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This AAR is plagued by disasters! After working for two and a half weeks to mod Romania to the original specifications of this AAR disaster struck, yet again! Since this AAR was played on a mac, APPLE found several weeks ago appropriate to stop supporting 32-bit Apps altogether, dooming HOI3 with Catalina OS. Unaware of this treachery, I did install the new OS only to find out it is also extremely hard to downgrade to the previous OS. APPLE is history to me!

Back to our business, I went to my old Windows7 Notebook and installed HOI3 from Steam. For three more weeks Romania fought a terrible battle against endless bugs and lack of compatibility of some mac modded files...

I am glad to announce you that the scenario was restarted (for the 4th time!!!). It is up and running. The time of the scenario is may 1937. Updates will come soon.

------

After this truly traumatising experience I thought it would be interesting to share with you several lessons I've learned.

First of all as AndrewT from Paradox support wrote to me: "The Steam/Windows and Mac versions of this game are separate games, written and supported by separate companies, so they do not necessarily play or look the same". Indeed, after playing one and a half game years in HOI3 for Win, it surprised me how different the game experience is:
- Hungary is amassing substantive army formations at the Romanian border. So does Yugoslavia. That wasn't the case before.
- The general in-game intelligence activity is very quite low, with NO spies caught on Romanian territory by may 1937. Or maybe I am wrong and my counterintelligence agents are getting dumb and dumber.
- The Soviet Union nationalises its economy in the spring of 1937. Didn't know there was any private sector left in the USSR after the 1917 Revolution!
- Somehow, it is easier to increase production beyond the mac HOI3 permitted. Via production, Romania got an extra tank brigade in comparison to the past.
- Weather patterns feel more natural in the Windows version.
- Threat by using intelligence and political alignment increases at a faster rate than on the mac version. The war might start up to 6 to 7 months earlier [correction: this assumption proved false], especially if using an Allies aligning Foreign Minister.
- HOI3 for mac was very stable, while the Windows variance is a catastrophe, if you don't tinker here and there with tons of help from forums...
These are only the things which came to my attention. My expectation is, once the war season starts, things will evolve even more differently. That promises a Romanian AAR full of surprises.

Just a bit of help to those of you trying to install HOI3 for Win. Should you get compression errors or countless bugs while playing, the cause might be
the executable hoi3_tfh.exe file, which was created to work with 32-bit PCs. Today the computers are 64-bit and the original executable file cannot handle well large amounts of RAM (over 2GB). Backup your original file and download this updated executable from here https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?attachments/70441.

To replace the installed executable --> hoi3_tfh.exe, unzip the newer one in your game directory over the old version. Don't try to execute the unzipped file directly, because it would cause another error.
 
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This AAR is plagued by disasters! After working for two and a half weeks to mod Romania to the original specifications of this AAR disaster struck, yet again! Since this AAR was played on a mac, APPLE found several weeks ago appropriate to stop supporting 32-bit Apps altogether, dooming HOI3 with Catalina OS. Unaware of this treachery, I did install the new OS only to find out it is also extremely hard to downgrade to the previous OS. APPLE is history to me!
Oh yes, one of many gripes I have with apple. And I used to actually like what they were doing.

I still play HOI3 on a 2011 iMac though, in my experience it's more stable (it crashes or glitches less frequently) than the version I have on my 2016 windows 10 machine. That said, I stopped upgrading after Yosemite, or El Capitan, whichever came last. I might try your fix to see if it makes the game run any smoother on my pc.

I knew the games were somewhat different, but I never tried it out in depth, I just kept playing only iMac. The extent of the difference in experience is somewhat surprising though. This could be the theme for an experimental AAR, where one plays the 'same' game on a Mac and on a PC, making the same choices to begin with, and seeing how quickly the games drift apart.

You are dedicated to get this working, and I respect that. Glad you got back on track to continuing this Romanian Alternate History.
 
