Armed forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. Bulgarian People's Army

BULGARIA 1914-1918 . Page 246

Bulgaria lost the Second Balkan War in 1913. As a result, in 1915 she decided to join in Germany.

Infantry
Bulgarian infantrymen mostly wore brown uniforms (uniforms and trousers). Most of the regiments had red epaulettes (with the regiment number embroidered with yellow thread or applied with yellow paint), a red stand-up collar and cuffs, and trousers also had a red edging. However, in ten royal regiments, the cuffs, shoulder straps and edging differed from the standard ones: in the 1st they were scarlet, in the 4th - yellow, in the regiment of Tsar Ferdinand (6th) - white, in the 8th - blue, 9 -m - blue, 17th - bright red, 18th - white, 20th - royal blue, 22nd - light green and 24th - orange. In these regiments, monograms of chiefs were worn on shoulder straps, galloons on a red standing collar. The caps had blue crowns and red bands (which could also be of the above colors). Most often, brown covers were worn on caps. The officers wore a green uniform and a Russian-style cap. The cap and shoulder straps had a characteristic edging. The latter were lined with galloons, on which the regiment number or encryption was placed. Chin denoted metal stars in the form of rhombuses. The cap had a green visor, a Bulgarian white-green-red cockade inside a white metal oval was attached to its front. Officers sometimes wore a dress belt, but black or brown belts were more commonly preferred. The officer's coat was light gray with a dark blue collar and red buttonholes. Across the shoulder straps of non-commissioned officers were gold or yellow stripes. In 1915, most of the infantrymen were dressed in field gray uniforms with red piping on the collar and shoulder straps and sometimes on the cut of the front shelf of the uniform. Regimental numbers were now also in red, the original colors of the chiefs' regiments were also a thing of the past. In the summer, the infantrymen wore light blue tunics and brown trousers. The equipment was made of natural brown leather and included a waist belt with pouches, a German-style satchel and a flask. Before the war, there was an acute shortage of overcoats in the army, so in 1913 the military placed an order in Russia for 300,000 overcoats and 250,000 pairs of boots. German helmets in limited quantities began to be used in 1916-1917. As a rule, they were painted in brown or steel gray. They did not have any insignia or emblems. By the end of the war, various types of uniforms were used in the Bulgarian infantry, in particular, in the militia and in irregular units formed from Macedonians. Even the troops at the front suffered from a general shortage and were forced to fight barefoot and in rags.

Cavalry and artillery
Cavalrymen wore green uniforms (although blue and brown uniforms were also found) and blue breeches. The uniforms had red piping. Privates and officers had silver buttons. In the Bulgarian cavalry, there were four patron regiments, in which they wore caps with a red band and shoulder straps (with different codes for members of the royal families), but with different piping: in the 1st regiment (Tsar Ferdinand) they wore a white piping, in the 2nd regiment - scarlet, in the 3rd - yellow and in the 4th - white. On the collar of the greatcoat (usually gray for both officers and privates) there were colored buttonholes.

The Life Guards Cavalry Regiment was quartered in Sofia. The soldiers and officers of the regiment wore blue uniforms with epaulettes, blue breeches and red caps. As a rule, cavalrymen used equipment made of white leather. The gunners wore brown uniforms with a black collar trimmed in red, and caps with a black band, also with a red piping. Shoulder straps were usually black with a red edging, the regiment number was indicated in yellow on them (in the 3rd and 4th regiments boss codes were indicated - the 3rd regiment had the letter B (Cyrillic), the 4th - the letter F - also Cyrillic). In the regiments of the fortress artillery, the letter K was located on shoulder straps, in the mountain artillery - the letter P, in the coastal artillery - the letter B. The officers wore green uniforms and breeches and green caps with a red band trimmed with black piping.

In engineering and sapper units they wore the same uniform, but with silver buttons. Breeches, as a rule, were blue for officers and brown for lower ranks. In all artillery units, crossed gun barrels were stamped on the buttons. In specialized units, they wore the same uniform as in engineering and sapper units. But in the bridge-building companies, there was an emblem in the form of an anchor on shoulder straps, and in signal companies - lightning bolts.

