Why don't you do a movie for the WWI when Bulgaria had an army of 900 K and its battles that are being lectured around the world as examples ? 2 Things you missed here that are quit significant - Bulgaria is one of the few nations of the world that saved its jews from the camps, and they were requesting territories only populated with bulgarians, where bulgarians were the main population - Macedonia, Thrace and Southern Dobrudja. San Stefano's Act was based on the information from the Ottoman administration of where the bulgarians were situated.
@ knowledgia 5:47 That's not a ww2 era German flag. Would you explain is that a mistake ? Or my assumption is wrong ? I believe the Germans used a swastika flag then.
Germany in WW1(1917)= Yo bulgaria can you send us soldiers to join our officeve campain against russia? :) Bulgaria(1917) = na i don't really feel like it not my lands not my business! :/ Germany(1917)= Dick move bro :( Bulgaria(1918)=YO germany can you send us more soldeirs on the macedonia front,there kinda getting outnumbered here 1 to 7? :0 Germany(1918)= sure, ile send you exactly as manny soldiers you send to help us in 1918 against russia. :) Bulgaria(1918)=but we dident send you any? :0 Germany(1918)= that's right bitch! :D , we will send you some small supplies only. :) Bulgaira(1918)=imma do what you will in the future eventually call a pro ""french move"" :) Germany(1918)=What? :? I don't understand that reference? :/ Bulgaria(1918)=surrenders to the entente. Germany(1941)=Yo bulgaria we just stated operation barbarossa can you send some troops to help us out like romania and italy did? :) Bulgaria(1941)=No i dont think i will, here are some supplies you can use to kill the russians with :/ Germany(1941)= fine :( that is still better then what we got from you last time! :( Germany(1944)=Yo bulgaria things aren't kinda going good for us against the russians, can you finally send some soldiers and help pls? :( Bulgaria(1944)= O fine :/. ile send you exactly as manny soldiers you send to help us in 1918 on the macedonian front. :) Germany(1944)=but we dident send you any? :0 Bulgaria(1944)=that that's right bitch! :D Germany(1944)= a not this shit again :/ even the italians are better allies them you even if they just betrayed us :( Bulgaria(1944)= yea about that. imma do what you can call a "'pro Italian"" move :) Germany(1944)=What? O no don't even dare to!!!!!!! Bulgaria(1944)=switches sides! joins the soviet union.
well that was dumb of him , a bulgarian medium - oracle , that predicted a lot of things , like 9-11 (she died 15 years before that) , told him the date of his death , so if I was him , I wouldn`t have drinked or ate anything that day.
They gave us back South Dobrudzha which was a tad more important culturally and economically than the volatile region of Macedonia which is disputed by every fucking country on the Balkan peninsula.
@@luxembourgishempire2826 yeah dude, but remember that the Italian Social Republic was entirely controlled by germans, and Italians who opposed them (almost all Italians) ended often badly
No. Hungary doesnt want to switch side. We wanted to make peace both allies and Germany and leave the war. at that time our millitary was destroyed because of the fight in the Don river.
Fun fact: during WW1, Bulgaria had mobilised the largest percentage of its population, having a larger army than the US in late 1918, while having the best win-loss ratio in the central powers, definitely a powerful player in the balkans If considering cost effectiveness
@zxc zxcv about what? I certainly find the topic of Bulgarian history and militarism to be the most interesting of all the Balkan nations, compared to US it’s equivalently thrilling to my comprehensive mind. So who doesn’t care about what?
@Янко Янков Bulgaria by the end of 1918 Bulgaria had mobilised between 1,000,000 and 1,100,000 troops, US had by the end of 1918 mobilised somewhere around 4,100,000 troops, Bulgaria had a small army but a larger percentage of its total population was mobilised, about 12.5% of it. I’m not Bulgarian though, British actually, I just find the political landscape of 1900-1950s balkans quite interesting, especially Bulgarian history and culture.
@Янко Янков Bulgaria has always been a nation that gets forgotten, but it has/had the most interesting history in Southeastern Europe, and impressive military feats
of all the countries involved in ww2, bulgaria was without doubt the smartest one whatsoever without any competition. Had it acted completely in favor of either the red army or the axis, it would have been destroyed a thousand times over thanks to its unique geographical location.
As a Romanian I fully recognize Bulgaria's claims on Southern Dobrujda. What happened during the Second Balkan War was simply not fair. Greetings and support to our southern neighbous and friends!
You invade, you defeat the opponent, you have right to the land. Or have especially you, a Romanian forgotten this simple fact? There's no fair or unfair. It has always been, that the stronger or the cunning take, the weak or the dumb loose. There's no "right" in saying such foolish things, unless you can prove it with, well... an army. Lick the wounds and move on. THAT'S A FAIR FACT!
King Boris, whom my great-grandfather was friends with, did his best to save Bulgaria from both nazis and communists and he did a great job. He was a great diplomat and we can only dream of what he would've managed to negotiate for our nation had he lived to see the end of the war.
@@BBNix You dimwit ... Bulgaria occupied Bulgarian territories with Bulgarian populations. What are you on about? Macedonia received 25% of the Bulgarian annual GDP in development capital between 1941 and 1944. Many of the schools, hospitals, and roads in Macedonia were built by the Tzardom of Bulgaria. What an idiot!!!
i recall somebody mentioning that when he came back from the last talks with Hitler he said "I saved you" (meaning bulgarians) "but I will pay for it". He was dead in a few days.
This is true, Bulgaria lost World War 1, the army was reduced, the economy was in shambles, it is mentioned in the video, the country was unable to defend itself. The idea of tsar Boris was actually a great one, if he declared war on Germany, Bulgaria would have been crashed most likely like Yugoslavia was, which would have resulted in terrible casualties. He indeed had no choice.
Then why the fuck did they murdered entire villages in Macedonia and yougoslavia while their soldiers proved to be worse than the Germans in terms of violence?
@@soktayridis5044 Because these are the Balkans, this was done to Bulgarian villages before by Yugoslavia and Greece, and vice versa. Its as simple as that.
Boris had learned from the Balkan wars remarkably well. I don't think anyone could've done better under the circumstances. Even with the benefit of hindsight it would be unlikely.
@@grundgesetzart.1463 Refering to him as Boris doesn't mean I refer to him as a friend in any way and it is not accepted nor grammatically correct to ask "what please" for clarification. So please stop offering wrong and unsolicited advice, especially in English grammar.
Well for a country with almost 1400 years of history, it's a miracle Bulgaria still exists, just look at all the kingdoms, states and peoples Europe has lost over the centuries.
What a dumbass statement, they still exist but under his cultural brethren in a bigger nation, like France, Germany, Spain or Italy, you dont nees to be independent to exist.
@@mariano98ify True alot of anicient people have been assimilated into other cultures even if remnants remain. Not all cultures died ofcourse some survived and thrived but for example the goths and avars i would argue have gone extinct.
It's not that unusual. Slovakian people didn't have an independent state for over a thousand years yet Slovakia still exists today. Latvia, Estonia- small nations that have never had an independent state before XXth century (if I'm not mistaken), also exist. Bulgarians were too numerous and too different from the neighbouring powers to assimilate. Also the hilly nature of the country prevents quick assimilation. And the Bulgarian lands were fought over by many foreign powers which prevented one from consolidating their rule and assimilating its people like for example Russia did with many smaller ethnicities because these areas were too isolated and insignificant to have their independence supported by Russian enemies in any meaningful way.
They did, and they deny the war crimes that their unsupervised drunk soldiers inflicted. Not to mention the 100 death camps that were made just to kill the Bulgarian elite and people with political views.
I think the beauty of Bulgaria's story is that the monarchy was beloved enough that the last Tsar, Simeon II, was democraticly elected prime minister from 2001 to 2005.
Yeah and that fucked us over big time. People belived that he would actually try to do something for the people and the country as a whole. Instead of that his government was corrupt as hell, he took state own properties like large chunks of land, woods, real estate as his personal propperty, because it was supposedly personal propperty of his late father - once monarch Boris III. All this despite that those lands and real estates were once owned by the state and given to the tsar and his family in order to make them a royal house not only in name but in appearance also so that they can stand tall with the monarchs in Western Europe. Then he sold them, cashed the money and moved it out of the country as fast as he could before his term was out. So Simeon is mostly considered an asswhole in our country and if something he tarnished the memory of his father who was mostly considered at least a man who kept his word, but belive me he was not universally loved - the huge antiroyalist/antigovernment partisan movement in the 30s in Bulgaria is a testament to that and the various governments also were at a state of a cold war with the tsar. Our monarchy was no different than any other. The monarch most of all wanted personal power for himself and cared little for his subjects if it suited his goals.
@@borntobea2938 weird, some of your countrymen said that but he argued Simeon was the least "bad" because he just take his old land family and later he get out of there, in comparison with later and previous governments, more corrupts and useless.
@@borntobea2938 wow that really sucks. I did hear a little bit about it, but as i read it, it was still presented as a mixed bag because he succesfully helped Bulgaria join NATO and the EU. But this indeed sounds like he was just insanely greedy and tried to get as much profit out of his firmer kingdom before his term was up.
Boris was loved because as mentioned in the videos we gained lands without firing a shot, also Bulgaria got out of WW2 relatively easy. First of the Bulgarian Jews were never deported and survived, the cities were spared from fighting (Except the bombardment of Sofia) and the losses during the war are relatively small compared to the other countries in the region. If Boris decided to resist the Germans, Bulgaria might have followed Yugoslavia's faith during the war and lose a huge percentage of the population.
You failed to mention the most important part of Bulgaria and the Axis powers. It was the only Axis-Allied country which saved all of its Jewish population. 55 000 souls were saved from the deathcamps. No Bulgarian citizens of Jewish descent were deported. 14 000 were deported because they were from the recently annexed territories because they simply didn't have a Bulgarian passport thus the government had no power to stop the Germans from deporting them. Even so it remains the only country in the world at the time in which the people had protests against the deportations, the Christian Orthodox Clergy defended the Jews - and the efforts of men like Dimitar Peshev and King Boris finally paid off... But Boris paid with his life for it...
@@Δούρειος_96 It's... unclear. Officially there is no proof that he was poisoned, though there are serious doubts that he indeed was. And there are various theories about who did it - the most popular one is that he was poisoned by Hitler, because of Boris' refusal to deport the Bulgarian Jews and to send the Bulgarian army to fight; though there are other theories that he was poisoned by the Soviets or even the Brits. Nobody really knows, especially since the commies destroyed his grave soon after.
@@Δούρειος_96 That's what was said officially when he died. Since then a lot of evidence has come up - A German doctor who examined him posthumously said it was poison, so did an Austrian one. First they said it was the British, then the USSR, then Hitler. Boris did die a week after meeting Hitler to stall once again sending troops to the eastern front and deporting the Jews. Just two days before he died he actually went hiking and climbed the tallest mountain in Bulgaria. His medical examination from earlier the month said he was a picture of health. Whatever happened in my eyes wasn't a natural death.
what?:D you know in 1944 when bulgaria join the soviat army(200000 soldeirs) we were kinda killing eathother in Yugoslavia + hungary at Drava :D.(just in case you dont know there were romanian units soldiers in those German divsions the bulgarians were fighting agaist=At Yugoslavia all the way to hungary.
@@herfkdkkdldjjd5315 if you are forced to be an ally of someone, you are not allies. And if you are talking about South Dobruja, that was given to Bulgaria before it joined the war
My grandfather was a 23 year old kosovar albanian from south serbia (which is in Medvedja and not part of kosovo state) which partially was under Bulgarian presence and rule during ww2. Around goljak region. When the bulgarians were leaving serbia because war was lost etc he saved an escaping young bulgarian soldier. She had lost her way and was in the mountais around Medveda municipality. He Took her for a couple of days at his home and hide her from serb partisans. Then he helped her escape from that region. He said to me 10 years ago 1 year before dying that he loved that girl she was so strong and beautiful and at the same time soo tired (heavy equipment). He talked about her for years (even if he was married) until he died at 91 y old.
