The History of Communist Bulgaria encompasses the period of Bulgarian history between 1944 and 1989. During this time, the country was known as the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) (Bulgarian: Народна република България) and was under the administration of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). BCP transformed itself in 1990, changing its name to Bulgarian Socialist Party, and is currently part of the governing coalition government. Bulgaria was an Eastern Bloc Soviet satellite state during the Cold War, a member of the Warsaw Pact and the Comecon. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bulgarian Communist Party (Balgarska Komunisticeska Partija) was the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when it ceased to be a Communist state. ... This article is about the year. ... The Bulgarian Socialist Party (Bulgarian: Bălgarska Socialističeska Partija or Българска социалистическа партия) (BSP or БСП) is a political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc. ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Russian: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital (and largest city) Moscow None; Russian de facto Government Federation of Soviet Republics  - Last President Mikhail Gorbachev  - Last Premier Ivan Silayev Establishment October Revolution   - Declared... Satellite state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of another, larger power. ... For other uses, please see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Unofficial Seal of the Warsaw Pact Distinguish from the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement among airlines about financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... A Soviet poster reading COMECON: Unity of Goals, Unity of Action The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON / Comecon / CMEA / CEMA), 1949 – 1991, was an economic organization of communist states and a kind of Eastern Bloc equivalent to—but more inclusive than—the European Economic Community. ...

History of Bulgaria

First Bulgarian Empire

Second Bulgarian Empire

Early Ottoman Bulgaria

National Awakening

Kingdom of Bulgaria

People's Republic of Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria

Bulgarian coat of arms This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. ... The history of Bulgaria as a separate country began in the 7th century with the arrival of the Bulgars and the foundation of the First Bulgarian Empire together with the local seven Slavic tribes, a union recognized by Byzantium in 681. ... The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681 AD in the lands near the Danube delta and disintegrated in 1018 AD by annexion to the Byzantine Empire. ... The Byzantines ruled Bulgaria from 1018 to 1185, although initially it was not fully integrated into the Byzantine Empire, for example preserving the existing tax levels and the power of the low-ranking nobility. ... After falling almost entirely under Ottoman rule in the end of the 14th century, the Bulgarian state ceased to exist as an independent entity and remained part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly five centuries until 1878. ... Bulgarian nationalism emerged in the early 19th century under the influence of western ideas such as liberalism and nationalism, which trickled into the country after the French revolution, mostly via Greece. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Stalinism

Although Georgi Dimitrov had been in exile, mostly in the Soviet Union, since 1923, he was far from being a Soviet puppet. He had shown great courage in Nazi Germany during the Reichstag Fire trial of 1933, and had later headed the Comintern during the period of the Popular Front. He was also close to the Yugoslav Communist leader Tito, and believed that Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, as closely related South Slav peoples, should form a federation. This idea was not favoured by Stalin, and there have long been suspicions that Dimitrov's sudden death in July 1949 was not accidental, although this has never been proved. It coincided with Stalin's expulsion of Tito from the Cominform, and was followed by a "Titoist" witchhunt in Bulgaria. This culminated in the show trial and execution of the Deputy Prime Minister, Traicho Kostov. The elderly Kolarov died in 1950, and power then passed to an extreme Stalinist, Vulko Chervenkov. Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Mikhailov Dimitrov (Георги Михайлов Димитров, also known as Георгий Михайлович Димитров- Georgiy Mikhailovich Dimitrov) (June 18, 1882, Kovachevtsi, Pernik Province - July 2, 1949, Moscow) was a Bulgarian Communist leader. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Reichstag fire was a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Comintern (Russian: Коммунистический Интернационал, Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional – Communist International, also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organization founded in March 1919, in the midst of the war communism period (1918-1921), by Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including... Popular Fronts comprise broad coalitions of political and other groups, often made up of oppositioners or left wingers, and often united against particularly stringent circumstances. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in South Slavic languages, Југославија (Serbian, Macedonian Cyrillic): Land of the South Slavs) describes three separate political entities that existed on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... The Cominform (from Communist Information Bureau) is the common name for what was officially referred to as the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers Parties. It was the first official forum of the international communist movement since the dissolution of the Comintern, and confirmed the new realities after World... The term show trial serves most commonly to label a type of public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the accused: the actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Vulko Velev Chervenkov (September 6, 1900–October 21, 1980) was a Bulgarian communist politician. ...

Georgi Dimitrov

Bulgaria's Stalinist phase lasted less than five years. The process of industrialization was accelerated, agriculture was collectivised, and peasant rebellions crushed. Labor camps were set up and at the height of the repression housed about 80,000 people. The Orthodox Patriarch was confined to a monastery and the Church placed under state control. In 1950 diplomatic relations with the U.S. were broken off. The Turkish minority was persecuted, and border disputes with Greece and Yugoslavia revived. Georgi Dimitrov This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Georgi Dimitrov This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... As in other Eastern European Soviet satellite states, Communist Bulgaria operated a network of forced labour camps between 1944 and 1989, with particular intensity until 1962. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in South Slavic languages, Југославија (Serbian, Macedonian Cyrillic): Land of the South Slavs) describes three separate political entities that existed on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ...

