European War Commemorative Medal was instituted in three classes on December 09, 1933 by the Decree No.9 of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III to commemorate participation of his subjects in the Great War. It was issued to all WWI veterans including military personnel, non-combatants (mainly medics, war journalists and civilians) and relatives of KIAs. Former officers, NCOs and soldiers from Central Powers armies were also eligible for decoration.
An obverse showed crowned Bulgarian coat of arms imposed on crossed swords and flanked by laurel and oak branches. Dates of the Bulgarian participation in the Great War (“1915-
Classes of European War Commemorative Medal differed in type of ribbon only. It was made of
Former front-fighters tend to attach gilt crossed swords to the triangular mounted medal bar thus demonstrating combat nature of a decoration.
European War Commemorative Medal was available for purchase by foreign veterans that had to pay duty worth Lev200 for officers (6,00 Marks approximately) and Lev150 for lower ranks.
Circular medal was
Medals of all classes were presented in a rectangular red envelope of single design. It had an image of the medal, dates “1915-
Commemorative Medal for the European War was awarded until December 31, 1939 but certificates dated as late as 1941 are also known to exist. Totally 50,000 pieces approximately were awarded to Bulgarian subjects and roughly 199,000 were issued to foreigners, mainly Germans, Austrians and Hungarians.