Part 13/16:
Refugees continued fleeing disputed regions, often dying from exposure. Meanwhile, military officers and nationalists regarded the treaty as a betrayal, with some officers resorting to sabotage—such as the captain of Bulgaria’s lone submarine, who chose to sink his vessel rather than surrender it.
The treaty’s consequences fueled widespread internal unrest, military discontent, and nationalist radicalization. The Balkan region entered a period of instability, with violence and political extremism simmering beneath the surface. In Bulgaria, the "second national catastrophe" had come to symbolize the devastating outcome of the war—failure to achieve unification or territorial integrity.