Incident at Petrich
A 10-day border war, the Incident at Petrich began on October 19, 1925. It is best known as the Stray Dog War because a dog that strayed from its owner was involved in the incident. But before the dog got lost, friction and tension dominated the relationship between Greece and Bulgaria. During World War I, Bulgaria was on the losing side with the Germans while Greece was on the winning side with the Allied forces. Thus after the war, Bulgaria was punished for siding with Germany. They were forced to cede Western Thrace to Greece so they had no access to the Aegean Sea. This left a bitter taste in Bulgaria and tensions continued between the two nations. Those are occasional border skirmishes and clashes. Things took a turn for the worse when a Greek soldier dog ran towards the Bulgarian border. The Greek soldier immediately chased it toward the Bulgarian border. The incident at Petrich became one of the shortest wars in history that had a devastating human cost.
During the Incident at Petrich war, it didn't end there because the government in Greece was changed through a coup and Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos was in power. Pangalos heard about the clashes and gave Bulgaria an ultimatum of 48 hours. They must issue an apology and pay compensation of 2 million French francs to the families of the fallen Greek soldiers. Bulgaria refused and the general ordered his army to enter Bulgaria, where they took over towns and villages near the border. Bulgaria asked the newly formed Federation of Nations for help. The League did this by ordering the Greeks to withdraw and cease hostilities. On October 29, 1925, the war ended. The fighting resulted in less than 100 deaths from both sides. As for the dog that led to all of this happening, it remains a mystery as there is no historical information about what actually happened to it. Hope it has a great life.
- Date: 19 - 29 October 1925 (10 days)
- Location: Petrich, Tsardom of Bulgaria
- Result: Bulgarian victory
