ABSTRACT
Few modern states have undergone such extreme changes of military and political fortune as Bulgaria did in the near decade of wars beginning in 1912. The First Balkan War of 1912–13 saw Bulgaria realize its national claims in Southeastern Europe with a surprising victory over the Ottoman Empire only to have these gains snatched away by its defeat at the hands of its erstwhile Balkan allies, abetted by Romania and the Ottomans in the Second Balkan War of 1913. Two years later, seeking to reverse their fortunes, Bulgaria joined Austria-Hungary and Germany in a successful assault on Serbia. Together with subsequent offensives in northern Greece and in Romania, the Bulgarians again achieved their nationalist objectives only to undergo total defeat in 1918, once again deprived of these territories. The subsequent peace treaty in 1920 left Bulgaria with many refugees, a truncated state, and an unstable government owing massive reparations.
