As the war drags on, the Bulgarian government tightens its grip on power. Meanwhile, the Macedonian front becomes active again as the Central Powers attempt to take advantage of the confusing situation in Greece. But even with these successes the prospect of new Balkan states entering the war looms large over everything...

Major Characters in this Episode:

Tsar Ferdinand

King Constantine

General Zhekov

Field Marshal Von Falkenhayn

Prime Minister Venizelos

Naum Tyufekchiev

Todor Alexandrov

Timeline for this episode:

• 1916, Feb 25th - Naum Tyufekchiev is assassinated in Sofia by the VMRO.

• 1916, Mar 24th - 150k leva is allocated by the National Assembly to support refugees.

• 1916, Apr 1st - Most of Kosovo is given to Bulgaria by Austria-Hungary. (Malcolm 261)

• 1916, Apr 1/14th - Bulgaria officially switches from the Julian to Gregorian calendars.

• 1916, Apr - Entente planes drop anti-war fliers over Sofia.

• Spring of 1916, Agrarian deputies are prosecuted, the party becomes largely ineffective (Bell 121)

• 1916, May 26th - Bulgarian forces take the Rupel gorge of the Struma valley as a part of a preliminary agreement with Greece.

• 1916, May 31st/June 1st - The Battle of Jutland

• 1916, Jun 4th - The Brusilov offensive begins on the Eastern Front.

• 1916, Jul 1st - The Battle of the Somme begins.

• 1916, Jul - Entente forces burn Bulgarian villages in northern Greece, depriving the Bulgarian army of good intelligence sources.

• 1916, Summer - Scientific expedition to Dobrudja

• 1916, Aug 9-18th - The First Battle of Dorian.

• 1916, Aug 17-22nd - The First Bulgarian Army begins an offensive, taking Lerin on Aug 17th, Kostur on the 22nd

• 1916, Aug 27th - Romania officially joins the war on the side of the Entente.

• 1916, Aug 30th - Venizelos and army officers launch a successful coup against the royalist government in Athens.

Sources used in this episode:

История на България в Дати by Vasil Katsunov, Plamen Mitev, Valeri Kolev, Evgenia Kalinova, and Iskra Baeva

The Balkans by Misha Glenny

Balkan Breakthrough by Richard C. Hall

The First World War by John Keegan

Kosovo: A Short History by Noel Malcolm