveloped the Ottoman left flank. This largest and bloodiest battle of the Balkan Wars the Bulgarians again emerged victorious and the Ottoman forces retreated in complete disorder. The heavy fighting inflicted around 20,000 casualties to the Bulgarian forces which again forced the Bulgarian command to order a couple of days' rest for the armies.
By the time the Bulgarians continued the advance the Ottoman Army had occupied the Chataldzha defensive line where it finally managed to hold its opponent after the battle on 4 and 5 November 1912.
The First and Third Bulgarian armies remained at the Chataldzha line until the end of the war and managed to repel several Ottoman attempted breakthroughs.
Second Balkan War
In the aftermath of the First Balkan War the tensions between the allies grew significantly, as Bulgaria felt cheated out of its rightful share by Serbia and Greece. After a surprise attack ordered by Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece formed a new alliance directed against Bulgaria and the skirmishes between their troops and the much smaller Bulgarian forces that were left behind to protect their country's claims were becoming ever more frequent. In view of this situation the Bulgarian command began transferring its forces from Eastern Thrace to the western part of the country. During this time the organization of the field armies went through some major changes, including the creation of several new brigades and the formation of a new field army.
The First Army, still under the command of Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev, was deployed in the northwestern part of the country between Vidin and Berkovitsa, along the old border with Serbia. Its composition had changed significantly by 15 June 1913 and included two divisions, each with only two brigades, a few cavalry squadrons and an independent infantry brigade.
+First Army Order of BattleКратък обзор на бойния състав, организацията, попълването и мобилизацията на българската армия , pag. 92–93;Държавно военно издателство,София 1961BattalionsА.Христов. Исторически преглед на войната на България срещу всички балкански държави , pag. 35-34; Печатница на Армейския военно-издателски фронт,София 1922MenRiflesCannonsArmy Staff713Fifth "Danube" Infantry Division1420,09718,68048Ninth "Pleven" Infantry Division1626,74022,28432Independеnt Brigade89,1395,78228Total3856,68946,746108
The Bulgarians planned to begin the war with an offensive in which the First and Third armies were to advance deep into Old Serbia and cut the communication and supply lines of the Serbian Army concentrated in Macedonia.
The conflict, however, began on 16 June 1913 when only the Fourth and Second armies were ordered to attack the Serbian and Greek armies. In the ensuing confusion for almost one week the remaining three Bulgarian armies received no orders to attack. It was only on the evening of 21 June when the First Army was ordered to advance against the town of Knjaževac and after it had occupied it to divide its forces in two with one part to be directed against Zaječar and the other one send to assist the Third army around Pirot.
Facing the First Army was the Timok Army of 31 battalions and 12 gun batteries—mostly third line infantry, commanded by colonel Vukuman Arachich. The Bulgarians managed to defeat part of these forces and occupy Knjaževac while suffering only 280 men killed and 820 men wounded.
Meanwhile, Romania had declared war on Bulgaria and its army had begun invading the northern part of the country. This new enemy threatened the rear of the First Army and forced the Bulgarian high command to order its retreat back to the border. That move had a very negative effect on the morale of the troops and even caused opened mutinies in the Ninth Division which became completely disorganized during the retreat. The situation was particularly bad in the division's Second Brigade which surrendered to the Romanian forces around Montana. The rest of the Ninth managed to retreat to Sofia and later form the Samokov detachment which took an important part in the Battle of Kresna Gorge. The rest of the army also retreated towards Sofia and took defensive positions in the Balkan mountain passes. The Serbians took advantage of this and occupied Belogradchik where they established contact with the Romanian Army. Even though by now most of northwestern Bulgaria was lost, General Kutinchev kept a few battalions in the fortress of Vidin which managed to hold off all Serbian attacks until the end of the war.
The Bulgarian high command now planned a decisive offensive operation against the Greek Army which was advancing in the Kresna Gorge. For that purpose Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev was assigned commander of the Second Army and the units of the First Army were transferred south to reinforce it.
A general armistice was concluded on 18 July 1913 and ten days later the Treaty of Bucharest, which stipulated immediate demobilization of the Bulgarian Army, was signed.
First World War
Conquest of Serbia
With the outbreak of the Great War Bulgaria declared neutrality, as it still hadn't recovered from the losses suffered in the Balkan Wars. In 1915 activities in the diplomatic arena intensified and both the Entente and the Central powers tried to win new allies, especially in the Balkans. Bulgaria's main aim was to regain Macedonia but Serbia was unwilling to make any compromises which gave the German diplomacy a great advantage. The general military situation also favored the Central Powers—the Germans were holding firm on the Western Front and on the Eastern Front their Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive ended in major defeat for the Russians. Under these circumstances on 6 September (24 August) 1915 at the German military headquarters in Pleß Bulgaria and Germany signed a treaty of alliance. A military convention, which included Austria-Hungary as a third party and laid the plan for the conquest of Serbia, was also concluded.
In accordance with the convention Bulgaria began mobilizing and concentrating its forces its western border. For the campaign the Bulgarian high command planned to attack Serbia with two armies. The First Army under the command of Lieutenant General Kliment Boyadzhiev was deployed between the Danube and Tran. As stipulated by the military convention it was part of Army Group Mackensen together with the German Eleventh Army and the Austro-Hungarian Third Army.
On 1 October(14 October) 1915 the army had the following organization:
+First Army composition Българската армия в Световната война, vol. II , pg. 892–905; Държавна печатница,София 1938BattalionsSquadronsMenRiflesMachine gunsCannonsArmy Staff and Services2,165593First "Sofia" Infantry Division231,544,27025,92124111First Cavalry Brigade386,2043966830Sixth "Bdin" Infantry Division235,548,02226,88728119Eight "Tundzha" Infantry Division231,545,97827,1462488Ninth "Pleven" Infantry Division231,544,71227,8322474Border Guards44,2694224Total9918195,620116,569108422
The Serbians were informed about the Bulgarian war preparations by their military attaché in Sofia and the units covering the border between the two countries. Once Bulgaria declared mobilization the Serbian High Command planned a preemptive strike against the Bulgarian forces who were still concentrating and organizing on the border. For that purpose it deployed the entire Second Army, the Timok Army, the Kraina detachment and the Vlasinski detachment against the sector of the Bulgarian First Army. These were sizable forces of around 100 battalions with 90,000 rifleman, 248 cannons and 94 machine guns.Българската армия в Световната война, vol. II , page 5; Държавна печатница,София 1938 In addition the Serbians also had a defensive alliance with Greece and hoped the Greek Army would also intervene. The Serbs have also asked the Entente for assistance in the form of a 150,000 strong army. Although the Entente couldn't provide the troops the Serbian army was prepared to attack Bulgaria. However, the Serb Prime Minister Pašić did not dare to attack Bulgaria over explicit opposition of all the Allied Powers (Russia, France and Great Britain).
On 1 October(14 October) 1915 Bulgaria declared war on Serbia and the First Army was ordered to begin its Morava Offensive. Its primary objectives were to push the Serbian forces out of the Timok and Morava valleys, to link up with Austro-Hungarian forces advancing from Orșova and secure the Belgrade—Sofia railway by capturing Niš, war-time capital of Serbia.