Battle of Krivolak

Battle of Krivolak
Part of Balkans Theatre of World War I
French soldiers resting in Thessaloniki, 1915
Date 21 October – 22 November 1915 Location Krivolak, Kingdom of Serbia (present day Republic of Macedonia) Coordinates: 41°31′38″N 22°07′15″E / 41.5272°N 22.1208°E / 41.5272; 22.1208 Result Bulgarian victory
Belligerents
Central Powers:  Bulgaria	Allied Powers:  France
Commanders and leaders
Georgi Todorov	Maurice Sarrail Maurice Bailloud
Units involved
2nd Bulgarian Army 11th Bulgarian Division	French: 57th Division 122nd Division 156th Division
Strength
1 army	3 divisions
Casualties and losses
5,877  †,  (WIA) or MIA	3,161  †,  (WIA) or MIA

The Battle of Krivolak [in Bulgarian: Криволашко сражение (1915)] was a World War I battle, fought between 21 October and 22 November 1915. The battle was fought in the initial stage of the Macedonian campaign, in the Balkans Theatre. On October 21, Bulgarian troops attacked the French-held positions near the Strumica rail station, at the time part of the Kingdom of Serbia (present day Republic of Macedonia), starting the battle. Fighting continued until November 22, when two Serbian divisions failed to capture Skopje, thus rendering the continuation of offensive Entente operations dangerous and enabling the French to evacuate their forces from the region.

The Entente defeat at Krivolak and the follow–up battle of Kosturino led to the complete withdrawal of Allied forces from Serbia, thus enabling the Central Powers to re-open the Berlin to Constantinople rail line. The Allies in the meantime consolidated their defenses in Greece.

The 28 June 1914, assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir presumptive Archduke Franz Ferdinand precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. The conflict quickly attracted the involvement of all major European countries, pitting the Central Powers against the Entente coalition and starting World War I. After the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of the Central Powers (November 1914), the decisive factor in the Balkans became the attitude of Bulgaria. Bulgaria occupied a strategically important position on the Serbian flank and its intervention on either side of the belligerents would be decisive. Bulgaria and Serbia had fought each other twice in the previous thirty years: in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 and in the Second Balkan War of 1913. Bulgaria had suffered defeat in 1913 and the Bulgarian government and people generally felt that Serbia had stolen land which rightfully belonged to Bulgaria. While the Allies could only offer Bulgaria small territorial concessions from Serbia and neutral Greece, the Central Powers' promises appeared far more enticing, as they offered to cede most of the land which Bulgaria claimed. With the Allied defeats at the Battle of Gallipoli (April 1915 to January 1916) and the Russian defeat at Gorlice-Tarnów (May to September 1915) demonstrating the Central Powers' strength, King Ferdinand signed a treaty with Germany and on September 21, 1915 Bulgaria began mobilizing for war.

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