On November 27, the Day of National Remembrance is celebrated. The date was included as significant in the calendar in 1996 at the suggestion of the national association "Mati Bulgaria". On this day in 1919, Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Neuilly, under which it lost about 10 percent of its territory and was imposed with reparations and restrictions that were unbearable for those times.
On November 27, 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly was signed. It was signed on the Bulgarian side by Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliyski in the town hall of the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine and hence bears its name, a symbol of one of the national catastrophes for Bulgaria.
The Treaty of Neuilly was imposed on Bulgaria after its defeat in World War I (1914-1918).
According to the Treaty of Neuilly, Bulgaria is burdened with heavy reparations obligations, amounting to 2,250,000 gold francs, which should be paid within 37 years after its entry into force, with 2% interest on the total amount for the first and 5% for the following years. In addition, Bulgaria was obliged to hand over to its neighbors (allies of the victorious Entente powers: the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom (since 1929 Yugoslavia), Romania and Greece), a certain number of cattle, as well as 250,000 tons of coal.
In addition, it lost Western Thrace, which was initially given for administration by the Western Entente states themselves, which in turn gave it to Greece in 1920. Southern Dobrudja was taken from Bulgaria, which was re-incorporated into the territory of Romania, as well as the city of Strumica and its surroundings, together with the so-called Western Outskirts (including the lands of part of the Tsaribrod, Bosilegrad, Tran and Kula districts), which were given to Yugoslavia. In this way, our country was deprived of significant territories inhabited by a compact Bulgarian population.
Bulgaria was not allowed to possess modern military technology, a navy and aviation, and compulsory military service was abolished. The land forces were not to exceed 33,000 people, including the police.
The Treaty of Neuilly existed until the beginning of World War II (1939 - 1945). During this period, Bulgaria paid reparations to the Allied powers and their Balkan allies in the amount of 65,000,000 gold francs.