Central Powers

Page 4 – Kingdom of Bulgaria

Flag

Bulgarian flag

1914 Map

Kingdom of Bulgaria map thumbnail

Click on map for more detail

General facts

  • Population: 4.58 million (1915)
  • Capital: Sofia (1910 population 103,000)

Government

  • Head of State:
    • King Ferdinand I (7 July 1887 – 3 October 1918) 
    • King Boris III (3 October 1918 – 28 August 1943)
  • Head of Government:
    • Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov (17 July 1913 – 21 June 1918)
    • Prime Minister Aleksander Malinov (21 June – 28 November 1918)
    • Prime Minister Teodor Teodrov (28 November 1918 – 6 October 1919)
    • Prime Minister Aleksander Stamboliyski (6 October 1919 – 23 June 1923)

Participation in the War

  • Entered the war: 14 October 1915 (Bulgaria declared war on Serbia)
  • Ceased hostilities: 29 September 1918 (armistice with the Allies)
  • Ended status as a belligerent: 27 November 1919 (Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine signed with the Allies)

Military forces

Army

  • Peacetime strength 1915: 85,000 Active Army (Deystvuyushta Armiya)
  • Reserves 1915: 360,000 Reserve Army (Reserna Armiya) and 72,000 National Militia (Narodno Opolecnie)
  • Full mobilisation 1915: 517,000
  • Total mobilised during the war: 850,000

Navy

  • Peacetime strength 1915: 500

Fleet (1915)

  • Training cruiser (Black Sea Flotilla)
  • Assortment of obsolete gunboats, torpedo-boats and launches divided between the Black Sea Flotilla and the Danube River Flotilla

Casualties

Military

  • Dead (all causes): 101,200
  • Wounded: 152,400
  • Total: 253,600
How to cite this page

'Kingdom of Bulgaria', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/bulgaria-facts, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 13-Jan-2016