In the 1980’s, the less doctrinaire approach to analyzing Bulgarian foreign policy during the war continued to produce good results. The following books were published: „England and Bulgaria 1938–1941“ by Ilcho Dimitrov; „Relations Between Bulgaria and Germany 1931–1939“ by Georgi Markov; „The USA’s Policy towards Bulgaria in the Balkans 1939–1944“ by Vitka Toshkova; and „Diplomatic Relations between Bulgaria and the Soviet Union 1934–1944“ by Lyudmil Spasov.
After 1989, the pro-Party rhetoric ceased abruptly, but in some historic works it was replaced by its equally unprofessional opposite — the anti-Communist tone. After the change that took place in 1989, a number of diaries and memoirs dating from the late 1930’s to the middle of the 1940’s were published. One of the most important sources on Bulgarian foreign policy is Bogdan Filov’s diary which was published surprisingly even before 1989. Important works published in the 1990’s include the diaries of Parvan Draganov, Evdokia Filova, Lyubomir Lulchev, Georgi Dimitrov and General Nikola Mihov. Many memoirs were also published, among which Stoicho Moshanov’s and Konstantin Muraviev’s stand out.
The goal of the present research is to show Bulgaria’s foreign policy as reflected in Bulgarian historic literature. It is an attempt to show the way the different historic works treat historic events depending on the time they were written. In comparing contradictory historic works, priority is given to the historic truth. The presentation starts with the events which took place one year before the official outbreak of the Second World War. The basic idea is to follow events to the end of the war when Bulgaria enters the conflict. The initial date chosen is July 31, 1938, the date of the signing of the Thessaloniki Agreement when Bulgaria could finally breath after the hardships imposed on it by the 1919 Neuilly Treaty. This treaty cost Bulgaria dearly by the loss of its age-old lands and demands for stiff reparations. This treaty resulted in negative feelings on the part of the Bulgarian population toward the victorious countries of the First World War. This research covers the period to October 28, 1944, when the armistice between Bulgaria and the anti-Nazi coalition was signed in Moscow. It was after dramatic internal political change that took place on September 9, 1944, that Bulgaria moved towards close cooperation with the USSR and to participate in the defeat of Nazi Germany. Bulgaria’s position was officially acknowledged by the victorious countries with the signing of the Moscow armistice.
The structure of this book consists of four chapters defined on a thematic and on a chronological principle. The first chapter encompasses the period from July 31, 1938, to the outbreak of the war. The second chapter is dedicated to the period from the beginning of the war until Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact. The third chapter examines the events from March 1, 1941, to the summer of 1943 when the course of the war began to turn. The last chapter is on Bulgarian foreign policy in the year when the country was governed by a council of regents and by governments that had difficulty finding their way in the tumultuous international situation. I leave it to the readers of this book to make an assessment as to whether the stated goals have been achieved and whether I have managed to delineate impartially the foreign policy of Bulgaria during the Second World War presented on the pages of Bulgarian historic literature.
Great Britain should undoubtedly be rendered its due for the Thessaloniki Agreement. London wanted to set up an agreement on the Balkans to which Bulgaria would also be a part. But there were territorial arguments between Bulgaria and its neighbours which were difficult to solve. The revision of the nightmarish Versailles system began, and the basic catalyst for the changes was a new Germany governed by a new ideology — Nazism and its leader, Adolph Hitler. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria and turned it into a province of the Third Reich. In the end of September 1938, Germany detached the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and annexed it to its territory with the consent of the victorious countries of the First World War — France, England and Italy. The British and the French hoped strongly that the new dictator had been satisfied, but they were soon to find out that Hitler would not be moderated by constant concessions made at the expense of small countries. In the middle of March 1939, Germany managed to take the upper hand over Czechoslovakia as well. When Bonito Mussolini learned of this, he accepted the fact quite unhappily since he considered himself the architect of the September 1938 Munich Agreement. This agreement had been breached with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Mussolini restored the balance between Rome and Berlin after Italy occupied the territory of Albania at the beginning of April 1939. The war was approaching, and we can say that it was a reality. Yet, to make war one needs countries at war, and at that time there were no such countries since the British and French allies were constantly giving way to the German dictator. Bulgaria fondly