Bulgarian Military Historical Collection 2003/1
CONTENT
THE UNIFORM OF THE PRINCE’S CONVOY
Daniela Tzankova-Gancheva
The publication opens herewith a permanent rubric to feature the Bulgarian military symbolic. One of the most gorgeous and beautiful military uniforms of the late 19th c. is presented – the uniform of the Prince’s convoy (later the Leibguardian Mounted Regiment of H. R.H.).
THE COMBAT FLAG OF 15-TH INFANTRY LOM REGIMENT
Daniela Tzankova-Gancheva
The combat flag is a tangible symbol of the statehood national idea in the name of which the military men serve and give their lives, if needed. History says that not any Bulgarian flag was captured by the enemy. This is true for the combat flag of 15th Lom Infantry Regiment as well, which during the First World War was preserved from being seized by the enemy thanks to lots of risks undertaken.
HISTORY BETWEEN THE SCIENCE AND JUBILEE
Roumiana Koneva
The jubilee as a societal and cultural phenomenon originates from the Judaic and Christian religious beliefs. It gradually turned into a link between history and contemporary life, with the crucial role of the past in its assessment. Politics strives at making jubilee instrumental, while historical science aims at preserving morality in historical selection. That makes it a pillar of the past-present link.
RUSSIAN ART OF WAR DURING THE RUSSIAN-TURKISH WAR OF LIBERATION 1877 – 1878
Petko Yotov
The 1877-1878 Russian-Turkish War of Liberation marked a significant step in the development of Russian military theory and practical art. The article traces the setting of the major strategic goal, the achievement of a surprise factor, the carrying out of strategic deployment, the actual military actions, the main tactical methods and the management of the Russian troops. Russian combat experience is a source of expertise for the builders of the young Bulgarian troops after the Liberation.
BERLIN 1878: THE CONGRESS OF DELUSIONS
Zorka Parvanova
The political order and peace, established in Europe by the Berlin Treaty, lasted for thirty years, but was paid for with thousands of victims – Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians – during their liberation struggles against the Turkish oppression. The worse implication therefrom is however that by imposing the system of territorial compensations for the Balkan states in the name of the ‘political equilibrium’, the Berlin Treaty in fact collides the national communities in respect of their ethnic boundaries and opens the way for future confrontation and conflicts.
BULGARIAN TERRITORIAL TROOPS (ZEMSKA VOISKA)
Todor Petrov
The restoration of the Bulgarian State in 1878 went together with the establishment of its armed forces, called at first Bulgarian Territorial Troops (Zemska Voiska). The publication looks at the composition, structure and armament of the troops. Attention is paid to the military training establishments where the command staff was trained.
POLITICAL AND MILITARY STRATEGY OF ILINDEN-PREOBRAZHENIE UPRISING 1903
Svetlozar Eldarov, Dimiter Minchev
The strategic aim of the uprising is not to crush the troops of the Ottoman Empire but in fact to provoke the intervention of the European diplomacy for implementing the reforms as stipulated by the Berlin Treaty. Contrary to the Armenians in Asia Minor, who chose individual terror and thence became victims of systematic genocide, the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace stuck to mass, thorough and organised opposition. Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising respected the Ottoman troops and the political elite so much to prevent them from applying the ‘Armenian model’ of retribution against the Bulgarians from Macedonia and Thrace and to make them set on the way of reforms.
Sonya Dimitrova
During the Balkan War the Bulgarian pilots wrote the first page of the military aviation history. The article traces the formation of the three aviation units with the Bulgarian Army and their participation in the operations in 1912. The Bulgarian Army entered the war with 21 aeroplanes, which gradually grew to 35, so that Bulgaria had a greater number of aircraft than the Balkan Alliance member countries and the Ottoman Empire altogether. For the first time the Bulgarian pilots experimented various tactical ways of multitask use of the aviation – single and in-group flights in tactical and operational depth, military reconnaissance, aerial photography, bombardment, etc.
