The need for international condemnation of the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes. History of bulgaria. History of communist ideas

The country's territory strikes with a variety of landscapes: in the north - the blue Danube; in the central part there are extended mountain ranges and forests of various species composition (pine, oak, beech prevail); in the south, there are vast fertile plains, where intensive agriculture is developed; in the east - the Black Sea with famous sandy beaches. Small villages are scattered along the slopes of the mountains. The cities are confined to intermountain valleys, large rivers and the Black Sea coast.

Terrain relief.

More than 2/3 of the country's territory is occupied by lowlands, plains and hills (up to 600 m). Average absolute heights approx. 470 m. The following large natural areas are distinguished: Stara Planina (Balkan Mountains) and the Danube Plain in the north, the Rhodope Mountains and the Upper Thracian (or Maritsa) Lowland in the south.

The Stara Planina Mountains stretch in latitude from the Black Sea coast to the border with Yugoslavia and Macedonia and are 400 km long. The highest peak of Stara Planina is the majestic Mount Botev (2376 m). There are numerous convenient passes through the mountain ranges. The busiest of them, located northeast of Sofia, is crossed by a highway. Historically, the Shipka Pass (1334 m) is widely known, near the central part of the mountain range. In 1878 it became the site of a battle between Turkish and Russian troops, as a result of which Bulgaria was liberated from Turkish rule. To the south of the Stara Planina mountains, parallel to them, there are two lower mountain ranges - Sredna Gora and Syrnena Gora, separated by the valley of the upper reaches of the Tundzha River (the so-called "valley of roses", known for plantations of this crop grown for obtaining rose oil for the perfumery industry).

Between the Danube, which forms a significant part of the Bulgarian-Romanian border, and Stara Planina, there is the Lower Danube Plain, the main granary of Bulgaria. It has a gentle slope to the Danube, where it breaks off with a steep ledge. The main tributaries of the Danube in Bulgaria are: Iskar (originates in the Rhodope Mountains); Osam, Yantra, Rusenski Lom and others with sources in the Stara Planina mountains.

The southwestern part of Bulgaria is almost entirely occupied by the Rhodope mountain system, which includes the Rhodope itself, as well as the Pirin and Rila mountains (with the highest peak in Bulgaria, Musala - 2925 m). The Rhodopes are rich in minerals and forests.

To the north and north-east of the Rhodope Mountains, there is an alluvial plain confined to the valley of the Maritsa River. There are low mountains to the east of the river valley up to the Black Sea.

Climate.

Mountain systems of significant area, significant differences in elevation and other factors determine noticeable regional climatic differences. The northern part of the country is characterized by a moderate continental climate; The Lower Danube Plain is open to northern winds in winter. The Stara Planina Mountains, on the one hand, impede the movement of these winds in a southerly direction, and on the other hand, they serve as an obstacle to the Mediterranean air currents, which form the climate in the south of the country. In the Maritsa Valley, winters are quite cold, but the Mediterranean influence is already noticeable. As we approach the Black Sea, the climate becomes milder, in fact Mediterranean.

Average January temperatures in the Maritsa Valley and on the Black Sea coast are approx. + 4 ° C, and to the north of the Stara Planina mountains they drop to –4 ° C. In the mountains, winter temperatures are even lower, and there is snow for several months. Summers are hot (with the exception of the mountains), in most of the low plains the average July temperature is approx. 21 ° C. The duration of the frost-free period ranges from 180 to 260 days. Droughts often occur on the plains, and in the mountains there is a lot of precipitation (up to 1900 mm per year), mainly in the form of snow. The amount of atmospheric precipitation is closely related to the features of the relief: the plains and intermountain valleys protected by mountains rarely receive more than 600 mm per year.

Natural resources.

The rivers of Bulgaria, which originate mainly in the Stara Planina mountains, flow either northward into the Danube, or southward into the Maritsa, which flows into the Aegean Sea. They are widely used for irrigating fields and generating electricity. The country's hydropower potential as a whole is estimated at about 25 billion kWh per year, but at present it is used only by 10%.

Different soils are formed depending on the combination of climatic features, relief and nature of vegetation. Within the Lower Danube Plain, composed mainly of loesses, chernozems are developed, which have a porous structure, fine texture, high moisture capacity and contain a large amount of humus. All this determines their high fertility. Brown soils prevail in the Maritsa Valley, while gray podzolic and mountain meadow soils are common in the mountains. Alluvial soils are found in river floodplains and coastal areas. High natural soil fertility in a number of regions of the country has decreased due to soil erosion and excessive use of natural organic and mineral fertilizers.

Mineral resources in Bulgaria are small, and their extraction and processing occupy an insignificant place in the economy. Small oil deposits cannot replace the main type of mineral fuel - coal. Lignites (brown coal) make up 92% of all coal reserves, which are estimated at 5-10 billion tons. Their main basins are the East Maritsky and West Maritsky, as well as the Sofia region. In addition, there is approx. 40 minor deposits of brown coal. Anthracite is mined to a small extent in the vicinity of Svoge. Since the country is poor in fuel and energy resources, it is forced to widely import oil, gas and coal.

Uranium ore is mined in the Sofia region and in Sredna Gora. The total reserves of the country's iron ore are estimated at only 10 million tons. There are several deposits of iron ore with impurities of manganese, chromium, and molybdenum. Deposits of lead, zinc and copper are also of national economic importance. Small reserves of gold have been discovered in the Stara Planina mountains. Tungsten and bismuth ores are mined in the Rhodope Mountains. In Bulgaria, there are more than 600 natural mineral springs with healing properties with water temperatures from 8 ° to 100 ° C.

Flora and fauna.

The main types of natural vegetation in Bulgaria are forest and steppe temperate zones and Mediterranean forests. Typical steppes are spread on the Dobrudzha plateau in the northeastern part of the country. The same vegetation is found on the Lower Danube lowland, although the steppes there are interspersed with forests. Deciduous forests grow in the foothills and the lower altitude belt of the Stara Planina mountains, coniferous forests are widespread higher, and alpine meadows are in the uppermost belt. In the southeast of the country, in the Maritsa valley, there are rigid-leaved forest formations of the Mediterranean type. The climate here is favorable for the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, mulberry trees, grapes and vegetables. In the border regions with Turkey and Greece, typical Mediterranean fruits - citrus and figs - are cultivated.

Forests in 1987 occupied 3.8 million hectares, or approx. 30% of the country's area. Of these, about 31% are conifers, and the rest are deciduous with a predominance of beech, oak, ash and hornbeam. Only 15% of forest plantations are of industrial importance, and the rest are mostly low-productive or perform water and soil protection functions.

The fauna of the country has suffered greatly due to the reduction of forested areas. Bears, wild boars, deer and chamois are still found in the forests. Ferret, weasel, wolf, fox, badger, jackal are also widespread; from rodents - squirrel, European hare, dormouse. In the 1970s, packs of wolves became a real disaster, which attacked villages on winter nights in search of sheep or calves, but in recent years the number of these predators has significantly decreased.

POPULATION

Demography.

As a result of territorial changes and natural growth, the population of Bulgaria increased from 3.155 million in 1880 to 6 million 982 thousand in 2013.

The birth rate, once one of the highest in Europe (36.6 per 1000 inhabitants in 1920-1924), fell sharply after the Second World War. In the decade after 1966, it grew slightly as the state, changing the old demographic policy, began to encourage large families and to restrict abortion. However, this policy did not change the demographic situation. In 1980, the birth rate was 15.5 people per 1000 inhabitants, and the death rate was 10.5 people; in 1989 these indicators were 12.9 and 12.0, respectively, in 1994 - 9.4 and 13.2, in 2003 - 8.02 and 14.34, and in 2008-2009 9.51 and 14.3, respectively ... The natural population growth in 1989 was 0.1, and since 1990 there has been a tendency towards depopulation. In 1990, the country's population decreased by 0.4%, in 1994 - by 3.8%, and in 2003 - to 1.09%.

According to the official Bulgarian statistics, the infant mortality rate from 1966 to 2003 fell from 25 to 13.7 people per 1000 newborns. Life expectancy in July 2003 was 68.26 years for men and 75.56 years for women and was one of the lowest in Europe. The rapid pace of urban population growth has led to a change in the country's traditional rural lifestyle. In 1976 the share of the urban population was 59%, in 2010 it reached 71%.

The 2013 estimate showed that the population growth rate continues to be negative and amounts to
-0.81%. The birth rate in 2013 was 9.07 people per 1000 inhabitants, and the mortality rate was 14.31 per 1000. The infant mortality rate in 2013 is estimated at 15.6 deaths per 1000 newborns. The average life expectancy in 2013 was 74.08 years (70.49 for men, 77.89 years for women).

Ethnic roots.

Bulgarians belong to the southern group of Slavs. During the period of their ethnic formation, an important component was the Bulgars (Bulgars) - a Turkic people of Asian origin, who in the 5th century. AD created their states between the Volga and the Ural mountains. Founded in the 7th century. AD a fairly strong state union on the territory between the Don and Kuban was called Great Bulgaria, ruled by Khan Kubrat. Under pressure from other Asian tribes moving westward, mainly the Khazars, this alliance collapsed. One group of Bulgars, led by Kotrag, was pushed back to the north - to the Middle Volga region. Here in the 14-15 centuries. a feudal state of Volga-Kama Bulgaria was formed with the capital Bulgar (or Bulgar) - a large trade center that existed until the appearance in the 15th century. Kazan Khanate. The second group, led by Asparukh, the son of Kurbat, moved westward along the Black Sea coast, and then up the Danube. They crossed this river and together with the Slavic tribes in 681 AD. created the Bulgarian state in Moesia and Dacia (now it is the northeastern part of Bulgaria). The nomads of the Bulgars soon assimilated with the local Slavic population; they adopted their language and largely the way of life of the rural Slavs. Local Thracian tribes also assimilated with the Bulgars.