watched the German actions because it was also looking for a solution to it revanchist aspirations. The Kyoseivanov Government defined the foreign political goals of the country. Its primary objective was to take back South Dobrudzha, the border in Thrace from 1913, and eventually to take back the Western outlying districts. Sofia watched hopefully at the failure of the Versailles Treaty but did not dare to undertake any real actions towards solving its territorial problems. It understood that its neighbors would not hesitate to punish it severely if it made one wrong move. Bulgaria’s foreign policy had to be neutral, or at least it had to be suggested in international circles that Bulgaria was leading a policy of non-engagement. There is no doubt that the strings of Sofia’s foreign policy were pulled by Tsar Boris III, but Prime Minister Georgi Kyoseivanov, who was experienced in diplomacy, should also be given credit for the neutral policy. By the summer of 1939, Bulgaria showed that at that moment it had no intention of getting involved with any of the Great Powers. Sofia secretly fully supported the German moves because it hoped for a revision of its own borders, and it is clear that it could get support from Berlin. Prime Minister Kyoseivanov made a visit to Germany at the beginning of July. Even before Kyoseivanov returned to Bulgaria, the Chairman of the National Assembly, Stoicho Moshanov, departed for France and England. Thus Bulgaria looked neutral to the Great Powers although it is not difficult to predict what its choice would be at the decisive moment. Kyoseivanov was naturally very angry with what Moshanov has done because in Berlin they would have understood right away that after the visit of the Prime Minister to Germany, the Chairman of the Parliament was making insurance visits to Paris and London. At the beginning of August, a Bulgarian parliamentarian delegation visited the USSR. In this way, accidentally or not, Bulgarian politicians visited Berlin, Paris, London and Moscow in the summer of 1939. In the spring and summer of 1939, talks were held between the USSR on the one hand and England and France on the other for the conclusion of an alliance which was to act as a deterrent to the steady advance of the Nazis. In the middle of August though, these talks failed, and a pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany on August 23rd. In this way, the totalitarian systems overtook the western democracies. Bulgaria may also have contributed to the failure of the pact between Berlin and Moscow through its ambassador in Berlin, Parvan Draganov. On September 1st, the Wermacht invaded Poland. Two days later, being unable to convince Hitler to withdraw his troops, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Later, the Red Army also took a part of the Polish territory, and the USSR and Germany signed an agreement for a new boundary between them. In the middle of September, Bulgaria declared its neutrality with respect to the military conflict. This delay is most probably because the Government wanted to understand the situation and make a correct assessment as to whether this was a local conflict or a large-scale war. There were not many options for Bulgaria at that moment. Its moves were closely observed by its neighbors who were well aware of the Bulgarian revanchist desires and who could end up in Bulgaria within hours should it not act peacefully. Thus, on September 15, 1939, Bulgaria declared its neutrality to the war that had broken out. The first months of the war were uneventful, and there were no military actions at that time. Because of this, it has been called „the strange war“, but in the spring of 1940, war became a reality. The Germans invaded on a large scale. The Wermacht occupied Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and France. This eliminated the competition for Germany on the continent. England was pushed back to its islands, and the question about Moscow was there to be solved. Italy also decided to intervene in the war and declared war on France on July 10th. In 1940, it appeared that the issue of South Dobrudzha was ripe for a solution. On June 26th, Moscow delivered an ultimatum to Bucharest: the regions of Bessarabia and North Bukovina were to be given to the USSR. At first the Romanians were inclined to resist, but after they understood that Berlin and Rome would not support them, they acquiesced, and on June 28, 1940, the Red Army advanced into these territories. On July 27th, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, who in mid-February 1940 replaced Kyoseivanov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Popov met Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop. The Germans had received the Romanian leaders a few days prior and had advised them to settle their argument with Bulgaria. After Berlin, the Romanians also visited Rome where they were given similar advice. In this way, Sofia received the support of Germany for the settlement of the South Dobrudzha issue. Yet Hitler refused to be an arbitrator between the two countries. The Romanians were forced to begin bilateral negotiations with Bulgaria. After considerable delay on the part of Romania, the Krayov Agreement was finally signed on September 