Was the First World War the Turning Point at Which Bulgarian History Failed to Turn?

Abstract

For Bulgaria the First World War was a continuation of the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. Those conflicts ended in defeat as a result of which Bulgaria lost most of the Macedonian territory it had just gained. Great bitterness was felt in Bulgaria, and it was not until the end of the 1990s that a settlement of the Macedonian question in Bulgarian politics seemed to have been found. The War also meant for Bulgaria the loss of its access to the Mediterranean, despite the peace treaty’s promise of economic access to the Aegean. In domestic politics, the War produced radicalization that led to the formation of a reforming Agrarian government — deposed in a violent coup in 1923.