By the 10th century. Bulgarians on their ethnic basis became clearly Slavs. They retained the self-definition of "Bulgarians", perhaps because in the 7-8 centuries. in political life the Bulgar aristocracy dominated. The adoption of Christianity as the official religion in 864 and the introduction and spread of the Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic) contributed to the process of national cohesion.

Early Bulgarian society developed under the influence of two main cultures - Byzantine and Turkish. Both of them had a serious impact on the formation of the population of Bulgaria.

Language.

Bulgarian belongs to the South Slavic group of the Indo-European family and is the oldest of the Slavic written languages. In 862 or 863, the brothers Cyril and Methodius from the Greek city of Thessaloniki created the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Glagolitic). The Russian version of the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Church Slavonic) contributed to the spread of literacy in Eastern Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet, named after the Slavic educator Cyril, is now used.

The modern Bulgarian language was formed during the period of national revival (18-19 centuries), mainly on the basis of the folk dialect, which was spoken by the population of the Stara Planin and Sredna Gora mountains. In 1945 the alphabet was simplified by eliminating some letters that had no phonetic value.

Cities.

Before industrialization began, the urban population grew very slowly (18.8% in 1887 and only 21.4% in 1934). In the 1950s, 1/3 of the country's population lived in cities, and by 1989 the number of urban residents had doubled.

In Bulgaria, besides Sofia, there are large cities with a population of 100 thousand - Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Pleven, Dobrich, Sliven. The population of each of the listed cities in 1995 decreased by 10–20 thousand people compared to 1989. 93.3 thousand people lived in Shumen in 1995 (110.8 thousand in 1989).

The main ports of the country are Burgas on the Black Sea and Ruse on the Danube. The main world famous resort area is located on the Black Sea coast around Varna. Stara Zagora is the main railway junction in Bulgaria.

Ethnic and religious groups.

Bulgaria, a fairly homogeneous country in terms of ethnic and religious composition, has become even more homogeneous as a result of the emigration processes after the Second World War. The vast majority of the population is Bulgarians (85.67%), including a small percentage of “Macedonians” who are officially considered ethnic Bulgarians. The largest national minority - the Turks - account for, according to the 1992 census, 800 thousand, or 9.43% of the total population (by 2011, the Turks accounted for 8% of the population). These are mainly peasants who settled during the period of the rule of the Ottoman Turks. Nowadays they are concentrated in the northeastern and southern regions of Bulgaria. Small groups of Roma are also represented (3.69%, according to various sources their number ranges from 300 thousand to 800 thousand people), Armenians (0.16%), Romanians, Jews, Greeks and others (only about 1%) ... In 1998, a program for the integration of ethnic minorities was adopted, supported by the EU countries, as well as Turkey.

Migration.

The size of the internal migration of the population in Bulgaria after the Second World War was larger than in other countries of Eastern Europe, apparently due to the rapid pace of urbanization. From 1965 to 1975, the number of migrants per 1000 inhabitants increased from 14 to 24, in subsequent years it began to decline.

After the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule in 1878, many ethnic Bulgarians moved to the new independent state from neighboring regions, especially from Thrace, Macedonia and Dobrudja, and during the period from 1880 to 1945 their total number was approximately 698 thousand people. Large migratory flows headed both to Bulgaria and beyond after the First World War. About 250 thousand Bulgarians moved from the Thracian part of Greece to Bulgaria, and 40 thousand Greeks moved from Bulgaria to Greece. 200 thousand Turks emigrated to Turkey. Almost 30 thousand more Turks moved from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1939-1945 and approx. 160 thousand in 1949-1951 were forcibly deported to their ethnic homeland under the communist regime. Romanian territory of South Dobrudja with a population of approx. 300 thousand people in September 1940 went to Bulgaria. 45 thousand Jews in 1948-1954 moved from Bulgaria to Israel. In 1947-1951 approx. 1800 refugees ended up in Yugoslavia, in 1946-1947 approx. 5 thousand Armenians were repatriated to Soviet Armenia. In the early 1970s, more than 35,000 Turks emigrated to Turkey in accordance with the 1968 bilateral agreement. In the summer of 1989, another 360,000 Bulgarian Turks left the country. This was a response to the violent assimilation policy pursued by the communist regime, which tried in 1984-1985 to completely destroy the ethnic identity of the Turks, forcing them to adopt Slavic surnames and suppressing any desire to maintain national and religious independence; by the end of the 1990s, about half of them had returned to Bulgaria.

In general, according to experts, at least 580 thousand ethnic Bulgarians live outside the country, more than half of them in the south-west of Ukraine and the south of Moldova, where they settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Small Bulgarian communities exist in Romania and Hungary. The number of Bulgarian immigrants to the United States is small: there are approximately 700 Bulgarian settlements, mainly in industrial urbanized areas in the north-east of the country and around the Great Lakes.

STATE AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE

Bulgaria came under communist control at the end of World War II, when, being an ally of Nazi Germany, it was occupied by Soviet troops. On September 9, 1944, the coalition government of the Fatherland Front was formed. On September 15, 1946, the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) was proclaimed, the government of which was headed by the famous communist leader Georgy Dimitrov. In 1948, the communists achieved complete control over the Fatherland Front, destroying all opposition forces in order to implement "the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of people's democracy." The dictatorship of the party apparatus turned the state and all its political organs into "driving belts" for implementing the decisions of the communist leadership, which was headed by Todor Zhivkov from 1954 to 1989. The party apparatus merged with the state apparatus into the "nomenklatura" - the organization of a new ruling class on the Soviet model, which governed all spheres of public life in the country.

The communists, not limiting themselves in political practice by any laws, have retained the constitutional forms of government. On December 4, 1947, the Great People's Assembly (plenipotentiary constituent assembly) adopted a constitution called Dimitrovskaya. It replaced the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879. The third constitution was adopted by referendum on May 16, 1971. It consolidated the position of the leading role of the Communist Party in society and the state. It declared the basic constitutional principles: the sovereignty of the people, the leading role of the working class, democratic centralism, socialist legality, the priority of public interests, equality of rights and socialist internationalism. All citizens over 18 years of age were granted the right to vote; elections were to be held by secret ballot. However, since the nomenklatura controlled the political processes in the country, including the nomination of candidates for all posts, the democratic principles of the constitution operated to a large extent only on paper.

By the end of the 1980s, the regime faced strong political opposition, which, after Zhivkov's resignation on November 10, 1989, from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and head of state, acquired an organized and legitimate form. Mass demonstrations led by the democratic opposition forced parliament to repeal the article of the constitution on the leading role of the communist party. Under pressure from the opposition, the ruling party was forced to seriously reform and agree with political pluralism. Communist and opposition representatives agreed on three major bills (further constitutional amendments, political parties and new parliamentary elections), which were approved by parliament in April 1990. The most important achievement of these democratic reform negotiations was the recognition of the need for a new constitution. The fourth constitution of Bulgaria was adopted on July 12, 1991 by the 7th Grand National Assembly, elected in June 1990 in the first free elections since 1944.

Government departments.

According to the 1991 constitution, Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic headed by a president as guarantor of the constitution, elected for a five-year term in direct elections. The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces as well as the head of the national security advisory council.

The presidential power in Bulgaria is limited. In emergency conditions, the president can use his power to announce early parliamentary elections (which happened in the spring of 1997); he also has a one-time veto on parliamentary decisions. The government formed on the basis of a parliamentary majority determines the economic strategy and political course of the country. The constitution consistently implements the principle of separation of powers, as well as powers between the center and the regions. The constitution also enshrines the principle of political pluralism in the country.

A Grand National Assembly of 400 deputies elected by universal suffrage was convened to adopt the constitution. The People's Assembly, which exercises legislative power and parliamentary control, is composed of 240 deputies, elected for four-year terms under a proportional representation system. It represents the parties that received at least 4% of the vote in the elections. Parliament elects and dismisses from office the Prime Minister and, at his proposal, members of the Council of Ministers, makes changes to the composition of the government at the proposal of the Prime Minister. The President of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the President of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Chief Prosecutor are appointed (for a term of seven years without the right to be re-elected) and dismissed by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Local government.

The new constitution states that Bulgaria is a unified state with local self-government. Autonomous territorial entities are not allowed in it. The system of administrative-territorial division of Bulgaria consists of two levels: the upper (9 regions, including the city of Sofia) and the lower (in 1995 - 255 communities). The municipality is the main administrative-territorial unit in which local self-government is exercised. The local government body in the community is the community council. The executive authority in the community is the kmet (mayor). Oblast is an administrative-territorial unit in which regional policy is carried out, state administration at the local level and the compliance of state and local interests is ensured. The administration of the region is carried out by the regional head with the assistance of the regional administration. The regional head, appointed by the Council of Ministers, ensures the implementation of state policy, is responsible for the observance of the rule of law and public order, and is also responsible for administrative control.

Political parties.

