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Posted on Sep 27, 2012 in War College

Bulgaria in World War II

By Hans Johnson

Map of Bulgaria region at the time of World War II. Click on image for map with larger area.

In Bulgaria’s muggy capital of Sofia during August 1939 Tsar Boris III thought about his future and that of his Balkan nation. Bulgaria is small and weak; how do we stay independent? How does Bulgaria recover territories lost earlier in the century? And how do I stay in power?

He ruled jointly with a popularly elected parliament, but who or what was popular in Bulgaria was far from certain in 1939. Elites and the military favored ties with Nazi Germany. The people felt closer to Russia. The nationalists and communists each sought power. Everyone wanted revenge.

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Boris could lose his throne if he chose the wrong power or lost his internal support, but if forced to choose, he would bet on Germany. Why couldn’t Germany and the Soviet Union just be friends? And then they were—or at least they signed the German-Soviet nonaggression pact in late August. World War II broke out in Europe days later when Germany invaded Poland.

The Western Allied powers, France and England, exerted pressure on Bulgaria, demanding that the Tsar declare neutrality, which he did on September 16th. The fall of France in June 1940 brought an end to Allied pressures, but created new ones. Germany had not hesitated to invade neutral Belgium, a nation with an army about the size of Bulgaria’s but better equipped, and Bulgaria could no longer point to Italy as an example of a pro-German neutral.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov in late June demanded the return of lands lost to Bulgaria’s neighbor Romania. When Hitler sided with Molotov, Romania, without a friend in the world, was forced to give in.

Like Molotov, Tsar Boris wanted the return of lands lost to Romania, which had taken Southern Dobruja, part of the coastal region between the mouth of the Danube River and the Bulgarian city of Varna, in 1919. If Bulgaria’s claim remained unsettled, Boris might not stay in power. He threatened to have Moscow force the Romanians to give up Southern Dobruja if the Germans did not do so first. Hitler made the Romanians sign a treaty with Bulgaria in September 1940, however, and amid cheering crowds, Bulgarian infantry and cavalry occupied the territory without firing a shot. Bulgarian support for the Axis grew.

In November, Tsar Boris traveled to Germany where Hitler urged him to join the Tripartite Pact. The Tsar played for time, making excuses about upsetting the Soviet Union and Turkey and pointing out Bulgaria’s weak armed forces, but he worried that Hitler would not continue to honor Bulgarian neutrality.

The Soviet Foreign Ministry countered by offering to support Bulgarian claims to Greek Thrace and much of European Turkey. The Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP) distributed handbills and urged popular support for the Soviet proposal. Resenting the intrusion, Boris moved farther from the Soviets.

The war moved closer and closer to Bulgaria that fall. Italy invaded Greece but soon bogged down in the Greek mountains. The Tsar allowed a few German engineers to enter his country to make logistical preparations for a German invasion of Greece via Bulgaria, and Luftwaffe personnel in disguise set up observation posts. Finally, reluctantly, Boris joined the Axis on March 1, 1941.

He brought little to the table: twenty-five infantry divisions comprised the bulk of the Bulgarian army, with few tanks to support them; the tiny navy was obsolete, and so was the air force, except for some Bf109E models supplied by Germany.

Postcard celebrating Bulgaria joining the Axis. Click for larger image.In joining the Axis, Boris hoped Yugoslavia would join as well, even if it retained Macedonia and gained Greek Thrace as a condition of signing. Yugoslavia did sign, but its people immediately overthrew the government.

Hitler invaded both Yugoslavia and Greece on April 6, 1941, with his Twelfth Army using Bulgaria as a springboard, and crushed both nations. Though Bulgaria’s military took no active part in the invasions, Bulgarian troops occupied zones in both Macedonia and Greek Thrace, a territory Bulgarians called Belomorie. Macedonians initially welcomed their fellow Slav Bulgarians, but the new arrivals proceeded to “Bulgarize” the region, causing mass resentment.

Bulgarian occupation in Belomorie proved much harsher than in Macedonia. The 10th Infantry Division initially occupied Belomorie, joined by the 16th a few months later, plus some small artillery and cavalry units. Greeks who refused “Bulgarization” were deported or murdered. The Bulgarians took over businesses and brought in Bulgarian settlers for confiscated lands.

