The image of Bulgaria in Russian propaganda and socio-political discourse in 1917–1918

Insufficient attention has been paid to both Bulgaria’s participation in World War I and the formation of its image in Russian propaganda and socio-political discourse in historical science. The question of how Bulgaria was perceived in Russia in 1917–1918 was not raised in historiography at all, since the researchers focused on studying other, more significant events and processes for the history of Russia that took place during that period. So, the article attempts to fill in this historiographical gap. It is established that the attitude towards Bulgaria changed twice – after the February and October revolutions. After the February Revolution, the perception of Bulgaria became more delicate: newspapers focused on Bulgarian deserters and prisoners, while the reports of Bulgarian crimes in Serbia faded into the background. The Bolsheviks interpreted the reasons for Bulgaria’s participation in the war on the side of the Central Powers in the paradigm of the imperialist war theory, considering the fate of that country in the context of the expected world revolution. 

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