Until November 1989, virtually the only political party in the country was the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP), reorganized from the Social Democratic Party, which was created in 1891. It was the only party of this type in Europe that was in irreconcilable opposition to the government of its country during the First World War. Subsequently, she is one of the founding members of the 3rd International. In 1946, the BKP became the ruling party when it won the majority of votes in the Grand National Assembly (VNS). For 43 years of domination, she admitted the existence of the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union (BZNS) - an obedient relic of the once massive peasant party. At the end of 1989 it had 130,000 members. All other political parties were outlawed or disbanded. The BKP also retained the broad mass organization of the Fatherland Front.

The number of members of the BKP in 1945 increased 10 times compared with 1944 and reached 250 thousand people. In January 1990, it consisted of 31,150 primary organizations and had 983.9 thousand members. The BKP also had a youth reserve - the Dimitrovsky Communist Youth Union (until 1958 - the Dimitrovsky Union of People's Youth); it automatically covered almost all young people over the age of 14. Children aged 9-14 were members of the communist pioneer organization.

By the late 1980s, the nomenklatura experienced a deep crisis of legitimacy due to economic downturn, political and cultural decline, and ethnic minority concerns. To prevent revolutionary upheavals and stay in power, a group of "reformers" from the ruling elite of the party on November 10, 1989 removed Zhivkov from the post of general secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP and chairman of the State Council. At the 14th Congress (January 30 - February 1, 1990), the BCP adopted a new charter providing for the rejection of democratic centralism, as well as a "Manifesto for Democratic Socialism." Its main provisions are: de-Stalinization, abandonment of the monopoly on power, a variety of forms of ownership, predominantly a market economy and radical democratization of society. Under the new charter, the Central Committee of the BKP was replaced by the Supreme Party Council, which was headed by a chairman and a secretariat. On April 3, 1990, the BKP was renamed into the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The opposition forces were headed by the Union of Democratic Forces (SDF) founded in December 1989, which united approx. 20 parties, movements and clubs, opposition BCP. The most popular within the SDS was the spontaneously emerging political club "Eco-Glasnost", whose activists formed the strongest radical opposition in the last year of Zhivkov's regime. The SDS did not have a definite political platform, its members united mainly on the basis of rejection of the dictatorial rule of the BKP.

The BZNS sought to demonstrate a complete demarcation from the BKP. Official trade unions, the Fatherland Front and the Dimitrovsky Komsomol also declared themselves independent and changed their names. In addition to the SDS, approx. 150 parties, coalitions and movements.

Military establishment.

The country's military spending in 2005 amounted to 2.6% of GDP.

In 1989 it was estimated that the country's armed forces numbered approx. 117.5 thousand people (91 thousand mobilized): 81.9 thousand people in the ground army, which consisted of 8 motorized and 5 tank brigades; 8.8 thousand people in the fleet; 26.8 thousand people - in the air force. By 1995, the number of military personnel had dropped to 101.9 thousand. The ground army numbered 51.6 thousand people, the air force - 21.6 thousand, and the naval force - 3 thousand people.

In 1955-1990, the armed forces of Bulgaria were part of the forces of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance led by the USSR. Bulgaria used predominantly Soviet weapons, including tactical nuclear missiles. Many commanding officers were trained in Soviet military academies and institutes. Military service in Bulgaria is universal and compulsory; her term is two years, and in the navy - three. Military districts are subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. In addition to the regular army, there are border troops, security services and police.

In January 1990, the political control of the armed forces and the Ministry of the Interior by the BKP was declared illegal and then abolished. Party organizations in each division and the main political department under the Ministry of Defense were abolished.

Currently in Bulgaria military service is compulsory for men from 18 to 27 years old. The length of service depends on the level of education. Students serve for 6 months, citizens without higher education - 9 months. In the future, a transition to a professional army is expected in Bulgaria (in May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian army consisted of professional military personnel).

The country joined NATO in 2004.

Foreign policy.

Bulgaria has always had close ties with Russia. After World War II and under the communist regime, “Bulgarian-Soviet friendship” became an integral part of official ideology and politics. The country was a member of the Warsaw Pact and was a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).

Bulgaria maintains diplomatic relations with more than 130 states, but with a number of countries they were temporarily interrupted - with Israel in 1967, Chile in 1973 and Egypt in 1978 (they were restored in the late 1990s). Bulgaria is a member of the UN (since 1955) and takes part in the work of approx. 300 international organizations and institutions. Since August 1990, relations with NATO have been established and are developing within the framework of the Partnership for Peace program. On May 5, 1992 Bulgaria was admitted to the Council of Europe. In March 1993, she signed an agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). On February 1, 1995, it became an associate member of the European Union (EU).

Relations with neighboring Turkey, Bulgaria's historical adversary, have been constantly tense, but have especially worsened after 1984 following an attempt to forcibly assimilate the Turkish minority. After the fall of Zhivkov's regime, there was an improvement in relations between these states.

Bulgarian-Yugoslav relations in 1948-1953 were clearly hostile, since Bulgaria made claims to the territory of Macedonia. After the reconciliation of the USSR with Yugoslavia in 1955, they improved. It should be noted that in 1992 Bulgaria became the first country to recognize the independent Republic of Macedonia, which is why it was subjected to economic sanctions by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1999, the Macedonian language, which was previously considered a dialect of Bulgarian, received official recognition.

In the 1990s, almost all political associations in Bulgaria in their platforms emphasized the need for a closer orientation of the economy and culture towards the countries of the West. However, until the BSP government was removed from power in 1997, international relations with Western countries developed slowly. In the spring of 1999, the president and the parliamentary majority voiced support for NATO's actions in Serbia.

ECONOMY

Bulgaria joined the EU on January 1, 2007. The economy grew at an average of more than 6% per annum. Growth from 2004 to 2008 was attributed to significant volumes of bank lending, consumption and foreign direct investment.

Successive governments have shown commitment to economic reform, but the global crisis has sharply reduced domestic demand, exports, capital inflows, and industrial production.

GDP, which contracted 5.5% in 2009, stagnated in 2010, despite a significant recovery in exports. In 2011, it grew by 1.7% and by 1% in 2012.

Despite a favorable investment regime, including a low income tax, serious problems remain. Government corruption, a weak judicial system and the presence of organized crime continue to spoil the country's investment climate and economic prospects.

GDP (purchasing power parity) in 2012 amounted to USD 103.7 billion.
Real GDP growth rate in 2012 was estimated at 1%.

GDP per capita was US $ 14,200 (2012).

By sectors of the economy in 2012, the GDP of Bulgaria was distributed as follows: agriculture - 5.6%; industry - 31.2%; service sector - 63.2%.

ECONOMIC HISTORY 19-21 centuries

In the 19th century. Bulgaria was a predominantly agrarian country and was characterized by a traditional economic structure for the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the textile, leather and footwear industries, as well as the manufacture of fur, were quite well developed. In the last decades before World War II, the country's economy saw an increase in entrepreneurial activity, often with the participation of Western capital, but agriculture continued to provide the bulk of the national income (65% in 1939). By that time, Bulgaria had become predominantly a country of small landowners with plots of less than 10 hectares.

Under the communists, who came to power in 1944, administrative measures such as land reform, nationalization of industry and banks, forced and general centralization of agricultural production contributed to the socialization of the economy. Most of the land became the property of collective farms, and by 1952 land rent that landlords received had been almost completely abolished, private industrial enterprises using hired labor were eliminated, and the functioning of the market was replaced by bureaucratic "improvisation."

In the 1950s – 1960s, the communist regime put the country's economy on the path of accelerated industrialization. In the mid-1970s, an attempt was made to concentrate agricultural production in large agro-industrial complexes employing at least 6,000 people.

In the 1980s, high rates of economic growth led to an imbalance in the balance of payments. Economic reform in the late 1980s aimed at creating a new model for managing the economy, stimulating the market, empowering businesses with significantly greater rights, and encouraging competition. In 1989, capital investments reached $ 102.7 billion (BGN 89.7 billion at the official exchange rate of BGN 0.873 per US $ 1), but by that time the main equipment was largely worn out (approx. 40% more than 10 years). Despite the fact that 42% of all investments in 1989 went to industrial modernization, the introduction of new technologies was slow. State-controlled enterprises were reorganized into firms. At the end of 1989, 65% of all non-agricultural products were produced by 1,300 state-owned firms. But miscalculations in management and lack of clear regulation made it difficult for these firms to operate. Inflation, which, according to Western experts, was 3% in 1987, manifested itself not so much in an increase in prices as in a shortage of goods, as well as in the collapse of the market. In 1989-1990, after years of systematic shortages of consumer goods, the country faced a deep crisis in the food supply. In general, at the end of the 1980s, the Bulgarian economy functioned with a low level of economic efficiency, which fell further in the first half of the 1990s.

In 1948-1980, the average annual growth rate of national income was 7.5%. Economic growth, very significant in the 1960-1970s, with an average annual growth rate of national income of 8.75% in 1966-1970, 7.8% in 1971-1975, 6.1% in 1976-1980, decreased in 1981-1985 up to 3.7%, and in 1986-1989 - up to 3.1% (an increase in 1988 was 2.4%, and in 1989 for the first time a decrease in national income of 0.4% was recorded).

For a long time, industry has been the main source of national income. In 1987, 60% of the gross national product (GNP) accounted for industry, 12% for agriculture, 10% for construction, 8% for trade, and 7% for transport.

In the early 1990s, Bulgaria (following Russia) switched to a global system for calculating national income, which, along with the cost of goods and services of material production, included the value of the entire non-material sphere.