The Greeks revolted after just a few months. Executions were employed to put down the revolt—estimates run as high as 15,000—and Greeks fled in exodus to German-occupied portions of Greece. Conspiracy theorists claim Bulgaria instigated the revolt.

Bulgarian rejoicing ended with Hitler’s invasion of Russia in June. Tsar Boris turned down Hitler’s request to form a volunteer Bulgarian Legion; declaring war on Russia might set off a mass rebellion. Boris also rebuffed the Fuhrer’s request that Bulgarian volunteers join the SS. He did send a medical team to the Eastern Front. The BKP made some small efforts at assassination and sabotage, but Boris remained in full control of Bulgaria.

Under pressure from Hitler, the Tsar implemented a number of anti-Semitic measures, sending over 11,000 Jews living in Bulgarian-occupied territories of Macedonia and Belomorie to the Nazi concentration camp of Treblinka, where almost all perished. Hitler also wanted Bulgarian Jews, however. The Tsar placed them in labor camps and villages from which they were to be deported, but the deportation never occurred. Most sources credit the Tsar and his wife, Princess Giovanna of Savoy, for preventing it, saving some 50,000 Jews.

Bulgaria and the Soviet Union maintained diplomatic relations, and Russian diplomatic missions in Bulgaria served as intelligence centers. Russia attempted to infiltrate agents into the country, but alert police captured most of them and arrested much of the BKP leadership.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler demanded that Bulgaria declare war on the United States and Great Britain as Germany had done. Boris did so reluctantly and grew despondent. He considered abdicating or even committing suicide, but he soldiered on and convinced Hitler that the Bulgarian Army should remain in the Balkans as a counter to Turkish threats or a Soviet invasion of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.

Bulgaria and Italy disputed their respective occupation zones in Macedonia. Clashes occurred in August 1942 between Italian troops and elements of Bulgaria’s 14th Infantry Division. Negotiations did not resolve the matter, and Bulgaria occupied the disputed territory when Mussolini’s government fell in 1943.

The German defeat at Stalingrad brought a sea change. Various Bulgarian representatives clandestinely put out peace feelers to the Western Allies but insisted on keeping the country’s territorial gains, a non-starter with the Allies, who insisted on unconditional surrender.

Hitler knew about the peace feelers but did nothing. He wanted and got Bulgaria to move an additional two divisions into northern Greece and Albania to free up German troops for the Eastern Front.

The weak Bulgarian Air Force could not help the Luftwaffe repel Allied bombing of Romanian oilfields that started in 1943, but Bulgarian flak gunners shot down three Allied bombers returning from the first raid on Ploesti.

The Tsar faced a growing internal threat by mid-1943. The Russian-backed BKP started partisan activities, and the government responded harshly, offering rewards for the heads of partisans. The Bulgarian Fifth Army in Macedonia dealt mercilessly with partisans, as well.

On August 28th, the 49-year old Tsar Boris died, two weeks after returning from a meeting Hitler had summoned him to. Conspiracy theories abounded, but none could be proven, and most likely the cause of death was an embolism. He was replaced by a regency representing the underage Tsar Simeon II.

Allied air raids on Sofia began in earnest in late 1943. Bulgarian pilots flying mostly obsolete fighters were no match for Americans piloting P-38s. A strike by almost 100 B-25s created a panic in Sofia. Raids over the next several months killed over a thousand Bulgarians, and many fled the capital. Citizens cursed the government and regretted joining the Axis. Small scale BKP partisan activities grew and spread to the countryside.

The Allied bombing caused Bulgaria to intensify its secret peace efforts. The government expected to keep its territorial gains and wanted Western forces to occupy Bulgaria to prevent German reprisals. The Allies were happy to have German forces tied up in Bulgaria, however, and insisted on unconditional surrender. The Bulgarian government decided to wait and see if a better offer would be made. It never was.

