Bulgaria starts the game literally handcuffed: the 
Army Restrictions spirit, inherited from the Treaty of Neuilly, stops you from declaring war, training units, or even producing armor, aircraft, or ships until you resolve it. Bulgaria has territorial ambitions across the Balkans and neighbors on every side — 
Greece, 
Yugoslavia, 
Romania, 
Turkey — but first those cuffs have to come off.
Historical Context
Bulgaria came out of the First World War on the losing side, and the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine imposed harsh terms: loss of territory and severe military restrictions effectively banning rearmament. Tsar Boris III spent the 1930s gradually consolidating personal power until he had imposed a de facto authoritarian monarchy, and the game starts in 1936 with him leading the country, still under the weight of those restrictions and with an economy dependent on traditional sectors.
What Changed with Battle for the Bosporus
Bulgaria got its own dedicated focus tree with the Focus Pack Battle for the Bosporus (2023), the same DLC that also expanded Greece's and Turkey's trees in the same region. Without it, Bulgaria only has a much more limited generic tree, without any of the focuses or branches described in this guide.
National Spirits at Start
Bulgaria starts with three national spirits, and all three are wounds inherited from the First World War and its aftermath: a shackled army, lost territory, and a revolutionary organization still sowing instability at home.
Army Restrictions
−25% factory output, −25% dockyard output, and you can't increase conscription, declare war, train or disband units, edit templates, or produce armor, aircraft, or ships — the direct legacy of the Treaty of Neuilly.
Second National Catastrophe
−10% stability, −0.30% weekly stability, −10% war support — removed if Greater Bulgaria is restored with control of Macedonia, Thrace, and Dobruja.
IMRO
−0.30 daily political power gain, −10% stability, −15% improve relations opinion — the constant fratricidal crimes of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
The Shackles of Neuilly
The Army Restrictions spirit is, without question, the most urgent problem of the entire playthrough: while it's active, Bulgaria can't even train new troops or produce modern military equipment, on top of the direct production loss. The focuses that lift this restriction are priority number one, ahead of any territorial ambition — without them, the rest of the tree is dead weight.
The Focus Tree Branches
Bulgaria's tree is organized around several main blocks:
Acquire Modern Tools — modernizes Bulgarian industry and military capability, including the focuses that lift the Neuilly restrictions.
Oppose the Royal Dictatorship and 
Power to the Tsar — the central political branch: decides whether Boris III consolidates personal power or the country's political forces limit his influence.- Eleven specialized sub-branches covering industrial development, military modernization, naval technology, ideological alignment (communist, democratic, monarchist, fascist), and international alliances.
This guide doesn't go into the detail of the more extreme ideological routes that open up after settling the power struggle with the tsar — the communist route, the fascist route — they're playthrough paths that will be covered in separate content later.
Oppose or Strengthen the Tsar
The central political decision pits Oppose the Royal Dictatorship — limiting Boris III's personal power and giving weight back to the country's political forces — against Power to the Tsar, which follows the historical script of the power consolidation Boris III actually carried out through the 1930s.
For a first playthrough, strengthening the tsar is the simpler route: it follows the historical path and centralizes decision-making in a single figure, without needing to manage the balance between different political factions. Opposing the dictatorship gives more room to develop the country through democratic or other means, but requires actively managing the power struggle that comes with it.
How to Pull on Diplomacy
- Territorial reclamation through diplomacy before considering force — almost everything you want in the region can be negotiated with Axis backing.
- Modest but uninterrupted industrialization — don't neglect border defense in the meantime.
- Cooperate with the Axis without fully committing; you decide how far to go, not the calendar.
- Lift the Army Restrictions as soon as possible — it's the precondition for any other ambition.
- For the land doctrine tree, with only 3 starting military factories,
Superior Firepower pays off more than chasing armor once the restrictions lift.
War Campaigns
If you're going to follow the historical script, what really matters isn't the exact dates but what you need to have ready at each stage to reclaim territory without paying the price other Axis powers did. Here's what to do at each stage:
- Craiova-style treaty — cultivate German diplomatic pressure before this point so Romania cedes Southern Dobruja without a shot fired; declaring war when negotiation gets you the same result for free is an expensive mistake.
- Tripartite Pact-style accession — join the Axis once you have concrete benefits already secured, not before; use the timing of accession as a bargaining chip, not an automatic formality.
- Macedonia and Thrace-style occupation — move in once the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece opens the door, but don't overload the occupation with excessive garrisons in hostile territory; an unreceptive population needs political management, not just force.
- Neutrality toward the
USSR — hold this line no matter what; it's the restraint that keeps your war the cheapest in the whole Axis, so don't break it just because the rest of the Axis expects you to. - Boris III-style death crisis — keep internal stability and succession settled in advance; a sudden loss of leadership destabilizes a country far more when the political loose ends were never tied up beforehand.
- Fatherland Front-style coup — have an exit plan ready for when the USSR gets close, just like the real Romania did; decide in advance whether you'll try to switch sides or fight to the end.
The Limits of Armed Neutrality
The most common mistake is committing too deeply to the Axis without real need, dragging Bulgaria into wars the real history sidestepped without trouble. The second is assuming geography and diplomacy alone are enough, neglecting an industry you're going to need sooner or later once the Army Restrictions are behind you. If you're interested in the region's specific content, the Battle for the Bosporus DLC guide goes deeper into it.
Bulgaria's Achievements
Five achievements, several shared with its Balkan neighbors:
Balkan Problem Solved
As Communist Bulgaria, form the United Balkan Federation and own all Balkan states as cores.
I Captured the Bosporus...
As Greece or Bulgaria, own both sides of the Bosporus.
Master Puppeteer
As Bulgaria, complete the focus The Fate of the Balkans while having 5 or more Balkan puppets.
Now This is Getting Childish
As Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, be at war while both countries are ruled by a child.
Prussia of the Balkans
Capitulate Turkey while also controlling the rest of the Balkans, including Greece.