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A town of 16,000
inhabitants, one hour by bus from Thessaloniki
Kilkis (Κιλκίς in Greek) (also
known as Kukuš or Kukush in Slavic languages) is a
small provincial city in Central Macedonia, Greece.
It had a population of 16,000 citizens in 2001. It
is also the capital city of the local prefecture (or
nomos) and the capital of one of the two local
provinces (or eparhia) of its prefecture.
The city was ruled by the Ottoman Empire before
being taken by Bulgaria in the First Balkan War of
1912. In the Second Balkan War of 1913, the Greek
army captured the city after a three-day battle
between June 19-June 21. Although costly, with over
5,000 casualties on the Greek side and 7,000 on the
Bulgarian, the Greek victory proved a decisive step
towards victory in the war. Kilkis itself was badly
damaged by the battle, and its ethnic composition
changed markedly as its Slav inhabitants fled or
were expelled. They were largely replaced after 1922
by Greeks expelled from Asia Minor.
The significance of the Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas can
be appreciated by the fact that Greece named its
only battleship after the city. However, the Kilkis
- formerly the USS Mississippi - was sunk by a
German Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive-bomber on April
23, 1941, in the third week of the invasion of
Greece by Nazi Germany. The city of Kilkis came
under Bulgarian rule in 1943 when the Bulgarian zone
of occupation was expanded to include the
prefectures of Kilkis and Chalcidice. The Bulgarians
pursued a policy of "Bulgarianisation" with
considerable brutality and intended to annex the
region to Bulgaria, but were forbidden from doing so
by their German allies, who feared destabilizing
Greece if the Bulgarians proceeded. The region
became a major center for partisan resistance
activity before being liberated in 1944.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilkis
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