The situation grew dire as the Soviet Army drew near. Bulgaria ceded to Soviet demands to reduce cooperation with Germany, ordering German ships to leave Bulgarian ports. The Germans attempted to shore up the Bulgarian Army with a shipment of assault guns and Mark IV tanks in the hope that it would help defend the Balkans.

Occupied areas. Click to see full map.

The Russian Army tore across the Romanian border on August 20th, 1944, and Romania’s fascist government was overthrown in a coup within days. Bulgaria, seeing clearly which way the hurricane was blowing, announced it was leaving the war. The Gestapo was expelled from the country, German stragglers from Romania were rounded up, and all German troops were ordered to leave Bulgaria by the end of August.

The Germans continued withdrawing from Bulgaria, but on September 4th they surrounded and forced the surrender of most of the Bulgarian Fifth Army in Macedonia. Only two units offered brief resistance, and Bulgarian troops not captured quickly withdrew from the region.

Bulgarians went into collective shock when Russia declared war on September 5, 1944. The Soviet Union planned to occupy Bulgaria and create a communist state. The BKP and their sympathizers came out of the shadows. Some small army units joined BKP partisans, and strikes broke out across the country. With German troops still in Bulgaria and no declaration of war on Germany, it was easy for the BKP to label the Bulgarian government as fascist.

Bulgaria broke diplomatic relations with Germany on the 7th and declared war on the Nazi state the next day, but it was too little, too late. When Russian troops crossed into Bulgaria on the 8th, the government ordered the army not to resist. Some units such as the 4th Border Brigade stationed in Varna, defected to the BKP. Others revolted, including the 24th Infantry Regiment.

The government no longer had anyone’s confidence. With the Soviet forces halted outside Sofia, the BKP, supported by defecting soldiers and partisans, seized power, giving the appearance that the government’s overthrow was a popular rebellion instead of a Soviet-backed coup.

The BKP extracted its revenge, executing thousands of Bulgarians. The army’s rank and file were spared, as the Russians wanted a Bulgarian army to fight the Germans in the Balkans. The army, which had not done much fighting, now fought—political commissars equated willingness to die with fealty to the cause. Bulgaria lost 10,000 soldiers by the war’s end, from a population of just over six million.

Bulgaria lost all the occupied territories except Southern Dobruja, and suffered the misery of communist domination for over 40 years.

Tsar Boris managed to maintain his country as an autonomous state, unlike most other nations in Hitler’s Europe, but he was holding a losing hand. The West could not guarantee his country’s security in 1940—they barely were able to protect their own—nor could Russia guarantee it. Maintaining neutrality would have meant German occupation, would have sealed the fate of Bulgaria’s Jews, and might have also been the death of other Bulgarians, who were, after all, mere Slavs in Hitler’s eyes.

Boris played the hand he was dealt as well as he could and bought Bulgaria some time—but it was still ultimately a losing hand.

Hans Johnson is a freelance writer who lives in Florida.

12 Comments

  1. This was an excellent and informative article. Bulgaria did indeed suffer a sad and miserable fate, and the Tsar is to be commended for all that he accomplished in light of the “losing hand” he was dealt.

  2. Thanks for the kind comments, Robert.

  3. Definitely a fascinating article! I have read so much about World War II but I have never read anything like this about Bulgaria’s experience during the war. Articles like this one shed much deserved attention on little known areas of the war.

  4. Wasn’t Bulgaria the issue that was the start of WWI?It was my understanding that the Germans want to expand their control to Mesopotamia [along with a train] but that Bulgaria rejected that idea.Then the assasination and full scale war.

    • This is a great article, Bulgaria was caught in the vise from two different directions. And tried to to maneouvre around them, Sadly it did not work. However had they supported the USSR they would have had a communist dictatorship imposed on them anyway.

      As far as I know, the Orient Express had been in operation since before WWI. A train line to the oilfields of Kurdistan and Iraq would be the task at hand, but would have taken years to build. Plus the construction of a railway line over very mountainous territory in Turkey. Since the line to Stanboul already existed, another problem would be convincing the Turkish government to allow it.

    • No, a Bosnian citizen (Serbian inteligence) assasinated the Austrian emperor in waiting whihc started WW1.