@@danielstoyanov1833 in 1944 I guess that's the year tha woman was a bulgarian soldier. A woman...maybe there were others.. of course a very small number 99%+ were males at that time. Just checked there were 4200 women that volountered. And 800 of them saw combat.. yeah that's an interesting fact for your country
@ I never said losing a war means your nation vanishes, I meant I'm impressed by how well Bulgaria has held on after losing 2 huge wars, too bad our politicians are slowly but surely killing the country, but hey thats capitalism for small countries
losing a war dosent kill a nation :D or a contory(at least in my ppl case) its the politics and diplomacy afther it that get that job done. let me give you a easy example= afther WW1 in 1919 treaty of neuilly. on the greeks side Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos (www.google.bg/search?q=Eleftherios+Venizelos&hl=bg&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiepJyK voAhUCmVwKHflpBfoQ_AUoAXoECCMQAw&biw=1280&bih=647#imgrc=4a5lepuDuxSlQM) this evil son of a. that hates bulgarians guts a lot :D(im not even joking when i say you can made a top 10 list of ppl ho hate bulgarians and he gets at least top 3 :D place). demended in that treaty that Bulgaria needs to be capitulated. The territories should be distributed among its neighbors. Because Bulgarians are a sinful nation and do not deserve to exist .(just in case you dont to get it , it means the destruction of a nation + the eventual cultural and identical genocide of bulgarians, sense they will be will be assimilated in time from the other countries,(that is veary well documanted in that treaty, even its comfirmed by the americans :D ile tell you why) that im sure that the greeks dont teach in there kids they wanted to genocide my ppl :D and ofc they dont but bulgarians remember) and most(almost all) countries that were a part of that treaty were ok with it(like britain and the france) and some even supported it(like obv :D yugoslavia,romania,) the russians werent in there sense britain and france did not let them be a part of the treaty :D witch is lucky for us(bulgarians). lucky why? you ask well they hated us too said that bulgaria is a traitor to the slavic nations and dident deserve to exist as a slavic one(its safe to say they wodeve supported that plan too :D). bulgarians at that point there were done dude. RIP but we got saved just by 1 guy. the only one ho defended the bulgarians case in that argument. the american president woodrow wilson= en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson. this guy disagrees with that course of action. and agries the case that no nation deserves to be destroyed and wiped out of existence . in his words "I would rather leave the conference and Paris than agree and participate in the destruction of a nation and country with ancient and centuries-old traditions and culture"". he alone defened the bulgarians. and at that point british and the french didn't like his opinion or respected it :D. but america was ofc the nuber 1 strongest economy after the war. and them liking it or not had to comply with its choices and put up with them. and the bulgarians dodged a bullet in that treaty :D. thx to Woodrow Wilson :) he is one of the rare americans that helps bulgarians(my fav one J. A. MacGahan :). by the way my point is that diplomates like Venizelos can end a nation not by war but a pussy trick diplomacy.
They were extremely lucky, because they didn't pay for their committed war crimes. They deserved to loose land because they were opportunistic, chauvinistic, imperialistic and expansionistic. But ok the penalty came afterwards with the communism..
Tsar Boris was known as the last ruler the common Bulgarian people loved and respected. I think Mel Gibson was interested in making a movie about him. Hope it happens one day.
Mel Gibson was interested about making a film about Tsar Kaloyan. It's Ted Kotcheff,the director of the first Rambo, that wants to make movie about Boris III. He personaly told me that when i meet him on the airport of Sofia by luck,back in 2018.
It is risky to comment on Balkan history online without getting attacked by other Balkan and Turkish keyboard jockeys but I had been pondering about Bulgaria recently. Despite being a bitter enemy of Greece for many years with many wars and killings, starting with the end of WW2 and especially after getting rid of the Soviet noose Bulgaria has been nothing but stable and non threatening to Greece. In fact it is currently the friendliest neighbouring country. Welcome to the EU and may we be such good friends forever. 🇬🇷🇧🇬
That is true, bulgarians don't mind it that much there is so much shit in everyday life that we seek joy but on historical perspective after I have read in both histories you trully did some shady shit before WW2 still I don't mind it but I want at least people to know about it. In Bulgaria we have a very popular novel which we study in last year in high school of an author from Bulgarian and in part of depicted the occupation of Greece and the people then. We know what and why was done, I don't like ignorance. So I try to be friendly with as much people as I can.
@@strahinjadamnjanovic3553 If you had simply done your research you'd known that those lands were indeed rightfully bulgarian. Even the Turks could not deny that and they hate our guts, your disgusting acts of forceful serbification committted many atrocities and untill this day our brethren in Macedonia refuse to call themselves bulgarian, because they have been brainwashed, they were literally sentenced to death unless they stated that they were Macedonians, the situation in Greece was no different, I'll quote a greek polititian of bulgarian decend, when he was asked why he ran for the Macedonian party in the Greek government he said "Brother, being a Macedonian in Greece is a sin, but being a Bulgarian is a crime". To this day still the bulgarians living in Northern Greece are being oppressed, they are not allowed to speak their native language and were forced to change their names to greek ones, but they are good people and if you go there you could speak in bulgarian with them, their dialect is rather heavy but is every bit as beautiful as the actual language itself. To conclude my unnecessary long rambling, you my serbian friend, are mentally challenged.
@@CodeineTuttiFrutti bro, you dont have to lie so much, when you invaded Greece with Germany in Ww2, you obliterated under death penalty to the Greeks people living there to speak Bulgarian.
@@mariano98ify We did what? There are 300 000 ethnic bulgarians living in Northern Greece, these people, formed the so-called volunteer regiments in which every village provided men so that they could deffend themselves from the greeks, some really brave men were executed simply because they wanted to protect their homes and loved ones. We are no saints, that is true and war crimes should never be tolerated, but you saying that we forced these people to speak bulgarian, is one of the most absurd lies i've ever heard, how on Earth are you supposed to force someone to speak a language he has never even heard? Do you just forcefull teach these people to speak it? the occupation itself only lasted for about 3 years, are you telling me that we forced 300 000 people to learn one of the hardest languages on this god damn planet just like that? You sir, are out of your God damn mind. С нами бога! Сърбе на върбе!
"On paper it was a constitutional monarchy, but in reality it was a _dictatorship_ since the *_king_** had all the power* " So it was just a _normal_ *monarchy* then?? xD
Boris III was like: I'm sick of your shit. And honestly, he was beloved. So even if it was technically a dictatorship, it had the consent of the people
You don't understand. At first the king didn't do shit just like any king in a constitutional monarchy, most power is in hands of Parliament and Government, the king has only has to do diplomatic roles and signing documents (but can always be overruled). A king in that same monarchy has no real power whatsoever just like nowadays in Belgium and the Netherlands for example, except Belgium has a special type of monarchy special for its peoples. Anyway, this tsaar took over just right before a coup, which is in fact actually legal in any constitutional monarchy, BUT only IF the constitution is in danger. But the king has to give back the power to the constitution after avoiding the coup. Not sure if the tsaar his intention was to keep power, but the country at that time was for sure in a precarious situation.
Please make more about Bulgarian history, we are nation more than 1300 years with a lot of battles, wins and falls and i think it will be very interesting. Thank you for what you've done...
@Georgi Pountchev , let's say that Bulgaria could not resist to German "pressure" about passing over in 1941, to "accept" as a gift the greek Thrace and Macedonia was also a result of the German pressure?? Don't think so....
@@rafailpeikos2070 well I like Greece, greek culture and food, I have greek friends, I would not hold anyone living today accountable for what happened 100 years ago, but to be fair to the historical facts Thrace and Macedonia became greek, only after Greece has done some serous ethnical cleansing there after WW1.
@Georgi Pountchev Yugoslavia and Greece also had the opportunity to join the Nazis but did not join. You Bulgarians joined the Nazis only because of the desire to regain the lost territories from the past wars, and innocent people were killed and tortured by you only to return those same lost territories.
@Georgi Pountchev You saved only your Bulgarian Jews, and what was required of the Macedonian Jews to be sent to the Treblinka camp, you could have saved them if you had given Bulgarian passports but did not want to. And just to know that there were no ethnic Bulgarians in those territories, you only had a desire for more territory and the realization of the San Stefano Agreement.
Germany : Hey Bulgaria can you help me ? Bulgaria : Well Yes but actually no Edit : Wow thanks guys for the 500 likes ! :D ( and I know it's a overuse meme )
It was a dictatorship because there was still a government although appointed by Boris III and the constitution wasn't changed. Also it wasn't said that it is permanent. It was a move proceed actually because of number of political parties that tried to install a dictatorship and destabilised the country.
Soviets reached the Bulgarian border on the 5th of September 1944, at that time Bulgaria was already fighting against Germany, but three days later, the Soviets declared war on them as well. The Bulgarian military was ordered not to shoot at Russian soldiers and on 9th of September communist party officially took power, allying Bulgaria to the Soviet Union. So at some point Bulgaria was literally at war with the whole world
From all my heart I thank you for making this video. This has to be the warmest and most friendly comment-section I've ever laid eyes upon. Salutations from Bulgaria!
Bulgaria was among the stronger small countries in WW1 and played an important role, holding the front at Doyran on its own against half the world. In WW2 its power was limited because of many factors, most of them discussed in the video. Its role wasn't significant and it didn't meant to be. Bulgaria was looking for its dreamed national unification since the territories of Bulgarian Exarchate were confirmed by the Ottoman Sultan back in 1870. As long as politicians were true and patriotic, Bulgaria will always choose the side which can give it its unification. Sadly, after each war against unmanageable odds the territory is cut once again. Sad historic fate...
Bulgaria lost from SERBIA in 1913 1918 and by Serbian alies in 1944,whole history of modern bulgaria is based on backstabing Serbia like in 1913(Bulgaria lost) 1915(Bulagaria lost) 1941( Bulgaria lost)
I wouldn't venture to say Bulgaria's role was that important. Bulgaria may have been key player regionally, but WWI was decided at the Western Front. Realistically speaking, the Ottoman Empire was the most influential country around here, because they fended off the British at Gallipoli and fought Russia in the Caucasus; then there was the Armenian genocide...
@@dazzlebreak4458 Bulgaria in WW1 singlehandedly destroyed Serbia, Greece and Romania. Battle of Doiran : 30 000 Bulgarians vs 330 000 Serbian, Greek, French and British troops. Guess who won in melee? Not in a shootout, in melee!!!!!!!!
@@LiKeThEsHaDoW Bulgaria may have did great in millitaristic sense, but it did not matter very much in the end because the Central Powers lost. And WWI was not that much about melee, but about artilery barrages, flamethrowers, mustard gas, logistics and being able to support yourself financially during the war.
@@serbisch-orthodoxercetnik6366 lol Your king said he`ll e dining in Sofia in three days. And it was Austria-Hungary that actually saved you from further humiliation after you were already retreating into your territory. lol I feel for you bro.
Bulgaria : stay afk during the war Soviets after the war: we are gonna help to rebuild Bulgaria Bulgaria: I’m not broken I didn’t even fight the war Soviets : Yes you are now come get your communism.
Wrong. In fact in this case Bulgaria was in war alone against the entire world. American's and Britain's plains actually destroyed Sofia but Bulgaria refused to capitulate.. And many troupes was lost in Hungary. Won back small teritory at too high price after losing 1/3 without any fight.
Unlike most other European countries, the memory of World War II plays a much smaller role in Bulgarian history than World War I. I visited the National Museum of Military History in Sofia (highly recommended) and WWI had an entire floor compared to a room for WWII.
From NZ. A country that joined both world wars a million years before you did while while you were determined to stay out. A country that supported you in Korea and even fucking Nam. A country that sent troops to the real Gulf war and even Afghanistan. Good enough for you?
It is really hard to say that Russia was any kind of an alley after 1878 for Bulgaria. After the Unification with Eastern Rumelia in 1885 Russia provoked Serbia to attack Sofia which resulted in the Serbian-Bulgarian war that Bulgaria won. Afterwards there was an attempted coup which made Knyaz Aleksandar to leave. Then in WW1 Russia attacked Dobrudzha and Varna.