7th, and South Dobrudzha was restored as a territory of Bulgaria. On September 21st, the Bulgarian army entered the restored Dobrudzha territory. A pact was signed only 20 days after the signing of the Krayov Agreement which was to play an important role in subsequent years. Japan also joined the two aggressive European forces. The signing of the trilateral pact shows that Germany had no intention of being satisfied with what it had achieved up to that moment. By the middle of October, Bulgaria’s situation had become quite delicate. Without consulting his ally in Berlin, the Italian dictator decided to manage things with Greece. Mussolini sent a letter to Tsar Boris III informing him of the actions which were under way against Bulgaria’s southern neighbor. The tone of the letter was informative, but Mussolini was hoping that the Bulgarian monarch would agree to joint actions so that Bulgaria could take its claimed territories. Unfortunately for Mussolini, the Bulgarian Tsar was too cautious to participate in such an adventure. After its initial offensive, the Italian army, which invaded Greece at the end of October, was forced by the Greek army to retreat, and Bulgaria actually helped Greece with its neutrality. In addition, in the middle of October 1940, Sofia was invited by Berlin to join the Trilateral Pact. At that time, the Tsar also received a letter from the British King expressing his satisfaction with Bulgaria’s policy, saying that this policy should continue because otherwise there was a danger of the Bulgarian territory becoming a scene for military action. The Tsar managed to get the country out of this complicated situation. Bulgaria was not misled by the Italian suggestion and remained calm with respect to its southern neighbor. The Tsar wrote a personal letter to Hitler assuring him that it was not useful for Bulgaria to join the Pact since a neutral Bulgaria could best assist the German plans. The Tsar wrote that Hitler should think well whether it was imperative for Bulgaria to join the Pact in that moment since Bulgaria’s recent policy had kept the Bulgarian and German enemies at bay. Tsar Boris and Minister Popov make a visit to Hitler and von Ribbentrop on November 17, 1940. They talked about Bulgaria eventually joining the Pact. Hitler behaved well with the Bulgarian monarch, which was not true of von Ribbentrop who treated the Bulgarian Foreign Minister quite unceremoniously. Von Ribbentrop wanted Popov to agree that Bulgaria would sign the Pact, but Popov stood up for his position heroically. According to Genchev’s thesis, Bulgaria refused to join the Pact not on principle but only postponed joining until a later date. According to him, the fact that the German army had yet to reach the Danube combined with the threat coming from Turkey, the unpredictable conduct of Yugoslavia and the British threats were the reasons that the Bulgarian leaders rejected signing the contract. Mihov theorized that German military specialists had been installed in Bulgaria as early as mid-October. He also thought that the suggestion for a pact on the part of the USSR and Arkady Sobolev’s visit to Sofia prevented „the attachment of Bulgaria to the chariot of Nazi Germany“. Mihov expressed his conviction that England also suspected that Bulgaria would enter into the Pact, especially judging from King George’s letter to Tsar Boris. As a whole, his thesis is that talks were being held to unify all possible forces against the USSR. According to Dimitrov, Tsar Boris had not rejected joining the Pact on principle, but instead had asked for a delay and had also declared that he would like Yugoslavia to follow the same path. According to Hitler, Turkey would not dare invade Bulgaria if the latter joined the Pact. The Tsar went to the meeting with Hitler accompanied by Popov instead of Filov in order to evade making decisions in Bergtesgarden. The Tsar told Hitler that the road to Thessaloniki for the Wermacht would be shorter if they passed through the Vardar Valley and not through Bulgaria. According to Stefan Gruev, „The Tsar did not say ‘no’ but rather said ‘not now’.“ According to the same author, five days later Ambassador Draganov passed to Hitler the answer of the Bulgarian Government which agreed in principle to enter the pact but at a later stage. In my opinion, the Tsar agreed to Bulgaria joining the Trilateral Pact but managed to get the delay he was seeking, namely at the time the German troops reached the border of his country. This would give Bulgaria the security it was striving for because, if there were Wermacht troops on Bulgarian territory, none of Bulgaria’s neighbors would think of contradicting its decision to join the Pact. The Tsar did not have much of a choice because he either had to choose the German alternative or simply expose the country to a quite unclear future. Vyacheslav Molotov made a visit to Hitler on November 12th. During the visit, the Soviet diplomat expressed the wish of the USSR to give Bulgaria guarantees similar to those Germany gave Romania where Nazi troops were installed at the beginning of October. Hitler asked if the Bulgarian Tsar had requested such guarantees as the Romanian leaders had. After the meeting between Boris and Hitler on November 19th i