      Secondly the article is full with incorrect statements. Bulgaria (Tsar) never wanted to enter the war. Bulgaria suffered a defeat in the Second balkan war, WW1 and did not recovered in WW2.

      The country was also divided poliically, some supported the communist party other Germany (There were not many Nazies) in Bulgaria. The Tsar even stated that it is a difficult to rule a country in which half of the population are Rusofils, the other half are Germanofils and only he is Bulgarofil.

      Bulgaria joined Germany not because they wanted to fight or liked Germany. There was an army on its borders and Serbia already suffered terrible consquences from the Germans. The Tsar tried to avoid total destruction and occupation.

      He made the right decision, this allowed him to maneuver politically with Hitler as Bulgaria was providing a lot of food and other resources that the Reich needed, it also relieved Germany’s forces from occupying the lands in the Balkans.

      Bulgaria did not fight in any major or minor battle nor took an active role in any campaign.

      Your article seems to apply that Bulgaria only wanted new gains without , or having the stomach to, fight. I would suggest chcking its WW1 and Balkan war history where you cansee how its soldiers fight when they believe in their cause, though Wikipedia provides only supperficial facts.

      In the end Bulgaria did not participated in the war actively, mostly on paper. It is one of the 2 countries in the world that saved its Jews. Though these in the occupied lands were deported. If you think the Tsar was a buddies with Hitler, you can check that He died , most probably from poisoning, after returning from Germany.

      You say the army was joyful to meet the Soviets and greeted them. Most of the army wanted to rebel against the new government that issued the order. For the Bulgarian officer his personal weapon is his soul as it had been since 400 AD. Officers show themselves but did not relinquised their weapons to the Soviet army, that is how much they loved their army.

      Finally a note to the killing commited in the occupied countries. Bulgaria was under a rule of Nazy party, such attrocities, though overated by the Greeks (The source that is quoted all over is a murderer (of Greek civilians) and his words and testament are not normally trusted by most historians).

      These killing were a result of systematic attrocities and annihilation of the Bulgarian population during teh Second Balkan war. This was organized by the state of Serbia and Greece and performed by the army as well. However most of these on all sides are performed by idiots and paramilitary organizations.

      The history on the Balkans is not quite easy to interpret or understand. Also, not a single organized attrocities were commited by the Bulgarian army in its whole history. There were single incidents from a single unit but these are rare. At least 2 times the Bulgarian army did not obeyed a direct order to execute POW, the second time the officer who gave the order was killed by the soldiers, when the General heard about it he praised them.

  5. This map is wrong , where it says occupied by Bulgaria it must say – Liberated…. My dear friends, Macedonian Nation did not existed back then.. the slavic population of the geographic region of Macedonia have been for a 1000 years with Bugarian consciousness , even today they speak bulgarian dialect .Nowadays Fyrom steal history from Greece and Bulgaria … The truth is that The Serb occupied the Vardar Macedonia for now a 100 years brutally killing everyone who declares Bulgarian…they created this lie of Macedonism to distinguish the macedonian Bulgarian from the other in alredy liberated Bulgaria…So the truth is simple .In 1940 Hitler perfectly knew that the slavs of Macedonia are Bulgarians and of course gave the whole Region of Macedonia (not only Vardar but Aegean ) to Bulgaria. We did not occupied any foreign teritory….these territories were dominated by bulgarian ethnic population.. After Bulgaria was declared defeated in WW2 .She gave those teritories back to the real enslaviors Greece and Serbia. In the result of the policies of Tito and Stalin we now have Macedonism state -Fyrom which steals history ,and speak bulgarian dialect full of serb words…that is reality.

  6. This article is a complete lie! The greeks are those who killed and assimilated by force the bulgarian population in Belomorie! The same in Macedonia and the serbs. If you don’t believe go there and see with your own eyes. It is still valid and now days. Recently few days ago the “macedonian” police arrested and few “macedonians” who are applaying for bulgarian passports.and raid their homes and offices without any legal reason.