@@simonsimonovic4478, and what did the Austro-Hungarians said to stop our army on the way to Belgrade? "Stop here and go back to your borders or you'll face both Austro-Hungarian and Russian troops against you". Then the russians were very angry about that. Russian Empire helped Romania to invade us in 1913. Without this our army had good chances against both Serbia and Greece. Russia isn't a friend of Bulgaria since 1878 till this day.
@@simonsimonovic4478, stabbed a knife in back? Our relations with Serbia ended up in 1885. Russia never wanted to create Greater Bulgaria. It's not possible to work for Greater Serbia and Greater Bulgaria in the same time.
@@simonsimonovic4478, do you even know if San Stefano have been real pact or no? The fate of my country have been decided in Berlin, not San Stefano. San Stefano map was build by international commission on the roots of our church. Read some Ottoman documents from that time and you'll see that SERBS are not living in Macedonia. Bulgaria had big majorities in Pirot and Nis. There are thousands of Ethnic maps made by other countries, not Bulgaria. I'm not surprised that in Serbian schools and universities you're reading the documents like you want. At least the majority of Serbs are not happy with the war from 1885 but indeed this war broke our good relations as people, unfortunately.
@@MrVibriocholerae im fully aware of the balkan wars including the conflicts between Greece and Bulgaria, it still doesn't stop me from liking a country , especially one i have personally been to
@@ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣΖΑΧΑΡΑΚΟΣ you are free to like whatever you want, and that freedom was granted to you by your great grandfathers spilled blood when fighting those bas****s in Macedonia.
The older I get the curiosity in me grows for the forgotten history of our ancestors. It's really fascinating stuff I never showed any interest back in school so I have much to catch up on. I have developed an appreciation and love for my country. And I love all the love people are showing towards Bulgaria thank you all and likewise towards you.
This part of the world has had a turbulent past. But, today, Bulgaria is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination. The cities like Varna, Stara Zagora and Sofia are beautiful. Although still having some economic issues, her economy is slowly getting better and better. While driving in Stara Zagora, I saw a lot of nice Mercedes and BMW cars as well as a nice red Ferrari. So, people are becoming more affluent there. Yes, the past was sad and bad things were done to Bulgaria, but such is the case for Hungary, Romania, Poland... Name the country and it has had bad things happen to it and it's people. All I know is that today, countries like Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are really beautiful and have a good standard of living. I live in the USA now and believe me, you are safer in any major Bulgarian city then in any major American city with respect to violent crime. You are about 30 times more likely to be assaulted or raped in NY City then in a city like Stara Zagora or Varna.
mercedes and BMV are signs of prosperity>? somalia is full of western cars and the people live in tents... bulgaria is far from a modern country... toyrism is cheap for us and for many countries.. many bulgarians live ion germany .. prosperity? no way.. just survive
@@peaceloved8218 Yeah but it was not founded as Plovdiv ...right ? And definetely not by Bulgarians ...i visited it many times and did not find much of old Bulgarian culture to see...i saw Roman ruins , Greek ruins, even a muslim ottoman mosque oh and i saw the old city which was full of Greek merchant houses since it was an important trade city for the Byzantine empire... actually i always wondered why did you had to change the name ?
As a Bulgarian I can tell you that in Bulgaria we have a very very bad economy. We have stupid politics. We have very very very dirty air, the dirtiest air in whole Europe . And very dirty water.
@@realsmithas2759 durty water? idk the beaches looked crystal clear to me it was amazing i and feeled save. Its much saver then Germany i can tell you that
I want to point out that "Greater Bulgaria" is just bunch of territories where Bulgarians / Bulgarian ethnicity was (and in some still is ) the major one . among the people, the actions of Bulgaria are perceived as liberation rather than occupation / annexation
@@simonsimonovic4478 Man, I encourage you to check other sources, not dependant on serbian propaganda. Knowledge is power! That is how we will progress. Поздрави, братко!
@Pesho Goshevski Timeline is what matters. If some Asian people came to live among us Slavs/Serbs it doesn't suddenly make everything your land. So Macedonia was never "Bulgarian" land but some land that Bulgars conquered from others in the past. It makes a lot of fkin difference so you are the one who should get lost with your fake great Bulgarian propaganda.
@Thorne in a nutshell, Bulgaria joined the central powers because Serbia, Greece and Romania occupied ethnic Bulgarian lands during the Second Balkan War.
The tsar of Bulgaria, Boris III (1918-1943) died unexpectedly after returning from a visit to Germany. His son, Simeon II (1943-1946) succeeded him, but he was only a child then. As the war ended he was deposed by communists and forced into exile. After the collapse of the Soviet block, he returned and from 2001 to 2005 he served as prime minister. He is still alive today.
8:51 One of the few technical mistakes in the video. Bulgaria declared war on Germany shortly *before* the red army entered the country and before the communist coup
I see how taking sides in the conflict would've been absolutely devastating. They played it smart and catered to both sides to not get annexed. I like how the allies were the least threatening to them so they had no problem declaring war on them.
ÖLÜMSÜZ HAYAT BUGÜN YOKSUN YARIN VARSIN maybe you should quit being so ignorant and realising the fact above %5 of the bulgarian population is turkmens
Stop being racist, pretending you know them, and estimating “approximately” %99.9 of the bulgarian are anti turkish. I am suprised in how ignorant and fascist that my own nation be. Go get some education, or so help me by stopping your Ultra-Nationalism.
The Treaty of Berlin assigned to the Principality of Bulgaria the same status of a tributary state to the Ottomans as did the Treaty of San Stefano and by 1937 thanks to the secret military use of its compulsory labour service and following the Versaille-defying example of Germany post-WW1 Bulgaria had managed to restore much of its former military strength.
We lost many territories, many lives, so that today would come, so that we would be here and call ourselves Bulgarians in our native Bulgaria. It is time for all of the Balkans and Europe to swallow the pain, the fatigue of wars, to swallow the hatred and to live in a better Balkan peninsula and continent - Europe. Hatred has brought us to be poor, to be evil, is that what we want? Is this what we want to teach our children? We live in a new century, new trials, let's hug and move forward and help each other!
I agree with you if you publicly say/write and respect Macedonians in Makedonia- to be what they are, proud nation with own history, culture and language- recognised in UN!!!
Henry_BG i am from phillippines and i just want to learn history because they are entertaining and no i dont work and no one will ask me what the role of bulgaria is in ww2 Well except for my history teacher
Bulgaria was actualy a empire,reconized by the Eastern Roman Empire. Also it was mutch more masive during the time of Attila Dulo(the so called hunic empire and Old Great Bulgaria are the same thing) when it's borders strech from Rhein to Asia,posibly reaching Ohkots sea(Pacific ocean). Thanks for the respects,if you are romanian.
Very accurate video. Tsar Boris was in the trenches in WW1 and from then he don’t to send any Bulgarian on a war again. I’m very impress how he resisted to hitler so many years to help him with troops. It is really interesting person.
Darling,now bg DNK(DNA)is like croatians and madzarians,i have historian spesiality from university and know why this is true! We are proudy with this.Greetings from Varna-Elena.BG
@@Knowledgia Surely at editing levels, you're one of the best ones around. Maps like those make people understand things better than a guy speaking on a camera.
Forgot to mention how eager were Bulgarian legislators to enact antisemitic laws during the war, how thousands of Jews in Bulgaria were not deported to concentration camps, and how thousands of Jews from the Bulgarian occupied territories were.
To say it simply: Ottomans ruled over bulgarians for circa 500 years. Russia wanted to have control over the Balkans because of the seas. Russia helped Greece and Serbia to gain independance, then helped Bulgaria. The first treaty(from Sanstefano) stated that Bulgaria's territory shall be as shown in the video(very large and covering all the lands occupied mainly by bulgarian people). The Western powers (France, UK) did not allow that because this would have made Bulgaria the largest country in the Balkans and a big force prone to russian influence. So they vastly reduced Bulgaria's territory. This caused the bulgarian people to set as a main goal the union of all bulgarian people under one territory. Bulgaria and the other Balkan countries fought the Ottomans in the First Balkan war. Bulgaria's leadership focused on the Ottomans and the outcome of the war and "forgot" to negotiate the future partition of land between the "allies". That lead to the emotional, premature and unexpected Second Balkan war that Bulgaria lost. Failing to achieve the goal Bulgaria tried again in the WW1 again deciding mainly not to join the same side like her neighbours because their interests were different. In the WW 2, Bulgarian leadership showed masterclass of politics maneuvering from side to side, thus being able to prevent occupation of the country, mass casulties, saved the jewish people on her territory and on top of that gained some land.
Here in the United States many unpleasant actions my country did is heavily glossed over. Many countries try to avoid teaching kids about the bad things they did. Japan, Germany and Italy gloss over WW2. The United States glosses over the imperialism it engaged in. This included the Spanish American War
The Kingdom of Hungary should have followed the Bulgarian example in WW 2. It appears we had very similar Complaints concerning the loss of historical territories after WW 1.
@@johniewalker4356 That monarchy sided with germans until September 1944 and killed a lot of local people and send more than 10000 Jews to extermination, the army wore nazi symbols and they saluted like nazi. Then they switched sides when germans started loosing the war. There is a lot of evidence.
@@tonidabic3918 So you admit that they weren't fascist? Also the deported didn't have Bulgarian citizenship so the Tsar had limited say over them in front of Hitler. He saved far more than any other nation.
@@tonidabic3918 also if you are Macedonian please read this. I know you'll probably reject it, but try to look from the other side of the Yugoslav fence between the two countries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_in_Yugoslav_Macedonia
Great video! If you ever plan on doing other videos about Bulgaria i would suggest the begining of the country when it compeats with the Byzantine empire on the balkans there were some interesting battles
Thanks for the video! I was really suprised that you were able to expalin a lot of the details this precise, because of the contreversy surrounding this subject.
4:04 take this from a Bulgarian: most of us view the russians not just as friends but as family. That's why we didn't want to go fight the Soviets. Here's an anecdote my grandfather told me about it: When Hitler asked Tsar Boris III to send troops to the eastern front he declined saying "If I send men against the Soviets, there will be no fighting. The two armies would throw down their arms and embrace each other as brothers." The Tsar mysteriously died of poisoning after returning home from his trip to Germany.
@@mihailchehlarov2720 I'm speaking for myself and most of the people I've discussed this subject with. If you disagree, you're out of the "most of us" category. Simple as that.
@@Mikeywikeybombikey You said most of us in the context of all Bulgarians which is not true. I really don't care about your commie friends and family. We are NATO and EU members and the majority of the country supports it. Deal with it.
Blatant lie. The majority of the parties in parliament as of now are western oriented, and that's how it will remain. Russians aren't brothers, and they never have done anything good for our nation. Only chasing their interests and using our geographic location to gain influence in Constantinople, with the hopes of controlling it.
fully agree... what wassaid in the video that under Tzar Boris III, in BG was a dictatorship, is total bullshit. In that case, Spain, UK Netherland, DK and other monarchies in EU are dicatatorships as well :)
Bulgarian occupation of Greece (Eastern Makedonia and Trace) was harder than the Nazi occupation of other parts of Greece. Greeks left E. Makedonia an dTrace and went to the parts of Greece which were occupied by the Nazis to save their lives and their families' lives.
And you Greeks to recognise Aegean Makedonians in North Greece, who are the ancestor nation with its culture, folkloric song/dances tradition, original national names of the villages and the towns and to excuse for the genocide against Macedonians, when after the WW2 with support of Churchill you trow the first napalm bombs against Macedonians and their land and houses that still are part of North Greece?! But, in fact, are lands of Aegean Makedonians. Your military fascist Metaxa regim that is not changed at all- killed Macedonians, expelled their families, children and mothers from their homes and were pushed to find refuge in Tito's Yugoslavia/Makedonija!!! -If you are human and honest you should excuse to Macedonians for that pogrom!!!
Those Greeks who left these territories were living there for less than 20 years, right? They were shipped directly from Anatolia after the Greco-Turkish war. Probably many of them lived in Bulgarian houses. Leaving was smart move.