Despite a sharp drop in the level of industrial and agricultural production, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the early 1990s in monetary terms increased: 15 677 leva in 1991, 23 516 in 1992, 32 284 in 1993, 64 903 in 1994 At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the factor of inflation, as well as the restructuring of GDP: if in 1990 it consisted of 9% of agricultural products and 56.8% of industrial products, then in 1996 the corresponding figures were 12.6% and 35.7%. The share of the services sector has noticeably increased in GDP.

In general, there was a sharp drop in the level of industrial production: by 10.8% in 1990 compared to 1989, and then until 1993 - at a slightly lower rate. In 1994, the level of production increased by 4.5% over the previous year, while the GDP grew by 1.8%, and in 1995 by another 2.6%, but in 1996 it again fell sharply by 8.5% and the volumes of industrial and agricultural production decreased. By 1995, almost 65% of Bulgarians lived below the poverty line, while more than 70% of their earnings were spent on food.

The situation was aggravated by the wrong economic policy of the government of Zh. Videnov, who practically curtailed privatization by 1996, but did not eliminate corruption. This slowed down the pace of economic reforms and slowed down the activities of foreign investors (foreign investments in the Bulgarian economy in the period from 1992 to 1996 amounted to only 800 million dollars). The activity of financial pyramids intensified, it was not possible to return loans, and the embargo on trade with Yugoslavia brought tangible losses. In 1995, 6.5 million tons of grain were harvested, and in 1996 - only 3 million tons. Grain stocks sharply decreased. The prices for essential products and fuel have risen. The number of bankruptcies increased. The lev exchange rate fell sharply (from 70.7 per $ 1 at the beginning of 1996 to 3000 in the spring of 1997), and foreign exchange reserves during this time decreased from $ 1236 to $ 506 million. If in 1990 the average salary was $ 200 a month, then by 1997 - only $ 25–30; 80% of the population was already below the poverty line.

Mass protests and a change of government as a result of early parliamentary elections in April 1997 led to a tightening of financial policy in the spirit of monetarism, which manifested itself in the creation of the Monetary Council, an international financial control body that took over many of the functions of the Bulgarian National Bank. At the same time, there was no growth in industry and agricultural production in 1997-1998.

According to the EU experimental group, at the end of 2002 inflation was 5.9% for the year, the average salary was $ 82 per month, and foreign investment was $ 1.2 billion. GDP per capita was estimated at $ 6,500 (in Romania - $ 1250), and the overall GDP was estimated at $ 49.23 billion. The country's foreign exchange reserve increased in 1997 to $ 2.4 billion ($ 506 million in 1996). At the same time, Bulgaria's external debt by the end of 1997 amounted to $ 9.9 billion, i.e. 113.5% of GDP (in 1996 - 103%). In 1998, privatization receipts reached $ 665 million.

The country joined the EU in 2007.

Economical geography.

The territory of Bulgaria is divided into three main economic regions: West, South-East and North-East. The core of the Western region is the Sofia-Pernik industrial complex, which produces approx. 30% of electricity and all ferrous metals in the country, and also specializes in mechanical engineering. The Pernik coal basin and the Kremikovskoye iron ore deposit played a key role in the accelerated industrialization of the region in the 1950s – 1960s. In the South-East region, with the main industrial centers of Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora and Haskovo, non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, production of building materials and other industries are developed. The main agricultural products of this region are wheat, corn, tobacco, cotton, rice, grapes, fruits and vegetables. In the North-East region, with the industrial centers of Varna, Ruse and Razgrad, mechanical engineering, chemical, porcelain, textile, fur and leather industries are developing. In addition, it is the main grain harvesting area, which also produces sugar beets, maize and vegetables.

Labor resources.

The economically active population is approx. 46% of the country's inhabitants. Only a small number of artisans and small traders work outside the government and co-operative sectors. Since the 1950s, the share of industrial workers in the total number of employed has steadily increased due to a decrease in the share of those employed in agriculture.

Officially, there was no unemployment in communist Bulgaria, but hidden unemployment was substantial and manifested itself in bloated enterprise states. A specific problem was the constant shortage of people employed in manual labor, while many specialists with higher education could not find a suitable job. Unemployment began to rise after 1990 due to the country's transition to a market economy. In 1992 the number of unemployed was estimated at 15.3%, in 1994 - 20.5%, in 1995 - 11.1%, and in 1997 - 13.7% of the active population. By the end of the 1990s, the number of unemployed had decreased, but it still accounts for more than 10% of the working-age population.

As of October 1994, the number of employed in Bulgaria was 2868 thousand people, and the unemployed - 740 thousand forestry - 18.5%, in other branches of material production - 16.8%, and in the non-production sphere - 19.9%, then in 1994 the corresponding figures were 29.1; 5.9; 23.2; 19.6 and 22.2%.

The number of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 in 2011 was 26.6%.

Energy.

Bulgaria's energy resources are very limited. In 1987, it imported 60% of its energy consumption. Coal reserves consist primarily of low-calorie lignites with high ash and sulfur contents. The main sections for the extraction of lignite are located in the Haskovo area; brown coal is mined in the Bobov-Dolsky basin and near Burgas. There are small reserves of coal in the Balkan coal basin; a small amount of anthracite is mined near Svoge. Coal production increased from 26.6 million tons in 1976 to 34.3 million tons in 1989, and in 1995 it amounted to 31 million tons, but its share in the country's energy balance gradually decreased due to the use of nuclear fuel and imports of oil and gas and coal. Oil fields in Bulgaria are not of industrial importance. Crude oil is imported from OPEC and CIS countries; it is processed in a petrochemical plant near Burgas, which produces approx. 100 types of chemical products. Bulgaria also imports 2.8 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year from the CIS countries. In the early 1990s, payments for gas imports complicated relations between Bulgaria and Russia.

Theoretically, Bulgaria's hydropower resources are estimated at about 25 billion kWh, in practice, it is possible to use about 10 billion kWh, but in the 1980s less than 1/3 of them were used.

The total capacity of all plants in 1995 was 10.25 million kW, with 57% of the energy produced at thermal power plants, 25% at nuclear power plants and 18% at hydroelectric power plants. In May 1996, for technical reasons, one of the reactors of the Kozloduy NPP was shut down. In the 1990s, nuclear power was recognized as the main direction of future development. International financial organizations provide assistance to Bulgaria in the reconstruction of the nuclear power plant in order to increase its reliability. In 1997, difficulties arose with the import of oil and gas from the CIS countries, but they were overcome, and the import of crude oil increased.

In 2010, electricity consumption in the country amounted to 28.1 billion kWh; electricity for export -
12 billion kWh (2011). 1.166 billion kWh are imported. electricity (2010 est.)

Transport.

In 2011, the length of railways was 4072 km. In 2011 there were approx. 20 thousand km of hard surface roads.

The main Black Sea ports of Bulgaria are Burgas and Varna. In June 1995, an international seaport was opened in Tsarevo. The main river port on the Danube is Ruse. The tonnage of the merchant marine in 1992 was approx. 2 million gross register tons.

Gas pipelines with a length of 2,844 km and an oil pipeline with a length of 346 km pass through the territory of Bulgaria.

There are 78 airports in Bulgaria, of which four are international - in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Burgas.

In fact, the entire transport network is state-owned.

Organization and planning of production.

In 1945-1990, the share of the public sector of the economy in Bulgaria was the largest in comparison with other Eastern European countries, and the general organization and planning of production was a monopoly of the state and the party nomenclature. In the late 1940s, the State Planning Committee was established on the model of the State Planning Committee of the USSR. He held the rank of a ministry and worked closely with the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

As early as the early 1960s, attempts were made to criticize rigid centralization. The limited reform stimulated the work of enterprises on the basis of the principle of self-sufficiency, but in July 1968, after the plenum of the Central Committee of the BKP, production began to return to the previous channel of central planning. After the plenum of the Central Committee of the BKP in April 1970, state and collective farms were reorganized into large enterprises, which came to be called agro-industrial complexes (AIC), consisting of several previously independent farms and small industrial enterprises. In 1975, there were 175 agro-industrial complexes with an average area of ​​each 24.5 thousand hectares and the number of employees - 6 thousand people. At the same time, the state began to create state trusts in industry, uniting all enterprises in a particular industry. In the mid-1970s, there were approx. 100 of these giant industrial associations.

In the 1980s, Bulgaria returned to the course of decentralization by introducing a "new economic mechanism" - planning became more a subject of coordination than of leadership. In 1989-1990, the organization and planning of the economy in Bulgaria combined two strategies. The first allowed for the expansion of the initiative of state-owned firms and their entrepreneurial activities, while the second sought to preserve the role of ministries as intermediaries between the state and firms.

Agriculture.

Bulgaria successfully combines favorable climatic conditions, natural soil fertility and centuries-old farming traditions, which creates the preconditions for the flourishing of agriculture. By the late 1980s, the main types of agricultural work (plowing, sowing, harvesting and harrowing) were fully mechanized. In 1989 the total area of ​​cultivated land was 4.65 million hectares; 5.4 million tons of wheat and 1.6 million tons of barley were harvested; yields for maize, beans, sunflowers, sugar beets, tobacco and cotton were below the 1981-1985 average. In 1986-1989, the collection of fruits, vegetables and potatoes was significantly reduced. Bulgaria's traditional export is rose oil, widely used in the perfumery industry. For its production and export, the country ranks first in the world.

