From the moment Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact on 1 March 1941, British strategists sought to disengage it from the Axis. As Bulgaria declared war on Great Britain and the United States in December 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Britain aimed to force the country's return to neutrality, if not its turnaround against Germany. British initiatives to that end were continuously influenced by other regional relationships, such as the involvement with the governments-in-exile of Greece and Yugoslavia, which was central to Britain's long-term position in the Eastern Mediterranean. They also had to factor in the possible reaction of the Soviet Union, in view of the latter's known and suspected geopolitical aspirations.

The Frustrations of the SOE

Britain directed a great deal of its wartime efforts in Bulgaria towards establishing a network of special agents and obtaining relevant military and political information. Its activity was hindered by the fact that Bulgaria was not occupied but allied to Germany – which was not conducive to the development of a significant resistance movement.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE), a branch of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) was entrusted with ‘all operations of sabotage, secret subversive propaganda, the encouragement of civil resistance in occupied areas, the stirring up of insurrection, strikes, etc.’.