kingdom · Balkans and Hungary
Kingdom of Bulgaria
Origins
On 5 October 1908 Prince Ferdinand of the Principality of Bulgaria proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Empire and took the title of tsar. Bulgaria joined the Balkan League and won the First Balkan War in 1912, but its attack on Serbia and Greece in 1913 led to defeat in the Second Balkan War and loss of most of its gains.
Rule and society
Hoping to win Macedonia, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in 1915; defeat in 1918 brought Ferdinand's abdication in favour of Boris III and the harsh Treaty of Neuilly. Aleksandar Stamboliyski's agrarian government was overthrown in 1923, and Boris ruled personally from 1935. As an Axis ally from 1941 Bulgaria occupied Yugoslav Macedonia and Thrace; Jews of the old kingdom were saved from deportation in 1943.
Decline and legacy
After Boris died in 1943, the Soviet army entered Bulgaria in September 1944 and the communist-led Fatherland Front seized power. A referendum in 1946 abolished the monarchy, and the boy king Simeon II went into exile, leading to the People's Republic of Bulgaria.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Provisional Government of Western Thrace was conquered by Kingdom of Bulgaria1913 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Bulgaria. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-bulgaria
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Bulgaria.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-bulgaria. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Bulgaria.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-bulgaria.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Bulgaria’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-bulgaria (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