  7. What Volume is this and what page? I need to cite this.

  8. great article..always love reading about the smaller members of the axis9romania ,hungary,and Bulgaria

  9. Sorry but the article is very close to being absolutely correct with reference to the overall situation in the country. You are trying to delude a very well written article. I have ALL the Allied intelligence files on Bulgaria and ALL the missions they sent into Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Albania, Romania and other nations in the region. These records indicate that practically ALL of Eastern Europe was sold out by the Western Allies to the Communists. It is interesting that these files have conflicting demographics. This is because SOE and SIS in Egypt and Turkey were largely run by British Communists. The records clearly indicate a campaign by these traitors to discredit ALL Governments or representatives of these nations. This becomes obvious when one reads the conflict involved between certain top Commanders, the Foreign Office and these traitors. It is incredible that much of this has remained undiscovered. I can only come to the conclusion that many writing about this history have deliberately hidden this information. This goes right to the top and involves people close to Churchill like Orme Sargent, Charles Hambro and a slew of others. A series of documents from the chair of the ME Intelligence Committee to Churchill were intercepted by these men and hidden from Churchill. This regarding SOE Cairo’s betrayal of Mihailovic in Yugoslavia. The same men in Cairo and Bari Italy – to include Soviet mole James Klugmann, intended to do this throughout the entire Balkans. This to include Bulgaria. They even went as far as to suggest the recruiting of NKVD agents for their operations in Bulgaria. It is very evident that the Soviets had intentions in Bulgaria from the very beginning when some at SOE Cairo attempted to overshadow the dropping of Soviet agents and paratroopers into Bulgaria to support the largely Communist OF. It is also possible that SOE failure in Bulgaria may have been due to being tipped off by the Soviets. In short people have to understand that the USSR was NOT and Ally in any-way-shape-or form. They were using the war to expand Communism around the globe to include Asia. The biggest thing people need to realize is that the only hope that Eastern Europe had was the United States. Churchill, although duped himself by Stalin and his own intelligence, could do nothing without Roosevelt. In that case the VERY important thing to remember is that the Communist Party of the USA under Earl Browder helped Roosevelt get elected in 1933 and immediately after being elected Roosevelt recognized the USSR and began trade with them. Roosevelt was a pseudo Communist and admitted this himself on a few occasions. It is now a record of FACT that the Roosevelt Whitehouse was infested with Soviet moles and Communist sympathizers to include the man responsible for Lendlease to the USSR. THIS is the reason why the US did EVERYTHING in their power to stay clear of the Soviet advance. This is why the US botched the Italian armistice in 1943, diverted troops from Italy to a useless invasion of Southern France and allowed the Soviets to take Berlin. It was Roosevelt who through ALL of Eastern Europe under the bus. From Finland, the Baltic’s, Poland, Eastern Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Romanian, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece etc. etc. The Atlantic Charter was NOT worth the paper it was printed on. A Charter agreed to by the USSR. It was Roosevelt who is directly responsible for the Millions that will die not only in Europe but also in Asia. There was even a plan by Communists within the Allied Intelligence system to hand Japan over to the Communists by only supporting the Communist Party of Japan and in 1945 banning all other parties in Japan.

    One of the biggest lies about Bulgaria and the entire East of Europe is that the people supported the Soviets and Communism. Like Indochina/Vietnam the demographics do NOT support this. In fact it can be easily proven that the Communists were the EXTREME minority. SOE reported that at early in the war there were less than 200 recognized Communists in Bulgaria. The sympathy for Soviets in Bulgaria is ALSO twisted. The people were in NO WAY sympathetic to the Soviet. They are twisting the past Bulgar respect for Imperial Russia. This is obvious by the FACT that Bulgaria retained a Monarchy and had expelled most of it’s 200 Communists. The bulk of which ended up where they came from, the USSR.

  10. This article fails to mention that the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III (full name Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier) has 0% Bulgarian Blood. His lineage is from German/Austrian descent being the first son of Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which is just a little North of Munich…so the German leaning of his family in both wars is quite expected. He holds the titles Duke of Saxony and Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, look these on the map.
    Lets not have any illusions and call this “Tsar” Bulgarian, as he has ZERO Bulgarian blood in his veins, as neither did his father. Both of them have been disastrous to the country that they ruled over.