Part 10/16:
Bulgaria’s delegation, arriving in July 1919, faced the daunting task of negotiations under strict allied supervision. After months of delay and without face-to-face negotiations—common at the time—the treaty was handed to Bulgaria in September 1919. Encompassing 296 articles, the treaty imposed severe conditions:
The Bulgarian military was drastically reduced: an army of 20,000, disbanded air force, and the navy was to surrender its submarine.
Reparations were set at 2.25 billion gold francs—an amount that proved to be unmanageable given Bulgaria’s impoverished state.
Bulgaria relinquished claims to French and British protectorates, with territorial adjustments that recognized Greek control of Western Thrace and a corridor access to the Aegean port of Alexandropolis.