Bulgaria

**Bulgaria** is a country in Southeast Europe. It borders Hungary and Romania to the north, the Black Sea to the east, The Ottoman Empire to the southeast, Greece to the south-west, Albania and Croatia to the west and Serbia to the north-west.

## History

After the preliminary peace of San Stefano in the 8th Russian-Turkish War 1877/78, the newly formed nation state of Bulgaria included Macedonia to the Ochrid Lake, and a coastal strip on the Aegean Sea (so-called ‘Greater’ Bulgaria). The Berlin Congress of 1878 however limited the country's territory to the region between the Danube and Balkans, whilst Macedonia and Eastern Rumelia remained with the Ottoman Empire. Russia watched the successes of Prince Alexander I (such as the annexation of Eastern Rumelia in 1885 and victory over Serbia in 1885/86) with distrust.

Interested in controlling Bulgaria, the Russians forced Alexander I to abdicate after orchestrating a coup led by pro-Russian officers. His successor was Ferdinand of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha, and it was he who achieved the formal independence from the Ottomans and crowned Tsar in 1908. With the idea of a Greater Bulgaria as a kind of ‘manifest destiny’ the country became the driving force in the Balkans League and carried the much of the burden in the First Balkan War (1912/13). Defeat at the hands of the other Balkan states soon after this war cost Bulgaria much of her hard won land, but its participation on the victorious side in the Weltkrieg reversed these losses and Ferdinand's vision seemed finally to be reality.

However unrest in the recaptured regions, subversive nationalist propaganda campaigns by the other Balkan states and the general economic difficulties of the 1920's meant Bulgaria was unable to make full use of its newly found power, despite German industrial assistance.

Former Tzar Ferdinand retired in the early '30s, leaving his popular son Boris to take the throne.

## Politics

The Tsar has significant political power, from naming generals to deciding which laws will be implemented. Bulgaria is a highly conservative state when it comes to politics, and resembles the Tsarist Russia of 1917 quite greatly. Bulgaria has cool relations with many of it's neighbours, due to the many wars between Bulgaria and most of the Balkan nations. The Ottoman Empire supports Bulgaria diplomatically, and Germany has great interests to keep Bulgaria the dominant power in the Balkans.

**Tsar of Bulgaria**: S.K.H. Boris III von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

**Prime Minister**: Bogdan Filov

**Foreign Minister**: Georgi Kioseivanov

**Minister of Finance**: Kiril Gounev

**Minister for the Interior**: Georgi Sapov

**Minister of Justice**: Dimitar Peshev

**Minister of War**: Hristo Lukov

**Chief commander of Land Forces**: Todor Georgiev

**Chief commander of Naval Forces**: Sava Ivanov

**Chief commander of Air Forces**: Vasil Boydev

## Military

### Army

The Bulgarian Army is very large, for a country of its size: it comprises sixteen infantry divisions and two outdated cavalry division. However, even if numerous, only a few units are well-trained and fully equipped and the majority of the forces are in much worse conditions.

### Navy and Air Force

The Bulgarian Aegean Sea Navy (Belomorska Flota) is relatively strong despite its old age. It consists of two battleships, three heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and three destroyer divisions. The Black Sea Navy (Chernomorska Flota) consists of a single destroyer division.

The Bulgarian Air Force is comprised of two tactical bomber squadrons and one Interceptor squadron.

## Foreign relations

Friendly relations with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Albania.

Unfriendly relations with Serbia, Greece and Romania.