In the 1970s and 1980s, livestock production fell into decay as a result of mismanagement and an inability to address the feed supply problem. As a result of the crisis in agriculture, the domestic market was insufficiently provided with milk, meat, eggs, and wool.

In 1995, the number of cattle was 638 thousand (1/3 less than in 1993), pigs - 1986 thousand (in 1993 - 2680 thousand). Meat production decreased from 132 thousand tons in 1992 to 97 thousand tons in 1994 and began to recover at a slow pace only in 1996. At the same time, wheat production increased (1992 - 3433 thousand tons, 1994 - 3788 thousand tons), and also corn and other grains (with the exception of the lean 1996). The processing of fruits and vegetables sharply decreased, and the tobacco industry was in a deep crisis.

Fishing.

Bulgaria has large state and cooperative fishing enterprises engaged in coastal and deep sea fishing. In the 1960s, fish farming began to develop in specialized cooperatives. More than 70% of all fish comes from the Atlantic Ocean fishery.

Forestry.

Due to the improper exploitation of forested lands during the period of the planned economy, many forests were cut down, in their place shrubs and herbaceous vegetation spread; the reproductive potential of forests and their environmental protection functions have been severely impaired.

Mining industry.

Outdated technical equipment in the mining industries and the slower-than-expected pace of modernization and refurbishment have affected the efficiency of the extraction of key raw materials.

The development of non-ferrous metallurgy is due to the key role in the export of its products to the countries of Eastern Europe. The main enterprises are located in Kardzhali, Srednogorie, Elisein and Plovdiv. In Bulgaria there are deposits of approx. 30 kinds of non-metallic raw materials, including marble, kaolin, dolomite, gypsum, quartz, refractory clay and fluorite. In 1994, Bulgaria produced 29 thousand tons of anthracite, 268 thousand tons of iron ore, 36 thousand tons of crude oil and 7.6 million cubic meters. m of natural gas.

Manufacturing industry.

The main objectives of industrial policy in the 1990s were the acceleration of structural adjustment and technological progress. Electronics, biotechnology and the production of some chemical products have been identified as priority areas in the hope of further expanding exports. High growth rates - approx. 15% per year - were achieved in electrical engineering and electronics, while the volume of production in mechanical engineering remained the same.

The chemical industry developed at an accelerated pace, but mismanagement and outdated technologies led to the threat of disrupting the ecological balance. The most important sector of this industry is oil refining, which is concentrated in a huge industrial complex near Burgas. Bulgaria produces mineral fertilizers, synthetic fibers, car tires, plastics, paints and varnishes.

The unsatisfactory state of agriculture in the 1990s hindered the development of the food and light industries.

The dynamics of industrial production for the period from 1980 to 1994 is as follows: 1980 - 100%, 1990 - 116, 1991 - 98, 1992 - 94, 1993 - 101, 1994 - 109%. However, in the second half of the 1990s, the pace of industrial development accelerated noticeably. In the corresponding years of the same period, there was a significant decline in agricultural production: 92, 85, 79, 63, 59%, and the rate of recovery of its potential in the second half of the 1990s was much lower than in industry.

Foreign trade and balance of payments.

Foreign trade increased from $ 10 billion in 1975 to $ 29.9 billion (BGN 26.1 billion) in 1989. In 2002, exports were $ 5.3 billion and imports were $ 6.9 billion. The share of the CMEA countries accounted for 79.5% of foreign trade turnover, and the share of the developed capitalist countries 11.9% (the value of exports is 1.13 billion dollars, and imports are 2.45 billion dollars). Exports were dominated by leather, electric motors, electric cars, boats, synthetic fibers, rose oil and medicinal herbs; in imports - machine tools, equipment for hydroelectric and nuclear power plants, cars, coal, oil and electricity.

In 1996-1997, Bulgaria's foreign trade turnover was characterized by a negative balance in trade with Russia and a decrease in the supply of oil (by 40%) and gas (by 18%) due to an increase in their value. In exports, the increase in the share of tobacco products belongs to this period. In recent years, trade relations with the EU countries have improved, but the growth of public debt, as well as low economic development indicators, postpone the prospect of Bulgaria joining this organization (according to the results of the December 1997 meeting, it was not included in the number of countries with which the EU began accession negotiations).

Finance and banking.

The monetary unit of Bulgaria is the lev. The official exchange rate of the dollar in 1989 was 0.873 leva, and after the devaluation in 1990 rose to 9 leva. In July 1997 the exchange rate was 1000 leva per 1 German mark. The Bulgarian Central Bank is the main banking institution and bank of issue. He owns 72% of the shares of the Foreign Trade Bank, founded in 1964 to carry out external payments. The State Savings Bank provides banking services to the public. Commercial banks appeared in 1987.

According to the 1992 Law on Banks and Credit (with amendments), the range of transactions of the Bulgarian National and Commercial Banks has expanded, especially with securities, and the positions of branches of foreign banks have strengthened. The bankruptcy procedure, the procedure for deducting profits to the state budget (36%) and communities (6.5%) are legally determined. At the same time, inflation in 1996, which grew into hyperinflation in 1997, led to a crisis in the banking system in connection with massive withdrawals of money by depositors. At the end of 1996, amendments were made to the Law on Economic Activity, encouraging foreign investment, and the reorientation of Bulgaria's foreign economic relations, which intensified in early 1998, was intended to strengthen the country's banking system under the strict control of the IMF and EBRD.

The state budget.

The Bulgarian government has never published annual budgets. The main income items of the budget are taxes on profits received by enterprises from manufactured products and from turnover (sales). The largest item of the expenditure side of the budget is expenditures on the development of branches of the national economy. Western experts estimate defense spending in 1988 at $ 2.47 billion. In 1990, the communist reformist government acknowledged the existence of a budget deficit and related public debt. In 1989, Bulgaria's total debt was $ 1 billion, in 1990 it increased to 1.388 billion. By the beginning of 1994, the debt was already $ 12.25 billion, and its decline was only outlined in the late 1990s.

In the first half of the 1990s, the ratio of revenues and expenditures of the state budget (in million leva) was: in 1990 - 32 081 and 33 394, 1992 - 67 491 and 77 126, 1993 - 99 875 and 133 877. Unfavorable trends of budget growth deficits were overcome only by the end of the 1990s. In 1997, the IMF pledged to review the country's financial performance for about 10 years, establishing control over the banking system, but there were no signs of economic recovery. At the beginning of 1999, prices for bread (by about 10%), electricity and consumer goods (by 20-30%) rose in Bulgaria. This caused discontent among the population, especially since the campaign against financial and industrial groups (including the largest private concern accused by the Prime Minister of the "sugar scam") did not succeed.

SOCIETY

Social structure.

In Bulgaria in the first half of the 20th century. the peasant population prevailed, retaining communal traditions, and the stratum of large landowners was practically absent. The country had many artisans, a small and relatively poor bourgeoisie, and a growing working class, well organized in a number of industries. Even under the communist regime, there was a divergence of interests between the party elite and the state bureaucracy, on the one hand, and the bulk of the population, on the other, which manifested itself in unequal participation in making socially important decisions, unequal distribution of goods and privileges and a discrepancy between declared and actual income. These trends were exacerbated in the 1980s and especially in the 1990s, when, amid the economic downturn, most of the population fell below the poverty line.

Lifestyle.

Most Bulgarians get married between the ages of 20 and 30. A typical Bulgarian family has one child, while Turkish and Roma families often have more than three children. In 1986, there were 7.3 marriages per 1000 inhabitants; 1989 - 7; 1992 - 5.2; 1994 - 5.4 marriages. The divorce rate gradually increased.

Bulgarians usually have several close friends from their social circle. Friendship between members of groups at different levels of the social hierarchy is rare. Education is highly valued, and the shortage of points by an applicant when entering a university is hard for the whole family. Bulgarians spend their holidays on the Black Sea coast or in other resorts, and on weekends they make country trips or do housework and while away the time in front of the TV. Very few people can afford holidays abroad. Clothing style and diet in Bulgaria are not much different from European standards.

Religion.

Until 1945 approx. 90% of the country's population were adherents of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, by the mid-1990s - approx. 80%. Under the communist regime, the property of this church was confiscated, religious disciplines were excluded from school curricula, and censorship of church literature was introduced. In 1950, state control was introduced over all church activities and appointments of the clergy; government bodies and mass organizations influenced the election of members of the Holy Synod. The 1971 Constitution proclaimed the separation of church and state and freedom of choice of religion. By the late 1980s, unbridled campaigns against "religious prejudice" and church attendance had given way to a more tolerant attitude towards religion, setting the stage for the emergence of sectarian organizations. As opposition to the pro-communist patriarchy, headed by Patriarch Maxim since 1971, alternative services were held under the auspices of the Committee for the Protection of Religious Rights, which became one of the founders of a mass political organization - the Union of Democratic Forces. The official reconciliation of the leaders of these two church movements took place in November 1998.

Islam, which by the mid-1990s was adhered to by 9% of the country's population (Turks and 250 thousand Pomaks - Bulgarian-speaking Muslims from the Rhodope), strengthened its status in the country. After 1878, his adherents were repeatedly persecuted. This process was aggravated in 1984-1985, when the Turks were even forced to change their surnames. Many mosques were closed, Turkish cemeteries were destroyed, and circumcision was considered a crime. However, in the 1990s, Bulgarian Muslims were restored to their rights.

