As yet more countries leap at the opportunity to extract territory from a Romanian state that can do little to stop them, the last true royal dictatorship in the Balkans falls. As a result, Bulgaria achieves a cherished national goal and begins to fracture the uneasy alliance between the Communists and government.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Tsar Boris III

Adolf Hitler

Prime Minister Bogdan Filov

King Carol of Romania

King Michael of Romanian

Timeline

• 1940, Jul 10th - The Battle of Britain begins.

• 1940, Jul 21st - The Baltic states become part of the Soviet Union after rigged parliamentary votes.

• 1940, Jul 26-27th - Hitler and Von Ribbentrop meet in Salzburg where they conclude that the Bulgarian and Romanian governments should begin negotiations over the return of Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria.

• 1940, Aug 2nd - Mass anti-Serbian commemorations of the Ilinden Uprising are held in Prilep, Skopje, Shtip, Bitola, Veles, and Kavaradci.

• 1940, Aug 6-17th - The Moscow Spartak football team visits Bulgaria and defeats the Bulgarian national team in two matches.

• 1940, Aug 30th - Germany and Italy force Romania to transfer half of Transylvania to Hungary in the Second Vienna Award.

• 1940, Aug - A Communist Macedonian Regional Party Conference is held to address past mistakes and determine the new path for the organization.

• 1940, Aug - Bulgarian Communists launch a propaganda campaign aimed at slowing Bulgaria’s drift towards the Germans and denouncing the government as a “fascist dictatorship.” The party is reprimanded by the USSR for this.

• 1940, Sep 6th - Romania King Carol II abdicates in favor of his son Michael. In the aftermath, Ion Antonescu begins establishing a “National Legionary” regime.

• 1940, Sep 7th - Craiova Agreement sees Romania give Southern Dobrudja back to Bulgaria under significant German and Soviet pressure. Bulgaria pays Romania for state properties in the territory and a population exchange occurs between Romanians in Southern Dobrudja and Bulgarians in Northern Dobrudja.

• 1940, Sep 11th - The Sofia football team “Slavia” visits Moscow.

Sources:

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

• Crown of Thorns by Stephane Groueff

• History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavich

• Bulgaria During the Second World War by Marshall E. Miller

• Bulgaria 1879-1946: The Challenge of Choice by Tatiana Kostadinova

• Yugoslav Communism and the Macedonian Question by Stephen E. Palmer Jr. and Robert R. King