ABSTRACT
By spring 1917 even 'Easterners' in the British government, whose strategy was based on finding a route to victory by avoiding costly attritional battles on the Western Front, had grown disenchanted with the campaign. Once the Allied land campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula began in April 1915, Germany stepped up attempts to win over Bulgaria. Despite attempts by the Allies to persuade Serbia to hand territory to her old Balkan rival, Britain and France were outmanoeuvred by Germany. The much heralded Balkan offensive by Allied forces at Salonika in no way aided Romania as the Bulgarians were able to contain the attack and contribute troops to operations in Romania. In terms of military forces engaged, the Salonika Campaign was perhaps the most diverse of the First World War. As the majority of supplies for the Armee d'Orient were supplied by Britain and France, this made Allied forces dependent on a vulnerable sea line of communication through the Mediterranean.