Yet, Chervenkov's support base even in the Communist Party was too narrow for him to survive long once his patron, Stalin, was gone. Stalin died in March 1953, and in March 1954 Chervenkov was deposed as Party Secretary with the approval of the new leadership in Moscow and replaced by the youthful Todor Zhivkov. Chervenkov stayed on as Prime Minister until April 1956, when he was finally dismissed and replaced by Anton Yugov. 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov (Bulgarian: Toдор Xpиcтoв Живков; pronounced ; (September 7, 1911–August 5, 1998) was the Communist leader of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anton Yugov (1914-1991) was a leading member of the Bulgarian Communist Party served as Prime Minister of the country from 1956 to 1962. ...

The Zhivkov era

"The friendship between the Soviet and the Bulgarian people — indestructible for ever", a 1969 Soviet stamp commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria

Zhivkov ran Bulgaria for the next 33 years, being completely loyal to the Soviets but pursuing a more moderate policy at home. Relations were restored with Yugoslavia and Greece, the labour camps were closed, the trials and executions of Kostov and other "Titoists" (though not of Nikola Petkov and other non-Communist victims of the 1947 purges) were officially regretted. Some limited freedom of expression was restored and the persecution of the Church was ended. The upheavals in Poland and Hungary in 1956 were not emulated in Bulgaria, but the Party placed firm limits and restrains to intellectual and literary freedom to prevent any such outbreaks. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (806x800, 825 KB) en: 1969 Soviet Union 6 kopeks stamp. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (806x800, 825 KB) en: 1969 Soviet Union 6 kopeks stamp. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Todor Zhivkov Todor Khristov Zhivkov (Cyrillic: Toдор Xpиcтoв Живков; pronounced TO-dor KHRIS-tov ZHIF-kof) (September 7, 1911–August 5, 1998) was the leader of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Yugov retired in 1962, and Zhivkov then became Prime Minister as well as Party Secretary. In 1971, with the adoption of a new Constitution, Zhivkov promoted himself to Head of State (Chairman of the State Council) and made Stanko Todorov Prime Minister. Zhivkov survived the Soviet leadership's transition from Khrushchev to Brezhnev in 1964, and in 1968 again demonstrated his loyalty to the Soviet Union by taking part in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Bulgaria became generally regarded as the Soviet Union's most loyal Eastern European satellite. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Stanko Todorov (December 10, 1920 - December 17, 1996) was a Bulgarian communist politician. ... Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: ; IPA: ); surname more accurately romanized as Khrushchyov; April 17, 1894 [O.S. April 5]–September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev Russian: ; January 1, 1907 [O.S. December 19, 1906] – November 10, 1982) was the effective ruler of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, at first in partnership with others. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

Fall of the Communist regime

Although Zhivkov was never a despot in the Stalinist mold, by 1981, when he turned 70, his regime was growing increasingly corrupt, autocratic and erratic, with a brief period of relative liberalisation coming to an end that year when his daughter Lyudmila died. This was shown most notably in a bizarre campaign of forced assimilation and persecution against the ethnic Turkish minority (comprising 10 percent of the total population), who were forbidden to speak the Turkish language^{[citation needed]} and were forced to adopt Bulgarian names. Many Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey, and the issue strained Bulgaria's economic relations with the West. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lyudmila Zhivkova speaking in front of the United Nations Lyudmila Zhivkova (Людмила Живкова) (26 July 1942-21 July 1981) was a Bulgarian politician from the Bulgarian Communist Party and daughter of Communist leader Todor Zhivkov, with whose nepotism she reached the rank of a Politburo member. ...

By the time the impact of Mikhail Gorbachev's reform program in the Soviet Union was felt in Bulgaria in the late 1980s, the Communists, like their leader, had grown too feeble to resist the demand for change for long. In November 1989 demonstrations on ecological issues were staged in Sofia, and these soon broadened into a general campaign for political reform. Part of the Bulgarian Communist Party leadership, realizing the need for urgent change, reacted promptly by deposing the decrepit Zhivkov and replacing him with foreign minister Petar Mladenov, on November 10, 1989. This swift move, however, gained a short respite for the Communist Party and prevented revolutionary change. In February 1990 the Communist Party voluntarily gave up its absolute hold on power and, in June 1990, the first free elections since 1931 were held, thus paving Bulgaria's way to multiparty democracy. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov ( , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA: , commonly written as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bulgarian Communist Party (Balgarska Komunisticeska Partija) was the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when it ceased to be a Communist state. ... Petar Toshev Mladenov (Bulgarian: ) (August 22, 1936 - May 31, 2000) was a Bulgarian communist diplomat and politician. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

See also

• Bulgarian Communist Party
• Georgi Dimitrov
• Todor Zhivkov

The Bulgarian Communist Party (Balgarska Komunisticeska Partija) was the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when it ceased to be a Communist state. ... Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Mikhailov Dimitrov (Георги Михайлов Димитров, also known as Георгий Михайлович Димитров- Georgiy Mikhailovich Dimitrov) (June 18, 1882, Kovachevtsi, Pernik Province - July 2, 1949, Moscow) was a Bulgarian Communist leader. ... Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov (Bulgarian: Toдор Xpиcтoв Живков; pronounced ; (September 7, 1911–August 5, 1998) was the Communist leader of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989. ...