With war in Europe looming, leaders around the Balkans work to tighten their grip on power.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Tsar Boris III

Adolf Hitler

Hermann Göring

King Carol of Romania

Prince Regent Paul of Yugoslavia

Alexander Malinov

Toicho Mushanov

Timeline

• 1937 - Construction of Sofia’s airport begins (Terminal 1 will open in 1939)

• 1938, Jan - Court cases are held against the leaders of banned parties.

• 1938, Jan 25th - War Minister Hristo Lukov is promoted and transferred to the reserves, alongside being replaced as war minister.

• 1938, Feb 10th - King Carol of Romania takes dictatorial powers.

• 1938, Mar 2-13th - Trial against the right-Trotskyist bloc is held in Moscow. Krustyo Rakovski is sentenced to 20 years in prison.

• 1938, Mar - Elections are held under the new electoral law and without the participation of the banned parties. The ruling party gains 27% of the vote, the opposition 14%, and 58% for ‘unelected candidates.’ The new National Assembly has 93 pro-government members and 67 opposition members.

• 1938, Mar 12th - The first secret Bulgarian-German protocol for the supply of military equipment is signed. It is worth 30 million Marks over two years.

• 1938, Mar 12th - Anschluss of Austria into Germany.

• 1938, Mar 23rd - During an election speech against the government at the Modern Theater in Sofia, Alexander Malinov has a stroke and dies.

• 1938, Apr - Turkish police uncover a plot by Yugoslavia’s intelligence services to assassinate Ivan Mihailov, who is living in Istanbul in exile.

• 1938, Spring - Sofia University celebrates its 50th anniversary.

• 1938, May 22nd - Opening of the 24th National Assembly. The body quickly approves all of the decrees issued since the May 19th coup.

• 1938, May - The May Crisis further erodes western commitments to resist Germany and protect allies.

• 1938, Jun 8th - Despite opposition resistance, three of the five deputies with links to the Communists are ousted from the National Assembly.

• 1938, Jun 16th - A racist and nationalistic organization known as the “Bulgarian Horde” is founded by Dimitar Saslov.

• 1938, Jul 28th - Failed coup attempt against Metaxas in Greece.

• 1938, Jul 31st - Salonika Agreement signed between the Balkan states lifting the restrictions of the Treaty of Neuilly and eliminating the five kilometer demilitarized zone along the Thracian border from the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

• 1938, Aug 5th - Bulgaria obtains a 375 million franc loan from France.

• 1938, Aug-Sep - Tsar Boris III and Tsarina Ioanna tour Europe, visiting Italy, then Britain (spending time at Balmoral castle), Paris, Germany, then Yugoslavia. In Germany, Boris helps mediate the Munich agreement. On September 27th he meets with Prince Regent Paul in Bled.

• 1938, Sep 29th - Oct 1st - The second set of military maneuvers since the First World War are held north of Plovdiv and Pazardzhik.

• 1938, Sep 30th - The Munich Agreement sees Germany annex the Sudetenland.

• 1938, Oct 10th - General Yordan Peev, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Major Dimitar Stoyanov are shot in Sofia.

• 1938, Oct 12-14th - Visit by Wilhelm Funk, German Economy Minister, to Sofia in which an agreement is reached to export Bulgarian agricultural products and to import German industrial goods and military materiel.

• 1938, Oct 25th - The opposition in the National Assembly organizes a no confidence vote for two ministers, embarrassing the government.

• 1938, Nov 2nd - First Vienna Award

• 1938, Nov 9th - Kristallnacht sees a mass pogrom against Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues in Germany.

• 1938, Nov 14th - Prime Minister Kyoseivanov reforms his cabinet.

• 1938, Nov 30th - Mussolini demands France cede Tunisia, Nice, Corsica, and French Somaliland to Italy, worsening their relations.

• 1938, Nov 30th - Cornelius Codreanu, leader of the Iron Guard, is murdered on orders of King Carol of Romania.

• 1938, Dec 6th - France and Germany sign a non-aggression pact.

• 1938, Dec 11th - Elections in Yugoslavia.

• 1938, Dec 29th - Despite opposition, two MPs from the BZNS-Pladne Agrarian group are dismissed from the National Assembly.

• 1939, Feb 10th - A Bulgarian section of the Romanian National Front, having been established the previous month, obtains government approval for its inclusion. They promise loyalty to Romania and the rights of the country’s Bulgarian minority are promised.

• 1939, Feb - Germany opens the possibility of Bulgaria signing the Anti-Comintern Pact, but the cabinet makes it clear the government is not interested.

• 1939, Mar 12th - Anti-semites attack a concert of a Jewish conductor in Sofia.

Sources:

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

• The Rose of the Balkans by Ivan Ilchev

• Crown of Thorns by Stephane Groueff

• History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavich

• The Balkans by Misha Glenny