I might try your fix to see if it makes the game run any smoother on my pc.

Another issue that might appear is a loading error (don't remember it's name) due to lack of DIRECT X9(eventually "9.0c").

The extent of the difference in experience is somewhat surprising though. This could be the theme for an experimental AAR, where one plays the 'same' game on a Mac and on a PC, making the same choices to begin with, and seeing how quickly the games drift apart.

That would be cool. I will continue to write down the noticed differences. The apparent lack of espionage activity is a bit disappointing, but the true test would be if the AI proves as competent as on the mac version. It might also be the case that espionage would finally become a issue once wars are declared.

Does anyone play with all the sprites? The Hungarian guys are three times taller than any other infantry unit and occasionally they turn their heads to look at you! It looks like some developer wanted to poke of joke at them...

HoI3_7.png

HoI3_8.png
 
Does anyone play with all the sprites? The Hungarian guys are three times taller than any other infantry unit and occasionally they turn their heads to look at you! It looks like some developer wanted to poke of joke at them...
I exclusively use the counters, preferring their clean look, and the fact that they do give a bit more info when zoomed in. They also make me feel a little like a real military commander...
Those Hungarian sprites are really quite massive, and funny, though.
 
@roverS3 you're right, counters are simplifying the map while giving extra info, but I still appreciate the sprites improving the very spartan graphics (even at the time of the game appearance).

So, there are novelties from the parallel universe of HOI3 on Windows. Actually I reached 13 April 1938, following the same scenario withe the same decisions. Hungary and Yugoslavia have been invaded (the Hungarian sprite of retreating units are simply grotesque seeming taking from a horror movie with zombies - disgusting joke, actually), while Albania is living its last days.

I will proceed these days with the invasion of Bulgaria and make some screenshots of it. How can I make a variable screenshot on Win? Does it have to include the whole image? Turning to Windows is not so easy.

To the difference between the mac and the Windows versions:

- Hungary devoted more troops to the Romanian border (already mentioned) on mac.
- When Japan declared war on Nationalist China, there was a flurry of diplomatic activity between the Chinese factions in both worlds. Only in the Win world, they didn't offer support to each other via passage rights, some of them rejected calls from help, some didn't. That helped Japan conquer coveted parts of China quicker.
- Romania experiences significantly less national political events on Win.
- The archenemy Hungary concentrates its resources mostly on counterespionage on Win, while being more aggressive on espionage on mac.
- Generally, during the peace period the AI seems to generate less espionage on Win, which should translate into more Leadership for research. Only after the Romanian-Hungarian War in December 1937 and the renewed Japan invasion of China the same year, there was some foreign espionage against Romania.
- Once the second war against Yugoslavia ended on 3 April 1938, the return to peace time laws (Consumer Product Orientation replacing Mixed Industry policy) did not result in -15% IC capacity on Win. Is that a bug?
- The replacing executable file with the one mentioned in the comment #161 has done wonders. There aren't any glitches, loading errors or slowing down moments anymore.
 
To the difference between the mac and the Windows versions:

- Hungary devoted more troops to the Romanian border (already mentioned) on mac.
- When Japan declared war on Nationalist China, there was a flurry of diplomatic activity between the Chinese factions in both worlds. Only in the Win world, they didn't offer support to each other via passage rights, some of them rejected calls from help, some didn't. That helped Japan conquer coveted parts of China quicker.
- Romania experiences significantly less national political events on Win.
- The archenemy Hungary concentrates its resources mostly on counterespionage on Win, while being more aggressive on espionage on mac.
- Generally, during the peace period the AI seems to generate less espionage on Win, which should translate into more Leadership for research. Only after the Romanian-Hungarian War in December 1937 and the renewed Japan invasion of China the same year, there was some foreign espionage against Romania.
- Once the second war against Yugoslavia ended on 3 April 1938, the return to peace time laws (Consumer Product Orientation replacing Mixed Industry policy) did not result in -15% IC capacity on Win. Is that a bug?
- The replacing executable file with the one mentioned in the comment #161 has done wonders. There aren't any glitches, loading errors or slowing down moments anymore.
Some of these are very...interesting changes. Notably the espionage thing is interesting and could be some form of bug or glitch.

