Bulgaria

Bulgaria was a sovereign nation in the Balkan peninsula and a member of the Central Powers during the Great War.

## Post Great War

The Treaty of Brussels forced Bulgaria to give up its former territorial gains, losing territory to Greece, Serbia, and Romania. In the wake of the war social tensions were high. A coalition government was formed by the Agrarian party and the Communists under the leadership of Aleksandar Stamboliyski. The new government would take power after the elections of 1919. Stamboliyski’s government faced nearly insurmountable problems ranging from internal dissension over territorial losses to war reparations causing massive economic problems, and an influx of ethnic Bulgarian refugees from the lost territories.

Stamboliyski sought a solution by allying himself to the Russian Soviets but this proved of little value as the Red Army was too busy with their own civil war to be of much help. In  1923, In an attempt to normalize relations with their neighbors and improve relations with the rest of Europe Stamboliyski signed a treaty with Serbia relinquishing Bulgarian claims in Macedonia. This infuriated the Bulgarian Nationalists of the VMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization). In short order a coalition of the Military League and the VRMO launched a coup which deposed Stamboliyski and placed him under house arrest in his hometown.

Stamboliyski refused to accept this fate and began to organize a counter-insurgency. His efforts came to a bloody end when he was taken captive by the VMRO. The Macedonian nationalists despised Stamboliyski for signing away their homeland to Serbia and took out their loathing in the brutal murder of the former Prime Minister.

## Invasion of Macedonia

In 1924, once the new hardline nationalist government had cemented its control, Bulgaria launched a war against the Kingdom of Serbia to reclaim the lost Macedonian territories. Initially Bulgaria met with some military success. The Bulgarians, however, were not alone in their desire to push long held territorial claims and grievances. Both Greece and Romania had long claimed territory now possessed by Bulgaria. The Greeks would be the first to take advantage of the situation by signing a treaty with Serbia forming the Balkan Alliance. Shortly thereafter Romania would also join the anti-Bulgarian alliance. Now fighting on three fronts, the Bulgarian defeat was inevitable.

As the war turned heavily against the Bulgarians the internal strife boiled over leading to several coups attempts and local uprisings. Strained to the breaking point, Bulgaria’s fate was sealed by a general mutiny of the remaining military. The complete victory of the Balkan Alliance lead to the partition of Bulgaria among the three victorious nations.

## Post Partition

Bulgaria ceased to exist as an independent sovereign nation following their defeat by the Balkan Alliance of Serbia, Greece, and Romania. However, Bulgarian resistance groups continue to operate in the former Bulgarian territories down to the present day. Some of these revolutionaries have taken their independence movement to the stars and continue to agitate for their own homeland even among the stellar colonies.