[Fanart] Do your best, Bulgaria.
Title: Bulgaria's wacky fun WWII adventures
Author/Artist: Me
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, Turkey, America, England, Prussia
Rating: P3-13
Warnings: Language and possible insanity
Summary: A brief examination of the tragicomedy that was everyone's least favorite character's role in WWII. Yes, this absolutely warranted its own entry. Shut up, I'll show you all.
(First, my usual exhibition of proof that this character does in fact exist. Scanlation courtesy of the lovely sora_ko.)
Now then! Like most things involving people getting beat up in the Balkans, this is a long story. You see, by the start of WWII, Bulgaria already had a bit of a chip on its shoulder, particularly over territory issues. This stemmed from the Balkan Wars, in which various Balkan nations teamed up to seize land from the ailing Ottoman Empire...
...and then turned right around and fought each other over the spoils once they'd won.
Then Bulgaria had the bad luck to fight on the wrong side during WWI. That didn't go so hot, either.
The interwar years were just as messed up, with two government coups, the Depression, and changing diplomatic relations that essentially blocked Bulgaria from trying to regain its perceived losses.
So it's not too surprising that Bulgaria was itching to redraw some maps by the time the next war rolled around, and while officially it declared neutrality in the beginning, there were pretty strong ties to both Russia and Germany.
See, there was an obvious cultural link with Russia, plus lingering goodwill for the hand Russia played in Bulgaria finally breaking away from Ottoman control back in 1878.
Huhuhu seeya later, Ottoman Empire. Greece had done this mostly on his own about 50 years earlier.
And pretty much all of Eastern Europe relied a lot on Germany economically by the 30s, which could easily be turned into a political advantage. There was also a significant amount of support and general admiration for Germany in certain sectors. In fact, some had described Bulgaria on previous occasions as "the Prussia of the Balkans".
Here, wait, let me italicize that for you.
The Prussia of the Balkans.
Make of that what you will.
Also, Bulgaria's possibly nonexistent mama didn't raise no fool, and saying no to Germany was rapidly becoming a very bad idea, especially with Hitler looking to go through Bulgaria to get to Yugoslavia and Greece.
And as long as the Nazi-Soviet alliance stayed in effect...
...It was surprisingly easy for Bulgaria to play the two off each other and regain lost territories without going to war. Soviet Russia had wanted to extend its influence further into the Balkans for years. Germany was already not too keen on this. Bulgaria acted craftily.
And when the invasion of Greece happened Bulgaria got something it had been wanting for a long, long time.
...It didn't turn out so amazing after all. Lots of ugliness in the Greek regions with reallocation of land and Bulgarization attempts and rebellions and suppression and augh.
But still, Bulgaria wasn't bogged down on the warfront and all in all things were pretty swell.
Until 1941.
After the invasion of Russia got going, Germany started putting more pressure on Bulgaria to lend more support to the war effort. Bulgaria still got to stay the heck away from the Eastern Front, but it did officially join the Axis and declare war on some Allies, mostly for the look of it.
Incidentally, the invasion raised a bit of concern over Germany's trustworthiness and prompted some closer readings of, er, certain books, namely the bits about what Hitler thought Slavs were good for. There was actually a propaganda movement to convince Bulgarians that oh no, of course they weren't actually Slavs, why just look at this historical evidence to the contrary, etc etc.
It had limited success.
Thus Bulgaria spent the next few years stuck between two giant warring powers and trying not to piss either one of them off.
Amazingly enough, it actually worked for a while, thanks to Tsar Boris III and his fabulous political savvy. Seriously, this guy was so boss. He was the one who managed Bulgaria's whole crazy balancing act in keeping it out of the war, largely because he didn't want no war to give anyone a chance to overthrow him. Basically, what was good for the country was good for him.
Awwww yeah.
(He also rather famously resisted certain demands by the Nazi government in some darn sneaky ways. Once it became clear just how much public opinion was against it, the question of Bulgaria proper's Jewish citizens was more or less dropped.)
So, yay Boris.
And then he died. D: D:
Suddenly, conspiracy theories! Boris died just a few days after a secret meeting with Hitler where people supposed he had again turned down sending Bulgarian troops to the front. The German doctors who attended to him said nuh-uh.
(Srsly, some people blamed an Italian conspiracy 'cause his Italian wife refused an autopsy. Also Italy was pretty high up there on Germany's "dead to me" list by that point.)