I wish there were more movies, books, GAMES focusing on the smaller and less popular countries during the WWII which played a huge role in it.. like Bulgaria, Poland, Serbia, Romania and many others...
For those, who don't know, the ruling dynasties in Bulgaria were from German origin - Battenberg and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The country used to be a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch can open and close the parliament, to fire and assign ministers, to determine the elections' date. So the monarchs assigned lots of pro-German politicians in the institutions using their influence. This is one of the reasons why we were a German ally during the WW1 and WW2. Also lots of Bulgarian ethnic territories and minorities happened to be in the neighbouring countries after the Balkan Wars. And our neighbours were part of the Entente.
Boris III was closely related to the British Royal Family, so he had a pro-British view. Still, he was aware that the British could do little to aid Bulgaria in case of invasion. He opted instead for a passive alliance with Germany.
Bulgaria didnt lost a single battle in this period and yet we lost the war. Politics. Also the territory we fought was bulgarian. We just wanted whats ours. We refused to invade territory thats not populated with bulgarian majority. Thats important. Our Army was around 650 000 men. Considerring the population thats huge. Today Pakistan has 1 000 000 army. Irak had same numbers too before the 1991 war.
@notYourRUclips yes, it is everybody else's fault. it is the same argument the indians, russians and chinese bring up. and yes there were external forces naturally. but not all europaens joined in war in WWII.
OMG ok ok i do speak english but iam bulgarian BUT i love speaking English and hate history so this really helped me with history and seeing someone talk about my contry in englsih really makes me proud of my contry
Interesting fact: The Romanian land known by Romanians as "Cadrilater" = Dobrogea de sud = Southern Dobrudja (7565 square kilometers), given by Romania to Bulgaria in September 1940, under the pressure of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, was the ONLY territorial change managed by the Axis powers, that was not cancelled after the defeat of the Axis at the end of World War Two.
@a We occupied Hungary and its capital Budapest in 1919-1920, then again in 1945. We advanced in Bulgaria at will in 1913, until you, the Bulgarians, asked for peace. All this is getting boring. We have other common issues now, so let focus on them. Like, for example, the Islamization and Africanization of Europe.
man... your comprehension of the topic is really skewed. Bulgaria did not "develop" a sense of some territories belonging due to some treaty in 1878. Those territories were populated with majority bulgarian population, and i mean majority - like 70%. There are plenty of Ottoman census records that show it, and all our friendly neighbors pretend they dont exist, as well as western historians. Bulgaria did not enter the Balkan wars or the WW1 to get territory. This is completely wrong. After the Treaty of Berlin, more than half of the Bulgarian population was left in the borders of the Ottoman Empire. You can imagine their fate after the war of 1877-1878. After the First Balkan War - all our "allies" broke the pre-war treaties and occupied territory populated by majority of Bulgarians. Therefore making sure that those people are not left in the hand of "allies" that manifested by action as "enemies" was imperative. Therefore the wars were motivated by bribing back into the borders of newly free and liberated Bulgaria the Bulgarian People that super power political machinations left to grim fate! You can read about how the Bulgarian population was treated in the land "conquered" by Romania, Serbia and Greece. The information is easily accessible on the internet. You would not believe what you will read, but i assure you - it`s true. This is 20 century Europe. You can even find black and white pictures.
@@austrianempire504 completely wrong mate, on every level. Numerous documents exist as evidence, not only the Ottoman census records and taxation records. But yeah... History is written by the victor, so there you go - "aggressor for land." Forced assimilation also didn't happen.
@@Hartofilax Well written, we must also not forget the serbianisation of the region which included the discrimination (deportation, genocide) of anyone who called themselves Bulgarian and the greek deportations of bulgarians in thrace. I think its ironic to call bulgarians aggressors or 'imperialistic' when even romania wanted silistra (and the rest of dobrudja) with the justification that its a holy place?
Consider to learn more about SPAIN in World War 2, Here 📖 -> ruclips.net/video/F7C3KZ2Tmi0/видео.html
Why don't you do a movie for the WWI when Bulgaria had an army of 900 K and its battles that are being lectured around the world as examples ? 2 Things you missed here that are quit significant - Bulgaria is one of the few nations of the world that saved its jews from the camps, and they were requesting territories only populated with bulgarians, where bulgarians were the main population - Macedonia, Thrace and Southern Dobrudja. San Stefano's Act was based on the information from the Ottoman administration of where the bulgarians were situated.
If you make it like this one , please don't ....
Then Bulgaria was strong!!!!
@ knowledgia
5:47
That's not a ww2 era German flag. Would you explain is that a mistake ? Or my assumption is wrong ? I believe the Germans used a swastika flag then.
'Consider learning' and 'Consider supporting' - gerund not infinifitive
Balkans... The real Game of Thrones ...
Hahabahaha it's funny because it's true 😂
This place is a giant dumpster fire full of nationalists and that's why I love it
But there is something better stuff corruption,mafia running the countries
@@cheekibreeki3757 true, in Romania the ex members of the Security of Ceaușescu, they own Romania entirely today , it's real free estate for them
Germany in WW1(1917)= Yo bulgaria can you send us soldiers to join our officeve campain against russia? :)
Bulgaria(1917) = na i don't really feel like it not my lands not my business! :/
Germany(1917)= Dick move bro :(
Bulgaria(1918)=YO germany can you send us more soldeirs on the macedonia front,there kinda getting outnumbered here 1 to 7? :0
Germany(1918)= sure, ile send you exactly as manny soldiers you send to help us in 1918 against russia. :)
Bulgaria(1918)=but we dident send you any? :0
Germany(1918)= that's right bitch! :D , we will send you some small supplies only. :)
Bulgaira(1918)=imma do what you will in the future eventually call a pro ""french move"" :)
Germany(1918)=What? :? I don't understand that reference? :/
Bulgaria(1918)=surrenders to the entente.
Germany(1941)=Yo bulgaria we just stated operation barbarossa can you send some troops to help us out like romania and italy did? :)
Bulgaria(1941)=No i dont think i will, here are some supplies you can use to kill the russians with :/
Germany(1941)= fine :( that is still better then what we got from you last time! :(
Germany(1944)=Yo bulgaria things aren't kinda going good for us against the russians, can you finally send some soldiers and help pls? :(
Bulgaria(1944)= O fine :/. ile send you exactly as manny soldiers you send to help us in 1918 on the macedonian front. :)
Germany(1944)=but we dident send you any? :0
Bulgaria(1944)=that that's right bitch! :D
Germany(1944)= a not this shit again :/ even the italians are better allies them you even if they just betrayed us :(
Bulgaria(1944)= yea about that. imma do what you can call a "'pro Italian"" move :)
Germany(1944)=What? O no don't even dare to!!!!!!!
Bulgaria(1944)=switches sides! joins the soviet union.
"My people are Russophiles, my politicians are Anglophiles, my Generals are Germanophiles and here I am - the only Bulgarophile" - Tsar Boris III
he himself was pretty much german
@Atanas Stoyanov Нищо не съм забравил да спомена. Това е оригинален цитат.
@Atanas Stoyanov lol
Boris wasn't even Bulgarian himself.
@@silafuyang8675 so?
Boris died soon after refusing Germany's offer
Not suspicious at all
True
Stalin ordered Boris poisoned.
well that was dumb of him , a bulgarian medium - oracle , that predicted a lot of things , like 9-11 (she died 15 years before that) , told him the date of his death , so if I was him , I wouldn`t have drinked or ate anything that day.
The soviets poisoned him.
yep and it was just a day or 2 after he had met with Hitler in Germany. The pattern is quite clear.
Axis:"DO you want to join us"
Bulgaria: "Nah, thanks, I don't want another national crash"
Axis:"We give you Mace..."
Bulgaria:"I AM IN"
Yeah this is the secret phrase :D
Great comment
They gave us back South Dobrudzha which was a tad more important culturally and economically than the volatile region of Macedonia which is disputed by every fucking country on the Balkan peninsula.
@@АлександърИванов-щ8ю Macedonia rocks and dirt we have the best vegetables hahahaha
Macedonia is Bulgaria
Italy and Romania: *switches sides*
Hungary: *dies trying to switch sides*
Bulgaria: *goes afk*
You: *Thinks Italy switched sides*
Me: Oh so the Italian Social Republic never existed? I never knew that...
@@luxembourgishempire2826 yeah dude, but remember that the Italian Social Republic was entirely controlled by germans, and Italians who opposed them (almost all Italians) ended often badly
No. Hungary doesnt want to switch side. We wanted to make peace both allies and Germany and leave the war. at that time our millitary was destroyed because of the fight in the Don river.
@@itsmesebaa2088 I see your point...
No Bulgaria swich seides she go to SSSR beacuse they go in Bulgaria
Fun fact: during WW1, Bulgaria had mobilised the largest percentage of its population, having a larger army than the US in late 1918, while having the best win-loss ratio in the central powers, definitely a powerful player in the balkans If considering cost effectiveness
Bulgaria was fighting off against French British Greek and anzac armies while fight with Romania they lost bcs Germany lost
@zxc zxcv about what? I certainly find the topic of Bulgarian history and militarism to be the most interesting of all the Balkan nations, compared to US it’s equivalently thrilling to my comprehensive mind. So who doesn’t care about what?
@Янко Янков Bulgaria by the end of 1918 Bulgaria had mobilised between 1,000,000 and 1,100,000 troops, US had by the end of 1918 mobilised somewhere around 4,100,000 troops, Bulgaria had a small army but a larger percentage of its total population was mobilised, about 12.5% of it. I’m not Bulgarian though, British actually, I just find the political landscape of 1900-1950s balkans quite interesting, especially Bulgarian history and culture.
@Янко Янков Bulgaria has always been a nation that gets forgotten, but it has/had the most interesting history in Southeastern Europe, and impressive military feats
Янко Янков nah he’s probably just a butthurt neighbor of ours.
of all the countries involved in ww2, bulgaria was without doubt the smartest one whatsoever without any competition. Had it acted completely in favor of either the red army or the axis, it would have been destroyed a thousand times over thanks to its unique geographical location.
@@InhalingWeasel Interesting story, glad to know that! What a great nation and I hope to check it out in the furture. Perhaps a lot hero stories.
InhalingWeasel And now Bulgaria is a disgrace to its ancestors. No army, no military, corrupt communists in government.
Coolthief Very much so :)
thanks to russia..............................
they did a lot of bad things
As a Romanian I fully recognize Bulgaria's claims on Southern Dobrujda. What happened during the Second Balkan War was simply not fair. Greetings and support to our southern neighbous and friends!
As a Bulgarian, I recognize Romania's claims over Bucovina and Bessarabia. Cheers from the South!
@@sparkbyphoenix7167 How about North Macedonia?
@@nepopois9553 we hate them
Many thanks from a Bulgarian! It's amazing someone understands!
You invade, you defeat the opponent, you have right to the land. Or have especially you, a Romanian forgotten this simple fact? There's no fair or unfair. It has always been, that the stronger or the cunning take, the weak or the dumb loose. There's no "right" in saying such foolish things, unless you can prove it with, well... an army. Lick the wounds and move on. THAT'S A FAIR FACT!
King Boris, whom my great-grandfather was friends with, did his best to save Bulgaria from both nazis and communists and he did a great job. He was a great diplomat and we can only dream of what he would've managed to negotiate for our nation had he lived to see the end of the war.
*Tsar Boris
Yeah, everyone who knew him says he was a great guy. People can only aspire to that kind of class.
@@BBNix You dimwit ... Bulgaria occupied Bulgarian territories with Bulgarian populations. What are you on about? Macedonia received 25% of the Bulgarian annual GDP in development capital between 1941 and 1944. Many of the schools, hospitals, and roads in Macedonia were built by the Tzardom of Bulgaria. What an idiot!!!
i recall somebody mentioning that when he came back from the last talks with Hitler he said "I saved you" (meaning bulgarians) "but I will pay for it". He was dead in a few days.
