/View.info/ Complication of the domestic and international situation
Having strengthened his position in the Balkans, Hitler began his next military campaign – against the USSR. On June 22, 1941, Wehrmacht troops crossed the borders of the USSR. Two days after the German invasion, England and the United States announced that they would support Russia. After the start of the war with the USSR, Bulgaria, despite being an ally of Germany, continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the USSR and did not send regular troops to the Eastern Front.
Tsar Boris III did not send even a legion of volunteers (such as the Spanish “Blue Division”) to the front. Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities on the Eastern Front, the Bulgarian communists under the leadership of the Comintern turned to armed struggle. The decision to do so was made on June 24, 1941.
The symbolic war
On December 7, 1941, the former British colonies of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on the Kingdom of Bulgaria following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Third Reich’s declaration of war on the United States on the same day. Five days later, on December 12, the United Kingdom did the same.
In response, the next day, December 13, 1941, the Bulgarian parliament passed a decision to declare war on Great Britain and the United States, which, however, did not declare war on Bulgaria for nearly a year. The Kingdom of Bulgaria only managed to convince the Germans not to declare war on the USSR and to maintain full diplomatic relations with the USSR.
The so-called symbolic war, however, became the reason for the Anglo-American bombing of Bulgaria, not only against the military, but mainly against civilian objects and the civilian population in Dupnitsa, Sofia, Skopje, Stara Zagora, Kazanlak, Vratsa, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Nis and other cities and towns places.
The additional complication of the domestic and international situation
Meanwhile, the struggle of the communists against the authorities is intensifying. Radio station “Hristo Botev” broadcasts the program of the Patriotic Front (OF). This is the proposal of the communists to create a broad social front against the government. In this program it is claimed that Bulgaria does not participate directly in the hostilities, that the Bulgarian troops from the neighboring countries are withdrawn, that the alliance with the Axis is terminated and that the country joins the anti-Hitler coalition.
In the field of internal politics, the restoration of the Tarnovo Constitution and the rights and freedoms provided for by it is promised. Since the initiative was with the Communists, the rest of the opposition rejected their proposal.
In February 1943, after the victory of the Soviet army over the Wehrmacht troops near Stalingrad, a gradual turn in the course of hostilities began. The crisis was deepened by the death of Tsar Boris III in August 1943, who was the most authoritative, consolidating figure in Bulgarian political life. In September 1943 Italy’s surrender was finally announced. This further complicates the position of Bulgaria as an ally of Germany.
Bulgaria on the side of the Allies
On August 26, 1944, under the threat of a Red Army advance into Romania, Ivan Bagryanov’s government ordered German troops to leave the country, and those who refused to disarm. At the same time, the government in Egypt started separatist peace talks with Britain and the US, but they were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, on August 12, the parliamentary opposition and the Fatherland Front issued a joint declaration calling for the creation of a “new constitutional government.” After pressure from Moscow and a directive from Georgi Dimitrov, the Fatherland Front withdrew its signature from the declaration.
Left without the support of the OF, on September 2, 1944, the parliamentary opposition formed a new government, which made a last attempt to prevent the Soviet Union from declaring war on Bulgaria. In the few days of its existence, it severed diplomatic relations with Germany, demanded an official armistice from the USA and Great Britain, and began the withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from the territories annexed to Yugoslavia and Greece.
Despite these circumstances, on September 5, the Soviet Union declared war on the Kingdom of Bulgaria. However, the government of Konstantin Muravyov declared war on Nazi Germany on September 8, 1944. On the same day, on the morning of September 8, the Red Army entered the territory and waters with the formations of the Third Ukrainian Front and its Black Sea Fleet. By order of the government, the Bulgarian troops did not resist, and the Bulgarian military units were not even disarmed by the Soviet troops.
On the evening of September 9, 1944, a delegation was sent by plane to the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin, in Bucharest for armistice negotiations, and at 22:00 Stalin ordered the cessation of hostilities by the troops of the Soviet Union against Bulgaria.
On September 10, 1944, the police was closed, and in its place, by Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 1, the People’s Militia was established. 8130 political prisoners were released from prisons. The establishment of the new power took place at the latest in Haskovo, where, after unsuccessful negotiations with the command, on September 12, 1944, the partisans occupied the artillery barracks.
The military actions against the Third Reich
Bulgaria’s participation in the war against Germany went through two stages. The first stage covers the time from September to the end of November 1944. Bulgarian troops operate on the territory of Macedonia, Eastern Serbia and Kosovo. At the first stage, Bulgaria participated with three armies – First, Second and Fourth, and the Third Army did not participate in operations against the Third Reich, remaining located on the border with Turkey.
