Monastir offensive

Monastir offensive
Part of the Macedonian front of World War I
The Macedonian Front in 1916
Date 12 September 1916 – 11 December 1916 Location Monastir, Kingdom of Serbia (present-day North Macedonia) Result Minor Entente victory Capture of Monastir Limited Allied gains Stabilization of the front line
Belligerents
Central Powers:  Bulgaria  Germany  Ottoman Empire	Allied Powers:  France  Serbia  United Kingdom  Italy  Russia
Commanders and leaders
Nikola Zhekov Dimitar Geshov Georgi Todorov Otto von Below Arnold von Winkler Abdul Kerim Pasha	Maurice Sarrail Petar Bojović Živojin Mišić George Milne Carlo P. di Roreto Mikhail Diterikhs
Strength
Unknown Unknown 28,186 Total: unknown total men (240,000 – 260,000 combatants)	122,596 119,176 115,396 c.30,000 c.10,000 Total: c.397,168 men (250,000 – 313,000 combatants)
Casualties and losses
53,000 8,000 Total: 61,000	27,337 13,786 4,580 1,116 <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]