Editing History of Bulgaria (section)

===World War II===
{{Main|Bulgaria during World War II}} 
Upon the outbreak of World War II, the government of the [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]] under [[Bogdan Filov]] declared a position of neutrality, being determined to observe it until the end of the war, but hoping for bloodless territorial gains, especially in the lands with a significant Bulgarian population occupied by neighbouring countries after the [[Second Balkan War]] and World War I.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} But it was clear that the central geopolitical position of Bulgaria in the Balkans would inevitably lead to strong external pressure by both sides of World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|title=THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN IN THE BALKANS (SPRING 1941): PART I|url=https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/balkan/20_260_1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225065044/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/balkan/20_260_1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 25, 2007|access-date=2022-01-20|website=history.army.mil}}</ref> [[Turkey]] had a [[non-aggression pact]] with Bulgaria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, The British Commonwealth; The Near East and Africa, Volume III - Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1941v03/d890|access-date=2022-01-20|website=history.state.gov}}</ref>

Bulgaria succeeded in negotiating a recovery of [[Southern Dobruja]], part of Romania since 1913, in the [[Axis Powers|Axis]]-sponsored [[Treaty of Craiova]] on 7 September 1940, which reinforced Bulgarian hopes for solving territorial problems without direct involvement in the war. However, Bulgaria was forced to join the Axis powers in 1941, when German troops that were preparing to [[Battle of Greece|invade Greece]] from Romania reached the Bulgarian borders and demanded permission to pass through Bulgarian territory. Threatened by direct military confrontation, Tsar Boris III had no choice but to join the fascist bloc, which was made official on 1 March 1941. There was little popular opposition, since the [[Soviet Union]] was in a [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|non-aggression pact with Germany]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/History_of_Bulgaria.htm#BULGARIA%20DURING%20WORLD%20WAR%20II |title= History of Bulgaria|website=bulgaria-embassy.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011003946/http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/History_of_Bulgaria.htm |archive-date=2010-10-11}}</ref> However the king refused to hand over the Bulgarian Jews to the Nazis, saving 50,000 lives.<ref>[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005355 BULGARIA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926081523/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005355 |date=2011-09-26}} United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.</ref> Bulgaria [[Bulgarian rule of Macedonia, Morava Valley and Western Thrace (1941–1944)|sent occupation forces]] into eastern [[Serbia]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and northern [[Greece]] (territories it claimed as its own), where atrocities were committed and local Jews were sent to [[death camps]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kassabov |first=Ognian |title=No, Bulgaria Doesn't Need to Bury the Communist Past |url=https://jacobin.com/2024/01/bulgaria-soviet-army-monument-dismantling-far-right |access-date= |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref> A [[Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II|resistance movement]] organised to fight against the [[Wehrmacht]] forces in [[Bulgaria]] and the [[Third Bulgarian Empire|Tsardom of Bulgaria]] authorities. It was mainly [[communist]] and pro-[[Soviet Union]].

[[File:BGSoldiers1945.png|thumb|Bulgarian troops marching at a victory parade in Sofia celebrating the end of World War II, 1945]]
Bulgaria did not join the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]] that began on 22 June 1941 nor did it declare war on the Soviet Union. However, despite the lack of official declarations of war by both sides, the [[Bulgarian Navy]] was involved in a number of skirmishes with the [[Soviet Black Sea Fleet]], which attacked Bulgarian shipping. Besides this, Bulgarian armed forces garrisoned in the Balkans battled various resistance groups. The Bulgarian government was forced by Germany to declare a token war on the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]] on 13 December 1941, an act which resulted in the [[Bombing of Sofia in World War II|bombing of Sofia]] and other Bulgarian cities by Allied aircraft.

On 23 August 1944, Romania left the Axis Powers and declared war on Germany, and allowed Soviet forces to cross its territory to reach Bulgaria. On 5 September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and invaded. Within three days, the Soviets occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port cities of [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] and [[Burgas]]. Meanwhile, on 5 of September, Bulgaria declared war on Nazi Germany. The Bulgarian Army was ordered to offer no resistance.<ref name="Pavlowitch 2008 238–240">{{cite book |title=Hitler's new disorder: the Second World War in Yugoslavia |last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K.|year=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-70050-4 |pages=238–240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8d2409V9tEC&q=puppet++State+in+Macedonia++1944+mihailov&pg=PA239}}</ref>

On 9 September 1944 in a [[Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944|coup]] the government of [[List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria|Prime Minister]] [[Konstantin Muraviev]] was overthrown and replaced with a government of the [[Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)|Fatherland Front]] led by [[Kimon Georgiev]]. On 16 September 1944 the Soviet Red Army entered Sofia.<ref name="Pavlowitch 2008 238–240"/> In October 1944, mobilisation was ordered and Bulgaria sent three armies to fight under the operational command of the Red Army's [[3rd Ukrainian Front]] to repel the [[Wehrmacht]] across Central Europe.<ref name=":0" /> The Bulgarian Army marked several victories against the [[7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen]] (at [[Niš|Nish]]), the [[22nd (Air Borne) Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|22nd Infantry Division]] (at [[Strumica]]) and other German forces during the operations [[Kosovo Operation (1944)|in Kosovo]] and at Stratsin.<ref>Великите битки и борби на българите след освобождението, Световна библиотека, София, 2007, стр.73–74.</ref><ref name="Waffen-SS">{{cite book | last = Williamson | first = Gordon|author-link=Gordon Williamson (writer)| year = 2004 | title = The Waffen-SS (2) 6. to 10. Divisions | publisher = Osprey | page = 14 | isbn = 1-84176-590-2}}</ref> The Soviet army withdraws from Bulgaria after one year.<ref name=":0" />