I would only caution, though, not to draw too large of a conclusion about the differences, since HoI3 of course also can very from one game to the next - else it wouldn't be much of a game!
 
I just wanted to uploaded images from the Bulgarian campaign and it doesn't work to upload any images (.png or .jpg) on my Win 7 PC. Does anyone know why and what can one do? When clocking on the uploaded image I get some error message saying " Not Found. The resource could not be found."...

Sending the files to a mac to upload them here yielded the same result. Never experienced this on my mac, while HOI3 worked on it.

Update: Other images can be uploaded, but not the screenshots from HOI3.
 

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I just wanted to uploaded images from the Bulgarian campaign and it doesn't work to upload any images (.png or .jpg) on my Win 7 PC. Does anyone know why and what can one do? When clocking on the uploaded image I get some error message saying " Not Found. The resource could not be found."...

Sending the files to a mac to upload them here yieldid the same result. Never experienced this on my mac, while HOI3 worked on it.

Update: Other images can be uploaded, but not the screenshots from HOI3.
New one to me :confused:
 
I just wanted to uploaded images from the Bulgarian campaign and it doesn't work to upload any images (.png or .jpg) on my Win 7 PC. Does anyone know why and what can one do? When clocking on the uploaded image I get some error message saying " Not Found. The resource could not be found."...

Sending the files to a mac to upload them here yieldid the same result. Never experienced this on my mac, while HOI3 worked on it.

Update: Other images can be uploaded, but not the screenshots from HOI3.
Note sure. I know that HoI3 screenshots in general tend to play a bit wonky for some reason, at least on Windows. I've always gotten around any issues by hosting on Imgur and sharing the images rather than uploading files directly to the forums.
 
Thank you for your suggestions. As weird as it sounds, it turns out the Paradox Forum cannot find the path to the picture if steam is not on while taking the screenshot! @nuclearslurpee and everyone else, an account on Imgur has been opened under the ID [not valid anymore]. You will find there the Screenshots for the Bulgarian and the Greek campaigns.
Afterwards I will come back to the old method of uploading screenshots here.

P.S. The link is not necessary anymore, because a technical solution was found.
 

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Note sure. I know that HoI3 screenshots in general tend to play a bit wonky for some reason, at least on Windows. I've always gotten around any issues by hosting on Imgur and sharing the images rather than uploading files directly to the forums.
Actually given you mention it @nuclearslurpee I never upload files and always do my screenshots via an image host (Imageshack in my case) and have never had the problem @Alex Kernel describes, whether with HOI3 or the other two games I do AARs for. Also, one taken, an image should just be an image in whatever file format it is saved in: the original game shouldn’t matter should it?
 
Thank you for your suggestions. As weird as it sounds, turned out the Paradox Forum cannot fint the path to the pictureif steam is not on while taking the screenshot! @nuclearslurpee and everyone else, an account on Imgur has been opened under the ID AKernel. You will find there the Screenshots for the Bulgarian and the Greek campaigns.
Afterwards I will come back to the old method of uploading screenshots here.

Here is the Link: https://imgur.com/user/akernel/posts
Ps: isn’t it simpler just to copy and paste the image link into the post using the image box? People aren’t likely to go to another link and then try and find the images I’d have thought :confused:
 
@Bullfilter I tried that right now. It failed and there seems no way around, except starting the Bulgarian and Greek campaigns again and saving the Screenshots with Steam in the background. It's a silly situation, :(.
 
