Why bulgaria entered wwi

The settlement of the Second Balkan War had also inflamed Bosnian nationalism. In that movement ignited an AustrianSerbian conflict that escalated into world war when the European alliances of those countries went into effect. From the beginning, both sides exerted strong pressure and made territorial offers to lure Bulgaria into an alliance.

Ferdinand and his diplomats hedged, waiting for a decisive military shift in one direction or the other. The Radoslavov government favored the German side, the major opposition parties favored the Entente, and the agrarians and socialists opposed all involvement. By mid the Central Powers gained control on the Russian and Turkish fronts and were thus able to improve their territorial offer to Bulgaria. Now victory would yield part of Turkish Thrace, substantial territory in Macedonia, and monetary compensation for war expenses.

Catching the Entente by surprise, Bulgarian forces pushed the Serbs out of Macedonia and into Albania and occupied part of Greek Macedonia by mid British, French, and Serbian troops landed at Salonika and stopped the Bulgarian advance, but the Entente's holding operation in Greece turned into a war of attrition lasting from late well into This stalemate diverted , Entente troops from other fronts.

Meanwhile, Romania had entered the war on the Entente side in Bulgarian and German forces pushed the poorly prepared Romanians northward and took Bucharest in December The Bulgarians then faced Russia on a new front in Moldavia the part of Romania bordering Russia , but little action took place there. Nevertheless, in the summer of , the St. Petersburg government had no option but to support Serbia if it intended to maintain a presence in the Balkan Peninsula.

After the renewal and expansion of the fighting in the summer of , both belligerent alliances recognized the importance of Bulgaria. For the Entente, an alliance with Bulgaria could greatly facilitate an attack on Constantinople and could support Serbia. For the Central Powers, the adherence of Bulgaria would ensure land communication with the Ottoman Empire and the likely destruction of Serbia. In , the Gallipoli campaign made Bulgaria particularly attractive to the Entente. A Bulgarian advance on Constantinople could ensure an Entente success in their effort against the Ottomans.

The Bulgarians after all, had reached the outer defenses of Constantinople during the First Balkan War. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire could open up a year-round sea route to the beleaguered Russians. The price for Bulgarian intervention on the side of the Entente was Macedonia. Because the Serbs were unwilling to cede Macedonia, especially after the defensive victories against Austria-Hungary , the Entente could not meet the Bulgarian demand.

Serbia, after all, was the ally whose distress had been a main cause for the outbreak of the war. No such constraints hampered the Central Powers. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans indicated that Bulgaria could have Macedonia immediately upon entering the war. It cannot exist without Macedonia, for which it has shed so much blood. As an additional incentive, the Ottomans ceded the lower Maritsa valley to Bulgaria.

On 15 September, the government announced mobilization of the army. Colonel Nikola Zhekov , was promoted to general at the beginning of August. He then assumed command of the Bulgarian army. The renewal of the war was by no means popular in the country. A loose coalition of all opposition parties except for the narrow Socialist Marxist party met on 17 September with Tsar Ferdinand and demanded the formation of a wide coalition before the country embarked on another round of fighting. Think about your own, which is still young.

Soon after this meeting, Stamboliyski was arrested and after a military trial sentenced to life imprisonment. The government then secured parliamentary sanction for the war based upon the need to destroy the Treaty of Bucharest and to obtain union with Macedonia. The next month the Central Powers attacked Serbia from two sides. Two Bulgarian armies attacked Serbia from the east one week later.

The Bulgarian General Staff anticipated a relatively easy campaign. They were correct in this assumption. The Bulgarians then proceeded to defeat the Serbs on the historic battlefield of Kosovo Polje. Cut off from moving south, in November and December , the remnants of the Serbian army retreated to the southwest across the Albanian mountains to the Adriatic Sea.

Eventually the survivors of this ordeal found refuge on the Greek island of Corfu. The Sofia government incorporated Macedonia directly into the state.

The Bulgarian army raised an entire division from the population, the 11 th Macedonian Division, and also smaller units. Over 1, Macedonians served in the Bulgarian army during the war. The Bulgarian military and government had not anticipated, however, the intervention of British and French forces in the Serbian campaign.

Entente troops began landing on 7 October in neutral Greece at the port of Salonika on the invitation of the pro-Entente Greek Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos Their plan was to move north up the Vardar River valley to aid the beleaguered Serbs. The Bulgarians halted the British and French in a series of sharp engagements on both sides of the Vardar River and forced them back across the Greek frontier in December At this point, the commander of the Bulgarian army, General Zhekov, urged an all-out attack on the disorganized Entente troops that were falling back towards Salonika.

A strong Bulgarian effort could eliminate the Salonika operation altogether. The elimination of this Entente threat could have meant that for Bulgaria, the war was over, and Macedonia was secured.

The Bulgarians were confident of success against the defeated and disorganized British and French troops who were falling back on Salonika. For the time being, they enjoyed a numerical advantage over the Entente forces.

The Germans refused to countenance the proposed Salonika operation. Also, the political situation in Greece had changed. A neutralist government had replaced the pro-Entente government in Athens early in October. Most importantly, the Germans perceived in Salonika a means to contain significant numbers of British and French troops that might be used to better effect elsewhere, perhaps on the Western Front.

