in the history
and tradition of the armed forces before World War II to be significant.
Even in respect to that war, the sole esteemed service is that of the
partisans in their resistance movement against their own government and
against German troops in the country. Driving out the Turks to gain
national independence in 1878 is remembered, as is the abortive uprising
of the leftists against the government in September 1923. Emphasis on
only these few historical events is encouraged, at least in part,
because in much of their other warfare Bulgaria's fighting men
frequently experienced frustration or defeat, sometimes violent and
humiliating.

As no indigenous armed forces had been allowed during the five centuries
of Ottoman occupation, there were no national forces at the time that
independence was gained. The uprising by the local population two years
earlier, in 1876, had been heroic, and it contributed to the weakening
of the Turkish grip on the land, but it was a failure at the time. It is
still, however, remembered. On ceremonial military occasions a roll call
of the local men killed in the uprising is read aloud at memorial rites.

Participation in four wars between 1912 and 1945 produced negative
results for the country. Bulgarian forces were engaged in a major share
of the fighting during the First Balkan War (1912) but, from its
standpoint, the country received an inadequate share of the spoils at
the peace table. A year later, when Turkey and its former allies joined
forces against Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria was defeated.

Allied with Germany in both world wars, Bulgaria experienced defeat
twice more, although the situation was somewhat different in World War
II. The government and nationalists bent on acquiring territory they
considered theirs--primarily from Greece and Yugoslavia--succeeded in
joining in the war on Germany's side. The population was generally far
more sympathetic to the Soviet Union, however, and during the years of
German success in the early part of the war, Bulgarian forces did little
in support of their ally. In the latter days of the war, as the Germans
were being driven back, the Bulgarians joined the armies of the Soviet
Union. In fact, the 30,000 casualties they claim to have suffered in
campaigns against the Germans were far more than were suffered in their
support (see ch. 2).

After World War II, when the Communists had gained control of the
country, traini