Bulgaria in WW1

What if Bulgaria joined the Entente during WW1?
They were promised to move border near Serres and there was some Russian pressure on Serbia to cede Macedonia (but to no avail, so eventually Bulgaria joined central Powers).
So, what effect could it have if they did join Entente?
have fun!
 
Perhaps the best way would be for Serbia to be knocked out quick, occupied by AH. Then to have Romania join the Entenne early and have Russia do better in Galicia. It sees Austria as weak, so it joins on the condition it can have its fill, while Serbia will get land from AH.

That is the best I can come up with.
 
This is like the hundredth thread on the subject. :p


Well, they cannot be promised any land to their south as Greece was still neutral, and doing so would send Athens straight to the Kaiser. And they couldn't be promised Serbian land either, you cannot force an ally to give up territory to another country you want to go to bed withally, especially when it's Serbia and Bulgaria - which fought eachother both in 1885 and 1913.

An allied Bulgaria will lead to a difficult Romanian scenario and the Ottomans would have much trouble as well (a different Kallipoli, or an Eastern Thrace front instead of the landings). You will also get a neutral Greece and a very different Macedonian front.
 

katchen

Banned
Stupid of the Allies not to have kept Bulgaria onside. The Allies could have landed at Kavalla (Neapolis, don't know wnat the Bulgarians called it at the time) and invaded Turkish Rumelia and gone right to the gates of Istanbul. and the Dardanelles. The interesting thing is that even if the turks had stalled the Allies on the edge of Istanbul in trench warfare (and they might have) or moved the capital and used the Bosporus and Dardenelles as a moat , keeping both straits closed to shipping, it might well have been feasible to build canals to bypass both straits that would have been open to Russia by the end of the war as this article demonstrates.
Not to mention opening up a second front against Austria Hungary in Serbia and the Hungarian Plain.

Turkey presses on with Bosporus bypass ship canal plans



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In late April, Prime Minister Erdoğan publicly announced the details of his long-anticipated project, Kanal İstanbul, saying the government would create a new Bosporus in İstanbul.
12 April 2013 /REUTERS, ANKARA
Turkey will forge ahead with plans for a 45-km (30 mile) ship canal linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara to try to ease congestion in the Bosporus Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways, the government said on Friday.

The "Kanal İstanbul" plans are a pet project of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who announced them ahead of a general election in 2011 in what many Turks dismissed as a prestigious but unrealistic vision.
The canal would turn the European side of İstanbul into part of a large island, running parallel and to the north-west of the Bosporus. Under the plans, land dug up may be used to fill in part of the sea and create a third airport and sea port.
"We believe that this is a very realistic project that will be talked about by the world," Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Ankara, adding the country's Higher Planning Council had decided to go ahead with the project.
He did not comment on the projected cost.
The Bosporus is the only maritime outlet to the world's oceans for Black Sea states.
Turkish officials estimate that some 150 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products pass through the environmentally sensitive waters each year. It is also an important export route for Russian and Ukrainian grains and other products.
 
This is like the hundredth thread on the subject. :p


Well, they cannot be promised any land to their south as Greece was still neutral, and doing so would send Athens straight to the Kaiser. And they couldn't be promised Serbian land either, you cannot force an ally to give up territory to another country you want to go to bed withally, especially when it's Serbia and Bulgaria - which fought eachother both in 1885 and 1913.
You could say the same about Bulgaria and Turkey, yet Germany forced the Ottomans to cede territory to Bulgaria in return to the Bulgarian entrance in the war. If Serbia couldn't be persuaded to cede at least part of Macedonia to Bulgaria (which, contrary to your assumption, the Entente did try to do, if only halfheartedly), there is no chance of Bulgaria entering the war on the Entente side. Bulgaria was not going to help Serbia without some compensation.

An allied Bulgaria will lead to a difficult Romanian scenario and the Ottomans would have much trouble as well (a different Kallipoli, or an Eastern Thrace front instead of the landings). You will also get a neutral Greece and a very different Macedonian front.
A Bulgarian entrance in the war on the side of the Entente would be a disaster for the Ottomans. Considering that during the First Balkan War the Bulgarians defeated the main Ottoman army in about two weeks and that in this scenario the Ottomans have many other fronts to defend, it's quite likely that the Galipoli operation would be successful and Istanbul would be directly attacked. As for Greece, in this situation they would probably be forced to enter the war on the side of the Entente. Probably no Macedonian front, as Serbia might not be overwhelmed at all. Romania may enter the war sooner as well.

Stupid of the Allies not to have kept Bulgaria onside. The Allies could have landed at Kavalla (Neapolis, don't know wnat the Bulgarians called it at the time) and invaded Turkish Rumelia and gone right to the gates of Istanbul. and the Dardanelles. The interesting thing is that even if the turks had stalled the Allies on the edge of Istanbul in trench warfare (and they might have) or moved the capital and used the Bosporus and Dardenelles as a moat , keeping both straits closed to shipping, it might well have been feasible to build canals to bypass both straits that would have been open to Russia by the end of the war as this article demonstrates.
Not to mention opening up a second front against Austria Hungary in Serbia and the Hungarian Plain.
Kavala was not part of Bulgaria at the time and in any case, an attack on Galipoli from two sides would probably be a preferable course, as it would allow the Entente to attack Istanbul by sea. I don't see the Ottomans holding out without German support for a long time in this situation.
If the Ottomans fall, this means both more supplies being made available to the Russians and more forces available on the Eastern front, which doesn't bode well for Austria-Hungary.
 
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