Almost all European states in the interwar period began building their own armored forces. Not all of them had the necessary production capacity, which is why they had to seek help from third countries. For example, Bulgaria modernized its army through imports.
First order
The Bulgarian army first began to master armored vehicles during the First World War. In 1917, its representatives in Germany got acquainted with the captured Entente tanks. However, attempts to obtain and master such a technique were not made, and later became impossible due to the signing of the Neuijsk Peace Treaty.
The situation began to change only in the early thirties. Sofia began rapprochement with Berlin and Rome, which over time led to the emergence of agreements on the construction of new enterprises and the supply of finished military products. The most important events in the context of the construction of armored forces took place in 1934. Then a Bulgarian-Italian contract was signed for the supply of various ground combat and auxiliary vehicles.
The first transport with the ordered equipment arrived at the port of Varna on March 1, 1935, and from that day the history of the Bulgarian armored forces is being conducted. Several steamers from Italy delivered 14 CV-33 tankettes with Rada tank vehicles, artillery tractors, guns, etc. The CV-33 was supplied with non-standard armament: the standard Italian machine guns were replaced by Schwarzlose products, which were in service with Bulgaria.
New tankettes were handed over to the 1st tank company, formed as part of the 1st engineering regiment (Sofia). Major B. Slavov became the first company commander. In addition to him, the unit had three officers and 86 soldiers. In a few months, the tankers mastered the new materiel, and by the end of the year they were able to participate in maneuvers.
Second division
Everyone understood that one company on imported tankettes, despite its positive qualities, would not give the army real advantages. In this regard, already in 1936, measures were taken to create the 2nd tank company. A unit of 167 soldiers and officers was formed as part of the 1st Engineering Regiment. It is curious that for a long time the company was tank only in name and had no tanks.
Already after the creation of the company, in early September, the Bulgarian army and Vickers Armstrong signed a contract for eight Vickers Mk E single-turret modification tanks with British-made weapons. A month later, the Bulgarian government approved the agreement. The production of the equipment took some time, and the customer was able to start mastering it only in the first months of 1938.
Soon the company received all the ordered equipment and divided it equally between its two platoons.
At the beginning of 1939, two separate companies were brought together into the 1st tank battalion. Combat companies were supplemented with battalion headquarters and support units. Despite belonging to the same battalion, the companies were stationed in different regions of the country. The 1st Panzer Company headed south, while the 2nd was transferred north to the Romanian border.
Two tank companies of the 1st Battalion took an active part in training events and regularly worked "in the field." In particular, they worked out the interaction of tanks and tankettes with motorized artillery and infantry. The results of such measures showed the need for further construction and development of tank forces. Appropriate measures were soon taken.
German trophies
In 1936-37. the Bulgarian army drew attention to the Czechoslovak light tank LT vz. 35 and planned to purchase such equipment. However, the purchase was postponed due to limited financial resources. While Bulgaria was looking for money to buy imported tanks, the situation in Europe changed - a contract for the desired tanks was signed with another country.
In the fall of 1938, Czechoslovakia lost a number of its territories, and in March 1939, Germany completely occupied it. Together with the territories, the Nazis received a developed industry and its finished products. A few months later, the first German-Bulgarian agreement on the supply of tanks appeared. At the beginning of 1940, the parties began to implement it.
In February 1940, the Bulgarian army received 26 LT vz. 35 light tanks. A few months later (according to other sources, only in 1941) 10 more tanks were transferred to Bulgaria. These were vehicles of the T-11 version, built for Afghanistan and not handed over to the customer.
36 tanks were received by the 3rd tank company, consisting of several platoons; Captain A. Bosilkov became its commander. The development of materiel began, and soon a new order was received. In the summer of the same year, the 2nd and 3rd tank companies of the 1st battalion were sent to the area of the Turkish border.
New transformations
Together with the tanks, Germany sold Bulgaria a lot of other materiel, both captured and of its own production. In addition, during this period, another rapprochement was outlined. Its result was the accession of Sofia to the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo pact, formalized on March 1, 1941.
Against the background of these events, the Bulgarian army decided to strengthen the tank forces. The 2nd Battalion was formed. The technical issue was again solved with the help of foreign partners and with the help of trophies. At the end of April, a new treaty with Germany appeared. This time she had to supply 40 French Renault R-35 tanks.
In June, the two battalions were brought together to form the 1st Tank Regiment, which became the backbone of the tank brigade. Major T. Popov became the regiment commander; total number - 1800 people. Together with the tank regiment, the brigade included units of motorized infantry and artillery, reconnaissance, support, etc.
In the fall, major exercises were held, to which a tank regiment was also attracted. In the context of tanks, the events started with a lot of problems and almost ended in failure. It turned out that the crews of armored vehicles have insufficient training and do not always cope with the assigned tasks.
In addition, there were technical problems. Thus, the LT vz. 35 / T-11 and Mk E tanks had the desired configuration and demonstrated the required reliability. French R-35s performed extremely poorly. Some of these tanks, due to breakdowns, literally did not make it to the landfill. The actions of other machines were complicated by the complete absence of radio equipment.
By the start of the war
Despite active economic, political and military cooperation with Germany and Italy, as well as the official accession to the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo pact, Bulgaria did not formally participate in World War II. Only on December 13, 1941, Sofia declared war on Great Britain and the United States. At the same time, the Bulgarian authorities did not enter into direct confrontation with the USSR.
By the time of the official entry into the war, the armored forces of Bulgaria consisted of only one brigade, to the headquarters of which three LT vz. 35 tanks (one radio) were assigned. The only tank regiment had two such vehicles at the headquarters, incl. one with a radio station.
The 1st tank battalion of the regiment used two LT vz. 35 at the headquarters, the same equipment was operated by two companies. The 3rd tank company received all the available Vickers tanks and 5 Italian CV-33 tankettes. The 2nd battalion was equipped with the rest of the equipment. The headquarters had one R-35 tank and three CV-33 tankettes. All the other Renault vehicles were distributed between the three companies of the battalion, 13 units each. The regiment's reconnaissance detachment operated five Italian tankettes.
Strength and weakness
Thus, according to the results of the construction of 1934-41. the armored "power" of Bulgaria left much to be desired. There were a little more than a hundred armored vehicles in service, and a significant part of the park was made up of outdated samples. Modern tanks, in turn, had limited combat effectiveness due to breakdowns or lack of radio stations.
The Bulgarian military and political leadership wisely decided not to throw such "troops" into battle against a well-developed and equipped enemy. In addition, at the first opportunity - again with the help of the Axis allies - rearmament was carried out. With its help, the list number of equipment increased by 140%, and modern models with high characteristics entered service. However, even after that, the Bulgarian army remained not too strong and developed.
