Bulgaria in WWII
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Brandenburg
- Member
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 02 Jul 2003, 05:03
- Location: PA
Bulgaria in WWII
Can anybody tell me about Bulgaria in WWII. I just bought a Bulgarian WWII helmet and I would like to learn a little about the country. Thanks.
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Benoit Douville
- Member
- Posts: 3184
- Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 02:13
- Location: Montréal
Brandenburg,
The Bulgarian Army was undoubtably a great Army and also one with a reputation of having soldiers among the finest in Europe. Due to the maneuvering of the Bulgarian government, however, the Bulgarian army did not get into regular warfare for the first many years of the war. Instead, it was used in counter-insurgency operations both at home in Bulgaria, in the territories newly acquired from Yugoslavia and in the Bulgarian occupation zone of Bulgaria. When regular Allied (Soviet) troops were finally appearing on its borders, the Bulgarian army was as subverted by dissidents, and the tide of events was so apparent, that it switched sides with the advent of a communist coup in Sofia, the capital. Instead of ending the war, however, it continued for Bulgaria, and the army took part in clearing Serbia from German troops, and later sent an expeditionary army to Hungary and Austria. Here is the list of the Infantry Division of the Bulgarian Army:
-1st "Sofia" infantry division
-2nd "Thracia" infantry division
-3rd "Balkan" infantry division
-4th "Preslav" infantry division
-5th "Danube" infantry division
-6th "Vidin" infantry division
-7th "Rila" infantry division
-8th "Tundzha" infantry division
-9th "Pleven" infantry division
-10th "Rhodopi" infantry division
-11th Reserve infantry division
-12th "Dobrudzha" infantry division
-13th Reserve infantry division
-14th "Skoplje" infantry division
-15th "Ohrid" infantry division
-16th "Aegean" infantry division
-17th Reserve infantry division
-20th Reserve infantry division
-21st Reserve infantry division
-22nd Reserve infantry division
-23rd infantry division did not exist
-24th Reserve infantry division
-27th Reserve infantry division
Regards
The Bulgarian Army was undoubtably a great Army and also one with a reputation of having soldiers among the finest in Europe. Due to the maneuvering of the Bulgarian government, however, the Bulgarian army did not get into regular warfare for the first many years of the war. Instead, it was used in counter-insurgency operations both at home in Bulgaria, in the territories newly acquired from Yugoslavia and in the Bulgarian occupation zone of Bulgaria. When regular Allied (Soviet) troops were finally appearing on its borders, the Bulgarian army was as subverted by dissidents, and the tide of events was so apparent, that it switched sides with the advent of a communist coup in Sofia, the capital. Instead of ending the war, however, it continued for Bulgaria, and the army took part in clearing Serbia from German troops, and later sent an expeditionary army to Hungary and Austria. Here is the list of the Infantry Division of the Bulgarian Army:
-1st "Sofia" infantry division
-2nd "Thracia" infantry division
-3rd "Balkan" infantry division
-4th "Preslav" infantry division
-5th "Danube" infantry division
-6th "Vidin" infantry division
-7th "Rila" infantry division
-8th "Tundzha" infantry division
-9th "Pleven" infantry division
-10th "Rhodopi" infantry division
-11th Reserve infantry division
-12th "Dobrudzha" infantry division
-13th Reserve infantry division
-14th "Skoplje" infantry division
-15th "Ohrid" infantry division
-16th "Aegean" infantry division
-17th Reserve infantry division
-20th Reserve infantry division
-21st Reserve infantry division
-22nd Reserve infantry division
-23rd infantry division did not exist
-24th Reserve infantry division
-27th Reserve infantry division
Regards
Bulgaria was a member of the Axis. AFAIK, they participated in the Axis invasions of Greece and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria also declared war on the UK and US. However, because of the traditional Russo-Bulgarian friendship, Bulgaria did NOT declare war on the USSR and did NOT join Barbarossa. When the Soviets approached the border in summer 44 and the Bulgarian govt. did not agree to withdraw from the Axis, the Soviets declared war and "invaded" the country. However, the Russo-Bulgarian war had a total of 0 casualties on the Russian and Bulgarian sides and the only weapons that were fired were mutual salutes by Soviet and Bulgarian units. As Marshal Zhukov, who commanded the Soviet "invasion" notes, it was the most plesant military operation he ever took part in. After three days of "war" Bulgaria joined the Allies. It's army participated in repelling the German Fruhlingserwachsen offensive in March 45 in Hungary.