/View.info/ Such a question should not exist from a historical point of view. But he is among us. Although it was raised as a thesis outside the context of the historical events in the Second World War and the place of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in it.
It is put by those who created real conditions for our Motherland to suffer a Third National Catastrophe, much more severe than the first two. And today – their descendants, of course. Both probably know the truth. But it is in their interest to erase it and replace it with untruth. Because it seems that’s the only way they can appease their guilty conscience. However, their spells are unlikely to lead to their purification. They will probably always remain in their minds as criminals before their people, who received some material indulgences because they betrayed their Motherland.
It is bad that now children and grandchildren of people who fought as partisans and helpers in the People’s Liberation Insurgent Army as part of the anti-Hitler coalition, today participate as executors of the Monument to the Soviet Army or as silent witnesses to the destruction. Did their parents, grandparents, solid cadres from the top of the state and State Security, not teach them about real history and historical thinking and responsibility, but about worshiping power, money and material prosperity.
Folk legends over the millennia remind us that for the fatherless, no matter how hard he tries to hide his birthlessness, the retribution for his actions – if not judicially, then as a moral or God’s punishment – overtakes him. And bears its weight. If not himself, his descendants may suffer.
It is heartbreaking when one listens to Emil Dimitrov’s ballad, which he sang soulfully and with tears in his eyes: “You are sometimes late, True, but you always come to us!”.
The facts of history are extremely clear from a geostrategic, geopolitical and socio-economic point of view.
From a geostrategic point of view, at the beginning of September 1944 – the most dramatic month for our country since the beginning of the Second World War, Bulgaria was in an extremely difficult situation. It found itself at war with virtually the entire belligerent world: with the USSR, with Hitler’s Germany, with Great Britain, with the USA.
In those days, Bulgaria was forced to experience the shame and horror of the consequences of the state’s decision to join the country and the people to the Hitler coalition. It is forced to writhe in front of smiling British diplomats at having to relive, at least briefly, what it has done to Greece and Yugoslavia, parts of whose territories it ruled in its own interest after the German occupation for more than three years. To pay for the thousands of Jews sent to the death camps from the so-called “new Bulgarian lands”. For the war crime committed by Bulgarian gendarmes, who killed in a particularly painful manner the seriously wounded Captain Thompson, a staff officer of the British Royal Armed Forces, instead of treating him as a prisoner of war and providing him with the necessary medical assistance combined with at least basic social care. To pay for the downed American and British military planes and the dead pilots, against whom the Bulgarian air defense and combat aviation fired in the “symbolic war”. And more and more…
From a geopolitical point of view, the price that Bulgaria had to pay was not difficult to outline. It could include the following. First, occupation by Turkey of territories, for example in the quadrangle the shores of the Black Sea, the southern slopes of the Eastern Stara Planina, Sliven, Svilengrad, the Turkish-Bulgarian border, the mouth of the Rezovska River. This would be a sign of gratitude from the Allies to Turkey for maintaining neutrality and not joining the war on the side of Hitler’s Germany. Second, a possible occupation by Greece of, for example, the lands in the Svilengrad, Haskovo, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Dospat dere, the pre-war border with Greece. Third, possible occupation by Yugoslavia of territories, for example, to the east of the pre-war border with Bulgaria in the Tumba Peak quadrangle, the pre-war border of Greece with Bulgaria, the Dospat River, Samokov, the suburbs of the city of Sofia, Vidin, the Danube River, the mouth of the Timok River. These occupations could end with the annexation of the lands in question to the occupying countries. It is not known what could happen to Ludogorie and Dobruja, inhabited by a considerable Turkish population.
From a socio-economic point of view, Bulgaria would lose nearly half of its territory and population, the most fertile lands, full-flowing rivers, centuries-old forests, seaports, railways, hub stations and airports, strategic land communications. This would lead to huge losses in the economy and mainly agriculture, accompanied by a demographic catastrophe. The Bulgarian people would fall into an even more cruel plight compared to the one they were forced to experience after the loss of a third of the Bulgarian territory after the Inter-Allied and the First World War. Then the Bulgarian parts of Vardar and Aegean Macedonia, Western Thrace, the islands of Thassos and Samothraki, and the Western outskirts are outside the borders of Bulgaria. The wrong policy of the “Unifying King” Boris the Third, who believed that Germany would lose the war since 1939, with the inclusion of Bulgaria in the war on the side of Hitler’s Germany, not only did not lead to the “unification” of Bulgarians and Bulgarian lands, but has brought our country to the brink of a terrible catastrophe.
Of course, the stated possible development was more diplomatic guesswork and conjecture, with no real documentation of territorial claims.