I love how Bulgaria is the only country where a person can say this and not even get a second look
Bulgaria just like Romania at that time had no choice really.... they did what they could to survive
This is true, Bulgaria lost World War 1, the army was reduced, the economy was in shambles, it is mentioned in the video, the country was unable to defend itself. The idea of tsar Boris was actually a great one, if he declared war on Germany, Bulgaria would have been crashed most likely like Yugoslavia was, which would have resulted in terrible casualties. He indeed had no choice.
Then why the fuck did they murdered entire villages in Macedonia and yougoslavia while their soldiers proved to be worse than the Germans in terms of violence?
@@soktayridis5044 tup makedonec
@@soktayridis5044 Because these are the Balkans, this was done to Bulgarian villages before by Yugoslavia and Greece, and vice versa. Its as simple as that.
All the smaller nations did what they had to survive
Boris had learned from the Balkan wars remarkably well. I don't think anyone could've done better under the circumstances. Even with the benefit of hindsight it would be unlikely.
He is still Tsar Boris to you...he is not your drinking pal.
@@grundgesetzart.1463 What?
@@Nate-dv5dp You wrote "Boris", as if he was your best friend and you know him personally....and it is not "what" but "what please".
@@grundgesetzart.1463 Refering to him as Boris doesn't mean I refer to him as a friend in any way and it is not accepted nor grammatically correct to ask "what please" for clarification.
So please stop offering wrong and unsolicited advice, especially in English grammar.
@@Nate-dv5dp Yeah, my first language is German. Sorry for my "English"....you are simply an impolite, know-it all person. Have a good day.
Well for a country with almost 1400 years of history, it's a miracle Bulgaria still exists, just look at all the kingdoms, states and peoples Europe has lost over the centuries.
What a dumbass statement, they still exist but under his cultural brethren in a bigger nation, like France, Germany, Spain or Italy, you dont nees to be independent to exist.
There was that one time we just stopped existing as a nation well twice actually
@@mariano98ify True alot of anicient people have been assimilated into other cultures even if remnants remain. Not all cultures died ofcourse some survived and thrived but for example the goths and avars i would argue have gone extinct.
It's not that unusual. Slovakian people didn't have an independent state for over a thousand years yet Slovakia still exists today. Latvia, Estonia- small nations that have never had an independent state before XXth century (if I'm not mistaken), also exist.
Bulgarians were too numerous and too different from the neighbouring powers to assimilate. Also the hilly nature of the country prevents quick assimilation. And the Bulgarian lands were fought over by many foreign powers which prevented one from consolidating their rule and assimilating its people like for example Russia did with many smaller ethnicities because these areas were too isolated and insignificant to have their independence supported by Russian enemies in any meaningful way.
@@mariano98ify Yeah, tell that to Catalonians and Basque people
so the soviets invaded bulgaria without being in war with them
seems illegal
I mean it's the Soviet Union after all
They did, and they deny the war crimes that their unsupervised drunk soldiers inflicted. Not to mention the 100 death camps that were made just to kill the Bulgarian elite and people with political views.
they "liberated" us from something for the next half of the century
No they did declare war on them...
Dwarov 1 but in the video he said that the bulgariens didnt declare war on the soviets they only declared war on usa und gb
I think the beauty of Bulgaria's story is that the monarchy was beloved enough that the last Tsar, Simeon II, was democraticly elected prime minister from 2001 to 2005.
Yeah and that fucked us over big time. People belived that he would actually try to do something for the people and the country as a whole. Instead of that his government was corrupt as hell, he took state own properties like large chunks of land, woods, real estate as his personal propperty, because it was supposedly personal propperty of his late father - once monarch Boris III. All this despite that those lands and real estates were once owned by the state and given to the tsar and his family in order to make them a royal house not only in name but in appearance also so that they can stand tall with the monarchs in Western Europe. Then he sold them, cashed the money and moved it out of the country as fast as he could before his term was out. So Simeon is mostly considered an asswhole in our country and if something he tarnished the memory of his father who was mostly considered at least a man who kept his word, but belive me he was not universally loved - the huge antiroyalist/antigovernment partisan movement in the 30s in Bulgaria is a testament to that and the various governments also were at a state of a cold war with the tsar. Our monarchy was no different than any other. The monarch most of all wanted personal power for himself and cared little for his subjects if it suited his goals.
Yes. That is something I found out when I researched for this video. Very interesting indeed.
@@borntobea2938 weird, some of your countrymen said that but he argued Simeon was the least "bad" because he just take his old land family and later he get out of there, in comparison with later and previous governments, more corrupts and useless.
@@borntobea2938 wow that really sucks. I did hear a little bit about it, but as i read it, it was still presented as a mixed bag because he succesfully helped Bulgaria join NATO and the EU. But this indeed sounds like he was just insanely greedy and tried to get as much profit out of his firmer kingdom before his term was up.
Boris was loved because as mentioned in the videos we gained lands without firing a shot, also Bulgaria got out of WW2 relatively easy. First of the Bulgarian Jews were never deported and survived, the cities were spared from fighting (Except the bombardment of Sofia) and the losses during the war are relatively small compared to the other countries in the region. If Boris decided to resist the Germans, Bulgaria might have followed Yugoslavia's faith during the war and lose a huge percentage of the population.
You failed to mention the most important part of Bulgaria and the Axis powers. It was the only Axis-Allied country which saved all of its Jewish population. 55 000 souls were saved from the deathcamps. No Bulgarian citizens of Jewish descent were deported. 14 000 were deported because they were from the recently annexed territories because they simply didn't have a Bulgarian passport thus the government had no power to stop the Germans from deporting them. Even so it remains the only country in the world at the time in which the people had protests against the deportations, the Christian Orthodox Clergy defended the Jews - and the efforts of men like Dimitar Peshev and King Boris finally paid off... But Boris paid with his life for it...
But didn't Boris died a natural death?
@@Δούρειος_96 It's... unclear. Officially there is no proof that he was poisoned, though there are serious doubts that he indeed was. And there are various theories about who did it - the most popular one is that he was poisoned by Hitler, because of Boris' refusal to deport the Bulgarian Jews and to send the Bulgarian army to fight; though there are other theories that he was poisoned by the Soviets or even the Brits. Nobody really knows, especially since the commies destroyed his grave soon after.
@@Δούρειος_96 It's speculated that he was assassinated by the Germans.
@@Δούρειος_96 That's what was said officially when he died. Since then a lot of evidence has come up - A German doctor who examined him posthumously said it was poison, so did an Austrian one. First they said it was the British, then the USSR, then Hitler. Boris did die a week after meeting Hitler to stall once again sending troops to the eastern front and deporting the Jews. Just two days before he died he actually went hiking and climbed the tallest mountain in Bulgaria. His medical examination from earlier the month said he was a picture of health. Whatever happened in my eyes wasn't a natural death.
@@NazarovVv You got confused Finland also saved all it's Jews.
Bulgaria is also the only axis power who gained land at the end of WW2 (southern dobroja).
yes and Bulgaria with Denmark were the only 2 european countries to save the Jewish population
no, it was before that.
@@antonarset what do you mean?
So? Are you satisfied?
@@awesomemike-4411 what?
Romania and Bulgaria shall always help each other💪
🇷🇴❤🇧🇬
Except for the one time you took South Dobruja
what?:D you know in 1944 when bulgaria join the soviat army(200000 soldeirs) we were kinda killing eathother in Yugoslavia + hungary at Drava :D.(just in case you dont know there were romanian units soldiers in those German divsions the bulgarians were fighting agaist=At Yugoslavia all the way to hungary.
@@petarmitkov1056 we tolf Bulgaria that if they start the second balkan war, we would intervine
@@talridisblagoev242 we also joined the soviets in 1944 when our king, Michael the first, took down Antonescu
@@herfkdkkdldjjd5315 if you are forced to be an ally of someone, you are not allies. And if you are talking about South Dobruja, that was given to Bulgaria before it joined the war
It makes me sad that Bulgaria isn’t green in the map
@Atanas Stoyanov HOI4 boy
@Atanas Stoyanov Hearts of Iron IV
@Atanas Stoyanov I know that, but Curium was surely talking about HoI4
The red stripe in the flag: Am I a joke to you?
Great Bulgaria
My grandfather was a 23 year old kosovar albanian from south serbia (which is in Medvedja and not part of kosovo state) which partially was under Bulgarian presence and rule during ww2. Around goljak region. When the bulgarians were leaving serbia because war was lost etc he saved an escaping young bulgarian soldier. She had lost her way and was in the mountais around Medveda municipality. He Took her for a couple of days at his home and hide her from serb partisans. Then he helped her escape from that region. He said to me 10 years ago 1 year before dying that he loved that girl she was so strong and beautiful and at the same time soo tired (heavy equipment). He talked about her for years (even if he was married) until he died at 91 y old.
He banged
@ 😂😂
The Bulgarian army was not professional at that time but made by conscripts all of which were of course male.
@@danielstoyanov1833 in 1944 I guess that's the year tha woman was a bulgarian soldier. A woman...maybe there were others.. of course a very small number 99%+ were males at that time. Just checked there were 4200 women that volountered. And 800 of them saw combat.. yeah that's an interesting fact for your country
@ I don't know if I was there I would have tried hahahhha
Simply said, its a miracle Bulgaria exists after losing 2 world wars and countless invasions from much stronger states in all its history
@ I never said losing a war means your nation vanishes, I meant I'm impressed by how well Bulgaria has held on after losing 2 huge wars, too bad our politicians are slowly but surely killing the country, but hey thats capitalism for small countries
@ it depends on the circumstances. Have you seen the ethnic map of western balkans and the pannonian basin after the ottomans?
losing a war dosent kill a nation :D or a contory(at least in my ppl case) its the politics and diplomacy afther it that get that job done. let me give you a easy example= afther WW1 in 1919 treaty of neuilly. on the greeks side Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos
(www.google.bg/search?q=Eleftherios+Venizelos&hl=bg&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiepJyK voAhUCmVwKHflpBfoQ_AUoAXoECCMQAw&biw=1280&bih=647#imgrc=4a5lepuDuxSlQM) this evil son of a. that hates bulgarians guts a lot :D(im not even joking when i say you can made a top 10 list of ppl ho hate bulgarians and he gets at least top 3 :D place). demended in that treaty that Bulgaria needs to be capitulated. The territories should be distributed among its neighbors. Because Bulgarians are a sinful nation and do not deserve to exist
.(just in case you dont to get it , it means the destruction of a nation + the eventual cultural and identical genocide of bulgarians, sense they will be will be assimilated in time from the other countries,(that is veary well documanted in that treaty, even its comfirmed by the americans :D ile tell you why) that im sure that the greeks dont teach in there kids they wanted to genocide my ppl :D and ofc they dont but bulgarians remember) and most(almost all) countries that were a part of that treaty were ok with it(like britain and the france) and some even supported it(like obv :D yugoslavia,romania,) the russians werent in there sense britain and france did not let them be a part of the treaty :D witch is lucky for us(bulgarians). lucky why? you ask well they hated us too said that bulgaria is a traitor to the slavic nations and dident deserve to exist as a slavic one(its safe to say they wodeve supported that plan too :D). bulgarians at that point there were done dude. RIP but we got saved just by 1 guy. the only one ho defended the bulgarians case in that argument. the american president woodrow wilson= en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson. this guy disagrees with that course of action. and agries the case that no nation deserves to be destroyed and wiped out of existence
. in his words "I would rather leave the conference and Paris than agree and participate in the destruction of a nation and country with ancient and centuries-old traditions and culture"". he alone defened the bulgarians. and at that point british and the french didn't like his opinion or respected it :D. but america was ofc the nuber 1 strongest economy after the war. and them liking it or not had to comply with its choices and put up with them. and the bulgarians dodged a bullet in that treaty :D. thx to Woodrow Wilson :) he is one of the rare americans that helps bulgarians(my fav one J. A. MacGahan :). by the way my point is that diplomates like Venizelos
can end a nation not by war but a pussy trick diplomacy.