In 1987 there were 60 thousand Catholics in Bulgaria, in 1992 - 30 thousand. Small Protestant communities also survived. Jewish communities unite approx. 5 thousand people.

Trade union movement.

The first trade unions in Bulgaria were formed in the 1890s. In the postwar period, trade unions were proclaimed "schools of communism" and were under the political and ideological control of the party nomenklatura. After Zhivkov's resignation, the largest and most influential independent trade unions were founded - the Podkrepa Confederation of Labor ("support"), the Confederation of Independent Syndicates of Bulgaria and the Trade Union of National Unity. In the early 1990s, they numbered 3,064,000, 473,000, and 384,000 members, respectively (a total of 3,921,000, with 3273,000 employed in 1992, and 3932,000 of the able-bodied population).

Other public organizations and movements.

Since 1944, the Fatherland Front has become the largest mass social and political organization in Bulgaria, which in 1990 was renamed the Fatherland Union. In 1981, this organization consisted of approx. 4.3 million people (every adult was considered a member without even submitting an application). The Fatherland Front was formed on the basis of the anti-fascist and antimonarchist coalition during the Second World War, and then turned into an insignificant "shadow" of the Communist Party. With the change in the social system, this organization has largely lost its influence. A large number of new public organizations and movements emerged in 1989-1990: the political club "Eco-Glasnost" (ecological and anti-communist front), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the Civil Association for the Republic, the Green Party.

Women's movement.

Under the communist regime, despite formal equality, there were many forms of discrimination against women. In 1987 women accounted for 49.2% of those employed in industry, 20.1% in construction, 47.7% in agriculture, 42.1% in forestry, but, as a rule, their labor was poorly paid. By the mid-1990s, the number of people employed in all sectors had noticeably decreased: in October 1994 there were 2868.8 thousand employed in the country, of which 1532.5 thousand were men and 1446.3 thousand were women; out of 740.1 thousand unemployed men accounted for 392.5 thousand, and women - 347.6 thousand.

Youth.

Under the communist regime, the specificity of the Bulgarian society was gerontocracy. Young people had limited opportunities for professional growth, and wages were made dependent on seniority and social activities. It was difficult for young families to obtain housing, especially in cities. Therefore, in the 1990s, young people actively supported the reforms. New youth organizations emerged, such as the Independent Federation of Student Societies, while the Dimitrovsky Union of Young Communists quickly lost its influence and power. In the 1990s, youth movements in Bulgaria were distinguished by their great diversity and a desire to imitate Western models.

Social Security.

In communist Bulgaria, the State Savings Bank provided small loans to individuals to buy a house. There was a line of people in need of housing, which was established by special commissions of the people's councils. After years of waiting, those on the waiting list were provided with state-owned apartments, and the rent was low. However, there was not enough housing in the country, and its quality was very low.

The privatization of the housing stock in the 1990s helped to reduce social tensions. The increase in utility bills in Bulgaria compared to other post-communist countries was carried out at a slower pace. In 1995-1996, a number of socially oriented normative acts were issued that secure the corresponding rights (on the public fund for providing youth, family assistance, etc.). The ensuing economic and financial crisis undermined the social security system, which was reformed in 1997-1998.

CULTURE

Medieval Bulgaria is considered the cradle of Slavic culture. The rich and complex spiritual life of this country took shape under the influence of Byzantine and Muslim traditions. In the 19th and 20th centuries. they were supplemented by the influence of Russia and the West. Modern Bulgarian culture flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Cultural policy under totalitarian rule, including strict censorship, transformed the legacy of the past and created an official culture based on a number of ideological postulates: “socialist realism” as the most advanced method of art, opposition to all “bourgeois” tendencies and styles; loyalty to the communist party; idealization of those classical works of art that were viewed by the communists as historically progressive; oblivion of all aesthetic phenomena that do not correspond to the accepted model.

Education.

The communists interpreted education as a one-dimensional system of educational institutions and the acquisition of practical skills. Teachers were deprived of the initiative and had to follow compulsory curricula drawn up by officials of the Ministry of Education. Much attention was paid to the Russian language to the detriment of the humanities. All schools in Bulgaria were state-owned; schools for ethnic minorities were closed in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s, approx. 83% of children aged 3 to 6 attended kindergartens. Primary and secondary education (ages 6-18) is free and compulsory. There is a developed network of general education schools, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions. Approx. 38 higher education institutions study. 150 thousand students. The largest universities in Bulgaria are Sofia, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo. In the 1990s, Western educational standards were introduced in the country. In 1995, about 247 thousand preschoolers attended 3659 children's institutions, 980.5 thousand students studied in 3359 general education schools, 250 thousand students were enrolled in the system of secondary specialized education, and in 40 universities there were 21.2 thousand teachers and 196 thousand students. students (in 1997 - 235 thousand).

Literature and art.

In 1980, “modernist” tendencies began to appear in Bulgarian literature, which meant a refusal to follow the principles of socialist realism. Thanks to the works of such contemporary writers, poets and playwrights as Yordan Radichkov, Ivaylo Petrov, Georgy Mishev, Blaga Dimitrov, Radoy Ralin, Valeri Petrov, Stanislav Stratiev and Dimitar Korudzhiev, Bulgarian literature has sought to enter the mainstream of modern European creativity.

The fine arts in the 1980s reached a high professional level and received international recognition in painting (Svetlin Rusev, Georgy Baev), drawing, sculpture, caricature, artistic ceramics, tapestries and woodcarving. In architecture, a striving for the synthesis of monumental and applied art was manifested.

The world music community highly appreciated such outstanding Bulgarian opera singers as Boris Hristov, Nikolay Giaurov and Raina Kabaivanska. Bulgaria has excellent conductors (Konstantin Iliev, Dobrin Petkov) and musicians (Stoyka Milanova, Mincho Minchev, etc.), 10 symphony orchestras, 8 opera houses and numerous singing and dancing groups work. Bulgarian choral music enjoys well-deserved recognition.

Museums and Libraries.

In Bulgaria approx. 300 museums, including art, history, ethnographic, natural science, memorial houses of national heroes, writers and other prominent figures. The State Library of Cyril and Methodius in Sofia is the largest in the country. The state archive operates under her. "Chitalisha" - a specific form of the cultural center of the community - arose in the 19th century. during the period of national revival. In the 1980s, they united a library, a club, lecture groups, circles, and a cinema hall.

Mass media.

After the change in the political regime, independent and opposition media emerged in the country. In 1992, 46 newspapers were published daily, including 19 central ones. The largest of them are 24 Hours, the organ of the BSP Duma (until 1990 it was called Rabotnichesko Delo, was the organ of the Communist Party and had the largest circulation), Democracy (reflects the position of the Union of Democratic Forces), Standard.

In the early 1970s, the state television channel was supplemented by a regional television network. In addition to the central Sofia television, there are local television centers in Varna, Plovdiv and Blagoevgrad. The largest news agencies are the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) and Sofia Press.

Sport

in Bulgaria is very popular. The country has produced many Olympic and world champions in weightlifting, athletics, wrestling, gymnastics and swimming. Sports, tourism and fishing are the main types of recreation and entertainment.

Traditions and Holidays

Bulgarian people include ancient national, religious and family celebrations, as well as new customs introduced during the years of the communist regime. Ancient folk traditions are manifested in clothing, jewelry, dances, songs and magical rituals that accompany wedding ceremonies, dances on burning coals (nestinari), ritual performances on Shrovetide (kuker games) and rainmaking dance (german). Since 1971, every two years international contests of humor and satire have been held in Gabrovo. Christian holidays - Easter and Christmas - were ignored by the communist authorities, they began to be celebrated again since 1990. The official holidays are New Year, National Liberation Day (March 3), International Labor Day (May 1) and the Day of Slavic Written Language and Bulgarian Culture, dedicated to the enlighteners Kirill and Methodius (May 24). Since 1998, the Independence Day has been celebrated (September 21-22).

STORY

Bulgars (as they were called by Byzantine historians), or Proto-Bulgarians, are a people of Turkic origin who lived in the 5th century. in the steppes of South-Eastern Europe, in particular along the northern coast of the Black Sea and in the Crimea. Among them, two ethnic subgroups stood out - Kutrigurs and Utigurs. Gradually the Bulgars advanced to the Danube and Byzantium. The Byzantine emperors recruited them to fight the Goths who were trying to conquer the Balkans. In 551, the Kutrigurs invaded Thrace and reached the Aegean in the south and the Adriatic in the west, threatening the Byzantine Empire. At the same time, the eastern branch of the Bulgars - the Utigurs, with the support of Byzantium, created a free tribal confederation, which was used by Constantinople as a buffer against the Turkic peoples. In the 7th century. the Khazars drove the Bulgars back to the territory of modern Bessarabia and Dobrudja, from where they made frequent raids on Byzantium.

First Bulgarian kingdom.

In 679, the warlike Utigur tribes crossed the Danube and founded their own state on the lands reclaimed from Byzantium - the so-called. First Bulgarian kingdom. Its borders, stretching from the Lower Danube to the Balkan Mountains, were drawn in accordance with an agreement concluded in 681 between the Bulgarian Khan Asparuh (680-700) and the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV. His successor Justinian II (685–695 and 705–711) again tried to impose Byzantine rule on the Bulgarians, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

The military failure of Justinian II caused discontent in Constantinople, he was imprisoned, but soon he fled. With the help of the "Bulgarian and Slavic" forces in the person of Asparukh's successor, Tervel (700-721), Justinian defeated his enemies and returned the imperial throne. As a token of gratitude, he granted Tervel a number of territories and began to refer to him as “Caesar” (king), thereby recognizing the independent status of the Bulgarian state. Subsequently, Byzantium resumed attempts to subdue the Bulgarians, but Tervel emerged victorious from this struggle, and in 716 a peace treaty was concluded, which confirmed the independence of the Bulgarian state.