Already in the first days after September 9, 1944, the Bulgarian troops, together with partisan and Soviet units, repelled the German troops advancing in the Kyustendil-Sofia direction. On September 18, 1944, the Bulgarian Army passed under the operational leadership of the commander of the III Ukrainian Front, Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin.
The mobilization of the Bulgarian Army (renamed the Bulgarian People’s Army) began on September 18 and ended at the end of the same month. Almost 300,000 soldiers were mobilized in a short period. More than 40,000 willing to fight but without mobilization assignments volunteered for the People’s Guard. Soon after, Bulgarian soldiers began to actively participate in the fight against Nazism – three Bulgarian armies with a total of 271,977 people participated in the liberation of Yugoslavia.
The Bulgarian Army, as part of the forces of the Soviet III Ukrainian Front, has the task of securing the left flank of the Red Army, defeating the enemy forces in Serbia and Vardar Macedonia and cutting off the escape routes of Group E of the German troops from Greece along the valleys of the Morava, Vardar and Ibar rivers.
From October 8 to October 14, 1944, the Bulgarian troops carried out the offensive Niš operation – the elite VII SS division was defeated and Niš was captured. From October 8 to November 19, the Stracin-Kumanov operation took place – Stracin, Kumanovo, Skopje were captured.
At the same time, the Bregalnishko-Strumica operation took place, as a result of which parts of the Wehrmacht were pushed out of the village of Tsarevo, Kochani, Shtip, Strumica, Veles and other settlements. From October 21 to November 30, the Kosovo operation took place, during which the cities of Poduevo, Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica, Rashka and Novi Pazar were liberated. This ends the first phase of Bulgarian participation in the war.
The second phase began in December 1944 and lasted until May 1945, in which Bulgaria participated with the 1st Bulgarian Army of 130,000 soldiers, which participated in the liberation of northern Yugoslavia, entered southern Hungary and eastern Austria. From December 22 to December 28, 1944, the Srem operation took place. On December 31 of the same year, hostilities were transferred to the territory of Hungary.
The apogee of Bulgaria’s participation in the last stage of the war was the Drava defensive operation in March 1945. At that time, Hitler still harbored hopes for a turning point. He conceived Operation Spring Awakening, which consisted of a surprise attack on the Soviet group between Lake Velenzeito and Lake Balaton.
The Nazis’ goal was to defeat the entire southern flank of the Red Army and their allies and thereby regain control of the Ploiesti oil fields. The German troops were reinforced by the elite Sixth SS Panzer Army, commanded by Colonel General Joseph Dietrich. On the Bulgarian section of the front, the Nazis operated under the leadership of Colonel-General Alexander von Lohr.
The battles at Drava began on the night of March 5-6. The German troops advanced in three directions, but encountered fierce resistance from the Bulgarians, which stopped the enemy’s advance on March 8. The Nazis renewed their attacks on March 10, but with the joint efforts of the 1st Bulgarian Army and the 57th Soviet Army on March 19, the German advance was finally stopped. The plans of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht failed, the Nazis retreated.
The victory created prerequisites for the advance of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and the 1st Bulgarian Army against Austria. From late March to mid-April, the Moore River area became the main theater of operations (Operation Moore). The last battles with the German troops were fought in Austria, in the Klagenfurt area, as well as in Bosnia from the end of April until around May 15, 1945.
After the capitulation of Nazi Germany (May 7, 1945), the Bulgarian troops reached the town of Klagenfurt at the foot of the Austrian Alps, where they established contact with units of the 8th British Army. Until May 15, the Bulgarian troops continued the battles with the still resisting units of the Wehrmacht and the Croatian troops in Austria, Slovenia and Bosnia until their complete defeat and capture.
The contribution of the Bulgarian military was appreciated in the Soviet Union. “…Today, March 30, at 11 p.m., the capital of our homeland, Moscow, honors with 20 volleys of 224 cannons the valiant soldiers of the Third Ukrainian Front, including the Bulgarian army with commander Lieutenant General Stoychev, who broke through the German defenses and captured the specified cities!” – says the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union Y. V. Stalin, read on Radio Moscow. On April 2, Stalin again issued an order for a salute in honor of the Bulgarian soldiers who welcomed the end of the war in Austria .
At the Victory Parade on May 9, 1945, the Commander of the First Bulgarian Army, General Stoychev, later the long-time chairman of the BOK (Bulgarian Olympic Committee), also attended the Victory Parade as part of the III Ukrainian Front.
In the first and second stages of the war against Germany, Bulgaria lost more than 32 thousand people during the hostilities, but caused great damage to the enemy. 60,000 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. Over 200,000 Germans were disabled by the actions of the 1st Army, which contributed to the surrender of the Third Reich.
Translation: ES
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