December 22, 1887. The Border Guard of the Principality of Bulgaria rusts out ᐉ News from Fakti.bg – Bulgaria
On December 22, 1887, a law on the Border Guard of the Principality of Bulgaria was promulgated in the “State Gazette”. This is how Border Troops begins.
In 1887, the Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Principality of Bulgaria, Stefan Stambolov, submitted a project for the border guard to the National Assembly. This, as its initiator points out, is an expression of the realized “need for the establishment of a special guard, charged exclusively with guarding the border.” After a short discussion, the National Assembly adopted the first Border Guard Law in our country (State Gazette, No. 145, December 22, 1887). The law provides that border guarding “shall be performed by a border guard, which shall consist of horse and foot guards, divided into junior and senior.” Each guard is assigned to guard a section of the border line, no shorter than two and no longer than six kilometers, the Ministry of the Interior reminds.
By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs No. I-183/22.12.1992, the official holiday of the National Service “Border Troops” (“Border Police”) is celebrated every year on December 22.
At the end of 1894, the second Border Guard Law was passed. According to him, it is attached to the Ministry of War and consists of six infantry companies, one from each divisional area – at that time Bulgaria was divided into the following divisional areas: 1st Sofia, 2nd Thrace, 3rd Balkan, 4 -a Preslavska, 5th Dunavska and 6th Bdinska. The companies bear the numbers of their divisions and guard the frontier section of their divisional area. They also include 150 mounted guards from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the police service and 200 mounted guards for the customs service from the Ministry of Finance.
According to the Regulations for the Border Guard issued in August 1895, it is filled with infantry officers and non-commissioned officers, giving priority to those who voluntarily expressed their desire to join the Border Guard, as well as to those who have enjoyed good certification from their superiors. Feldfebels are required to have at least 2 years of full-time military service, “to be well literate and distinguished for their honesty, accuracy and energy”, and privates are selected from the old set of infantry units “for their honesty, accuracy, obedience “. and energy.”
After 1895, so-called training post premises – border towers – were built at intervals corresponding to the needs for border protection under the existing organization of the border guard.
In order to further strengthen the border guard, on May 16, 1900, the first Statute of the Border Service was approved. The statute establishes the powers of the border guard as “the sole competent authority in all respects” over “the border line itself and the area closest to it,” including “those border settlements where there is no police or administrative authority.”
A border zone extending 5 kilometers inland from the land border in the territory of Bulgaria is placed under the protection of the border guards. On the Danube and Black Sea borders, such a zone is not created and “the influence of the border guard is limited to the coast only”, as the service on the water borders is carried out by infantrymen and a small number of cavalry.
In the year remembered for the Ilinden-Preobrazhensky uprising of 1903, incidents along the southern border became more frequent. On September 25, Corporal Sotir Tsanev and his six privates (Bojil Yovev, Michalko Hristov, Krastyo Zarev, Marko Paunov, Georgi Kotev and Ivan Georgiev) waged a fierce battle of several hours against nearly 500 foreign soldiers. The same year, a border patrol commanded by Corporal Atanas Bozhkov (which included three other privates – Georgi Stoyanov, Hristo Trenov and Nikola Zlatarov) arrested two enemy soldiers who had infiltrated our territory, and then fought with about fifty more. During this period Private Iliya Ivanov with his service dog stopped a gang of 180 people.
During the Balkan War (1912 – 1913), the border guards fought with high spirit and showed real heroism in the battles. The infantry general Nikola Ivanov, who in March 1913 commanded the Second Bulgarian Army during the capture of the Edirne Fortress, wrote: “These troops, even if they were not many, but the service on the border had made them real guardians of the inviolability of our land . The frequent incidents … in which the troops from the border posts took part … created … in the troops from the border … was a wonderful spirit and confidence in our superiority…” Of particular importance during the war are the actions of the Burgas detachment, which successfully secured the left flank of 3 th army. At Bunarhisar, the fighters of the 10th border squad appeared – they did not hesitate in the face of the enemy’s four-fold superiority. And they win. During the attack on the One Fortress, two companies from the 7th and 8th border squads stood out, overcoming a chest-deep swamp during the night.
During the First World War (1914 – 1918) the border guards were again at the forefront. For five whole days in August 1916, the fighters from the 15th border regiment were under fire, but they did not retreat. On September 1st and 2nd, they went on the offensive, captured a territory of 5 to 15 kilometers and held it until the introduction of regular facilities. At the cost of many sacrifices. Their comrades-in-arms already in 1917 took the initiative and with donations built in the memory of the officers and soldiers of the 15th border regiment the Monument to the border guard in the Sea Garden of Varna in memory of the officers and soldiers who died for the unification of the Fatherland. This monument is the only one of its kind in our country. For decades, the border guards (also acting from the reserve), despite the difficulties, took noble care for its maintenance, and in 1998, in a solemn atmosphere, they opened the restored monument after major repairs.
Serious difficulties in the organization of the border guard occurred as a result of the restrictive clauses of the Neue Peace Treaty of 1919. According to Art. 69 “Bulgaria will be able to form a border guard, which will be recruited through voluntary participation and will not exceed 3,000 people”, of which there will be no more than 150 officers and 200 non-commissioned officers. Like the entire development of the border guard until the mid-1930s, it took place within the rigid framework of the Neue Treaty.
On December 24, 1920, the Council of Ministers decided to establish a Maritime and River Police Service.
The headquarters of the Maritime Police Service is located in Varna with a subordinate group of police ships, a minesweeping unit, a diving command and a ship repair workshop. The group of police ships solves a wide range of tasks: police, customs, emergency rescue, hydrographic, postal, port authority assistance, fisheries control and assistance.
World War II (1939 – 1945) had a major impact on the Border Guard. In 1940, Southern Dobruja was returned to Bulgaria. Among the first Bulgarian troops to enter the area was the 4th Border Regiment, which immediately took over the border area. During the period 1941 – 1944 the border parts are constantly reinforced. After the creation of the Covering Front, three border brigades entered its composition and were given the task of preparing for a stubborn defense to cover the mobilization. In this period, special attention was paid to strengthening the security and defense of the Black Sea border – mobile and stationary defenses covering the entire coast were formed.
Border units and units took an active part in the first period of the Patriotic War (September-November 1944). The fighters and commanders of the 6th border regiment found themselves in the decisive battles for the control of Pristina. The sanitary private Stancho Peshev in the raging storm, under the bullets and shells of the enemy, carried out, bandaged and saved his wounded combat comrades. Showing adversary self-denial, the non-commissioned officer Penko Tsekov repeatedly entered the building called the “Bunker” and with his rifle destroyed everyone who appeared.
During the Patriotic War and immediately after its end, the organizational structure and deployment of the border guards were preserved, as in the previous period. Now the borders of Bulgaria are guarded by 6 border sectors to the sale of divisional areas, 25 sections, 75 sub-sections and 463 posts, of which 33 are maritime and 12 control-passage.
The main armament of the border guard during the first years of its existence consisted of “Krinka” rifles, as well as “Berdana” No. 1 and No. 2. From the end of the 19th century, “Mannlicher” rifles entered the armament, and on the eve of the Balkan wars – hand grenades and machine guns. The border posts along the coast of the Danube and the Black Sea are equipped with rowing boats, and the platoons with motor boats for reinforcement. Immediately after the Patriotic War, each soldier was armed with a “Mannlicher” rifle or a “Mauser” carbine and two DVF grenades (clubs), and each post – with one “Schmeiser” machine gun and one “Bren” or MG-34 machine gun .
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