Boris III — the Bulgarian balancing act

Boris III applied B initially, then A progressively. In September 1940, by the Treaty of Craiova under German sponsorship, Bulgaria recovered Southern Dobruja (without war). On 1 March 1941, Boris III signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis. But he refused to send troops to the Eastern front (Barbarossa). He also refused to deport the Bulgarian Jews to the extermination camps — Boris III personally blocked the deportation of the 48,000 Jews of Bulgaria proper in March 1943, despite German pressure. A historically recognised heroic stance which saved almost the entire Bulgarian Jewish community (the 11,000 Jews of the occupied territories in Thrace and Macedonia were nevertheless deported to Treblinka in March 1943, without Bulgarian intervention). On 28 August 1943, Boris III died suddenly at 49, probably poisoned (a thesis accepted by modern historiography — a poisoning orchestrated by Hitler after a stormy quarrel in March 1943 in which Boris had refused to send troops). His son Simeon II (6) became nominal Tsar. Communist coup on 9 September 1944. Simeon was exiled. He would return to Bulgaria in 1996 and serve as Prime Minister 2001-2005 (a unique case: a former monarch becoming the elected head of a democratic government).