Sofia was the capital of Bulgaria, and as a major player in several Balkan wars, the Bulgarians fully defended the title of Balkan Prussia.

Of course, this also allowed Bulgaria to acquire a large land population, and also made it stand out among the Balkan countries as a great power in the region.

However, Bulgaria's growth is not a good thing for its neighbors, because the Balkan countries are mixed and can easily lead to territorial disputes.

Therefore, after the Second Balkan War, Greece united Serbia and Romania and went to war against Bulgaria (historically known as the Third Balkan War). As a result of the war, Bulgaria lost not only the territory seized in the Second Balkan War, but also most of the territory of the First Balkan War (Italo-Turkish War).

After the Third Balkan War, the voices of revenge in Bulgaria never subsided. However, given Bulgaria's weakened strength, there was no way to regain the lost territory from the three powers. So Bulgarian nationalism turned its guns on the government.

Therefore, the domestic political situation in Bulgaria has been very turbulent in recent years, and the anger from nationalism has made the Bulgarian authorities feel like they are roasting on fire. In the course of these years, Bulgaria has had four prime ministers. One of them, Prime Minister Igniovsky, was also assassinated for calling on the people to remain calm and rebuild their strength.

It can be seen from this that the Bulgarian nationalists have reached the point of all kinds of madness, which can see the negative side of nationalism. And the cry of revenge in Bulgaria has made the other three countries always maintain a high degree of vigilance against it, ready to join forces again to beat Bulgaria again.

It can be said that if it were not for the outbreak of war, Bulgaria would have been beaten again by the three countries if it had not been blown up, which was extremely dangerous.

As for why the Bulgarian population is so grumpy?

The reason is simple, in the original history, Bulgaria did not occupy much of the Macedonian region, it was more reflected in the agreement. Things that I haven't gotten before, although I am worried about them, do not make people overly excited.

And now it is Bulgaria, which has occupied most of Macedonia for almost two decades, that is suddenly divided between Serbia and Greece. In the eyes of the Bulgarian people, this is already a reparation for the cession of land, and it has also cut off such a large piece of land in Bulgaria, and three-tenths of the Bulgarian people have been cut away.

This is also the main reason why the political situation in Bulgaria has been turbulent in recent years.

After the outbreak of the war, both the government and the people of Bulgaria were actually eager to try. They have not forgotten that Serbia has divided the most territory of Bulgaria, and if it were not for the fact that they could not fight it at the moment, they would have wanted to teach this shameless man a lesson.

But it has not been involved in the war until now, mainly because the conditions have not been negotiated, because Austria-Hungary has not agreed to Bulgaria's demands.

Again, Austria-Hungary, which dominated the Serbian war, was unwilling to show too many interests to win over Bulgaria. This is actually a typical eye and high hand.

If you want to say who has the deepest experience of the two-front war at present, it is not Germany as everyone thinks, but Austria-Hungary.

The two Serbian campaigns launched by Vienna were fought by the Serbs on the one hand, and by the help of Russia, on the other, mainly by Russia.

The main reason for the defeat of Austria-Hungary in the First Serbian Campaign was the disastrous defeat in Galicia, which forced Vienna to withdraw the troops attacking Serbia and devote it to the defense of Russia.

As for the Second Serbian Campaign, the same was true, after the Austro-Hungarian army entered Serbia, Russia launched a campaign to besiege Przemyšl. The Przemyšl fortress was an Austro-Hungarian fortress in the Carpathian Mountains, and if it was lost here the Russians would have invaded the Austro-Hungarian hinterland, the fortress could not be lost in any way. So Austria-Hungary immediately withdrew from Serbia and gathered forces to try to relieve it.

Unfortunately, the Austro-Hungarian army was once again defeated by the Russians, and the fortress was still under siege.

Not to mention the third time, which ended in the Russian offensive without a hitch.

The successive defeats sobered up the top level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, coupled with the dissuasion of Italy, so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally recognized the facts, and it was very difficult to seize Serbia by itself and Italy, which did not contribute to the work.

Therefore, after receiving instructions from Vienna, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Batemann went with the Italian ambassador to meet with Prime Minister Radoslavov.

After a brief greeting, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Batemann was ready to offer the Austro-Hungarian terms.

