Get The Problem Of The Appurtenance Of Dobruja Region 1913-1940

Northern Dobruja (known as Dobrogea) belongs to Romania, while Southern Dobruja is part of Bulgaria (the Bulgarians called it Dobrudzha and the Romanians, Cadrilater). The administrative structure of Dobruja consists of: two Romanian “judeţe” (Tulcea and Constantza) and two Bulgarian “oblast” (Dobrich and Silistra).

Romania saw that Bulgaria was in a pickle with its former allies - Serbia and Greece - and the Ottoman Empire, so Romania decided it was a good time to act on its territorial claims towards Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Army was concentrated to the south, so Romania had a pretty easy time taking over Southern Dobruja.

Northern Dobruja (Romanian: Dobrogea de Nord or simply Dobrogea; Bulgarian: Северна Добруджа, Severna Dobrudzha) is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria.

With Romania's entry in World War I on the side of France and Russia, the Central Powers occupied all of Dobruja and gave the Cadrilater, as well as the southern portion of Northern Dobruja, to Bulgaria in the Treaty of Bucharest of 1918.

The Treaty of Berlin (1878) brought Ottoman rule to an end by awarding Romania most of the Dobruja and attaching the southern portion (the so-called Quadrilateral) to the principality of Bulgaria.

History. At the beginning of the modern era, Southern Dobruja had a mixed population of Bulgarians and Turks with several smaller minorities, including Gagauz, Crimean Tatars and Romanians.

Dobrogea is an historic habitat, the territory between the Black Sea and Danube being divided into Romanian and Bulgarian land. Starting with the 8th century B.C., Greek ships carrying families of merchants, craftsmen, soldiers and sailors enter the sea they called “Sciti Axaina” (dark blue).