Bulgarian Army

“ Thus the quadripartite alliance was born, composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
By September 1915 Bulgarian troops were mobilized and began to deploy along the borders of Greece and Serbia. On October 1, 1915, Bulgaria declared war on Serbia and, with the assistance of Austrian and German troops, succeeded in defeating the Serbian army. At the same time the Bulgarian army began to advance on Macedonia. There the local population, a proportion of which was openly sympathetic to Bulgarian aspirations, joined in the fighting on the side of the Bulgarians. ”

“ Always the Monastir road is lined with road-menders. Some wear the dirty brown uniform and the Russian cap of the Bulgarian army. They are not particularly happy, but they are frankly at ease. Broadly speaking, the Bulgarian does not seem to know what the war is all about. If it were only to fight the Serb, he would not mind. He has always fought the Serb. He dislikes the Serb quite as cordially as the Serb detests him. ”

“ It was impossible for it to maintain the food and the ammunition supply of the army at the front, which I suppose must have numbered 250,000 to 300,000 men. That army had got right away from its base, with the one line of railway straddled by the enemy, and with the ox as practically the only means of transport.
The position of the Bulgarian nation towards its Government on the outbreak of the war is, I think, extremely interesting as a lesson in patriotism. Every man fought who could fight. But further, every family put its surplus of goods into the war-chest. ”

“ All these Macedonians who had been incorporated by force into the Serbian army expressed freely the wish to enter the ranks of the Bulgarian army and to be sent to the front in order to fight alongside their brothers for the liberation of enslaved and martyrised Macedonia. The Bulgarian army comprised a whole division formed entirely of Macedonian volunteers and the liberated prisoners of war were drafted into this division. ”

“ Similar purposeful energy84 characterized the military organization, with the intention of forming an independent, purely Bulgarian army. For, in spite of his great admiration for Russia and the Tsar Liberator, Prince Alexander felt that dependence upon Russia—more especially a military dependence—would render his country a vassal de facto of Russia, no less than it was de jure already the vassal of Turkey. He therefore strove to render the Russian military administration superfluous in Bulgaria by building up an efficient home army. ”

“ The Bulgarian army was indeed magnanimous towards the rebels. As evidence of this we may mention the example given on page 41 of La Vérité. The revolutionary band of the Plavtchitch Brothers, who, on 27 January, 1918, had waylaid and assassinated seven Bul- garian soldiers, including a corporal, and seriously wounded two others, were merely interned in Bulgaria, upon consenting to sur- render voluntarily to the Bulgarian authorities. Today all those comitadjis are back in their homes and one of them, Ivan Plavtchitch, is mayor of the village of Borovtsi, district of Lebane. ”

“ I of Documents relatifs, etc., the Commission of Enquiry asserts that the insurrection in the Morava region in February, 1917, was not instigated from abroad, but was the work of the population itself and provoked by the "Draconian" measures of the Bulgarian Government, which wished to recruit soldiers in this province, "forcing thus Serbian subjects to fight against their king and their brothers." Before proceeding any further, we must remark that not a single inhabitant of the Morava was drafted into the Bulgarian army, much less sent to the firing line. ”

“ No one, who happened to be in the region in which the troops were moving forward, was allowed to leave by train, automobile, bicycle, or even on foot. Never in history has the world been so completely in the dark as to the operations of the army. But the attacks of the outposts of Adrianople, and the commencement of the bombardment of the forts, seemed to indicate the common objective of the three Bulgarian armies. ”

“ The conductors change the cushions from one part of the car to the other at each end of the trip.
The Bulgarian army is composed of thirty thousand men, well drilled, equipped in the German style, and organized by Russian officers upon the Russian system. Every man between the ages of twenty and twenty-four years is obliged to do military duty for four years, although Mohammedans may escape service by the payment of a special tax. Persons exempted on account of infirmities are also required to pay special taxes. ”

“ Generalising, the "leading men" in Bulgaria are of a poor type (there are exceptions) , the leading priests of a still poorer type; the people themselves are a sound people, and when the ambitious among them contrive to [180] preserve their peasant virtues through the ordeal of education they will become a great people.
The Bulgarian did not seem to me naturally cruel. All the time that I was with the main army I saw no trace of outrage or cruelty. ”

“ We also know the number of cattle owned by the various Bulgarian Divisions at different periods. These figures establish that during the retreat the Bulgarian troops did not carry off any cattle whatever. Besides, such a thing would have been quite impossible, as the Greek army followed within close range and on occasions got ahead of them to reoccupy the territory which the 2nd and the 4th Bulgarian armies were evacuating in virtue of the Armistice signed in Salonika. ”

“ Art. VI. Bulgaria is constituted an autonomous tributary Principality, with a Christian Government and a national militia.
The definitive frontiers of the Bulgarian Principality will be traced by a special Russo-Turkish Commission before the evacuation of Roumelia by the Imperial Russian army. ”

“ The Border Troops, charged with defense of the country's boundaries and with control of a border zone around the country's periphery, are a part of the Bulgarian People's Army and are under the Ministry of National Defense. The Construction Troops are labor forces, but the bulk of their personnel comes from the annual military draft, and they are organized into regular military units and are subject to military regulations and discipline. ”

“ The Bulgarian peasant makes an admirable soldier—courageous, obedient, persevering, and inured to hardship; the officers are painstaking and devoted to their duties. The active army and reserve, with the exception of the engineer regiments, are furnished with the .315′′ Mannlicher magazine rifle, the engineer and militia with the Berdan; the artillery in 1905 mainly consisted of 8.7- and 7.5-cm. Krupp guns (field) and 6.5 cm. Krupp (mountain) , 12 cm. Krupp and 15 cm. Creuzot (Schneider) howitzers, 15 cm. Krupp and 12 cm. Creuzot siege guns, and 7.5 cm. ”