LESSONS FROM THE BALKAN WARS 1912 – 1913
Georgi Markov
The military coalition of the Balkan Alliance was formed in relatively short terms and was of temporary nature. It was established on the grounds of the military aim to crush the Ottoman Empire, but lacked a clear and mutually acceptable agreement for allocation of the Ottoman heritage. For Bulgaria in particular, the fact that there was no agreement and complementation between the political and the military strategies was due to the unclear, and to a certain extent insincere relations between the Palace, the Council of Ministers and the Chief Command. During the war the latter slipped out of political control. The author claims that the major part of the guilt for the national disaster can be attributed to King Ferdinand.
THE SEIZING OF ODRIN FORTRESS
A MEMOIR OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL GEORGI VAZOV
Aglika Petrova
The memoir published herewith is dedicated to the seizure of the up to then considered impregnable Odrin Fortress in Turkey by the Bulgarian Army during the 1912-1913 Balkan War. The author describes the preparation of the assault and the heroic behaviour of the Bulgarian soldiers on 13-26 March 1913.
COLONEL STOYCHO GAROUFALOV (1868 – 1924)
Svetlozar Eldarov
The article opens a permanent rubric, which shall present less known Bulgarian officers whose life and deed made them the actual builders of the Bulgarian Army. Colonel Stoycho Garoufalov held the Revival morality and patriotic spirit of the Bulgarians of Malko Turnovo region. He succeeded in passing this heritage to his son Dimiter Garoufalov, who started an officer career as well. The biographic article is accompanied by a letter of Stoycho Garoufalov to his son at the Macedonian Front in 1916 with which the father promotes a sense of respect to God, Fatherland and family in his son.
1943: THE YEAR OF THE TURNING POINT
Roumen Nikolov
The major events during the fifth year of the Second World War (1943) are presented herewith, which permanently turned its course and predefined to a great extent its outcome – the battle for Stalingrad, for Guadalcanal, the military operations in Northern Africa, the debarkation of the Allied troops in Italy, the battle at the Koursk Arc.
“AS THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE…”
Ivan Mechkov
The article describes the fights of the Parachute Company with 1st Bulgarian Army against the troops of Nazi Germany for seizing the fortified position at Strazhin in October 1944, which cleared the path for further advancement to Koumanovo and Skopje.
STRONGHOLD OF BULGARIAN NAVAL MORALE
Todor Paroushev
The publication is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Varna Naval Museum. It describes the history dating back to the 1880-ies before its establishment, the development of the museum, as well as its success during the years.
“VLADISLAV VARNENCHIK” PARK-MUSEUM
Emilia Petkova
The publication outlines the events in the 15th c. to which Vladislav Varnenchik Park-Museum in Varna is dedicated. The allied Christian army, led by the Polish-Hungarian King Vladislav III Yagelo raised in a march attempting to stop the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in Europe. In the crucial battle near Varna in 1444 the King was killed and his army – defeated.
AMERICAN ARMY DURING THE KOREAN WAR 1950 – 1953
John S. Brown, William M. Donnelly
An outline of the actions of the American Army during the war on the Korean Peninsula. The reasons for its break are examined, as well as the stages in the course of the war, the dynamics of the military operations and the outcome of the 3-year military conflict.
BULGARIAN MILITARY MEDIA
Dimiter Minchev, Plamen Dimitrov
Résumé of a report at the 29th International Congress on Military History (Bucharest, August 2003), dedicated to the Bulgarian military periodicals – 256 editions, from People’s Defence, the fist military newspaper (1886) till nowadays.
STRATEGIC DEPLOYMENT DURING THE WARS OF BULGARIA (1885 – 1945)
Ignat Krivorov
Strategic deployment is a function of the mass armies and includes covering the state boundaries, mobilisation of the army, concentration and deployment of the troops on the theatre of military operations. The article highlights the achievements, weaknesses and trends as shown in the strategic deployment of the Bulgarian Army during the five wars waged by Bulgaria in the 1885-1945 period.