In the 9th century. Bulgarians subdued the numerically superior local Slavic population and gradually adopted the Slavic language and culture. As a result of the mixing of both elements, a new ethnic community was formed, for which the name Bulgarians was entrenched. The process of ethnogenesis was finally completed only in the 10th century. Having become a Slavic ethnic group, the Bulgarians inherited a rural community from the Slavs, and a military organization from the Turko-Tatars. In Bulgarian society, the military nobility dominated, divided into higher (boils, bolars) and lower (bagains).

In the 7-8 centuries. Bulgars waged constant wars against various Slavic tribes and Byzantium. Many Slavic tribes were forced to migrate to Asia Minor. Trying to strengthen their borders, the rulers of Byzantium settled large groups of Armenians and Syrians in the Balkans.

During the reign of Krum (803–814), state power in Bulgaria was strengthened, and its army turned into a serious threat to the independence of Byzantium. In 809, the troops of Krum captured Sofia, in 811 the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I (802–811) was killed, and in 813 the city of Adrianople (modern Edirne) was taken. In the west, Krum extended his rule to the territory that later became known as Banat. Thus, the Bulgarian kingdom began to border on the Frankish state. Krum's successor, Omurtag (814–831), conquered the Slavic tribes of the Timochans and Branichevites, expanded the borders of his state to Srem and captured the cities of Sirmium and Singidunum (the latter received the Slavic name of Belgrade). These territories were held by the Bulgarians until 1018. Omurtag's son Malamir (831–836) strengthened the expanded state and became a conductor of Christianity.

In 865, Tsar Boris I (852–889) converted to Christianity in order to increase the international prestige of the Bulgarian state. First, Boris appealed to the Pope to recognize the independence of the Bulgarian Patriarchate and transfer the highest spiritual posts to the Bulgarians. However, in 870 the independence of the Bulgarian Church was recognized by the Byzantine emperor, which strengthened cooperation between the church hierarchs of Byzantium and Bulgaria. The positions of Christianity were especially strengthened after the arrival in Bulgaria of Clement and Naum, students of the Slavic enlighteners Cyril and Methodius, who translated the main parts of the text of the Bible and Byzantine religious works into the Old Bulgarian language and laid the foundations of Slavic literature. Boris's son Vladimir (889–893) tried unsuccessfully to ban Christianity. Then Boris left the monastery, in which he wanted to spend the rest of his life, deprived Vladimir of the throne and elevated to him another son - Simeon.

Simeon (893-927), educated in Constantinople, is considered the greatest of the Bulgarian rulers. All his life he strove to conquer Constantinople and fought with the Byzantine troops in 894, 896, 904, 913 and 920-924. As a result, he managed to expand the territory of the Bulgarian kingdom from the Adriatic Sea in the west to the Black Sea in the east. Simeon created a Serb state dependent on him between the rivers Lim and Ibar, which separated from Bulgaria a few years after his death. In 895, the Byzantine authorities entered into an alliance with the Hungarians, trying to weaken the growing power of the Bulgarian state. In 927 Simeon declared himself “the king of the Bulgarians and the Greeks” and raised the Bulgarian archbishopric to the level of patriarchy. During his reign, Sofia turned into a major center of education and the cradle of Slavic literature. Under Simeon, many Byzantine books on law and theology were translated into the Old Bulgarian language, and the first set of Slavic judicial laws was compiled.

Boris II (970-972) became Peter's successor. In the first year of his reign, Svyatoslav again invaded Bulgaria. This forced the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes to take care of protecting his country. In 972, he attacked the army of Svyatoslav and won a victory, which opened the way for Byzantium to penetrate into Bulgaria. John Tzimiskes declared Bulgaria a Byzantine province, abolished the Bulgarian patriarchy and placed Byzantine garrisons throughout the country.

Byzantium managed to gain a foothold only in the eastern part of Bulgaria. The western regions (the Western Bulgarian kingdom), with the capital first in Sofia, then in Ohrid, continued to be an independent state headed by Tsar Roman and with its own patriarchy. Samuel (997-1014), a nobleman from the Shishman clan, strengthened this state and actually became its ruler. In 1014, Samuil's troops were defeated in the battle at Belasitsa by the army of Emperor Vasily II, who was nicknamed the Bulgar fighter. By order of the emperor, 15 thousand people were captured. 99 out of 100 prisoners were blinded. In 1021, the Byzantine army captured Srem, the last stronghold of the independence of the Bulgarians.

In the 11-12 centuries. Bulgaria was ruled by the plenipotentiary governor of the Byzantine emperor, who, however, interfered little in local affairs. However, when Byzantine feudal relations began to spread to the territory of Bulgaria, and its northern borders were open to invasions, the situation of the Bulgarian people deteriorated to such an extent that mass uprisings arose twice.

Second Bulgarian kingdom

was founded in the 12th century. two brothers - Peter I and Asen I, Bulgarian nobles (painters). At the end of the 12th century. the combined Hungarian, Serbian and Norman troops attacked Byzantium and captured Sofia. This forced the northern Bulgarians to oppose the Byzantine yoke. In 1186, with the support of the Vlachs and Cumans, the Bulgarians managed to liberate the country. In 1187 the Byzantine Empire was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Bulgaria and recognize its independence. Assen I was crowned in Tarnovo as “the king of the Bulgarians and Vlachs”. Peter ruled the eastern provinces with the capital in Preslav, and in 1197 he was killed by disgruntled nobles. Assen died in 1195. Their younger brother Kaloyan, having become king of Bulgaria (1197–1207), successfully fought the Hungarians and established relations with Rome. Then Boril (1207-1218) and Ivan Asen II (1218-1241) ruled the country.

Under Ivan Assen II, the position of Bulgaria improved significantly. The tsar had to share power with the nobles and monasteries, whose lands were cultivated by free or dependent peasants. Trade developed in the country, trade relations were also established with Venice and Genoa. Ivan Asen II patronized art, architecture and literature. After the Bulgarians defeated the army of Theodore Angelus, ruler of the Epirus state with the capital in Thessaloniki in 1230, the borders of Bulgaria began to stretch from modern Belgrade to the Epirus region (in the west of modern Greece) and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. Macedonia and most of Albania have now been added to the original territory of the Bulgarian state. After the defeat, the influence of Theodore Comnenus Angel in Serbia weakened, and his nephew Radoslav was forced to transfer the royal rights in Serbia to Vladislav, the son-in-law of Ivan Assen II. The latter unsuccessfully tried to organize a coalition of the Balkan Slavs against Byzantium. Ivan Asen II died during the invasion of the Balkans by the Mongol Tatars, who imposed tribute on the Bulgarians in favor of their khan.

The successors of Ivan Assen II were unable to preserve the integrity of the state and curb the feudal lords who were entrenched in some provinces. Michael I Asen (1246-1256) ceded Macedonia to Byzantium. In 1256 he attacked Serbia, and his troops penetrated westward as far as the Lim River, but this territory was not annexed to the Bulgarian state. Michael was treacherously killed by his cousin Kaliman II (1256-1257). The collapse of Bulgaria continued. Mongol-Tatars, Greeks and Hungarians tried to bring their henchmen to power in the country. Neither Ivaylo (1277-1279), nor Ivan Asen III (1279-1280) could prevent the decline of the state. In 1280 Kuman George I Terter (1280–1292) became the supreme ruler of the country. He made several campaigns against the Mongol-Tatars and established friendly relations with the Serbian king Milutin. In 1292, the nobility forced Terter to flee to Byzantium, where he was imprisoned. Meanwhile, a struggle for power between the opposing forces unfolded in Bulgaria. At this time, the Serbian king Milutin seized control of Branichevo and the possession of the ruler of the Vidin principality Shishman.

Terter's son Svyatoslav (1300-1321) managed to improve the situation in the country and expel the remnants of the Mongol-Tatar troops. His son George II (1321–1322) did not leave behind an heir; after his death, Michael III (1323–1330), the son of Shishman and son-in-law of the Serbian king Milutin, became the new ruler. With the support of Byzantium, Bulgaria attacked Serbia, but in 1330 the Bulgarian army was defeated at Velbuzhd, and Mikhail III was killed. Since then, the Serbian influence in the ruling circles of Bulgaria has increased, and Macedonia has come under the control of Serbia. After Michael III, his wife Neda did not rule over Bulgaria for long, but in 1331 Ivan Alexander (1331-1371) seized power, maintaining close ties with Serbia. His sister Elena married Dusan, the powerful ruler of Serbia. During the reign of Ivan Alexander, Turkish troops repeatedly invaded Bulgaria. Ivan Alexander divided Bulgaria into two kingdoms ruled by his sons: Ivan Sratsimir (1365-1396) - Vidinsky (north-western Bulgaria) and Ivan Shishman III (1371-1393) - Tarnovsky (central Bulgaria). North-eastern Bulgaria (Dobrotitsa, present-day Dobrudzha) became an independent state. While the possessions of Ivan Sratsimir were constantly attacked by the Hungarians, Ivan Shishman was forced to fight the penetration of the Turks into the Balkans. The weakening of the Bulgarian state was facilitated by frequent internecine wars and the wide spread of various religious movements and sects. An outstanding figure in the Bulgarian culture of the 14th century. was Theodosius Tyrnovsky, who preached the foundations of Orthodoxy.

