Monastir offensive

Monastir offensive
Part of the Macedonian front of World War I

The Macedonian Front in 1916
Date12 September 1916 – 11 December 1916
Location
Result
  • Entente victory
  • Capture of Monastir
  • Limited Allied gains
  • Stabilization of the front line
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
  • Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946) Unknown
  • German Empire Unknown
  • Ottoman Empire 28,186
  • Total: unknown total men (240,000 – 260,000 combatants)
  • Kingdom of Serbia 122,596
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 119,176
  • French Third Republic 115,396
  • Kingdom of Italy c. 30,000
  • Russian Empire c. 10,000
  • Total: c. 397,168 men (250,000 – 313,000 combatants)
Casualties and losses
  • Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946) 53,000
  • German Empire 8,000
  • Total: 61,000
  • Kingdom of Serbia 27,337
  • French Third Republic 13,786
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 4,580
  • Russian Empire 1,116
  • Kingdom of Italy <1,000
  • Total: c. 48,000
    80,000 died or evacuated due to sickness

The Monastir offensive was an Allied military operation against the forces of the Central Powers during World War I, intended to break the deadlock on the Macedonian front by forcing the capitulation of Bulgaria and relieving the pressure on Romania. The offensive took the shape of a large battle and lasted for three months and ended with the capture of the town of Monastir. On an average depth of 50km, the Bulgarian First Army (from the end of September German Eleventh Army) gave battle on six occasions, being forced to retreat five times.[1]