First Battle of Çatalca
Encyclopedia
The First Battle of Çatalca fought between was one of the heaviest battles of the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

. It was initiated as an attempt of the combined Bulgarian First and Third armies, under the overall command of lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 Radko Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev was a Bulgarian General, Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907.-Biography:...

, to defeat the Ottoman Çatalca Army and break through the last defensive line before the capital Constantinople
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. The high casualties however forced the Bulgarians to call off the attack and allow their adversary to claim victory. This was the greatest military success of the Ottoman Army for the entire duration of the war and the first major defeat of the Bulgarian Army since its establishment in 1878.
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