War of the Stray Dog – 11 Days
Greece and Bulgaria had been in a tense relationship since the beginning of the 20th century. The two countries were rivals over the possession of Macedonia and Western Thrace. Even though the two regions came under the control of Greece after the Balkan Wars and World War I, Bulgaria still believed the land was rightfully theirs. There were revolutionary groups in Bulgaria that launched raids and terrorist attacks in Greek and Yugoslav territories.
There are two versions of what escalated the tensions between the two countries. In the first version, on October 18, 1925, a Greek soldier was chasing after his dog and ran over the Greek border. One of the Bulgarian sentries guarding the border shot the Greek soldier. In another version, the tensions escalated when Bulgarian soldiers crossed the Greek border on October 18. The Bulgarian soldiers attacked a Greek outpost and killed a Greek captain and sentry.
In response to the incident, the Greek government gave Bulgaria 48 hours to respond to three demands: Punish those responsible, give an official apology, and give two million francs as compensation to the victim’s family. On October 22, Greece sent soldiers in to Bulgaria in order to occupy Petrich with orders to make sure that the Greek demands were met. Bulgarian and Greek forces started fighting, and Bulgaria sought the help of the League of Nations to intervene.
Bulgarian forces and volunteers mounted a defensive line near Petrich to stop the Greek advance. The Greeks made it clear that they had no intention of taking Bulgarian territory, but that they wanted compensation for the dead soldier. The League of Nations did intervene and ordered a ceasefire that demanded Greek troops withdraw and pay £45,000 to Bulgaria. Both sides agreed to the terms. By the time Greece withdrew, over 50 people had been killed, most of them Bulgarian citizens.