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Also, one taken, an image should just be an image in whatever file format it is saved in: the original game shouldn’t matter should it?
You would think so, but Bill Gates says you would be sorely mistaken! :confused:

(Yes, I know he no longer runs Microsoft, but I can't be arsed to keep track of who does! :p)

In all seriousness, there's something screwy with how HoI3 outputs screenshots natively, at least on Windows. Back when I used Facebook Messenger, I had issues trying to send screenshots to a friend of mine because the file would upload and only display a blank white rectangle. Nowadays the chat systems I use just show it as a downloadable file instead of an image, which is hardly any better. However, copying the entire image in Paint and pasting it into the chat window works fine in these cases. So it has to be some strange idiosyncrasy in how the file is saved by HoI3 that doesn't play nicely with everything else in the world, though I can't imagine what that would be...

In any case, Imgur has yet to let me down.
 
GUYS, I did IT! By moving the pictures in Word Office while writing the report, and copy pasting them one by one in the forum's reply box, we can see them! Hurray!!

You wouldn't believe, but I got lots of minus points appreciation on Imgur from people looking for pics and movies with pets and accidents! That link will be deleted since there is one way to bring things here.


Operation Bulgarian Spring Campaign


Shortly after the successful military operation against Yugoslavia, the Romanian authorities decided to keep momentum with the offensive against Bulgaria, while the international context indicated that the Major Powers were grudgingly going along with that. The dominant opinion in the Security Crown Council was that Bulgaria as a revanchist power has crossed the Rubicon by joining the Italian plot to destroy Romania, and by supporting openly Yugoslavia during the war. The southern neighbour has consequently become a grave security risk for Romania, especially if Romania would be attacked by Nazi Germany or Soviet Union. No one wanted to see witness again the horror scenario during the First World War, when Bulgaria attacked Romania from the South, while the Romanian and Russian troops were already engaged in battles across the Carpathian chain Mountains with the Austro-Hungarian and German militaries.


In April 1938 Romania received a new brigade of improved R-1 tanks from Czechoslovakia, while France is considering stopping the deliveries of armoured armament to Romania altogether. France is afraid Romania would slide under the German sphere of influence on the one hand, and has geared up its industrial capacity for strengthening its own military capabilities on the other. Another aspect is that France has been left behind Germany and the United Kingdom in the mass production technologies, losing both economic clout and military superiority in Europe.


On the 5th of May 1938 Romania declared war on Bulgaria, conscious of the short term risks it takes. Central and Western Bulgaria is a massive mountainous area, a perfect defensive position, which might prove to be very difficult to conquer. Fortunately, in May the winter is over even in the Tatra Mountains (See the army positions on 5.05.1938). The problem is the former Yugoslav and the Romanian borders with Bulgaria are impossible to cover completely. Bulgaria chose to amass most of its forces at the Danube, waiting for the Soviets or the Germans to declare war in Romania so it can claim Southern Dobrudscha, as it did in the WWI.

05.05.1938 DOWing Bulgaria, troops disposition at the onset of war

upload_2019-10-27_15-33-41.png



The there are 2 attack directions:

The first runs along the Black Sea with the goal to split the Bulgarian territory in two and close the encirclement effort south-east of the capital. The terrain is not mountainous, permitting the 1st armour division (3 brigades), the newly formed 1st Motorised Division (2 brigades previously incorporated in the tank division), the two cavalry divisions (they should have been enrolled for Military Police operations as decided earlier, but the lack of sufficient offensive and infantry divisions for this operation led to delaying that), and the 1st Infantry Division completely equipped with modern artillery brigades to start the main thrust.


The second offensive direction runs through the Western Mountainous region. The forces there are mainly infantry divisions spearheaded by 2 Mountaineer Divisions.

The rest of the army will advance cautiously wherever the opportunity arises, probing the enemy lines here and there.

“Bulgarian Spring” battle plan
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The Operations started at 5 a.m with a general attack on the whole front. Astoundingly the Bulgarian didn’t expect a Romanian attack, at least not soon after the Yugoslavian campaign and the first battles ended with quick victories.