Bulgaria was under Turkish slavery for 500 years and got up sooo yea
@Lynx Turkish one was longer so more bragging points
So after Bulgaria lost the ww2, they still had more land than they did right before they joined? I call this an absolute win
I don't mention this "a win". The next 45 years under USSR....blyatful. :D
That was before the war. It was one of the reasons way Bulgaria joined the Axis
They were extremely lucky, because they didn't pay for their committed war crimes. They deserved to loose land because they were opportunistic, chauvinistic, imperialistic and expansionistic. But ok the penalty came afterwards with the communism..
@@Jannis777 give some more detail on that
I wrote 2000 words respond reply to this no sense. Afterwards deleted it all.
But you are right about the communism :D
Tsar Boris was known as the last ruler the common Bulgarian people loved and respected. I think Mel Gibson was interested in making a movie about him. Hope it happens one day.
Mel Gibson was interested about making a film about Tsar Kaloyan. It's Ted Kotcheff,the director of the first Rambo, that wants to make movie about Boris III. He personaly told me that when i meet him on the airport of Sofia by luck,back in 2018.
It is risky to comment on Balkan history online without getting attacked by other Balkan and Turkish keyboard jockeys but I had been pondering about Bulgaria recently. Despite being a bitter enemy of Greece for many years with many wars and killings, starting with the end of WW2 and especially after getting rid of the Soviet noose Bulgaria has been nothing but stable and non threatening to Greece. In fact it is currently the friendliest neighbouring country. Welcome to the EU and may we be such good friends forever. 🇬🇷🇧🇬
That is true, bulgarians don't mind it that much there is so much shit in everyday life that we seek joy but on historical perspective after I have read in both histories you trully did some shady shit before WW2 still I don't mind it but I want at least people to know about it. In Bulgaria we have a very popular novel which we study in last year in high school of an author from Bulgarian and in part of depicted the occupation of Greece and the people then. We know what and why was done, I don't like ignorance. So I try to be friendly with as much people as I can.
We Bulgarians drink rakia all day and thats why we are so friendly
@@thanosss4673 true🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Our beaches are shit so I go to Greece every summer.
Love you Guys.
In Turkish case Keyboard Janissaries
Bulgaria in WW1: We need to reclaim our rightful territory
Bulgaria in WW2: Let's try that aga- ok let's not
'Rightful' 😂😂😂
@@strahinjadamnjanovic3553 yes, rightful
@@strahinjadamnjanovic3553 If you had simply done your research you'd known that those lands were indeed rightfully bulgarian. Even the Turks could not deny that and they hate our guts, your disgusting acts of forceful serbification committted many atrocities and untill this day our brethren in Macedonia refuse to call themselves bulgarian, because they have been brainwashed, they were literally sentenced to death unless they stated that they were Macedonians, the situation in Greece was no different, I'll quote a greek polititian of bulgarian decend, when he was asked why he ran for the Macedonian party in the Greek government he said "Brother, being a Macedonian in Greece is a sin, but being a Bulgarian is a crime". To this day still the bulgarians living in Northern Greece are being oppressed, they are not allowed to speak their native language and were forced to change their names to greek ones, but they are good people and if you go there you could speak in bulgarian with them, their dialect is rather heavy but is every bit as beautiful as the actual language itself. To conclude my unnecessary long rambling, you my serbian friend, are mentally challenged.
@@CodeineTuttiFrutti bro, you dont have to lie so much, when you invaded Greece with Germany in Ww2, you obliterated under death penalty to the Greeks people living there to speak Bulgarian.
@@mariano98ify We did what? There are 300 000 ethnic bulgarians living in Northern Greece, these people, formed the so-called volunteer regiments in which every village provided men so that they could deffend themselves from the greeks, some really brave men were executed simply because they wanted to protect their homes and loved ones. We are no saints, that is true and war crimes should never be tolerated, but you saying that we forced these people to speak bulgarian, is one of the most absurd lies i've ever heard, how on Earth are you supposed to force someone to speak a language he has never even heard? Do you just forcefull teach these people to speak it? the occupation itself only lasted for about 3 years, are you telling me that we forced 300 000 people to learn one of the hardest languages on this god damn planet just like that? You sir, are out of your God damn mind. С нами бога! Сърбе на върбе!
"On paper it was a constitutional monarchy, but in reality it was a _dictatorship_ since the *_king_** had all the power* "
So it was just a _normal_ *monarchy* then?? xD
Absolute monarchy. :)
Boris III was like:
I'm sick of your shit. And honestly, he was beloved. So even if it was technically a dictatorship, it had the consent of the people
Monarchy was not always absolute.
@@Dian_Borisov_SW Some Dictatorships did good in some countries even if people deny it.Our dictatorship 1967-1974 improved things for Greece.
You don't understand. At first the king didn't do shit just like any king in a constitutional monarchy, most power is in hands of Parliament and Government, the king has only has to do diplomatic roles and signing documents (but can always be overruled). A king in that same monarchy has no real power whatsoever just like nowadays in Belgium and the Netherlands for example, except Belgium has a special type of monarchy special for its peoples.
Anyway, this tsaar took over just right before a coup, which is in fact actually legal in any constitutional monarchy, BUT only IF the constitution is in danger. But the king has to give back the power to the constitution after avoiding the coup. Not sure if the tsaar his intention was to keep power, but the country at that time was for sure in a precarious situation.
Please make more about Bulgarian history, we are nation more than 1300 years with a lot of battles, wins and falls and i think it will be very interesting. Thank you for what you've done...
miroslav nakov literally underrated imo
Balkan countries are usually underrated
@@blindtherapper2470 most grate powers think of us as 3th world countries so they dont realy give a fuck aboute us
Много молим
@@kopan77 And we arent corrupt 3rd world shitholes that will die out in 100 years to think that ? Right ? : D
Very interesting one! One of these forgotten nations of WW2.
@Georgi Pountchev , let's say that Bulgaria could not resist to German "pressure" about passing over in 1941, to "accept" as a gift the greek Thrace and Macedonia was also a result of the German pressure?? Don't think so....
@@rafailpeikos2070 well I like Greece, greek culture and food, I have greek friends, I would not hold anyone living today accountable for what happened 100 years ago, but to be fair to the historical facts Thrace and Macedonia became greek, only after Greece has done some serous ethnical cleansing there after WW1.
@@rafailpeikos2070 These ethnic Bulgarian lands. Or you say FYROM has their own nation descending from Alexander the Great?
@Georgi Pountchev Yugoslavia and Greece also had the opportunity to join the Nazis but did not join. You Bulgarians joined the Nazis only because of the desire to regain the lost territories from the past wars, and innocent people were killed and tortured by you only to return those same lost territories.
@Georgi Pountchev You saved only your Bulgarian Jews, and what was required of the Macedonian Jews to be sent to the Treblinka camp, you could have saved them if you had given Bulgarian passports but did not want to. And just to know that there were no ethnic Bulgarians in those territories, you only had a desire for more territory and the realization of the San Stefano Agreement.
I like these Bulgarian history videos if I’m honest
Чичо Радко I will 😂
Да lol sorry
Germany : Hey Bulgaria can you help me ?
Bulgaria : Well Yes but actually no
Edit : Wow thanks guys for the 500 likes ! :D ( and I know it's a overuse meme )
ahhh scheisse
@@putlerkaputt9201 * ach ScheiBe
@@Paris-xv9sj you mean Scheiße, but it's all right. Greetings.!!
@@GreekGopnik Yes, and thank you :)
@@GreekGopnik u can write it scheisse too because ß-ss
When a monarch holds all the power it’s an absolute monarchy, not a dictatorship
It was a dictatorship because there was still a government although appointed by Boris III and the constitution wasn't changed. Also it wasn't said that it is permanent. It was a move proceed actually because of number of political parties that tried to install a dictatorship and destabilised the country.
@@monkata8 ok
It is both an absolute monarchy and dictatorship.
@daniel halachev de jure and de facto?
@@htoodoh5770 It is french for boss
Bulgaria was known as the " Prussia of the Balkan " in the 19th century. Bulgarians are naturally brave and proud people. Respect to Bulgaria 💝
🤝❤️
Thanks 🇧🇬
@@kanbalkan1435 asparux become Bulgarian now you want to be macedonian 😂 stupid fake country
Thank you ❤
Yeah. Very proud... backstabbers. 🤭🤣
Soviets reached the Bulgarian border on the 5th of September 1944, at that time Bulgaria was already fighting against Germany, but three days later, the Soviets declared war on them as well. The Bulgarian military was ordered not to shoot at Russian soldiers and on 9th of September communist party officially took power, allying Bulgaria to the Soviet Union. So at some point Bulgaria was literally at war with the whole world
lol
Would've bodied all of them
GOLD
So you want to be with nazis and you don't want to be with nazis......
From all my heart I thank you for making this video. This has to be the warmest and most friendly comment-section I've ever laid eyes upon.
Salutations from Bulgaria!
Bulgaria was among the stronger small countries in WW1 and played an important role, holding the front at Doyran on its own against half the world. In WW2 its power was limited because of many factors, most of them discussed in the video. Its role wasn't significant and it didn't meant to be. Bulgaria was looking for its dreamed national unification since the territories of Bulgarian Exarchate were confirmed by the Ottoman Sultan back in 1870. As long as politicians were true and patriotic, Bulgaria will always choose the side which can give it its unification. Sadly, after each war against unmanageable odds the territory is cut once again. Sad historic fate...
Bulgaria lost from SERBIA in 1913 1918 and by Serbian alies in 1944,whole history of modern bulgaria is based on backstabing Serbia like in 1913(Bulgaria lost) 1915(Bulagaria lost) 1941( Bulgaria lost)
I wouldn't venture to say Bulgaria's role was that important. Bulgaria may have been key player regionally, but WWI was decided at the Western Front. Realistically speaking, the Ottoman Empire was the most influential country around here, because they fended off the British at Gallipoli and fought Russia in the Caucasus; then there was the Armenian genocide...
@@dazzlebreak4458 Bulgaria in WW1 singlehandedly destroyed Serbia, Greece and Romania. Battle of Doiran : 30 000 Bulgarians vs 330 000 Serbian, Greek, French and British troops. Guess who won in melee? Not in a shootout, in melee!!!!!!!!
@@LiKeThEsHaDoW Bulgaria may have did great in millitaristic sense, but it did not matter very much in the end because the Central Powers lost. And WWI was not that much about melee, but about artilery barrages, flamethrowers, mustard gas, logistics and being able to support yourself financially during the war.
Lol...2000 000 000 were storming the hills of Doyran against the heros!
I would love to see a video on the Serbo Bulgarian war
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😬😬😬😬😬😬😬❤️🇷🇸
Serbia won. Velbuš Serbian empire
@@serbisch-orthodoxercetnik6366 You lost to an army with highest rank Captian... Its hurting your pity serbian pride, doesn`t it...
@@unlivethesystem8634 not really because austro hungary hate Serbia and push Serbia in war 1885 To make us weak
@@serbisch-orthodoxercetnik6366 lol Your king said he`ll e dining in Sofia in three days. And it was Austria-Hungary that actually saved you from further humiliation after you were already retreating into your territory. lol I feel for you bro.
Bulgaria : stay afk during the war
Soviets after the war: we are gonna help to rebuild Bulgaria
Bulgaria: I’m not broken I didn’t even fight the war
Soviets : Yes you are now come get your communism.
"Help rebuild", more like colonize.
Wrong. In fact in this case Bulgaria was in war alone against the entire world.
American's and Britain's plains actually destroyed Sofia but Bulgaria refused to capitulate.. And many troupes was lost in Hungary.
Won back small teritory at too high price after losing 1/3 without any fight.
Bulgaria joined late that war, but DECLARED WAR TO ALL WORLD AND EVEN WON TERRITORY :P hahahaha
@@goshu7009 Shorten like this sounds too weird :) But yes, it's true!
@@mamatidea Bulgaria is GOSU in battle :P
Literally the only axis member to have gained territory post war
Unlike most other European countries, the memory of World War II plays a much smaller role in Bulgarian history than World War I. I visited the National Museum of Military History in Sofia (highly recommended) and WWI had an entire floor compared to a room for WWII.
Yes, because essentially Bulgaria didnt participate in WW2.
Of course. Your conduct in WW2 was disgraceful.
