BULGARIA, a kingdom of southeast ern Europe, bounded on the N. by the Danube and Rumania, on the S. by Turkey and the JEgean Sea, on the E.
by the Black Sea, and on the W. by Serbia and Greece. Before the World War it had an area of 43,320 square miles and a population of 4,467,000 people, made up chiefly of Bulgarians, but including also Turks, Rumanians, Greeks, Serbs and other nationalities. The capital is Sofia, with a population of 103,000.
Commerce and Finances.—Seventy per cent. of the people are engaged in agriculture, and the majority of them are small freeholders. The chief prod uct is wheat, though fruits and vege tables are very abundant and roses are cultivated for the production of thb at tar of roses, which forms an important article of commerce. Tobacco is also raised and wine is produced in large quantities. There are many coal mines and stone quarries. The principal in dustries are carpets, hosiery, woolen and cotton goods and ribbons. In the year preceding the war the total state rev enue was $51,399,000 and the national debt $231,496,540. The imports in 1914 were valued at $44,586,860, the exports $28,813,372.
Government.—The government is a constitutional monarchy. King Boris III., who acceded to the throne Oct. 4, 1918, is the present ruler. Legislative authority is vested in a single chamber whose representatives are chosen at the rate of one to every twenty thousand of the population. Men over thirty are eligible as members. Elections are held every four years. There is a cabinet of eight members appointed by the king.
Religion.—The national religion is that of the orthodox Greek church, but is not organically connected with that body. Twenty-five per cent. of the popu lation are Mohammedans, Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Armenians while the remainder belong to the na tional church. Education is free and compulsory, and the university of Sofia, the chief institution of the kind in the kingdom, is coeducational. For so small a nation there are a creditable number of technical schools, museums, and free libraries.
History.—The Bulgarians were origi nally of Tartar origin. Their settlement on the Volga dates back to the 4th century. On the adoption of Christian ity in the 9th century the Slavic and Tartar elements were amalgamated into the one race of Bulgarians. In 1018 Bulgaria fell under the control of the Byzantine empire. She regained her independence for a short period in the 12th and 13th centuries, but in 1390 was conquered by the Turks. The atrocities of the latter in 1876 provoked an insurrection which led to the Russo Turkish war, at the conclusion of which Bulgaria was made a separate princi pality, although still subject in a limited degree to Turkey. Alexander of Bat
tenberg, a German prince, was made sovereign of Bulgaria, but, after a stormy reign and a war with Serbia, was compelled to abdicate Sept. 9, 1886. His successor was Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who assumed the throne July 7, 1887. He inaugurated a strong anti-Russian policy, which was dictated largely by hatred of Serbia. In 1912-1913 Bulgaria, in connection with other Balkan states, made war on Turkey, but as a result of quar rels between the members of the con federacy Bulgaria was shorn of a large part of the territory which she claimed as the spoils of war. (See BALKAN WARS.) This left her sullen and resent ful and was a moving cause of her entry into the World War on the side of the Central Powers.
Bulgaria formally entered the World War Oct. 5, 1915. For many months previous her adhesion had been sought by both parties to the conflict. Each had made her substantial offers of terri torial and other advantages. For some months prior to the actual declaration of war it had been evident that the offers of the Teutonic Powers out weighed those of the Entente, and, as a matter of fact, a secret treaty had been signed between Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, and Turkey about July 17, 1915. Soon after this, Bulgaria began mobiliz ing, and Serbia, who had no doubt as to what the mobilization portended, asked permission of her Allies to attack Bul garia at once and thus gain the ad vantage of the initial onset. This per mission was refused, on the tenuous hope that Bulgaria might at least be held to neutrality. By October 3, however, the presence of German and Austrian offi cers in the Bulgarian War Ministry and army—the financial support being ac cepted from the Central Powers—and the concentration of Bulgarian troops in the zone bordering on Serbia so clearly foreshadowed the country's ulti mate action that Russia addressed an ultimatum to the Bulgarian Government, giving it twenty-four hours to declare its intentions. The latter accepted the challenge defiantly and promptly moved against Serbia. At the same time it issued a manifesto to its own people declaring that Germany was certain to win the war and that it behooved Bul garia to be on the side of the victors. The aims of the Entente were declared to be purely selfish and antagonistic to Bulgaria's interests. Russia, it stated.