With the defeat of Greece and Yugoslavia, Bulgaria seemingly achieves its national goals with little sacrifice on its part. Tsar Boris is hailed as Tsar Unifier, and even opposition politicians are overjoyed. But all this success hides a growing darkness...

Major Characters in this Episode:

Tsar Boris III

Adolf Hitler

Prime Minister Bogdan Filov

Foreign Minister Ivan Popov

Timeline

• 1941, Apr 6th - Germany, Italy, and Hungary invade Yugoslavia.

• 1941, Apr 6th - Germany invades Greece.

• 1941, Apr 6th - Yugoslav planes bomb the industrial districts of Sofia and Kyustendil. 8 are killed in Sofia and 67 in Kyustendil.

• 1941, Apr 6-27th - Operating out of Bulgarian territory, the German army defeats Yugoslavia and Greece, entering Belgrade on April 13th and Athens on the 27th. Italy occupies Debar, Struga, Resen, and Ohrid. Bulgaria sends official representatives to Thessaloniki and Kostur.

• 1941, Apr 8th - At the Galichki Han in Skopje, VMRO activists discuss the establishment of an independent Macedonia as a German protectorate. The next day, Stefan Stefanov and Vasil Hadzhikimov arrive from Sofia as the decision is made for Bulgaria to annex Macedonia.

• 1941, Apr 10th - An independent State of Croatia is established under the Ustaše and Ante Pavelić.

• 1941, Apr 12th - German troops enter Belgrade.

• 1941, Apr 12th - Tsar Boris and Hitler meet.

• 1941, Apr 13th - A Bulgarian Central Action Committee with its own newspaper is established in Skopje to manage the city. It appoints Spiro Kitinchev as mayor, removes the Serbian Metropolitan, and switches radio broadcasts to standard Bulgarian. Similar committees are established throughout Macedonia as Bulgaria begins setting up a more permanent administration.

• 1941, April 13th, 14th, and 15th - The British bomb Sofia, though there are no casualties.

• 1941, Apr 15th - Bulgaria breaks off diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia.

• 1941, Apr 17th - Yugoslavia surrenders to Axis forces.

• 1941, Apr 19th - Tsar Boris meets Hitler to discuss Yugoslavia and Macedonia.

• 1941, Apr 19th - The Bulgarian 5th army enters Vardar Macedonia.

• 1941, Apr 20th - The Bulgarian 2nd army enters Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia.

• 1941, Apr 21st - Greece surrenders to Axis forces.

Sources:

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

• Crown of Thorns by Stephane Groueff

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

• The Balkans by Misha Glenny

• History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavich

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