Armed forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. Bulgarian People's Army. September 28th, 2017

Hello dear.
Last time, we recalled the armed forces of Hungary:,
Well, today let's remember the Bulgarian People's Army.

In my deep conviction, this was perhaps the weakest of all the armies of the Eastern bloc. And this is due to the fact that the country was the furthest away from the probable theater of operations, although it is difficult to call it the rear. She had her own tasks - the fight against NATO troops in Greece and work with Turkey.

Speaking of weakness, one must understand that this is a relative question. The Bulgarian People's Republic had enough forces and means, especially in modern times :-) It's just that IMHO they were weaker than the Germans, and Czechs, and Romanians and Hungarians.
Well, one more thing. In Bulgaria, there were no units of the Soviet Army at all, and this is also quite significant, agree?

As in the First World War, the Second Bulgaria began as an enemy of our country. Of course, this was the weakest link among the satellites of the Reich, and the Bulgarians did not fight against it at all. There are rumors about one part, but in general, nothing concrete. Well, as soon as the Red Army came to its borders, they quickly made a military coup and went over to the side of the allies.
Therefore, in principle, we can say that the Bulgarian People's Army was created back in 1944. And they even took part in the battles for Lake Balaton and in Yugoslavia and Austria. It's funny that they fought on German technology. Ours handed them just a trophy one - and it’s more convenient, and the Bulgarians were trained on it. For example, the Bulgarians on their "Panther"


The post-war Sovietization of the country also affected the armed forces. We can say that the Bulgarian People's Army was in the wake of the Soviet army. At first, most of the officers studied with us.
By the 80s, a clear and harmonious system of the armed forces of the NRB had developed.
The number was 152,000 people.

The army was divided into
- ground troops
- Air Defense Forces and Air Force
- Navy
And additional forces: construction troops, rear structures and services, civil defense.
The border troops were subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In Bulgaria, there were 4 military schools for the training of officers and one Military Academy. G. S. Rakovsky.
The army was subordinated to the Minister of National Defense. The most famous minister was General of the Army Dobri Dzhurov.

The ground forces consisted of eight mechanized divisions and five tank brigades, which had a fairly large number of tanks - 1900, although only 100 of which were T-72s. The rest is T-62, T-55 and most importantly a huge amount of T-34-85. In Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Bulgarians entered precisely on "thirty-fours".


The army had a lot of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.
Particular emphasis was placed on the defense of the borders with Turkey and Greece. So the towers from the failed Soviet tanks, as well as the towers of the German tanks Pz.III and Pz.IV, were used in the construction of fortifications on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
The army was armed with 8 R-400 (SS 23) systems with a coverage of 480 km; 50 R-300 Elbrus (Scud) complexes with the ability to install nuclear warheads with a coverage of 300 km; as well as tactical missile systems 9K52 "Luna" with a coverage of 70 km with the possibility of installing a nuclear warhead, 1 complex 9K79 "Tochka" (SS21) with a coverage of 70 km.

The air defense forces were also not bad. The armament consisted of 26 anti-aircraft missile divisions armed with complexes: S-200 with coverage up to 240 km, 10 S-300 mobile units with coverage up to 75 km, 20 SA-75 Volkhov mobile units with coverage up to 43 km and SA-75 "Dvina" with a coverage of up to 29 km, 20 mobile systems 2K12 "KUB" with a coverage of up to 24 km, 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade of the 2K11 "Krug" system with a coverage of 50 km, 24 mobile air defense systems "Osa" with a coverage of up to 13 km, 30 S-125 Pechora mobile installations with a coverage of 28 km, 20 9K35 Strela-USV mobile complexes with a coverage of 5 km.

The air force had about 300 aircraft and helicopters. The basis was, of course, the MiG-21, of which there were an overwhelming number, but there were also modern aircraft - the MiG-23, MiG-25 and even the MiG-29. Plus about 50 Mi-24 helicopters.