By the 11 May however the surprise effect faded and further advance became impossible without serious military involvement in the key points. The Mountaneers have reached the outskirts of Sofia from the West, but they received orders to wait for reinforcements and for the encirclement to happen. Meanwhile the Romanian Airforce has forced the Bulgarian Wings to stay on ground and from now on is executing unhindered bombardment day and night operations. Every bombardment claims the lives of 40 to 120 enemy soldiers.

11.05.1938 First thrust ends
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Operation Bulgarian Spring Campaign (II)

By 19 May the Bulgarian Spring operation is running just fine and Sofia is surrounded from three directions, outnumbering the defense troops. The army starts the siege of the capital at 6 a.m. with air support.

On the East the Bulgarian have posed some resistance in the region of Dimitrov slowing down the armour and cavalry advance.

19 May 1938 The Siege of Sofia
upload_2019-10-27_16-4-18.png


The Bulgarian defence collapsed the next day under the numerical superiority of the enemy: 93978 vs. 24885. The Romanian losses were surprisingly low, respectively 169, while the Bulgarians lost 8 times more men.

20 May 1938 End of Sofia Siege
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As the Romanian soldiers entered the city the opponent tried desperately again to defend the centre of the city, prolonging the moment of truth fro another 24 hours, at a high cost though.

Second Sofia Defence Attempt
upload_2019-10-27_16-36-27.png


On 22 May Bulgarian reinforcements arrived trying to keep parts of their capital, resulting in a further 24 hours delay.

This courageous, alas pointless, defence effort made a good impression on the Romanian headquarters. Nonetheless the Bulgarians had to endure their own medicine from the WWI. As the Latin saying goes “The strong did what they could, and the weak suffered what they must”.

Third and last Bulgarian defence effort in Sofia
upload_2019-10-27_16-37-4.png


The siege of Sofia was short and victorious, but the Bulgarian units are concentrating in the eastern from the capital province of Pazardzhik. They are flowing from three directions, hastily retreating to a more defendable position.

The aviation has just been ordered to bombard the area because the Tank division reinforced by cavalry and motorised divisions couldn’t seize it before significant opponent units arrived.

22 May Interlude to Pazardzhik, hours before the fall of Sofia
upload_2019-10-27_16-46-26.png


By the next day things get serious. The armoured division is trapped in difficult terrain, while Bulgaria amasses significant number of troops in an effective operation. The higher officers are thinking about retreating the tanks from the battle and to send them towards Plovdiv, where the new Bulgarian capital was proclaimed. The idea is vetoed by the Chief of Staff, General V. Antonescu because disengaging the unit could halt the offensive and the reorganization time before starting towards the new target would already be too long. Besides a few infantry divisions are slowly heading to take Plovdiv. Many troops in Sofia are indisponible for this assault because of need to reorganize following the Sofia siege...

23 May Battle of Pazardzhik panel
upload_2019-10-27_16-55-6.png


During the next day both armies increase their engaging effectives to: 74.000 vs 46.000. It is the first large scale battle Romania encounters since the last world war. A bloody battle of wills ensues with lots of casualties on both sides.


24 May 1938 Battle of Wills
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Bloody fighting continues unabated and the officer corps is not sure if the end is in sight. The 8ght Infantry Division is closing in behind the lines, with very low supplies, to Plovdiv with the mission to force Bulgaria’s capitulation before the Pazardzhik battle turns into a total bloodbath for the combatants.

Outdated Bulgarian Artillery unit fighting against Romanian advance in Pazardzhik
bg2.jpg


25 May Mountainous defence everywhere
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At the peak of the battle 108.000 Romanian soldiers were fighting against 56.000 Bulgarians. The victory day came at a Pyrrhic cost: 1007, respectively 1504 have fought and died for their country. A battle to be remembered decades to come.

