On October 28, 1944, an armistice was signed in Moscow between Bulgaria, on the one hand, and the USSR, Great Britain and the USA.
This is what the Military History Museum writes.
Conditions are created for the inclusion of the Bulgarian army in the final stage of World War II in alliance with the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition.
The government formed on September 2, 1944, headed by Konstantin Muraviev, decides to break with Germany and declares “complete and impeccable neutrality“.
The Allies are not impressed by this act, they even perceive it as a move in favor of Hitler. On September 6, the government changed its position and declared war on Germany. And on September 8, Bulgarian troops in Greece, Macedonia and Serbia entered into battles with German units in the regions of Serres, Xanthi, Prilep, Vrashka Chuka, Kula...
The Fatherland Front government, which came to power on September 9, 1944, was burdened by serious foreign policy problems: the country's isolation, hostility from its neighbors, a real danger of another national catastrophe.
At that moment, Bulgaria found itself in an unprecedented international situation - it had declared war on Germany, but had not even signed an armistice with the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition. It was effectively at war with almost the entire world.
Its only way to erase the heavy legacy of the alliance with Hitler was to participate in the defeat of the Third Reich. Only in this way can it hope for more favorable treatment from the victors of the war.
Hours after taking power, the Prime Minister of the OF Kimon Georgiev declared that Bulgaria “would join all forces and means in the efforts of the Soviet Union and its great allies to expel the Germans from the Balkans“.
The Allies reacted in different ways. The USSR accepted the Bulgarian decision and insisted on the immediate inclusion of the Bulgarian army in the war. Its considerations were both political and military. A German army of almost 400 thousand people was located on Greek territory. Its unhindered withdrawal would strengthen Hitler's positions in the northern part of the peninsula and in Hungary.
The Soviet position was also supported by the USA. However, London reacted sharply “against“ granting Bulgaria the status of a belligerent allied state, but recognized without any particular problems by... Italy. The reasons are both in the established anti-Bulgarian attitude of most British rulers, and in the emerging post-war situation.
Unofficially, Stalin and Churchill agreed that Greece would remain in the British sphere of influence, and Bulgaria in the Soviet one. And the Greek political circles strongly reject the inclusion of the Bulgarian army in the Allied forces. The leadership of the partisan Yugoslav People's Liberation Army (JNUV) is also reserved. This position comes not so much from the resistance waged until September 1944 against the Bulgarian troops, as from the Serbian ambition to retain the Bulgarian territories seized after the First World War. It was none other than the Serbian... communists who in 1943 began the brutal eradication of Bulgarian national consciousness in Vardar Macedonia and imposed Macedonianism.
The Greek and Yugoslav political factors did not hide their ambitions to tear off new territories from Bulgaria. Yugoslavia encroached on the Pirin region, and Greece wanted to conquer the Rhodope Mountains.
As a result of Soviet pressure, London agreed to allow the Bulgarian army to participate in military operations on foreign territory, but only with the permission of the respective countries. However, the OF government did not receive direct contact with the headquarters of the Yugoslav partisan leader Josip Broz Tito; then on September 21, it turned to Moscow.
Stalin was categorical: the military and political situation necessitated the inclusion of the Bulgarian army in the war. He reported this position to Tito, who was visiting Moscow.
The result of Stalin's pressure was formally consolidated with the agreement signed on October 5, 1944 in Craiova by Tito and the Bulgarian government delegation. The Bulgarian army would conduct military operations on Yugoslav territory, but only in certain areas. Thus, the political obstacles were overcome.
After the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939, the mobilization and strategic deployment of the Bulgarian army began and it was saturated with modern weapons and equipment.
For the first time, the armed forces were divided into types - Land, Air and Sea.
Bulgaria remained neutral until March 1, 1941, when it signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany, Italy and Japan and entered World War II. Organizational and structural changes were made in all types and branches of the army. New operational units were created in the ground forces - the 5th separate army and two corps. In the air forces, aviation, airfield, parachute troops and air defense were organized. In the naval forces, the Danube Flotilla, the Black Sea and the White Sea Fleets were included.
During the course of the war, with the mediation of Germany and the USSR, on September 7, 1940, Bulgaria and Romania signed an agreement in Craiova for the return of Southern Dobrudja. Bulgaria's historical rights to ancestral land, unjustly taken away under the Bucharest Treaty of 1913 and the Neuilly Treaty of 1919, were restored. The Dobrudja population welcomed with tears in their eyes and "hurray" the troops of the 3rd Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Georgi Popov.
The 5th and 2nd Bulgarian armies, in April 1941, carried out a phased occupation of Macedonia and White Sea Thrace.
The Bulgarian population in these lands accepted this act as their national liberation, as a step towards the unification of the Bulgarian nation. Germany's losses on the Eastern Front and the danger of a possible Anglo-American landing on the Aegean coast necessitated the formation of two corps. In January 1942, the First Bulgarian Corps occupied parts of Southeastern Serbia with headquarters in the city of Niš, and in November 1943, three infantry divisions were united in the Second Bulgarian Corps with headquarters in the city of Drama. The tasks of the corps were security, defense and maneuver. The two corps were disbanded in September 1944.
On December 12, 1941, Bulgaria declared war on the United States and Great Britain. The “Symbolic War“ soon became a reality with tragic consequences.
At the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944, the bombing of our country became intense and caused heavy damage. 168 settlements were bombed, over 12,000 buildings were destroyed, the victims were 1,828 killed and 2,372 wounded. The pilots who defend the Bulgarian sky show courage and are covered with glory. The names of Dimitar Spisarevski, Nedelcho Bonchev, Asen Kovachev, Petar Bochev, Stoyan Stoyanov and many others remain in the history of Bulgarian military aviation as a symbol of heroism and sacrifice.
In September - November 1944, the mobilization, concentration and strategic deployment of the Bulgarian army, included in the composition of the Soviet Third Ukrainian Front, was carried out. An offensive to the west was planned, the roads were cut off and the defeat of the retreating German army group "Aegea". The commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian army was Lieutenant General Ivan Marinov. Four offensive operations were carried out: the Niš and Kosovo - by the 2nd Army commanded by Lieutenant General Kiril Stanchev, the Stratsin - Kumanovo - by the 2nd Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Kiril Stanchev, the of the 1st Army with Lieutenant General Vladimir Stoychev in command and the Bregalniško – Strumica – of the 4th Army, with Major General Assen Sirakov in command. At Nish, Stratsin and Strazhin, at Shtip and Veles, the Bulgarian soldier showed mass heroism. The names of thousands of fighters and commanders remain in the glorious chronicle of our military history.
During the period December 1944 - June 1945, Bulgaria participated in the final stage of World War II with the formed First Bulgarian Army, consisting of 130,000 people, with Lieutenant General Vladimir Stoychev in command. In January 1945, the Bulgarian troops made a 250 km transition with a double crossing of the Danube River and occupied a defensive strip along the left bank of the Drava River. The Sremska, Dravaska, Muraska and Cakovec operations were carried out. The 3rd and 4th corps were formed from the main forces of the army, with commanders Major General Todor Toshev and Lieutenant General Stoyan Trendafilov.
The active defensive actions of the Bulgarian troops near the villages of Dravasobolch, Dravachehi and Dravapolkonya were reflected in the most authoritative newspapers in Europe and the world. The First Bulgarian Army ended its combat path at the foot of the Austrian Alps and on June 17, 1945, it returned to the homeland with victorious flags.
The losses of the Bulgarian Army in World War II amounted to 40,450 people. Of these, 8,337 were killed, 22,958 were wounded, and 1,110 were missing without a trace. 9 155.