@@tonylove4800 I’m American, so no 😂 Let me know what hatin ass country you’re from so that I know never to visit
From NZ. A country that joined both world wars a million years before you did while while you were determined to stay out. A country that supported you in Korea and even fucking Nam. A country that sent troops to the real Gulf war and even Afghanistan. Good enough for you?
@@tonylove4800 So the country that’s left off 99% of world maps, got it. Thank you for your service of 50 sheep and 10 sheepshaggers 🫡
It is really hard to say that Russia was any kind of an alley after 1878 for Bulgaria. After the Unification with Eastern Rumelia in 1885 Russia provoked Serbia to attack Sofia which resulted in the Serbian-Bulgarian war that Bulgaria won. Afterwards there was an attempted coup which made Knyaz Aleksandar to leave. Then in WW1 Russia attacked Dobrudzha and Varna.
True,Russia were seeding hate in Bulgarian people towards Serbian,war was planned,to make Bulgaria and Serbia weak.
@@simonsimonovic4478, and what did the Austro-Hungarians said to stop our army on the way to Belgrade? "Stop here and go back to your borders or you'll face both Austro-Hungarian and Russian troops against you". Then the russians were very angry about that.
Russian Empire helped Romania to invade us in 1913. Without this our army had good chances against both Serbia and Greece.
Russia isn't a friend of Bulgaria since 1878 till this day.
@@simonsimonovic4478, Russia created what? Dude, are you on drugs?
@@simonsimonovic4478, stabbed a knife in back? Our relations with Serbia ended up in 1885.
Russia never wanted to create Greater Bulgaria. It's not possible to work for Greater Serbia and Greater Bulgaria in the same time.
@@simonsimonovic4478, do you even know if San Stefano have been real pact or no? The fate of my country have been decided in Berlin, not San Stefano.
San Stefano map was build by international commission on the roots of our church. Read some Ottoman documents from that time and you'll see that SERBS are not living in Macedonia. Bulgaria had big majorities in Pirot and Nis. There are thousands of Ethnic maps made by other countries, not Bulgaria. I'm not surprised that in Serbian schools and universities you're reading the documents like you want. At least the majority of Serbs are not happy with the war from 1885 but indeed this war broke our good relations as people, unfortunately.
Hearts of iron IV wants to know your location
Kaiserreich Bulgaria is one of the more challenging starts, check it out
@@Alienhos It doesn't matter if you play Historical AI. we all know what happens
Hey, HoI4 friend! I am making a mod with two more people about Bulgaria in HoI4. It is called Bulgaria Reworked! Check it out!
In HOI4, Bulgaria always turns fascist.
@@grahamturner2640
Cause it is an AI and in vanilla the fascist are the most prefered ideology since they get the most manpower.
Love Bulgaria from Greece
No you dont, and you shouldnt
@@MrVibriocholerae is that so? may i ask why?
@@ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣΖΑΧΑΡΑΚΟΣ Read about the Balkan wars and you will undertand
@@MrVibriocholerae im fully aware of the balkan wars including the conflicts between Greece and Bulgaria, it still doesn't stop me from liking a country , especially one i have personally been to
@@ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣΖΑΧΑΡΑΚΟΣ you are free to like whatever you want, and that freedom was granted to you by your great grandfathers spilled blood when fighting those bas****s in Macedonia.
The older I get the curiosity in me grows for the forgotten history of our ancestors. It's really fascinating stuff I never showed any interest back in school so I have much to catch up on.
I have developed an appreciation and love for my country. And I love all the love people are showing towards Bulgaria thank you all and likewise towards you.
VIVA BULGARIA. My much loved adopted country of now, eleven years. I will be buried in BG when my time comes.
This part of the world has had a turbulent past. But, today, Bulgaria is becoming
an increasingly popular tourist destination. The cities like Varna, Stara Zagora and Sofia are beautiful.
Although still having some economic issues, her economy is slowly getting better and better.
While driving in Stara Zagora, I saw a lot of nice Mercedes and BMW cars as well as
a nice red Ferrari. So, people are becoming more affluent there. Yes, the past
was sad and bad things were done to Bulgaria, but such is the case for Hungary, Romania,
Poland... Name the country and it has had bad things happen to it and it's people.
All I know is that today, countries like Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are
really beautiful and have a good standard of living. I live in the USA now
and believe me, you are safer in any major Bulgarian city then in any major
American city with respect to violent crime. You are
about 30 times more likely to be assaulted or raped in NY City then in
a city like Stara Zagora or Varna.
Are you joking??? Why you don't mention Plovdiv??? The 6th oldest city in the whole world!!!
mercedes and BMV are signs of prosperity>? somalia is full of western cars and the people live in tents... bulgaria is far from a modern country... toyrism is cheap for us and for many countries.. many bulgarians live ion germany .. prosperity? no way.. just survive
@@peaceloved8218 Yeah but it was not founded as Plovdiv ...right ? And definetely not by Bulgarians ...i visited it many times and did not find much of old Bulgarian culture to see...i saw Roman ruins , Greek ruins, even a muslim ottoman mosque oh and i saw the old city which was full of Greek merchant houses since it was an important trade city for the Byzantine empire... actually i always wondered why did you had to change the name ?
As a Bulgarian I can tell you that in Bulgaria we have a very very bad economy. We have stupid politics.
We have very very very dirty air, the dirtiest air in whole Europe . And very dirty water.
@@realsmithas2759 durty water? idk the beaches looked crystal clear to me it was amazing i and feeled save. Its much saver then Germany i can tell you that
I want to point out that "Greater Bulgaria" is just bunch of territories where Bulgarians / Bulgarian ethnicity was (and in some still is ) the major one . among the people, the actions of Bulgaria are perceived as liberation rather than occupation / annexation
@@simonsimonovic4478 Man, I encourage you to check other sources, not dependant on serbian propaganda. Knowledge is power! That is how we will progress. Поздрави, братко!
@Pesho Goshevski Delusional Bulgarian strikes again...
@Pesho Goshevski upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/First_Bulgarian_Empire_%28681-800%29_v1.png/800px-First_Bulgarian_Empire_%28681-800%29_v1.png
mapas.owje.com/img/Europa-a-la-Muerte-de-Carlomagno-814-1177.jpg
???
@Pesho Goshevski Timeline is what matters. If some Asian people came to live among us Slavs/Serbs it doesn't suddenly make everything your land. So Macedonia was never "Bulgarian" land but some land that Bulgars conquered from others in the past. It makes a lot of fkin difference so you are the one who should get lost with your fake great Bulgarian propaganda.
@Pesho Goshevski So your statement "ethnically pure Bulgarian" territory is simple bullshit! It was always Slavic land, not Asian!
I am Bulgarian, thank you for making this video.
I really want the world to understand that despite being Nazi Germany ally, we saved our jews.
Were the same jews then part of the communist partisans and party? lol.
@Thorne Macedonia
@Thorne in a nutshell, Bulgaria joined the central powers because Serbia, Greece and Romania occupied ethnic Bulgarian lands during the Second Balkan War.
@@Terter1551 yes even Mars and Venus are ethnic bulgarian lands.
@@UvekOn if u say so
The tsar of Bulgaria, Boris III (1918-1943) died unexpectedly after returning from a visit to Germany. His son, Simeon II (1943-1946) succeeded him, but he was only a child then. As the war ended he was deposed by communists and forced into exile. After the collapse of the Soviet block, he returned and from 2001 to 2005 he served as prime minister.
He is still alive today.
German dynasty in Bulgaria and Romania also.
8:51 One of the few technical mistakes in the video. Bulgaria declared war on Germany shortly *before* the red army entered the country and before the communist coup
I see how taking sides in the conflict would've been absolutely devastating. They played it smart and catered to both sides to not get annexed. I like how the allies were the least threatening to them so they had no problem declaring war on them.
Your comment is gold man 😆😆
Bulgarians are good neighbours. Love from Turkey. 🇹🇷 🇧🇬
Gabriel Petkov
You r here
%99 of bulgarians are anti turkist bro
ÖLÜMSÜZ HAYAT BUGÜN YOKSUN YARIN VARSIN are you sure about that?
ÖLÜMSÜZ HAYAT BUGÜN YOKSUN YARIN VARSIN maybe you should quit being so ignorant and realising the fact above %5 of the bulgarian population is turkmens
Stop being racist, pretending you know them, and estimating “approximately” %99.9 of the bulgarian are anti turkish. I am suprised in how ignorant and fascist that my own nation be. Go get some education, or so help me by stopping your Ultra-Nationalism.
The Treaty of Berlin assigned to the Principality of Bulgaria the same status of a tributary state to the Ottomans as did the Treaty of San Stefano and by 1937 thanks to the secret military use of its compulsory labour service and following the Versaille-defying example of Germany post-WW1 Bulgaria had managed to restore much of its former military strength.
@Serbon Resurrected Да живее албанско Косово !!!
@Serbon Resurrected Браво, говориш родния си език 😗
@Serbon Resurrected Are you by any chance Bogdam Milicic from facebook dot com?
@Serbon Resurrected Смей се, къде е Косово ?
@Serbon Resurrected Явно не.
Nicely explained.
We lost many territories, many lives, so that today would come, so that we would be here and call ourselves Bulgarians in our native Bulgaria. It is time for all of the Balkans and Europe to swallow the pain, the fatigue of wars, to swallow the hatred and to live in a better Balkan peninsula and continent - Europe. Hatred has brought us to be poor, to be evil, is that what we want? Is this what we want to teach our children? We live in a new century, new trials, let's hug and move forward and help each other!
I agree with you if you publicly say/write and respect Macedonians in Makedonia- to be what they are, proud nation with own history, culture and language- recognised in UN!!!
I really enjoyed watching you’re videos because its history and the editing the video is very enjoyable
Henry_BG nope i am not american and wdym by i will not need it ??
Henry_BG i am from phillippines and i just want to learn history because they are entertaining and no i dont work and no one will ask me what the role of bulgaria is in ww2
Well except for my history teacher
Henry_BG thanks and u dont need to be sorry u didnt do anything
Henry_BG nah its all good dont worry
Long time ago (800-900AD) Bulgaria was a massive Kingdom,. History has not been kind with them. Уважение от румънската си съседка
Bulgaria was actualy a empire,reconized by the Eastern Roman Empire. Also it was mutch more masive during the time of Attila Dulo(the so called hunic empire and Old Great Bulgaria are the same thing) when it's borders strech from Rhein to Asia,posibly reaching Ohkots sea(Pacific ocean). Thanks for the respects,if you are romanian.
Hey bro nice video I really do enjoy your channel I know you prob won’t see this or replay but if you do make sure you have a nice day!!
This is the only guy who’s channel has accurate auto generated captions.
Very accurate video. Tsar Boris was in the trenches in WW1 and from then he don’t to send any Bulgarian on a war again. I’m very impress how he resisted to hitler so many years to help him with troops. It is really interesting person.
Hungary next!
Felvidéki Magyar
Arpad was Onogur origin
Darling,now bg DNK(DNA)is like croatians and madzarians,i have
historian spesiality from university and know why this is true!
We are proudy with this.Greetings from Varna-Elena.BG
Felvideki Magyar I hope,that you learn my notis,if you want,
please,,call me,,!With respect-Eli.Varna.BG
best history RUclipsr :)
There are other very good channels, I don't think I am the best. But thank you for your kind words! :)
@@Knowledgia Surely at editing levels, you're one of the best ones around. Maps like those make people understand things better than a guy speaking on a camera.
Thank you for making a video on Bulgaria! This really means a lot and I wish you to have the best day of your life ever!
Amazing video! Much love from Bulgaria.
Благодаря ти
@@Knowledgia Do one about us plz.
@@luxembourgishempire2826 yes, our overlords must too be put in the spotlight
@@petarmitkov1056 ?
@@luxembourgishempire2826 the Luxembourgish world order? The strongest country to ever grace this planet
Forgot to mention how eager were Bulgarian legislators to enact antisemitic laws during the war, how thousands of Jews in Bulgaria were not deported to concentration camps, and how thousands of Jews from the Bulgarian occupied territories were.
