Към историята на българските военни паметници. Идеи, инициативи, първи практически действия
Toward of History of Bulgarian Military Monuments: Ideas, Initiatives and First Practical Steps

Summary/Abstract: The idea of erecting monuments dedicated to the heroism of Bulgarian soldiers on the battlefield assumed its place in Bulgarian public thought from the very beginning of military action in 1912. The majority of Bulgarian soldiers killed were buried outside of the country’s territory. Due to the impossibility of repatriating their remains to Bulgaria, monuments built in their home cities or towns became the place for honoring the dead and their heroism in the name of the homeland. Before the Ministry of War undertook the construction of memorials to Bulgarian soldiers, this duty was performed by friends and family, as well as by local comrades who had also served in the same regiments. Most of the early memorials are the work of local stonemasons. They are reminiscent of gravestones, although they are not always located in the graveyard, but rather are within the village limits, and in some cases even in the central square. Monuments erected in church yards are the most numerous, as a result of the initiators’ understandable desire for the monuments to be located in a frequently visited place. A smaller number of memorials are located in school yards. The courtyards of army bases offer another place with great potential. Some of these early memorials were built within the confines of village graveyards, where they are more akin to a symbolic mass grave rather than a memorial to heroic events. The initiators agitating for the creation of memorials dedicated to Bulgarian soldiers were usually local committees and associations. They gathered funds via donations or secured volunteer labor. Even before the end of World War I, the Ministry of War created a mechanism within its organizational teams to guarantee that proper respect was paid to those who gave their lives on the battlefield. In 1914 as part of the Active Army Staff, a Military Historical Commission was created, whose task it was to collect documents and to write the history of the wars. Following a decision by the Army Staff in June 1917, the Department for Researching, Organizing and Decorating Military Graves of Those Killed on the Battlefield or from Wounds and Illnesses Resulting from Military Service was created. In 1927, the commission began publishing the periodical the Military Historical Journal, and in 1931 the Department for Military Museums, Monuments and Graves was also added to implement control over and to direct the practical activities connected with the creation of military monuments in Bulgaria until the very end of the Second World War.

• Details
• Contents