7th Rila Division
Background
The 7th Rila Division was a Bulgarian military division in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. They were under command of Georgi Todorov from 1910 to 1917 and then Ivan Kolvev from 1917-1918.
First Balkan War In the First Balkan War the 7th Rila Division fought under Georgi Todorov. During the war they advanced towards the city of Solun (Thessaloniki). They held there for a short amount of time and then advanced towards the Ottomans at Bulair and won. Around 100 Bulgarians died while the Ottomans had thousands. Eventually the unit would finish fighting in the war and the war ended.
Second Balkan War Shortly after the First Balkan War another war came about, this is the Second Balkan War. In the Second Balkan War the unit fought in Kalimanci where the Serbians were defeated. The casualties were close but the Bulgarians emerged as the victors. The war ended a month later.
First World War During the First World War the unit was very large, 40,000 men strong. The unit now had major command under Georgi Todorov due to him gaining command of the entire 2nd Army. They quickly battled in the Macedonian Front of the Balkan theater of the war and then moved to Ovche Pole and battled the Serbians again, once again emerging victorious. They then took the city of Delcevo and Kriva Palanka. They then aided in the capture of Skopje. They also had slight participation in Krivolak and Strumitsa during the engagement. After that they tried an encircling movement upon the Serbians and lost. The Serbs still had to flee and the division pursued them and captured Prizren on the way. Eventually they took the rest of Macedonia and the Serbian Campaign was over and the Bulgarians had won. Eventually Pristina and Prizren were taken so Bulgarian command focused again on the south. Eventually the French general in the Balkans realized that the loss of Serbia essentially showed the entire loss of the Balkan region and began to leave the region. In December the Bulgarians had a major offensive on the retreating Entente soldiers. They then partook in Kosturino and won against the Anglo-French force. Eventually Vardar was taken by Bulgaria yet they were not allowed to pass the Greek-Bulgarian border so the Entente powers safely evacuated. Later on the Macedonian Campaign began in 1916. Eventually they took up a defensive position in Belasica along with other units. The unit was then sent to Ruppel Fortress due to possible Entente advancements. After a few days the entire Ruppel Pass was captured by the division along with Sidirokastro and the Struma Valley. Eventually they began to fortify their new territory. Eventually the river delta of Maritsa was occupied by the unit. General Todorov then commanded the unit to make a cut on both Entente flanks and then to seize the nearby railway. This became the Struma Operation. It began with the 7th advancing on around 143 mile front. The Bulgarians made superb gains upon the weak Greek and French resistance. Later on the aiding 1st Army was called off and then the Entente began a counter-advance. There was then an order to cross the Struma River by general Todorov but Bulgarian High Command called off the attack so the British thought that was the perfect time for an advance and the British did a brutal bayonet charge in the night however the 7th repelled the attack. The Bulgarians continued protection in the Ruppel pass. Eventually the Ottomans aided the Bulgarians and they eventually fought once more in the Struma. Later in 1917 Georgi Todorov was replaced with Ivan Lukov. In 1918 the Bulgarians were struggling in Macedonia and supplies, morale, and men were dwindling. In September the French and Serbians fought in Dobro Pole and won against the Division. The Bulgarians counterattacked but nothing would truly work. They surrendered and demobilized in October 1918.
References
This article "7th Rila Division" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:7th Rila Division. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