"Your Excellency, Bulgaria can only get everything it wants if it joins our camp. And my country, taking into account the situation in your country, is ready to return to you the lands that he had seized from your country after the liberation of the Kingdom of Serbia. In addition, we are willing to provide your country with 50 million crowns of economic assistance and 30 million crowns of weapons and equipment. ”

After the Austro-Hungarian ambassador finished speaking, Toledo, who was the Italian ambassador, then spoke. "Prime Minister Radoslavov, the friendship between your two countries has grown day by day, and now my country is very willing to see your country join our camp. If your country joins, we are also willing to provide 60 million lire of economic assistance and 40 million lire of arms aid. ”

Hearing the conditions given by the two ambassadors, Prime Minister Radoslavov was very happy in his heart, with these funds and arms, at least the government can breathe a sigh of relief, and two more divisions can be formed. However, although he was happy, the Bulgarian prime minister's expression showed a very difficult look.

"I'm very sorry, but from the bottom of my heart, I'm very willing to join your side. But as you both know, such an important decision will need to be discussed by His Majesty the King and the Cabinet Ministers, so why don't you wait a little longer? ”

The words of Prime Minister Radoslavov, how could the two ambassadors not know that each other's words were prevarication. If it weren't for your king's intention to come over, there would have been time for you, the pro-German, Italian-Austrian prime minister, to come to power.

At this point, Ambassador Bateman asked, "There is always a time limit, and please tell us how long we have to wait?" ”

Obviously, this is to inform the Bulgarian side that Italy and Austria need Bulgaria to give direct generosity, and there may be no more opportunities to continue to delay and get more benefits.

"Well, how about a month, considering that the ministers will be summoned to the meeting and that there will be discussions on resolving differences?"

How can we hold a meeting to discuss the issue for a month, and the Bulgarian prime minister seems to have made an old mistake.

At this point, Ambassador Bateman spoke. "My country believes that 10 days is enough to negotiate results."

"That's what my country thinks, too." At this time, Ambassador Toledo also expressed his attitude of advancing and retreating together with the Ambassador of Austria-Hungary.

Seeing the seriousness of the ambassadors of Italy and Austria, Prime Minister Radoslavov felt the pressure. It seems that it is no longer possible to try to use the time to get more benefits.

"The two ambassadors can rest assured that they will definitely give them an answer in ten days."

After sending the two away, the prime minister called in his secretary. "Prepare the car, I'm going to meet the king."

Soon, the prime minister came to the palace.

"Your Majesty, the ambassadors of Italy and Austria have just come to visit my ......"

Radoslavov reported to King Ferdinand I the terms of the two ambassadors, as well as the unwillingness of the allies to wait.

And the king listened attentively to the prime minister's report, and asked a question or two from time to time.

After the Prime Minister had finished his report, King Ferdinand spoke. It is not difficult to understand that Britain and France were attacking Paris, while Russia was also attacking on the Eastern Front. The alliance faction is under pressure, and one more ally needs to share some of the pressure. ”

"So you found us?"

In response to the Prime Minister's compliment, Ferdinand I nodded in reply. "If this is the case, then we are valuable allies, in that case, then talk to them, you can try to ask if the Niš region can be handed over to us, and we can also talk about more assistance, whether it is money or arms, we need it."

"I'm afraid Italy and Austria won't agree to this condition, right?"

Hearing the conditions offered by the king, Prime Minister Radoslavov felt that it was difficult to negotiate these conditions.

In the face of the Prime Minister's words, King Ferdinand did not think that it was impossible to negotiate. "Then tell them that we Bulgaria are willing to send an army to help them fight, as long as we don't send us to the Eastern Front, up to 150,000 men."

It is clear that the Bulgarian king intends to use the army as a bargaining chip so that Bulgaria can gain more benefits. The performance of Germany, Italy and Austria on the battlefield led the king to believe that the war would end in victory for the allies. Looking at the performance of Britain and France in Paris, with the loss of more than 80,000 men in one day, it is hard to believe that the Entente camp can win.

And Radoslavov's eyes lit up after hearing the king say how to increase his chips. "Your Majesty, this idea is really very clever, I believe that even if we are not willing to confront Russia, the Western Front and North Africa and other fronts will definitely need troops."

At this time, the Bulgarian prime minister was full of faith and vowed to fight for more interests for Bulgaria.

(End of chapter)