Retreating Bulgarian troops towards Pazardzhik
Bulgarians_1941.jpg


25 May 1938 Pyrrhic Victory at Pazardzhik
upload_2019-10-27_17-12-36.png


On 27 May Bulgaria finally capitulated, a sad and painful defeat in its history. In this epoch of rising nationalism and approaching international upheaval, Romania couldn’t afford though such a hostile neighbourhood.

27 May 1938 Victory over Bulgaria
upload_2019-10-27_17-17-35.png


Like in Hungary, His Majesty's Government decided to build in Sofia, like in Budapest, an autonomous Bulgarian Government with the local political forces ready to cooperate. This should ensure less revolts and the possibility of liberating Bulgaria, once the global political context improves and Romania's security is assured.

The next chapter will be about the international effects of Romania's aggressive defence/offence policy and about a next round of thorny German-Romanian economic and political negotiations.
 
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I guess it'll soon be bye bye Bulgaria?

That's becoming a pretty sizeable Romanian empire.

Edit: It's goodbye Bulgaria...
 
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Goodby Bulgaria indeed. Onto Greece?
 
International repercussions of declaring war on Bulgaria

AXIS


The Romanian Declaration of War against Bulgaria was not welcome news in Berlin, though not a total surprise either.
King Boris III of Bulgaria has nurtured warm relations with Hitler out of expansionistic national interests that were thwarted during WWI, due to the defeat of the Central Powers.
As soon as Hungary raised territorial claims against neighbouring states in its economic and political negotiations with Germany mid-1930s, so did Bulgaria, which of course unnerved Romania.

King Boris III visiting Hitler in November 1937
upload_2019-10-31_18-42-29.png


By the end of 1937 the Bulgarian authorities offered to accommodate a large German army, which, with the aid of the Bulgarian military, would invade Yugoslavia and Greece at the right moment, undercutting the Italian ambitions in the Balkan region and ensuring German hegemony against British influence over Greece. In exchange Germany was inclined to support the territorial demands of Sofia against Yugoslavia, Greece and Romania.

Territorial expansion of Bulgaria in OTL during the WWII
upload_2019-10-31_18-44-4.png


In the context of Romanian expansion in Hungary and Yugoslavia, the German leadership increasingly began to see Bulgaria as a strategic pressure, if you will blackmail, instrument (since the Balkan country’s borders are so close to the Romanian capital Bucharest) against any Romanian government unwilling to export oil for the German economic and military needs, or pondering to honour its alliance with France in the case of German-Allied conflict. No doubt, Romania would have to think twice before opening a two-front war with Germany and Bulgaria, in the light of a traumatic similar experience during la last World War.

Still, the Bulgarian participation in the Italian plot for dominance over the Balkan region without prior consultation with Berlin despite the advanced negotiations on long term commitments led to dissapointment and distrust toward King Boris and his country's credibility. Under these circumstances Germany was not willing to create a crisis with the Romanian Government over this transgression, but it realised the importance of bringing Romania not only economically but also politically under its fold. The invasion of Bulgaria provided a good occasion for Germany to increase the pressure on the Romanian Government to surrender its key industries to German capital and political control. At any rate, the first economic treaty didn’t yield the expected results, since the Romanian oil exports increased only modestly during the last two months. The Romanian ambassador in Berlin was promptly summoned by Hitler on 7 May, who asked him in imperative terms for Romania to stop the offensive against Bulgaria, or there will be severe consequences. The ambassador offered for opening negotiations on the matter and anything connected. The Führer asked the ambassador to send the message home that Germany needs a long term comprehensive solution to the bilateral relations, which was not addressed yet, by the previous understanding. Bucharest must generally refrain from unilateral moves threatening the regional stability. The parties agreed several hours later that a foreign ministerial meeting would take place on 12 May.