The reason I mention all of this is because the Tsar was pretty much the only person keeping the country's shit together by 1943, so he was sorely missed. Without him, all the rivaling political parties started going for each others' throats again and, well, it sort of goes downhill from here.
Russia for one was getting tired of Bulgaria's waffling. On a couple of occasions, planes spotted flying in from the east dropped bombs with Cyrillic lettering on the sides.
By the time Stalingrad happened, the other Allies turned more towards the Balkans as well...
...which resulted in the bombing of Sofia.
And still the new government under its various regents and rotating leaders flailed around about an armistice. Negotiations went poorly.
Also, please note that Turkey was a perceived threat for pretty much the whole war. Nobody really knew what was up with it, and there was even support for a pre-emptive strike on Turkey to keep it at bay even before it started leaning away from Germany. Oh, Bulgaria.
Interestingly, Germany didn't react very strongly to Bulgaria's increased sneakiness, so there may not have even been much danger of a reprisal if Bulgaria switched sides. Germany probably had larger concerns at the time.
Meanwhile, Russia. Creeping along on the warpath. Somewhat faster than expected.
AND STILL THE GOVERNMENT DID NOT MAKE PEACE WITH THE ALLIES.
For real. As late as September of 1944, Bulgaria could have gotten out of the war and signed an agreement with just the US and Great Britain, since they were the only Allies it was actually at war with. That would have kept the Soviet Union from having any official say in the matter afterwards.
Stalin, it seems, was aware of this.
So Bulgaria has the Very Special Honor of having been simultaneously at war with Germany, Russia, the UK, and the US. YOU GOTTA AIM HIGH.
Within just a day or two of Russia's invasion there was a communist coup. Even the communists were kind of surprised how quickly it went down, in fact. Later there would be purges and general confusion.
Then, with the so-called percentages agreement, England for the first time offered to concede Bulgaria to Russia's sphere of influence, due in part to Churchill's determination to secure democracy in Greece (which had a nasty civil war to deal with).
...And so Bulgaria found itself a new member of Russia's ever expanding household.
The next few decades would be oodles of fun.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. DON'T YOU FEEL LIKE BETTER, ENRICHED PEOPLE FOR HAVING LEARNED IT? Just don't try any of this at home, seriously.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a ten-page paper on this stuff to write by Monday. And I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to use cartoons to take up space. :(
Author/Artist: Me
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, Turkey, America, England, Prussia
Rating: P3-13
Warnings: Language and possible insanity
Summary: A brief examination of the tragicomedy that was everyone's least favorite character's role in WWII. Yes, this absolutely warranted its own entry. Shut up, I'll show you all.
(First, my usual exhibition of proof that this character does in fact exist. Scanlation courtesy of the lovely sora_ko.)
Now then! Like most things involving people getting beat up in the Balkans, this is a long story. You see, by the start of WWII, Bulgaria already had a bit of a chip on its shoulder, particularly over territory issues. This stemmed from the Balkan Wars, in which various Balkan nations teamed up to seize land from the ailing Ottoman Empire...
...and then turned right around and fought each other over the spoils once they'd won.
Then Bulgaria had the bad luck to fight on the wrong side during WWI. That didn't go so hot, either.
The interwar years were just as messed up, with two government coups, the Depression, and changing diplomatic relations that essentially blocked Bulgaria from trying to regain its perceived losses.
So it's not too surprising that Bulgaria was itching to redraw some maps by the time the next war rolled around, and while officially it declared neutrality in the beginning, there were pretty strong ties to both Russia and Germany.
See, there was an obvious cultural link with Russia, plus lingering goodwill for the hand Russia played in Bulgaria finally breaking away from Ottoman control back in 1878.
Huhuhu seeya later, Ottoman Empire. Greece had done this mostly on his own about 50 years earlier.
And pretty much all of Eastern Europe relied a lot on Germany economically by the 30s, which could easily be turned into a political advantage. There was also a significant amount of support and general admiration for Germany in certain sectors. In fact, some had described Bulgaria on previous occasions as "the Prussia of the Balkans".
Here, wait, let me italicize that for you.
The Prussia of the Balkans.
Make of that what you will.
Also, Bulgaria's possibly nonexistent mama didn't raise no fool, and saying no to Germany was rapidly becoming a very bad idea, especially with Hitler looking to go through Bulgaria to get to Yugoslavia and Greece.
And as long as the Nazi-Soviet alliance stayed in effect...