It might have persuaded them that there was no need to pursue the war further. Why would the Bulgarians continue to fight if they had attained their national objectives? Would they be willing to send troops to the Western or Eastern Fronts? The commander of the German forces, Erich von Falkenhayn , later wrote,. The Bulgarians could not ignore the insistence of their German allies. The Central Powers were not equal. Lacking an industrial infrastructure, the Bulgarians depended upon the Germans for manufactured goods, and especially military supplies.

They reluctantly acceded to German demands to halt at the Greek frontier. The failure to cross the Greek border and advance on the Entente determined the course of the rest of the war for Bulgaria. The Bulgarian army continued to confront Entente forces along the Greek frontier. This became known as the Macedonian, and later for the Bulgarians, the southern front. Gradually the manpower and material demands of this commitment eroded the already weak Bulgarian economy, and Bulgarian morale.

Clearly, Bulgarian and German aims were at odds. Unfortunately, Bulgaria, as the smallest Central Power, had little leverage with the larger German war effort. The Bulgarian halt at the Greek frontier allowed the Entente armies to establish defensive positions in northern Greece at the beginning of Throughout that year, the Entente augmented its forces in Salonika with additional British and French troops as well as contingents from Italy and Russia.

Eventually, after some rest and refurbishment on Corfu, the survivors of the Serbian retreat across northern Albania joined the Entente army in Salonika. In , after the Entente had forced King Constantine to abdicate and Venizelos had returned to power, the Greek army joined the Entente and sent troops to bolster the Macedonian Front. To the great alarm of the Bulgarians, two Ottoman divisions assumed positions on the eastern end of the Macedonian Front from the autumn of to the spring of Thus at one time all the Central Powers were represented there.

The Macedonian Front developed in the pattern already established on the Western Front: both sides fortified their positions and sought advantage in air raids and small ground attacks. In the summer of , the apparent success of the Brusilov offensive on the Eastern Front altered the situation throughout Eastern Europe.

The Russians smashed the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia. The Germans rushed reinforcements to support their failing allies. Romania, which had wavered between each side since the beginning of the war, appeared ready take advantage of the Austro-Hungarian emergency to join the Entente.

Both sides prepared to deal with this development. The Central Powers also took action. The pending threat from Romania persuaded the Germans to lift their ban on a Bulgarian advance into Greece. The Bulgarians attempted to preempt the anticipated Entente offensive on the Macedonian Front by launching one of their own. This Bulgarian effort involved attacks on the eastern and central sections of the Macedonian Front.

In the east, Bulgarian troops advanced into Greek-held eastern Macedonia. In the center, they seized Florina Bulgarian: Lerin. The Entente counterattacked the Bulgarians around Florina, and throughout the autumn of drove the Bulgarians north into Macedonia as far as Bitola English: Monastir.

As all had anticipated, on 27 August Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente and invaded Transylvania. The Bulgarian Third Army, augmented by German and Ottoman troops and under the overall command of the German General, August von Mackensen , crossed the Romanian frontier in Dobrudzha at the same time as an Austro-Hungarian and German counterattack on the Romanians in Transylvania. The Bulgarians advanced quickly against determined Romanian opposition.

In October, they had defeated a Romanian attempt to cross the Danube to invade Bulgaria. When Russia dissolved into chaos in , rump Romania was isolated from the other Entente powers. This position was untenable. The Romanian government signed the Treaty of Bucharest on 7 May and left the war soon after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk eliminated Russia from the war. The results of the fighting in were mixed for Bulgaria.

Bulgarian soldiers had occupied eastern Macedonia, but had retreated from central Macedonia under Entente pressure. The Romanian danger was eliminated, but Bulgaria soon became embroiled in disputes with the other Central Powers over the disposition of Dobrudzha and its resources. The Third Army remained in Romania for the time being to enforce Bulgarian claims to all of Dobrudzha.

The Radoslavov government was especially eager to supplement dwindling Bulgarian food resources with Dobrudzha grain. In , the Bulgarians were crucial to the stability of the Macedonian Front and the containment of Romania. Their actions expanded the position of the Central Powers throughout southeastern Europe. They now, however, faced a two front war. Bulgaria was squeezed between southern and northern fronts. During , the Bulgarians continued to hold the Macedonian Front.

Their dwindling resources permitted mainly defensive activity. Only in the spring did significant fighting occur there, mainly around Lake Doiran, between the Bulgarians and the British forces. At that time, the Bulgarians succeeded in parrying another Entente offensive. Despite the absence of heavy fighting, war weariness continued to erode the commitment of the Bulgarian army and people to the military effort.

The French, Greek and exiled Serbia army units broke through the Bulgarian positions in Macedonia, after an intensive artillery bombardment. The Bulgarian troops were very demoralized at this stage and many deserted during the bombardment. The allies began to seize large swathes of territory, and this along with growing discontent in the country meant that Bulgaria was in no position to fight on. There was a near revolutionary situation in the country and many army units had mutinied.

The King even feared a communist revolution. Sofia was forced to withdraw from the war and signed an armistice with the allies. Soon after there was a revolution in Sofia and a new more democratic government came to power. Some , Bulgarian soldiers died in the war.