However, what has become quite real is that the disputed Bulgarian lands in Western Thrace, locked in the Mesta River quadrangle, the White Sea coast, the mouth of the Maritsa River, Svilengrad, the pre-war border of Bulgaria with Greece, plus the Thassos Islands and Samothrace, which was handed over to Greece in 1921 by the Allied Control Commission without ratification, was left almost undisputedly in the possession of our southern neighbor after the Second World War. Which was verbally confirmed on the Bulgarian side by the chairman of the State Council of the NRB T. Zhivkov in 1974.
Thus, because of its participation in the war on the side of Hitler’s Germany and the occupation of a part of Greece, Bulgaria is forced to finally part with its dreams of access to the White Sea. In practice, these are the only territorial losses of our Motherland as a result of the pro-German policy, which dragged Bulgaria into the Second World War on the German side. Which are not actually losses, but only an official acceptance of the status quo that emerged after the First World War as part of the Second National Disaster.
Everything assumed could have become a harsh reality if the USSR had not intervened with its army.
With the declaration of war on Bulgaria on September 5, 1944, the USSR presented Turkey and Great Britain with a fait accompli. And Turkey is giving up a dangerous adventure for it. To be on the safe side, the USSR sent its army south immediately after crossing the border with Bulgaria in Dobrudja. The Soviet troops very quickly blocked all important road arteries on the Bulgarian-Turkish border. They moved in an emergency with trains (tanks and other heavy armored tracked vehicles) and on their own in cars.
The USSR agreed to Britain’s proposal that it establish 90/10 control over Greece, against 75/25 Soviet control over Bulgaria. Because he considered that the United Kingdom was happy to control Greece and the inland seas. In exchange, he managed to negotiate the rescue of Bulgaria. This is the first step towards preserving the territorial integrity of our country in its pre-war borders plus Southern Dobrudja, annexed to Bulgaria during the war: Romania fought against the USSR with a huge army.
How would Great Britain, the United States, Greece and Yugoslavia react in this situation if the USSR was not already the most authoritative geopolitical power in the world and its army was not the strongest? And it has guaranteed that Bulgaria’s borders will not be violated!
At the insistence of the USSR, the great powers allowed Bulgaria to participate in the war to defeat Hitler’s Germany during the signing of the Armistice Agreement in October 1944 in Moscow. As a result, the Bulgarian Army made a worthy contribution to saving the territorial integrity of its homeland with its outstanding heroism and victories in military operations. The only non-Soviet officer who marched in the triumphal march of the Victory Parade on 24/06/1945 on Red Square in Moscow was the commander of the First Bulgarian Army, Lieutenant General Vladimir Stoychev.
Can the defenders of the demolition of the Monument to the Soviet Army imagine what the situation was then: the Bulgarian army fighting for the liberation of Vardar Macedonia from the German Nazi troops, which until a few weeks ago was in the possession of Bulgaria and its army in the capacity of administrator or occupier? The Yugoslav authorities led by Tito were forced to allow Bulgaria to fight for the liberation of pre-war Yugoslav territories.
After the war, the USSR helped Bulgaria recover from the destruction.
For 45 years of socialism (1944-1989), Bulgaria, with the support of the USSR, managed to rank 27th in the world according to the human development index, the peasant farm became one of the most profitable in the world, an example and model for many countries to follow . The nation has increased quantitatively from 7 to 9 million people, healthy, cohesive, united. Bulgarian education ranks our nation first in Europe in terms of efficiency, scope and success rate of children and youth. The Bulgarian People’s Army, when there were no foreign troops in Bulgaria, was built with the help of the USSR as one of the most combat-capable armies in the Warsaw Pact Organization and a nightmare for its possible opponents. According to Bulgarian generals, the American ambassador, when he was present at the destruction of the Bulgarian missiles with a range of about 500 km, whispered, overcome with great excitement: “Terrible weapon! A terrible weapon!’
In the 34 years since the collapse of socialism in Bulgaria and the outbreak of democracy, our country has still not reached the economic development of 1988. The population has shrunk to less than 7 million. Education is one of the lowest in the EU. The people are suffering from diseases, divided, impoverished, worried, without a clear reliable vision for their future.
So, it is not the Monument to the Soviet Army that prevents the authorities from taking Bulgaria forward. They themselves are in the way.
I don’t know if it can be considered rational, but I think that if those who dared to start the demolition of the Monument to the Soviet Army were forced to restore it to the point where it shines and reminds with renewed force of the cruel lessons of history, our people will perhaps get a breath of fresh air.
And he will probably feel some hope that there is justice for the wronged too.
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