Chapter 331： Thessaloniki Armistice Agreement

The news of Bulgaria seeking peace talks was transmitted back to their respective countries as soon as they contacted the British and French business agencies. And Romania, which is urgently related to this, also received the news from Britain and France for the first time.

So in the evening, when Prime Minister Bretianu brought the Foreign Minister to inform Edel of the news, he was having dinner with his family.

After putting down the tableware and receiving the telegram, Edel felt a little moist in his eyes as he looked at the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister who expressed joy on their faces. The short words “Bulgaria for peace” means that Romania is not fighting in the isolated Balkans. There are two concepts of reinforcement and no reinforcement.

After putting down the telegram, Edel calmed down and asked. "Any other news from Britain and France?"

Prime Minister Bretianu, who knew what Edel wanted to ask, said. "The British and French ambassadors have informed us. Taking into account our country's interests in the Balkans, after drawing up the armistice agreement with Bulgaria, the terms will be sent to us for review, and then to Bulgaria when there is no objection."

The Prime Minister’s words made Edel very satisfied. This is the treatment that the Romanian army has won back on the battlefield. To capture Transylvania, pinch Bulgaria, and resist the German attack, the battles made the Romanian army's combat effectiveness appear in front of the world.

Now Europe generally mentions the Romanian army at the same level as Austria-Hungary. The main reason is that the Romanian reserve mobilization force seems a little weak, which hinders the amazing performance of the standing division in Transylvania.

As for Britain and France to dominate this negotiation is also right. As the leader of the camp, it is good to take care of Romania's interests during the negotiation.

The news brought by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs made Edel slept all night, and appeared in front of everyone with two panda eyes the next day. Britain and France also know the seriousness of the matter. When Bulgaria replaced the cabinet in the morning, the draft armistice agreement with it had been sent to Romania. And this time, Edel convened both military and political parties to discuss this clause.

In this overnight armistice agreement drafted by Britain and France, it is mainly aimed at the occupied territories of Greece and Serbia. The most relevant to Romania are Articles 3 and 5.

The third one is that Bulgaria must stabilize the local situation and must not allow the former Allied camp to use its military facilities. The Allies also gave a helping hand clause here. If the Allies invade Bulgarian territory, the Allies will provide military and material assistance to them. This article is obviously aimed at the reinforcements before Germany, Austria and Turkey. Britain and France are trying to create some contradiction between Bulgaria and the former allies. Because the reinforcements from Turkey have entered Bulgarian territory, if the commander of the team is not clever, everyone would like to see another battle between the Bulgarian and Turkish forces.

The fifth article is that Bulgaria must open its ports and gather its trains, ships and other means of transport for use by the Allies, and the Allies will give rent. This article is the greatest help to Romania, which allows the troops and aid materials of the Allied Powers to pass through Bulgaria and be continuously supplied to Romania for use.

As for other provisions such as that the Bulgarian army must not withdraw before the Allied Powers take over, and that Bulgaria must collect weapons and ammunition and count them by the Allied Powers, these are not the focus of Edel's discussions.

In general, this armistice agreement drawn up by Britain and France fully took into account the actual situation in Romania. Knowing that they need the assistance of materials and troops, so many regulations have been made to stabilize the situation in Bulgaria by express delivery.

After studying the terms behind closed doors for a whole morning, Edel looked at the two rows of senior military and political officials and asked. "Everyone is okay."

"No problem at all."

"This agreement is very reasonable."

"No comments."

Seeing that everyone was satisfied, Edel told Prime Minister Bretianu and Foreign Minister Barnosk on his left. "Inform Britain and France of our attitude."

After Romania agreed to the agreement, Britain and France immediately passed it through their institutions in Sofia and submitted the agreement to the radical Democratic Party that had just taken office.

Facing the conditions put forward by Britain and France, Bulgaria certainly needs to bargain. The newly appointed Prime Minister Malinov informed the riot soldiers outside the city of the government's decision to withdraw from the war. After calming them, he immediately drove to Thessaloniki. Because there are plenipotentiary representatives of the Allied powers here, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Greece, His Excellency Lieutenant General Espere, as a candidate for negotiating the armistice agreement, the opinions of the soldiers still need to be respected.

In order to show respect for the armistice negotiations, the Allied Powers also stopped fighting in Thessaloniki, and the Romanian army led by Lieutenant General Feleit also stopped Bulgaria across the mountain opposite the Stara Mountains and Sofia. .

Of course, as a kind response from the Allies, Bulgaria also stopped all hostilities and ordered the Turkish army to withdraw from its own territory. General Otto Zanders, who commanded Turkey’s Third Army, was of course moderate in the trial. When the situation was not so good, he immediately took the Turkish army back to the Dardanelles, which disappointed Britain and France, who hoped that something would happen to them. Endless.

The German and Austrian troops assisting Bulgaria also stopped in Belgrade after seeing a major change in the situation, waiting for the situation to become clear. But I believe that soon, they will drive to the Macedonian region to free up the defense of the Allied attack.

Therefore, in Thessaloniki, a place still full of gunpowder smoke, the two parties who had beaten to the death before began to discuss the topic of peace fiercely.

"Your Excellency, we still agree with the terms you gave, but the rent of Article 5 is included in the future compensation, is it too harsh? We also need to resume production after the armistice, and the transportation is given to you. , We have too much influence. And we still can’t get the rent, which is difficult for our country to accept. We must know that our treasury can already run rats unless you are willing to give us a batch of food to stabilize the situation.

Facing the objections of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Malinov, Lieutenant General Espere, as the main negotiator of the Allied Powers, said We have fully considered the difficulties you mentioned, but we are also short of funds. , We can only rent first, and then we are thinking about how to rent. As for food, we can collect some of it in the market, but you know that because of the lack of funds, you can only find a way. "

In the face of Prime Minister Malinov’s objections, General Espere passed away without any money. As for whether there is no money, the two sides didn't care too much, just tried each other's attitude.

In fact, the negotiations in Thessaloniki proceeded very quickly. It took four days to discuss the content of the two parties from the beginning of the negotiations on January 26. According to the reason that their negotiations can be concluded quickly, it is still that both parties want to get rid of this situation as soon as possible. The Allies need the influence and actual benefits of Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the war, and Bulgaria can also free up its hands to appease the dissatisfaction that is about to break out in the country. So when both parties have urgent needs, this negotiation can quickly reach a consensus.

On January 31st, the two parties formally announced that the two sides had signed an armistice agreement, which announced Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the war.

The armistice agreement called Thessaloniki stipulates that the Bulgarian army must immediately withdraw from the territories of Greece and Serbia it occupied. The Bulgarian army immediately prepared for demobilization, and all weapons, ammunition and equipment of the demobilized force were put into storage under the supervision of the Allied Forces. Bulgaria can only retain 30,000 troops to meet its own defense needs. The strategic locations of Montana and Adrianople in Bulgaria are occupied by the Allied forces, and their ports also need to be opened to the Allied and neutral countries.

With the withdrawal of Bulgaria, the connection between Germany, Austria and Turkey can be said to be severed, wool, cotton, dyes and minerals from the Middle East are blocked, and it is difficult for German weapons and machinery products to reach Turkey. This has made the situation on the two sides worse, and it has also caused headaches for them.