Serious funds were concentrated in the Navy. The fleet included 2 destroyers, 3 patrol ships, 1 frigate, 1 missile corvette, 4 submarines, 6 missile boats, 6 torpedo boats, 12 submarine pursuers, several dozen minelayers, base and raid minesweepers, patrol ships, landing ships serving ships, boats and others;

coastal missile systems and coastal artillery 130 mm and 100 mm batteries controlled by radar stations, naval helicopter squadron, naval aviation with 10 combat and 1 transport vehicles, parachute and diving units, marine battalion. Not bad so.


The uniform as a whole was originally borrowed from the Soviet army.

Gradually, it began to acquire its own features and characteristics with an emphasis on historical memory - the cut of the uniform, a different color of matter, other buttonholes, as well as its own special Bulgarian cap, similar to the Italian bustina, which we talked about here.

A good military uniform is a whole science. It should be comfortable, practical and masking. And the form should be relevant and modern. It is difficult to imagine a soldier of a modern army in a bright red camisole or a light blue jacket. On the battlefield, such a soldier would immediately turn into a living target. The portal tells about the military uniform of different countries and its evolution.

Ukraine

The history of our country is rich in various episodes of the national liberation struggle. But the fighters who participated in these episodes often did not have a single uniform, because they were mostly rebel formations. If you do not take into account the Soviet army, then, in addition to the modern army of independent Ukraine, only .

It is immediately evident that this uniform is very different from the uniforms of the soldiers and officers of the army of the Russian Empire, although the UNR troops were formed on its basis. Of the European armies of that time, the uniform is perhaps closest to the British and Polish, but with its own characteristics. There was also a national flavor, for example, in the uniforms of the Haidamaks and the “blue-jaws” from the division of the Sich Riflemen.

Naturally, with the advent of Soviet power, the Ukrainian army lost its unique face for a long time. But now, along with the introduction of a new form in 2016, she got it again. You can't confuse a Ukrainian soldier with any other now.

Britannia

The famous red coats of the British regular army appeared in 1707. The initial concept was such that the red uniform is, firstly, prestigious and pretentious. And secondly, no blood is visible on the red uniform, which means that the soldiers will be easier to endure injuries and fight longer.

So-so arguments. Prestigious, of course, but only during the American War of Independence, the British "Red Belly" became excellent targets for well-aimed American hunters in green forests. The red uniform was finally abandoned during the Anglo-Boer War at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, because the Boers were very good shooters. Now, of course, they don’t wear any red uniforms, but dress the soldiers in a fairly eye-pleasing camouflage camouflage.

Germany

German armies of different eras have always looked beautiful and stylish. And in, and even in the Second, the German armies were a kind of trendsetter in military fashion. The current camouflage of the Bundeswehr is also widespread throughout the world.

But there was a period in the history of Prussia when a beautiful uniform played a cruel joke on the German soldiers. During the Seven Years' War, which broke out between Prussia and Austria, the Prussians had problems with the textile industry, there was a shortage of fabric. Therefore, they saved on uniforms for Prussian soldiers.

But instead of making clothes simpler, they were simply made smaller. As a result, she also got wet, “sat down” and the soldiers turned out to be extremely constrained in their movements. Although in the end the Anglo-Prussian coalition won the war, many soldiers died precisely because of the uncomfortable uniform.

France

Modern French soldiers, like soldiers of any other self-respecting army, have their own camouflage. But in general, throughout the entire twentieth century, the French often lagged behind in terms of uniforms.

They entered in a red cap and trousers of the same color, as well as a dark blue overcoat. The overcoat was still all right, but the caps and trousers played the same cruel joke with them as the red uniforms of the British in the 19th century. They became living targets. Therefore, by 1915, a gray-blue uniform was introduced in the French army, without bright elements and insignia. High boots were replaced by low shoes and windings.

With the outbreak of World War II, France was quickly occupied, so that for almost all the years of the war the French served in American and British uniforms, but, of course, with their own insignia.

Bulgaria

An interesting story came out with the military uniform of the army. The fact is that throughout its history Bulgaria has been under the influence of different powers. Both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire left their mark on the uniforms of the Bulgarian soldiers. In the days of socialism, the form was, of course, indistinguishable from the Soviet one. But now the Bulgarians have returned to their roots, so their troops in full dress are more like hussars.