BRITISH POLICY AND BULGARIA 1918-1919 Patrick J. Treanor Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD School of Slavonic and East European Studies University of London ProQuest Number: 10014710 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10014710 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT The period from the conclusion of the Armistice of Salonika until the signature of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (roughly September 30, 1918 to November 26, 1919) saw complete turnabouts in both British policy toward Bulgaria and Bulgarian domestic politics. British policy toward Bulgaria during this period, as since at least 1876, was derivative of Britain’s policy toward the Turkish Straits, was the main factor in shaping the Treaty of Neuilly and therefore exercised an important influence on the simultaneously unfolding Bulgarian power struggle and on setting that country’s political agenda for years to come. Britain was determined to use the results of the Great War to establish the peace of Europe and the security of the Empire on a lasting basis. In the Balkans, Britain’s primary security interests were focused on the Straits, which she sought to utilise as both a waterway for her fleet and a barrier to German expansion toward lands controlled by her further east. British policy towards the Straits had long had a major impact on that towards the Balkans in general and Bulgaria in particular. By the end of the war, British official thinking on a post-war settlement with Bulgaria, which had entered the war against the Allies in order to achieve her territorial aspirations, centred on the idea of creating a Balkan bloc to defuse the region as a powder keg and form a bulwark protecting the Straits. In the British analysis, the formation of such a bloc was dependent on territorial concessions to Bulgaria by her neighbours, some of whom were Britain’s allies. At the Paris Peace Conference, however, the British Delegation, under the influence of Lloyd George’s desire to back Greece as Britain’s surrogate in the Near East, decided to support that country’s territorial claims in the Balkans and Asia Minor. This required taking rather than giving territory to Bulgaria and ended all thought of attempting to form the projected bloc. At the same time, political forces were coming to power in Bulgaria favouring peaceful development and co-operation with the country’s neighbours rather than military means to achieve her national aspirations at their expense. Ironically, while the territorial losses inflicted on Bulgaria with British support may have promoted this process, they represented a heavy legacy for the new Agrarian government of Alexander Stambolisky which he recognised he had to overcome if his party was to remain in power. CONTENTS PREFACE ......................................................................................................................................................................................5 NOTE ON PROPER NAMES AND TRANSLITERATION ..................................................................................10 A B B R E V IA T IO N S F O R D O C U M E N T A R Y S O U R C E S .......................................................................................11 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................14 I: BRITAIN, BULGARIA AND THE GREAT WAR ..............................................................................................16 A P erso nal Re g im e ...................................................................................................................................... .........................18 The Balkan Bl o c .............................. ;................................................................................................................................... 27 T he Balkan A l l ie s ................................................................................................................................................................. 39 D ispu ted Te r r it o r ie s ............................................................................................................................................................44 Macedonia............................................................................................................................................................48 The Dobruja .........................................................................................................................................................53 Thrace.................................................................................................................................................................. 54 II: A SEPARATE PEACE ...................................................................................................................................................59 T he A rm istice o f Sa l o n ik a ................................................................................................................................................ 63 T he Ra d o m ir Re b e l l io n ...................................................................................................................................................... 77 III: FROM SALONIKA TO PARIS ............................................................................................................................... 89 T o w ards a Ba lk a n Se t t l e m e n t .......................................................................................................................................94 Public opinion ................................................................................................................................. 98 Britain and the Fourteen Points........................................................................................................................ 99 Balkan Developments ........................................................................................................................................102 Serbia..................................................................................................................................................................................103 Rumania ..............................................................................................................................................................................105 Greece............................................................................................................................................................................. „.110 Final Pr o p o s a l s .................................................................................................................................................................... 114 The Politics of D e f e a t ....................... 128 IV: ENTER LLOYD GEORGE ......................................................................................................................................141 T he O th er Pl a y e r s .............................................................................................................................................................. 148 The British Delegation......................................................................................................................................148 The Great Power Delegations ..........................................................................................................................155 The United States.............................................................................................................................................................. 155 Italy......................................................................................................................................................................................158 France ................................................................................................................................................................................. 161 Venizelos.............................................................................................................................................................165 The En d of th e B alk an B l o c ...........................................................................................................................................170 V: THE TERRITORIAL SETTLEMENT ................................................................................................................. 186 The So u th ern D o b r u ja ....................................................................................................................................................... 188 Th r a c e ......................................................................................................................................................................................