As usual, Italy reacted angrily to the Romanian-Bulgarian war, asking Germany for common action against Bucharest. Benito Mussolini convened Hitler in an emergency meeting on 9 May, complaining about Italy as an Axis member being side-lined in a region par excellence falling under its sphere of influence, as decided in the accession negotiations. Italian territorial claims found acceptance in the German government, the prevalent idea being the country needed compensation for lost sphere of influence to Romania, otherwise the risk being alienating Rome from the Axis powers. After a 5 hours discussion, Hitler agrees to ask Romania to settle the territorial disputes with Italy as a precondition to any wider agreement between Germany/the Axis and Romania in the following negotiations. Italy couldn’t use though its international connections to the Allies against Romania, given it had just abandoned the Locarno Treaties from 1926 anchoring Rome in the Allied camp and entered the Axis. Relations between the Axis and the Allies have recently worsened after the Austrian Anschluss. Nevertheless there were unabated high hopes in Paris and London that peace with Germany was by all means possible.

COMINTERN

The Soviet Union was outraged by the Romanian invasion because the Russians long before Communism always saw Bulgaria as their tiny Slavic sister, which would sooner or later naturally be included in the ever expanding Russian empire, respectively USSR. Over the long arc of history Bulgaria and Romania are the bridge Russia needs to fulfil its old dream of conquering and controlling the Black Sea Bosporus Straits to the Mediterranean in its domination quest over Europe, as a reincarnation of the Third Rome. On the strategic level of the political realities of the moment, USSR hoped to use Bulgaria against Romania, with whom it has a century’s old feud over Bessarabia, to threaten Bucharest with the same two-front war, whenever the international situation becomes favourable. And Russia has good reason to bet on Bulgaria not only against Romania, but also to destabilise the whole Balkan region, via Bulgarian territorial pretensions to all its neighbours. The prevalent mood in Bulgaria was always pro-Russian, as in Romania was pro-French, and only the machinations of King Boris III and of a few handpicked pro-German generals kept the country on an unsteady vulnerable course towards the Axis. Boris III itself only chose Nazi Germany over the Soviets because Berlin promised more territorial benefits for a pro-axis policy then Moscow could. He might also have had feared Moscow's anti-monarchical discourse. The latter couldn’t accept to sacrifice Yugoslavia’s integrity since Russia entered the WWI for the Serbian brothers, and couldn’t promise coveted Greek territories either because it wasn’t wise to provoke the UK, a strong colonial empire with high damaging military potential at least on sea lanes around the globe. Besides, Russia and Greece had strong diplomatic relations since Greece declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in the XIXth century, these historical links extending inclusively throughout the Communist era.


At this juncture though, the Russian messianic aspirations wearing the clothes of Communist global Revolution suffered a severe blow in South-Eastern Europe. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union expelled the Romanian Ambassador in Moscow and stopped short from threatening Romania with war. Both Germany and the Allies where absolutely against any Russian expansion to the West, both due to ideological fears (i.e. Bolshevik revolution) and strategic considerations (imperial expansion ultimately geared against them, and indispensability of oil resources to the Axis, imperative to maintain the Cordon Sanitaire for the Allies or at least for France). In a rare, rather coincidental, display of unity - all three Western capitals made it clear to Moscow, any declaration of war on Romania or forceful annexation of Romanian territories was unacceptable. This is the moment when, in retaliation for the Romanian affront the Soviets decided to clandestinely support the anti-Romanian revolts of any political denomination in former Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

