With a territory of 110,994 square kilometers, Bulgaria ranks as the third-largest country in Southeast Europe (after Romania and Greece). Several mountainous areas define the landscape, most notably the Stara Planina (Balkan) and Rodopi mountain ranges, as well as the Rila range, which includes the highest peak in the Balkan region, Musala. In contrast, the Danubian plain in the north and the Upper Thracian Plain in the south represent Bulgaria's lowest and most fertile regions. The 378-kilometer Black Sea coastline covers the entire eastern bound of the country. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 led to the re-establishment of a Bulgarian state as a constitutional monarchy in 1878, with the Treaty of San Stefano marking the birth of the Third Bulgarian State. In 1908, with social strife brewing at the core of the Ottoman Empire, the Alexander Malinov government and Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria formally proclaimed the full sovereignty of the Bulgarian state at the ancient capital of Veliko Tarnovo.

Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, mandated the use of westernized letter forms in the early eighteenth century. Over time, these were largely adopted in the other languages that use the alphabet. The Cyrillic language thus began regional variations which account in some degree for the difference between the Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic appearing on the same Luger.

Just prior to and during the early years of Second World War, the monarchist-fascist regime of Tsar Boris the IIIrd and the governments of Kioseivanov and especially of B. Filov (1940-1944) carried-out policies friendly to Nazi Germany; consequently, these policies led to a military alliance with Third Reich and resulted in reducing Bulgaria to a status of a Hitlerite dependency. Despite of an advantagous to Bulgaria non-aggression treaty with members of the Balkan Pact (signed on 31/07/1938 in Saloniki, Greece), which resulted in liquidation of the negative consequences of the First World War, Bulgaria rejected the offers of co-operation from other Balkan states and refused to co-operate with the western countries. The main reason for these pro-German tendencies in Bulgarian foreign policy was the desire to regain the lands lost by Bulgaria after the First World War.

At the beginning of the Second World War Bulgaria maintained neutrality. On the basis of a treaty signed with Romania (on 07/09/1940) in the Romanian city of Craiova, Bulgaria regained from Romania Southern Dobrudza, largely thanks to the backing of Nazi Germany. On 01/03/1941 Bulgaria joined the Axis Tri-Partite Treaty, according to which Bulgaria permitted the use of its naval facilities, air bases, and rail lines by the German armed forces. German forces entered the country on 02/03/1941, and used it as a staging base for their invasions of Jugoslavia and Greece.

In April of 1941 Bulgaria was awarded almost the entire Jugoslav Macedonia, as well as Aegean and Vardarian Thrace and extreme south-eastern section of Serbia. Bulgaria also co-participated in the occupation of the remainder of Serbia (until September of 1944), while some Bulgarian units were dispatched to Bosnia-Hercegovina for anti-partisan operations. In Macedonia a brutal policy of complete Bulgarization was constantly implemented. On 13/12/1941 Bulgaria declared war on U.S. and U.K. (Great Britain declared war on the Tsardom on 28/12/1941, and United States not until 18/07/1942). In spite of intense pressure by the Axis, the Bulgarian government refused to commit its troops against Soviet Union, and even allowed Soviet embassy to operate for the entire duration of the conflict (it was the only Axis country to do so).

This battlefield pickup comes with an all matching Bulgarian model 1908, a Bulgarian holster and the 2nd  magazine. The gun is in extraordinary condition for a Bulgarian which are usually found with only 50% of their blue remaingin.    This Luger is offered for $3,695.00 to the WWII collector.  Any questions to josef@phoenixinvestmentarms.com.