“ The work which is given to them must correspond to the physical and professional qualifications of the prisoners of war."
As regards the charge that prisoners of war have been sent to the firing line, the Serbians commit a gross error. It is a well-known fact that the Serbians had recruited in Macedonia soldiers by force. When the war broke out between Serbia and Bulgaria, the Mace- donians so drafted in the Serbian army began to desert in masses and to surrender to the Bulgarian troops. ”

“ Raising of taxes, collection of duties and tolls, contributions and requisitions in kind and labor for the requirements of the army and the administration of occupied territories are sanctioned by Arts. 48, 49 and 52 of the Regulations concerning the laws and customs of war on land.
It is notorious that the occupation of Eastern Macedonia took place in virtue of an agreement between the German, Bulgarian and Greek Governments. All purchases of foodstuffs and cattle by the Bulgarian Commissariat were made with the consent of the sellers, who were paid in ready money. ”

“ The Bulgarian mobilisation—effected after lengthy preparation with perfect success and complete secrecy—was a triumph of military achievement. It emphasises a point often urged, that when a whole nation is wrapt up in the colours, when every citizen is a soldier and taught the code of patriotic honour of the soldier—then at a time of crisis, spies, grumblers, critics are impossible. Bulgaria, as I have said, is very democratic. Unlike Roumania, where a landed aristocracy survived Turkish rule, the whole nation is of peasants or the sons and grandsons of peasants. ”

“ When, in 1912, this people, moved by a single impulse, arose and crushed a strong opponent by a force and ardor unsurpassed till now, the whole world recognized its military virtues. But the Bulgarian Nation has also displayed unique virtues in its reverses by valiantly enduring the blows of misfortune. ”

“ Bulgaria also will surrender her boats and control of navigation on the Danube, and concede to the Allies free passage through Bulgaria for the development of military operations. All Bulgarian arms and ammunition are to be stored under the control of the Allies, to whom is conceded the right to occupy all important strategic points. The military occupation of Bulgaria will be entrusted to British, French and Italian forces, and the evacuated portions of Greece and Serbia, respectively, to Greek and Serbian troops. ”

“ The first assault of the enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in the British trenches, but the British were presently able to regain their positions and drive the Bulgarians back. Here again it was obvious that the hearts of the Bulgarian soldiers were not in this fighting. Most of the British soldiers had never seen any fighting before, yet they were able to accomplish what the fierce Serbians had not been able to do; drive a superior force of Bulgarians back at the point of the bayonet. ”

“ The Bulgarian battalions at the front were much stronger than those of the Allies, but according to information obtained by the Allied intelligence services it appeared that the depots were almost empty and that there were not more than three or four Bulgarian militia regiments available in Serbia or Bulgaria to be sent to the front.224 The conditions of the Germans in Roumania and South Russia were even less well known. The Bulgarian moral was, as we have seen, becoming even more depressed. War weariness was spreading and led to increased desertions, and in a few cases to mutiny. ”

“ Is not her people going to take the arms against their secular enemy, the Turks?
This solution would be the most satisfactory for Bulgaria. Now a chance is given her to fulfill her obligations to Russia, who made her free. Let the Bulgarian sword be thrust against the secular enemy of Slavdom and the petty differences be forgotten.
Bulgaria, under the Russian wing, will enter the Slav family united, strong, and beloved. If she remains inactive she will drag herself poor and forgotten by all and full of regrets. ”

“ Driving rain and mist swept over from the Black Sea, and at times obscured all the valley across which the battle raged. With but slight support from the artillery the [86] Bulgarian infantry was sent again and again up to the Turkish entrenchments. Once a fort was taken but had to be abandoned again. The result of the day's fighting is indecisive. The Bulgarian forces have driven in the Turkish right flank a little, but have effected nothing against the central positions which bar the road to Constantinople. It is clear that the artillery is not well enough supplied with ammunition. ”

“ Occasionally rumors have come through of wholesale military executions, following (p. 251) attempts at mutiny on the part of the troops. Thus Bulgaria's position as an uncertain quantity in the Teutonic alliance is not due to any disloyalty on the part of the king, Ferdinand, but to the disposition of the people, who are interested only in a Macedonia free from Serbia or Greece, and not in the German plans for empire. Though successfully suppressed so far, these subterranean movements do limit the policy of the Bulgarian ruling clique, however loyal to German rule it may be in itself. ”

“ If Bulgaria is proud and strong she can measure herself with us as soon as the war with Austria is over. A strong Bulgaria must measure herself with the strong and not with the weak.
"Why do people in Bulgaria today insist on concessions? Do you know how many difficulties there are today in the granting of such territorial concessions? You felt the pain of similar action. Silistria was taken from you while your army was victoriously marching on Constantinople. Do not insist on implanting deep in the Servian heart a mortal hatred against yourselves. ”

“ Even if Romania were to permit Bulgaria's forces to cross its territory in order to participate in Warsaw Pact training, it is probable that Bulgaria's role in a future European war would be limited to southeastern Europe, an area that would be of less immediate concern at the outset of a war between the Warsaw Pact members and NATO. In any event, air and sea transport is in limited supply and is not used for the delivery of large numbers of Bulgarian troops to exercises in an area where they probably would not be employed. ”

“ She suddenly on July 10 began an invasion of Bulgaria from the north, and by the end of the month her cavalry screens were within twenty miles of the Bulgarian capital. The Turks, too, had recrossed the frontier and were once more in possession of Adrianople, which the small Bulgarian garrison surrendered without resistance. Literally the armies of all her neighbors were invading Bulgaria. Further resistance was useless. On July 31, after just one month of fighting, an armistice was signed, and representatives from all the belligerents met in Bucharest to negotiate terms of peace. ”