ALLIES

During the war with Yugoslavia, King Carol II has sent the Minister of Security Ion Mihalache in a low-key unofficial visit to his French peer Camille Chautemps with the task to inform the Allies that the Italian, better said Axis, plot against Romania cannot be thwarted without taking action against the even more dangerous neighbour, Bulgaria. A continued war against Sofia was absolutely necessary to guarantee the integrity of the southern sector of the Cordon Sanitaire. The French government, who convened to analyse the issue a few days later voiced its concern of a political slippage of Romania on the side of Axis. The English direct representative to the French Government also mentioned the concern of His Majesty’s Government that Germany might try to evict in one way or another the English, French and Hollandaise capital from the strategic Romanian oil industry, and to replace it with German capital and political control. Nicolae Titulescu, the former President of the League of Nations with excellent connections in the Allied Governments, went immediately to Paris for informal negotiations. He explained the Romanian position remains fundamentally pro-Allies, but the Locarno Treaty from 1926, which left Germany’s Eastern borders with Poland and Czechoslovakia open to revision in exchange for German guarantees on the Western borders with France and the Low Countries, looked very much like an abandonment of the Cordon Sanitaire by the allies and an invitation to German and others’ revisionism in Eastern Europe. Romania does not believe that forcing Poland and Czechoslovakia, and possibly Romania – due to Hungarian and Bulgarian demands – could ever be made peacefully. Even in this eventuality, it’s doubtful a robust peace could result from an ensuing weakening or straightforward disintegration of the Cordon Sanitaire. In this context of uncertain French security guarantees highlighted by what the Romanians see as an Allied failure to counter the Rhineland occupation Militarization in March 1936, Bucharest chose the risky way to reduce her security risks by conquering the neighbouring revisionist powers, unhappy with the borders established in the post-Great-War period. He emphasized that the Romanian Government remains loyal to France and England. Even if Romania will have to align closer with Germany to prevent aggression from Comintern or from Axis itself, the country will not join against the Allies in a German-French conflict. Regarding the Allied capital, Bucharest promised not to nationalise the sector, and to protect English-French capital from German influence.

Prime Minister Albert-Pierre Sarraut asked about the Romanian commitment to Czechoslovakia and Poland in case of war with Axis or Comintern.

Titulescu said Romania will enter a war against any one of the two Major Powers if the Allies present solid war operations and military support, which would allow Romania to effectively address an imbalance of forces. Otherwise the country risks being embroiled in a war without winning chances and with no strategic gains for the Allies. In order to increase its defence capabilities and economic independence, the Allies should invest way more than before in the Romanian economy, not only in the Oil exploitation. France and England, entrenched in their conciliatory mood that was the dominant discourse in the national politics at the time, refused though to commit more investments and to offer economic and military credit, being afraid not to upset Nazi Germany, who saw Eastern Europe as its own geopolitical courtyard. Behind the closed doors they conceded the validity of the Romanian rationale and accepted the coming war against Bulgaria, but warned that Romania will only take this step on its own risk, none of them being ready to declare war to Germany or the Soviet Union in case Romania is attacked by them. The public opinion in the West might also force Paris and London to apply sanctions to Romania. The French Government was upset that the Romanians were not crediting the French security commitments in Eastern Europe at its just value and complained that the Poles and the Czechs have also strained relations with France since Locarno. Locarno is no blank cheque for Germany to imperil the independence and security of these countries. Only limited corrections to the Eastern borders as historical reparation for injustices following the WWI are being envisaged. The Romanian envoy asked, why then France and England didn’t offer such reparations from their own territory in Alsace and Lorraine and from confiscated colonies. The meeting ended in discontentment for both sides. At least Romania knew the Allies will avoid overreactions to the war against Bulgaria, since they saw value in muting a quasi-client German state in the Balkans.
 
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Romania expertly takes advantage of a diplomatic opening to take over Bulgaria with only minimal repercussions. The Germans want Romania on their side for the oil, the Italians won't budge because the Germans won't, the Allies want a strong Romania for their own security, and the Soviets won't do anything overt because the Allies told them to back off. The balancing act is only diplomatic, giving both the Germans and the Allies a slightly bigger taste of Romania's petroleum sector with the implication of more to come. And then there is the increase in police activity to suppress covert Communist activity. In any case, it's a lot easier to handle than an invasion by any of the major countries. Romanian diplomats really are in a class of their own, finding just the right balance.