The War of the Stray Dog

Can you imagine a world in which a dog caused the outbreak of a war? This may seem unlikely, but it did happen in the 1925 War of the Stray Dog between Bulgaria and Greece. 

Before we get to how a dog started a war, let’s go back to Bulgaria and Greece’s complex, intertwined history of conflict. After both countries had fought for their independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s, they joined together with two other nations, Montenegro and Serbia, to form the Balkan League. These nations had all gained their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but because large numbers of their populations remained under Ottoman rule, the Balkan nations decided to organize an attack against the Ottomans to gain full freedom. This conflict became known as the First Balkan War, taking place between October 1912 and May 1913, when the Ottoman vizier was forced to resign. The end of the First Balkan War ceded the previously Ottoman territory to the Balkan nations, but the layout of which country would get which part of the land was not made clear. While there had been some territorial outlines in the formation of the Balkan League, they were mostly disregarded, leading to extreme disputes between the countries. For example, in the document that created the Balkan League, Serbia promised most of Macedonia to Bulgaria, but after the First Balkan War, they disregarded this agreement and took the territory as their own. Greece also disregarded many of its stipulations in the Balkan League treaty, which led to raising tensions between the Balkan nations. In 1913, these conflicts climaxed when Bulgaria attacked its former allies, Greece and Serbia, leading to the start of the Second Balkan War. The Balkan War conflicts were not the only tensions between Greece and Bulgaria, however; the Balkan campaign in World War I also pitted the two former allies against each other. As illustrated by these various conflicts between Greece and Bulgaria, relations between the countries were very tense in the periods directly before and following World War I. 

The long and complicated history of conflict between Bulgaria and Greece is thought to have contributed to the escalation into the War of the Stray Dog. Now you may be wondering what exactly a stray dog had to do with the outbreak of war between Bulgaria and Greece. Well, the story goes as follows. On October 18, 1925, a Greek soldier was said to be guarding a border post between Greece and Bulgaria with his dog when the animal suddenly ran away and crossed the border into Bulgaria. Unknowingly, the Greek soldier took a couple of steps across the territorial line to retrieve his dog. As soon as the Bulgarian soldiers recognized the Greek soldier crossing the line, they began to shoot at him, and the Greek soldier shot back. Eventually, the Greek soldier was shot and killed. While Bulgaria claimed their firing was a result of a misunderstanding, the Greeks demanded compensation for the lives of their soldiers that were lost. When Bulgaria refused to pay two million Francs rancs in compensation, the Greek army advanced into Bulgaria, causing fighting and conflict across the country. The war raged on for about ten days, with tens of thousands of soldiers engaging in the conflict on both sides. As the fighting continued, the international community began to worry about a potential escalation or spread of the conflict to other Balkan nations. Additionally, Bulgaria was calling for an intervention in the dispute. This led the League of Nations, the first intergovernmental organization made to maintain world peace, to step in to advocate for a resolution to the dispute. The League sent a telegraph to both countries commanding them to halt their armies. This put a stop to Greece’s army invading the town of Petrich. A ceasefire was mandated, the Greek Army withdrew from Bulgaria, and Greece had to pay four and a half million francs in reparations to Bulgaria for invading their territory. The aftermath of this ten-day war was about 50 deaths, most of which were Bulgarian citizens. And so, the War of the Stray Dog had ended. 

Although tense relations continued throughout World War II and the years following, crippling relations between the two nations were eventually repaired. Now, almost a century after the end of the War of the Stray Dog, Bulgaria and Greece are very close allies, owing mainly to their involvement in the Athens Accords in 1964, which proposed solutions for many of their prior struggles against each other. Today, their intertwined histories and religious and cultural ties serve as a force that drives them together as allies, rather than pulling them apart and causing conflict, and their ability to resolve conflict set a precedent for many other nations.

This was the politics… stay tuned for the dinner! A blend of Bulgarian and Greek cuisines is coming soon.