Bulgaria's Foreign Trade Exchange along the Danube River during the War Period (1912–1918) – Trends, Dimensions, Changes

Foreign trade was one of the most severely affected domains of the Bulgarian economy during the 1912–1918 wars. This was particularly true during the years of World War I. During the war years, given the closing of the Straits and other important trade routes as a consequence of the country's foreign policy commitments, the Danube River (together with land roads and railways) became one of the main channels through which imports and exports were accomplished. The subject of this article is foreign trade on the Danube River, which is carried out from its seven main ports. The thematic-chronological approach is applied. The study is based on data from the Statistical Collections on Bulgaria's Trade with Foreign Countries. They were published by the Directorate of Statistics. The Danube's place as one of the routes for the transportation of goods during the war years is established. The trade of imports and exports in quantity and value during the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and the short-lived peace period in 1914 has been traced. The fluctuations compared to the pre-war level of 1911 have been proven. The indicators in the years of the First World War have been analyzed in detail. The most important changes that occurred in them have been indicated. Special attention has been paid to the trend towards a significant decline in the quantity of exports, which mainly consist of cereals. The categories of stock groups that have the largest share in both imports and exports have been indicated. The conclusion has been derived that the First World War greatly disrupted the Danube export trade, while the shocks in the import trade were not so seldom and in 1917–1918 it functioned fully. At the end, the ranking of the Danube cities in 1918 according to their role and importance in the country's foreign trade is analyzed and a comparison is made with that in 1911. It is concluded that Ruse, Svishtov and Lom remained important centers of import trade and that in 1918 the Danube ports did not really participate in Bulgaria's export trade.