Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy, 19431949 , livre ebook

Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy,
1943–1949

Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy,
1943–1949

Marietta Stankova

Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com

This edition first published in UK and USA 2014
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA

Copyright © 2014 Marietta Stankova

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.

British Library Cataloguing­in­Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data
Stankova, Marietta.
Bulgaria in British foreign policy, 1943–1949 / Marietta Stankova.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references .xindeand
ISBN 978­1­78308­232­2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Bulgaria–Foreign relations–Great Britain. 2. t eaGr
Britain–Foreign relations–Bulgaria. 3. ra ,dlW Wro
1939–1945–Bulgaria. 4. orW Wldeat Britain. 5.ra ,91931–49–5rG
Great Britain–Foreign relations–Balkan Peninsula. 6. Balkan
Peninsula–Foreign relations–Great Britain. Ti. I .elt
DR73.G7S74 2014
327.49904109’044–dc23
2014015728

ISBN­13: 978 1 78308 232 2 (Hbk)
ISBN­10: 1 78308 232 1 (Hbk)

Cover image: General Walter Oxley, General John Crane and General
Sergey Biryuzov in Sofia, 10 May 1945, reproduced with the permission of
www.lostbulgaria.com

This title is also available as an ebook.

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction

C

O

N

TEN

TS

Part One: Allied Cooperation during the World War:
‘What Will Be the Place ofBulgaria at the
Judgement Seat?’
Chapter One: Bulgaria in British Postwar Planning
Chapter Two: Getting Bulgaria Out of the War

Part Two: Rising Tensions and Lowering Expectations
during the Armistice: ‘Britain Has to
Be a Little More than a Spectator’
Chapter Three: The Principles of British Postwar Policy
towards Bulgaria
Chapter Four: Observing the Establishment of Communist
Rule in Bulgaria
Chapter Five: Recognizing the Bulgarian Communist Regime

Part Three: Consolidation ofthe Cold War Frontline:
‘We Are Supporting Certain Principles’

Chapter Six: British Acceptance of

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Communist Rule in Bulgaria

15
37

vii
ix
1

73

97
125

159

193
201
233
245

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I was fortunate to draw on the expertise and support of many scholars and
friends during the considerable time I worked on this book. Any effort to detail
here their actions and assistance would be inadequate. I wish to thank them
all, but in particular Prof. Richard Crampton and Prof. Anita Prazmowska,
who guided my studies and research in Oxford and London respectively. The
late Dr Maria Dowling was the first to encourage my interest in exploring
the present subject during a memorable year at the CEU in Budapest, and
Dr Edmund Green offered lots of practical help: I remain indebted to both of
them not only for the invaluable academic advice but also for their kindness
and unique sense of humour.
The late Dr Eduard Mark readily shared his insights into documentary
sources and historiography. In the early stages of my work I had the chance
to hear and discuss the recollections of several witnesses of the events of the
book: Dianko Sotirov, Malcolm Mackintosh, F. L. Simpson and Lord Denis
Greenhill are no longer here but are gratefully remembered.
The professional assistance in libraries and archives of Boyka Parvanova in
Sofia and Olga Khavanova and Sergei Listikov in Moscow was indispensible.
I am also thankful to the staff of the archives and libraries where I carried out
research over some years: the National Archives at Kew, the British Library
of Political and Economic Science, the Library of the School of Slavonic
and East European Studies and the British Library in London, the Bodleian
Library in Oxford, the General Department of Archives, the Archive of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the St St Cyril and Methodius National Library
in Sofia, the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian
State Archive of Socio­political History in Moscow.
Above all, it was the love, patience and trust of my husband, children and
parents that are in equal measure the strongest incentive and the greatest
reward for my work.

AFHQ
AMVnR
AMVR
AVPRF

BAN
BANU
BBC
BCP
BLO
BMM
BoT
CC
DII

EAM
ELAS
FF
FO
Force 133
FORD
HMG
KKE
MEW
NC
NKID
NKVD
OSS
PID
PRB
PWE

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Allied Forces Headquarters
ArchiveoftheMinistryofForeign Affairs, Sofia
Archive of the Ministry of oS , afi AffairsInternal
Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation,
Moscow
BulgarianAcademy of Sciences
Bulgarian Nanioatl naioUn ngAarir
British Broadcasting Corporation
Bulgarian Communist Party
BritishLiaison Officer
British M siisnoiMilatyr
Board of Trade
Central Committee [of the Bulgarian Communist Party]
Department of International Information [of the CC of
the Soviet Communist Party]
NationalLiberation Front, Greece
National eerG ,ym eciberar Ln AratiopoluP
Fatherland Front
Foreign Office
SOE section dealing with the Balkans
Foreign Office Research Department
His Majesty’s Government
Communist Party of Greece
Ministry of Economic Warfare
National Council [of the Fatherland Front]
People’sCommissariatforForeign Affairs, Moscow
People’s Commissariat for scow, MosriaffA lanretnI
Office of Strategic Services
Political Intelligence Department
Press Reading Bureau
Political Warfare Executive

RAN
RTsHIDNI

SIS
SOE
TsDA
TsPA
UNO
UNSCOB
VKP(B)
WCO

Russian Academy of Sciences
Centre for Preservation and Study of Modern History
Documents, Moscow
Secret Intelligence Service
Special Operations Executive
CentralState Historical Archive, Sofia
Central ytracrA evihoS ,[mmCoisun Pt]fia
UnitedNationsOrganization
United Nations oissno niCc elpaiSmmonska he tal B
All­Soviet Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
War Cabinet Office

INTRODUCTION

Modern Bulgaria’s development was continuously affected by the changing
balance of power in Europe: Bulgaria’s very emergence as a separate
nation­state in 1878 was as much the outcome of great­power conflict and
arbitration as it was of the struggle for self­determination. Starting with the
somewhat misleadingly labelled ‘Russophiles’ and ‘Russophobes’ just after it
gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, right through to pro­ and
anti­Western predilections in the post­Communist period, foreign­policy
orientation has been a defining force in Bulgarian internal affairs. The
involvement of a succession of great powers in the Balkans shaped not only
the country’s place on the international scene but above all the configuration
of the domestic political forces. This reflected largely the fact that in the late
nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, the Bulgarian political
elite looked abroad for models of modernization and sought external support
for Bulgaria’s territorial ambitions.
It was Bulgaria’s key geographic location that attracted the attention of
European powers bidding for regional and continental influence. At the centre
of the Balkan Peninsula, with a long coast on the Black Sea, the country
constituted a natural stepping stone towards the Straits, a hinterland for
extending control over the Eastern Mediterranean and a possible base for
the penetration of the Middle East. Important as it was, Bulgaria’s strategic
position was often exaggerated in both popular perceptions and foreign­policy
doctrine. For the great powers, dominance over the country was desirable
but rarely indispensable, and even Russia – predominantly seen as Bulgaria’s
protector – at times played the rivalling Balkan neighbours against one another.
The role played by Bulgaria in different historical periods contributed to
the struggle among the major European states for leadership in continental