...It was surprisingly easy for Bulgaria to play the two off each other and regain lost territories without going to war. Soviet Russia had wanted to extend its influence further into the Balkans for years. Germany was already not too keen on this. Bulgaria acted craftily.
And when the invasion of Greece happened Bulgaria got something it had been wanting for a long, long time.
...It didn't turn out so amazing after all. Lots of ugliness in the Greek regions with reallocation of land and Bulgarization attempts and rebellions and suppression and augh.
But still, Bulgaria wasn't bogged down on the warfront and all in all things were pretty swell.
Until 1941.
After the invasion of Russia got going, Germany started putting more pressure on Bulgaria to lend more support to the war effort. Bulgaria still got to stay the heck away from the Eastern Front, but it did officially join the Axis and declare war on some Allies, mostly for the look of it.
Incidentally, the invasion raised a bit of concern over Germany's trustworthiness and prompted some closer readings of, er, certain books, namely the bits about what Hitler thought Slavs were good for. There was actually a propaganda movement to convince Bulgarians that oh no, of course they weren't actually Slavs, why just look at this historical evidence to the contrary, etc etc.
It had limited success.
Thus Bulgaria spent the next few years stuck between two giant warring powers and trying not to piss either one of them off.
Amazingly enough, it actually worked for a while, thanks to Tsar Boris III and his fabulous political savvy. Seriously, this guy was so boss. He was the one who managed Bulgaria's whole crazy balancing act in keeping it out of the war, largely because he didn't want no war to give anyone a chance to overthrow him. Basically, what was good for the country was good for him.
Awwww yeah.
(He also rather famously resisted certain demands by the Nazi government in some darn sneaky ways. Once it became clear just how much public opinion was against it, the question of Bulgaria proper's Jewish citizens was more or less dropped.)
So, yay Boris.
And then he died. D: D:
Suddenly, conspiracy theories! Boris died just a few days after a secret meeting with Hitler where people supposed he had again turned down sending Bulgarian troops to the front. The German doctors who attended to him said nuh-uh.
(Srsly, some people blamed an Italian conspiracy 'cause his Italian wife refused an autopsy. Also Italy was pretty high up there on Germany's "dead to me" list by that point.)
The reason I mention all of this is because the Tsar was pretty much the only person keeping the country's shit together by 1943, so he was sorely missed. Without him, all the rivaling political parties started going for each others' throats again and, well, it sort of goes downhill from here.
Russia for one was getting tired of Bulgaria's waffling. On a couple of occasions, planes spotted flying in from the east dropped bombs with Cyrillic lettering on the sides.
By the time Stalingrad happened, the other Allies turned more towards the Balkans as well...
...which resulted in the bombing of Sofia.
And still the new government under its various regents and rotating leaders flailed around about an armistice. Negotiations went poorly.
Also, please note that Turkey was a perceived threat for pretty much the whole war. Nobody really knew what was up with it, and there was even support for a pre-emptive strike on Turkey to keep it at bay even before it started leaning away from Germany. Oh, Bulgaria.
Interestingly, Germany didn't react very strongly to Bulgaria's increased sneakiness, so there may not have even been much danger of a reprisal if Bulgaria switched sides. Germany probably had larger concerns at the time.
Meanwhile, Russia. Creeping along on the warpath. Somewhat faster than expected.
AND STILL THE GOVERNMENT DID NOT MAKE PEACE WITH THE ALLIES.
For real. As late as September of 1944, Bulgaria could have gotten out of the war and signed an agreement with just the US and Great Britain, since they were the only Allies it was actually at war with. That would have kept the Soviet Union from having any official say in the matter afterwards.
Stalin, it seems, was aware of this.
So Bulgaria has the Very Special Honor of having been simultaneously at war with Germany, Russia, the UK, and the US. YOU GOTTA AIM HIGH.
Within just a day or two of Russia's invasion there was a communist coup. Even the communists were kind of surprised how quickly it went down, in fact. Later there would be purges and general confusion.
Then, with the so-called percentages agreement, England for the first time offered to concede Bulgaria to Russia's sphere of influence, due in part to Churchill's determination to secure democracy in Greece (which had a nasty civil war to deal with).
...And so Bulgaria found itself a new member of Russia's ever expanding household.
The next few decades would be oodles of fun.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. DON'T YOU FEEL LIKE BETTER, ENRICHED PEOPLE FOR HAVING LEARNED IT? Just don't try any of this at home, seriously.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a ten-page paper on this stuff to write by Monday. And I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to use cartoons to take up space. :(