After 1935 King Boris succeeded in concentrating the whole state power in his hands and an open monarcho fascist dictatorship was established in the country. After the outbreak of the Second World War, which faced Bulgaria with the question "whereto?', serious debates broke out in the bourgeois camp which ended in the defeat of the faction in favour of Britain and France, and on March 1, 1941 the fascist government of Professor Bogdan Filov placed Bulgaria's signature under the Tripartite Pact. Hitler's troops used Bulgaria's territory to complete the occupation of Yugoslavia and to strike in the back the Greek Army which was fighting courageously against the Italian aggressors.

Historical experience, however, had taught even the Bulgarian fascist circles a lesson, and they tried to engage the country as little as possible in the military actions of their allies. It is impossible, however, to sell one's soul to the devil and to remain righteous. At first the Bulgarian troops occupied only the territories where the majority of the population was Bulgarian, territories within San Stefano Bulgaria. Gradually, under German pressure, they had to occupy parts of Greece and Serbia, in order to fight against the powerful resistance movement there. In December 1941 the Bulgarian government got officially involved in the war by declaring 'symbolic war' on Britain and the USA. Restrained by the proverbial attachment and gratitude of the Bulgarian people to Russia, however, the only thing that the fascist clique never dared to do was to send troops to the Eastern Front.

Bulgaro Soviet pact

Besides the pro-Western and profascist groups in the country which were fighting after the beginning of the war for dictating the country's foreign policy orientation, a third group became manifest, under the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party. This group was in favour of closeness with the Soviet Union and resolute resistance against the Nazi aggression. At the end of 1940 the communists succeeded in organizing a genuine popular movement in support of the Soviet proposal to sign a Bulgaro Soviet pact of friendship and mutual assistance. The government was showered with petitions, signed by tens of thousands of people, to accept the hand extended in friendship by the USSR. But it was afraid of taking such a step and rejected the proposal.

 This free site is ad-supported. Learn more
​