Nikki D. And how many of them became israelis...the nazis 2.0!?
To say it simply:
Ottomans ruled over bulgarians for circa 500 years.
Russia wanted to have control over the Balkans because of the seas.
Russia helped Greece and Serbia to gain independance, then helped Bulgaria.
The first treaty(from Sanstefano) stated that Bulgaria's territory shall be as shown in the video(very large and covering all the lands occupied mainly by bulgarian people).
The Western powers (France, UK) did not allow that because this would have made Bulgaria the largest country in the Balkans and a big force prone to russian influence.
So they vastly reduced Bulgaria's territory. This caused the bulgarian people to set as a main goal the union of all bulgarian people under one territory.
Bulgaria and the other Balkan countries fought the Ottomans in the First Balkan war. Bulgaria's leadership focused on the Ottomans and the outcome of the war and "forgot" to negotiate the future partition of land between the "allies". That lead to the emotional, premature and unexpected Second Balkan war that Bulgaria lost. Failing to achieve the goal Bulgaria tried again in the WW1 again deciding mainly not to join the same side like her neighbours because their interests were different.
In the WW 2, Bulgarian leadership showed masterclass of politics maneuvering from side to side, thus being able to prevent occupation of the country, mass casulties, saved the jewish people on her territory and on top of that gained some land.
not all people were bulgarian people and jews were still sent to camps from Bulgarian ocupied territory
@@eaglesnetwork3750 This is not propaganda nor slavic nor communist!!!!
I'm from Bulgaria. In my country we don't learn a lot about Bulgaria in ww2 in school this was really helpful video for me. Thanks.
Here in the United States many unpleasant actions my country did is heavily glossed over.
Many countries try to avoid teaching kids about the bad things they did.
Japan, Germany and Italy gloss over WW2.
The United States glosses over the imperialism it engaged in. This included the Spanish American War
Very nice , im learning about history! First time in my life lol
ANONIM MEME GUY UwU Good - because they don’t teach any history any more - but there’s still a lot on line and in old books! 😎
@@OzBloke Educational system and history teachers be like
The Kingdom of Hungary should have followed the Bulgarian example in WW 2. It appears we had very similar Complaints concerning the loss of historical territories after WW 1.
Hungary and Bulgaria have similar fates, indeed.
@@zootan19 Thank you my friend for your reply. We are brothers in every sense to this day .
"What was the role of Bulgaria in WW2?"
Switching sides on time.
being a fascist administration
@@tonidabic3918 nope, that's just fake yugoslavian propaganda. There was never fascism in Bulgaria. Only Monarchy and Communism (unfortunately).
@@johniewalker4356 That monarchy sided with germans until September 1944 and killed a lot of local people and send more than 10000 Jews to extermination, the army wore nazi symbols and they saluted like nazi. Then they switched sides when germans started loosing the war. There is a lot of evidence.
@@tonidabic3918 So you admit that they weren't fascist? Also the deported didn't have Bulgarian citizenship so the Tsar had limited say over them in front of Hitler. He saved far more than any other nation.
@@tonidabic3918 also if you are Macedonian please read this. I know you'll probably reject it, but try to look from the other side of the Yugoslav fence between the two countries.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_in_Yugoslav_Macedonia
Thank you, I learned alot more about bulgaria's history since I was born in bulgaria and its my first language
Great video! If you ever plan on doing other videos about Bulgaria i would suggest the begining of the country when it compeats with the Byzantine empire on the balkans there were some interesting battles
A video on Kaloyan would also be cool
Единствения коментар който ще намериш на български.
Вярно е
Hello from Bulgaria 🇧🇬☦️
Thanks for the video! I was really suprised that you were able to expalin a lot of the details this precise, because of the contreversy surrounding this subject.
2:04 A King cannot be a dictator
He can in a constitutional monarchy. He was basically King and President for Life, all in one.
His Majesty Tsar Boris III was our last true leader. We never had his like since. May you rest in peace, your majesty! Your nation loves you!
4:04 take this from a Bulgarian: most of us view the russians not just as friends but as family. That's why we didn't want to go fight the Soviets. Here's an anecdote my grandfather told me about it: When Hitler asked Tsar Boris III to send troops to the eastern front he declined saying "If I send men against the Soviets, there will be no fighting. The two armies would throw down their arms and embrace each other as brothers." The Tsar mysteriously died of poisoning after returning home from his trip to Germany.
Most of us? Speak for your self. It might be true 80 years ago but not anymore.
@@mihailchehlarov2720 I'm speaking for myself and most of the people I've discussed this subject with. If you disagree, you're out of the "most of us" category. Simple as that.
@@Mikeywikeybombikey You said most of us in the context of all Bulgarians which is not true. I really don't care about your commie friends and family. We are NATO and EU members and the majority of the country supports it. Deal with it.
@@mihailchehlarov2720 I don't care much for your tone. Learn some manners.
Blatant lie. The majority of the parties in parliament as of now are western oriented, and that's how it will remain. Russians aren't brothers, and they never have done anything good for our nation. Only chasing their interests and using our geographic location to gain influence in Constantinople, with the hopes of controlling it.
Very interesting. Thank you for creating this video!! 😃 👍🏼
I like how Bulgaria actually gained land after the war
next : what was the role of Switzerland in ww2
keeping all the money safe :D
laundrying nazis money..
Funding wars in secret
A king can't be a dictator, that's just being a king!
True.
fully agree... what wassaid in the video that under Tzar Boris III, in BG was a dictatorship, is total bullshit. In that case, Spain, UK Netherland, DK and other monarchies in EU are dicatatorships as well :)
Great video 👍🏻
Bulgaria:
Loses war
Gains land
Stonks
Bulgarian occupation of Greece (Eastern Makedonia and Trace) was harder than the Nazi occupation of other parts of Greece. Greeks left E. Makedonia an dTrace and went to the parts of Greece which were occupied by the Nazis to save their lives and their families' lives.
Well to be fare you did the same in war times and in peace time but in a more quiet way but I get your point we are evil so your trying to say.
And you Greeks to recognise Aegean Makedonians in North Greece, who are the ancestor nation with its culture, folkloric song/dances tradition, original national names of the villages and the towns and to excuse for the genocide against Macedonians, when after the WW2 with support of Churchill you trow the first napalm bombs against Macedonians and their land and houses that still are part of North Greece?! But, in fact, are lands of Aegean Makedonians. Your military fascist Metaxa regim that is not changed at all- killed Macedonians, expelled their families, children and mothers from their homes and were pushed to find refuge in Tito's Yugoslavia/Makedonija!!! -If you are human and honest you should excuse to Macedonians for that pogrom!!!
Those Greeks who left these territories were living there for less than 20 years, right? They were shipped directly from Anatolia after the Greco-Turkish war. Probably many of them lived in Bulgarian houses. Leaving was smart move.
I wish there were more movies, books, GAMES focusing on the smaller and less popular countries during the WWII which played a huge role in it.. like Bulgaria, Poland, Serbia, Romania and many others...
There will be. The future will be more epic than ever
I love these videos! Thanks!
For those, who don't know, the ruling dynasties in Bulgaria were from German origin - Battenberg and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The country used to be a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch can open and close the parliament, to fire and assign ministers, to determine the elections' date. So the monarchs assigned lots of pro-German politicians in the institutions using their influence. This is one of the reasons why we were a German ally during the WW1 and WW2. Also lots of Bulgarian ethnic territories and minorities happened to be in the neighbouring countries after the Balkan Wars. And our neighbours were part of the Entente.
So bulgaria was like greece.It had a monarchy of foreign origin.
Yes, it was.
Boris III was closely related to the British Royal Family, so he had a pro-British view. Still, he was aware that the British could do little to aid Bulgaria in case of invasion. He opted instead for a passive alliance with Germany.
Saxe coburg gotha or Windsor so yes the is connection.
Very good video i from Bulgaria 🇧🇬
Very well explained Great video
Very well described!
I am Bulgarian and my grand-dad said that tsar Boris was good leader, but his father was bad.
True.
Bulgaria: I play both sides,so i always come out on top
Best strategy
This is pretty accurate actually both of your videos the Balkan wars and that one are very good
Bulgaria didnt lost a single battle in this period and yet we lost the war. Politics. Also the territory we fought was bulgarian. We just wanted whats ours. We refused to invade territory thats not populated with bulgarian majority. Thats important. Our Army was around 650 000 men. Considerring the population thats huge. Today Pakistan has 1 000 000 army. Irak had same numbers too before the 1991 war.
yes, the bulgarians are without doubt without fault!!!
@@ursodermatt8809 What is your problem? First see yourself and then talk stupid turk!!!
@notYourRUclips
yes, it is everybody else's fault. it is the same argument the indians, russians and chinese bring up.
and yes there were external forces naturally. but not all europaens joined in war in WWII.
@notYourRUclips What you saying is true but Bulgaria declared war to England & I believe USA. I agree with the rest.
"fight the least for win the most " Bulgaria goes stonks
OMG ok ok i do speak english but iam bulgarian BUT i love speaking English and hate history so this really helped me with history and seeing someone talk about my contry in englsih really makes me proud of my contry
Interesting fact: The Romanian land known by Romanians as "Cadrilater" = Dobrogea de sud = Southern Dobrudja (7565 square kilometers), given by Romania to Bulgaria in September 1940, under the pressure of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, was the ONLY territorial change managed by the Axis powers, that was not cancelled after the defeat of the Axis at the end of World War Two.
@a We occupied Hungary and its capital Budapest in 1919-1920, then again in 1945. We advanced in Bulgaria at will in 1913, until you, the Bulgarians, asked for peace. All this is getting boring. We have other common issues now, so let focus on them. Like, for example, the Islamization and Africanization of Europe.
@@FlorinSutu Probably, but the other guy is correct, no need to flex. I can do it too.
Greeks neighbors HAD THE STOMACH TO FIGHT NAZISM. The difference with Bulgars is shocking!!!!!!!!!!
Greece was fascist at that point, under Metaxas, and got 20% of its population murdered during the war.
@@narutomgm Go take a jump man.
and they were demolished in 2 days ahahahaahhaha
@@Danail_Ivanov Really? The Greeks fought throughout! You I presume are a Bulgarian racist.
Bulgarian football hooligans NAZI salutes v England and racist abuse of black players says everything about that country.
man... your comprehension of the topic is really skewed. Bulgaria did not "develop" a sense of some territories belonging due to some treaty in 1878. Those territories were populated with majority bulgarian population, and i mean majority - like 70%. There are plenty of Ottoman census records that show it, and all our friendly neighbors pretend they dont exist, as well as western historians.
Bulgaria did not enter the Balkan wars or the WW1 to get territory. This is completely wrong. After the Treaty of Berlin, more than half of the Bulgarian population was left in the borders of the Ottoman Empire. You can imagine their fate after the war of 1877-1878. After the First Balkan War - all our "allies" broke the pre-war treaties and occupied territory populated by majority of Bulgarians. Therefore making sure that those people are not left in the hand of "allies" that manifested by action as "enemies" was imperative. Therefore the wars were motivated by bribing back into the borders of newly free and liberated Bulgaria the Bulgarian People that super power political machinations left to grim fate!
You can read about how the Bulgarian population was treated in the land "conquered" by Romania, Serbia and Greece. The information is easily accessible on the internet. You would not believe what you will read, but i assure you - it`s true. This is 20 century Europe. You can even find black and white pictures.
Bulgarians werent even a majority.It was just bulgaria trying to be an Aggresor.
@@austrianempire504 completely wrong mate, on every level. Numerous documents exist as evidence, not only the Ottoman census records and taxation records. But yeah... History is written by the victor, so there you go - "aggressor for land." Forced assimilation also didn't happen.
@@Hartofilax Well written, we must also not forget the serbianisation of the region which included the discrimination (deportation, genocide) of anyone who called themselves Bulgarian and the greek deportations of bulgarians in thrace. I think its ironic to call bulgarians aggressors or 'imperialistic' when even romania wanted silistra (and the rest of dobrudja) with the justification that its a holy place?
Nice upload