ABSTRACT
From independence, Bulgaria is obsessed with territorial expansion, necessarily at the expense of its Balkan neighbours. Inspiration comes from the 'Big Bulgaria' (with access to both the Black and Aegean Seas) projected by the Russian-sponsored Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878 but replaced by a 'Small Bulgaria' (without access to the Aegean) at the Congress of Berlin in July 1878. From 1878 onwards, Bulgaria is in tent on restoring 'Big Bulgaria'. Bulgaria defies both the Great Powers and its Balkan neighbours by seizing eastern Rumelia in 1885. Acquiring considerable ex-Ottoman territory in Thrace and Macedonia during the First Balkan War (1912-1913), Bulgaria loses most of its gains to Rumania (southern Dobrudja) and Serbia and Greece in the Second Balkan War (1913).