Turkish domination.

In 1393 Turkish troops entered Tarnovo, the capital of Bulgaria. Tsar Ivan Shishman was captured in Philippopolis (present-day Plovdiv) and executed there in 1395. In 1394 the Turks occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria, and in 1396 - the Vidin kingdom. Thus ended the 210-year history of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Many Bulgarians fled to the Russian principalities, Romania and Serbia. Some of them, such as Konstantin the Philosopher (Konstantin Kostenechsky) and Grigory Tsamblak in Serbia, became famous enlighteners. During the 15th century. Turkish-Hungarian wars often took place on Bulgarian territory, which was accompanied by heavy losses among the local population and the complete ruin of the country.

After the Turkish Sultan officially recognized the Patriarch of Constantinople as the only spiritual representative of all Christians in his empire, the Bulgarian Church completely submitted to the Greek. Greek priests occupied all the highest church posts and began to implement the program of the Hellenization of the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian clergy was deprived of parishes, services began to be conducted according to the canons of the Greek Church; monasteries and schools became centers of Greek education; libraries were plundered, in which Bulgarian books were kept, including the library of the Tarnovo Patriarchate and the Cathedral; it was forbidden to use Cyrillic and Bulgarian. Instead, the Greek language was officially introduced. Only the monks of the Athonite monastery conducted divine services in Bulgarian.

In 1762, one of the Athos monks, Father Paisius of Hilendarsky, wrote Slavic-Bulgarian history about the people and the kings- the first work of Bulgarian literature, which laid the foundation for the cultural and spiritual revival of the country. At the beginning of the 19th century. Sofroniy Vrachansky prepared several works on the situation in Bulgaria; these were the first books printed in Bulgarian.

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1828, the Bulgarian national liberation movement was born. The movement was led by church leaders and educated people with the support of wealthy peasants (chorbadzhiev), merchants and artisans (esnafi). Significant assistance from abroad was provided by Bulgarian emigrants who lived in Russia and Western countries. The Turkish authorities were forced to allow the opening of Bulgarian schools (1835); the number of primary schools reached 21 by 1845 (2 in cities and 19 in villages). In the end, the Turkish authorities had to recognize the independence of the Bulgarian Church (1870). The Bulgarian exarchate, declared schismatic by the Greek patriarch (1872), extended its influence not only to the territory of Bulgaria proper, but also to most of Macedonia. The borders of the exarchate served as the basis for defining the borders of Bulgaria after its liberation from the Turkish yoke.

Despite the fact that popular uprisings were ruthlessly suppressed, detachments of partisans (hayduks) operated throughout the country, who took revenge on the Turks. In the 1820s, the Bulgarians helped the Greeks in the struggle for independence from Turkish rule. In 1869 the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee in exile was created, whose influence soon spread throughout the country.

Struggle for liberation and independence.

In 1876, a massive (the so-called April) uprising against the Turks broke out in Bulgaria. Poorly armed and poorly organized, it was brutally suppressed. Representatives of the great powers, gathered at a conference in Constantinople, demanded that the Turkish Sultan grant Bulgaria self-government and guarantee civil rights to the population of this country. The Sultan refused to comply with these demands. Russia, which has always been considered the main enemy of the Ottoman Empire, invaded the Balkans and defeated the Turkish army. Bulgaria was liberated from the centuries-old Turkish yoke.

On March 3, 1878, Turkey had to sign the San Stefano Peace Treaty, according to which Bulgaria was declared an autonomous principality. It also included most of Macedonia and Thrace. The European powers, fearing the spread of Russian influence in the Balkans, convened the Berlin Congress, at which the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano were revised, and on July 13, 1878, the Berlin Treaty was adopted. According to this document, Northern Bulgaria (from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains) was declared an autonomous state, while Southern Bulgaria (Eastern Rumelia) remained under the rule of the Turkish Sultan, having received administrative autonomy.

In Tarnovo, on February 22, 1879, the Constituent Assembly was convened, which adopted one of the most advanced constitutions of that time. On April 29, 1879, the assembly elected to the Bulgarian throne Prince Alexander Battenberg (1879–1886), the son of the ruler of the Hesse-Darmstadt principality. At first, he continued to pursue a conservative policy and, with Russian support, suspended the constitution (1881–1883), but later restored constitutional rule and tried to resist Russian influence.

On September 18, 1885 Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia were united, and two months later Serbia declared war on Bulgaria. On October 18-19, the Serbian army was defeated at the Battle of Slivnitsa, and on March 3, 1886, with the direct intervention of Russia and Austria-Hungary, the Bucharest Peace Treaty was concluded. On September 7, 1886, Prince Alexander, who changed his political course and went over to the side of the liberals, was forced to abdicate under pressure from Russia. After lengthy negotiations with the Austrian protege, Prince Ferdinand Coburg (1887-1918), he was elected prince of Bulgaria, but Russia refused to recognize him for a long time. At the very beginning of the reign of Ferdinand I, the foreign and domestic policy of Bulgaria was in the hands of Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov, who preferred a course of cooperation with the Western powers and a reserved attitude towards Turkey, rather than an alliance with Russia. However, Stambolov's firm domestic policies met with growing resistance, which led to the resignation and assassination of the prime minister. Ferdinand himself had to go to reconciliation with Russia (1896).

In 1908, after Austria-Hungary captured Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria declared complete independence from Turkey, and Ferdinand became king.

The weakening of the power of the Turks in the Balkans and the desire to free the "enslaved brothers" prompted Bulgaria and Serbia (later Greece and Montenegro joined them) to create a formal Balkan Union (1912) with the aim of dividing the European part of Turkey. Bulgaria sought to take over most of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Taking advantage of the internal crisis in Turkey and its defeat in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911-1912, members of the Balkan Union attacked Turkey in October 1912. Turkish troops were soon defeated, and under the London Peace Treaty, Turkey was forced to cede territory west of the Enez-Midier line. Meanwhile, the Balkan states could not agree among themselves on the redistribution of the territories seized from Turkey, Serbia and Greece refused to withdraw their troops from Macedonia. On the night of June 29-30, 1913, the Bulgarian army suddenly attacked the Serbian and Greek garrisons in Macedonia. Turkey and Romania, meanwhile, united in an anti-Bulgarian coalition, defeated the Bulgarian army, and Bulgaria, as a result, lost significant territories. According to the Bucharest Peace Treaty of August 10, 1913, almost all of Macedonia was divided between Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobrudja was transferred to Romania. Serbia also annexed the regions adjacent to Bosilegrad and Caribrod. According to the Constantinople Peace Treaty of September 29, 1913, the city of Adrianople with the surrounding territory was returned to Turkey.

Thus, in the Balkan Wars, Bulgaria suffered considerable territorial losses. During the First World War, both the Entente and the Central Powers tried to win Bulgaria over to their side, but for a year she could not decide who to give preference to. In September 1915, the more attractive conditions of the Central Powers persuaded the cabinet of Vasil Radoslavov to conclude an alliance with them. On October 15, 1915, the Bulgarian army, as an ally of the Central Powers, attacked Serbia. Despite a number of decisive victories over the Serbian and united Romanian-Russian troops, the balance of forces on the fronts changed in favor of the Allies, and on September 29, 1918 Bulgaria was forced to sign an armistice with the Entente.

Interwar period.

Bulgaria's withdrawal from the First World War opened a new era in the history of the country. Exhausted by three costly wars and demoralized by two military defeats in five years, the people turned their backs on the bourgeois parties that had determined the country's policy since 1878. These parties fought for the creation of Greater Bulgaria, seeking to restore the borders temporarily outlined in 1878. Soldiers and peasants in military uniform, those who returned from the war tried to create the Radomir Republic and seize Sofia, but their performance was suppressed. On October 3, 1918, Tsar Ferdinand was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Boris, and Alexander Stamboliysky, whom Ferdinand imprisoned in 1915, led a mass peasant movement. The parliamentary elections brought the BZNS Stamboliyskiy and the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (narrows) a majority of votes, and Stamboliyskiy himself became the country's prime minister. He signed an agreement with the Entente, according to which Bulgaria lost Western Thrace, i.e. access to the Aegean Sea. The Entente transferred this territory to Greece. At the same time, Bulgaria ceded a number of western border regions to Yugoslavia. In addition, Bulgaria had to pay an astronomical amount of reparations and reduce the number of armed forces to 33 thousand people.

The policy of compliance with the terms of the treaty with the Entente, the restoration of relations with Yugoslavia and other neighboring countries, participation in the Balkan Union, orientation towards the countries of the West and the League of Nations, satisfaction of the demands of the peasants at the expense of the bourgeoisie, preference for a republican form of government added to Stamboliyskiy a lot of enemies. Among them, the most numerous were refugees from the regions that seceded from Bulgaria after 1913. There were a total of up to half a million of such people, and they turned out to be a heavy burden for a poor agrarian country with a population of 6 million. Refugees strongly demanded policies that would facilitate the return of their land and homes, as well as family reunification. In June 1923, the Stamboliyskiy government, after several days of bloody struggle, was overthrown by supporters of the return of the lost Macedonian lands - the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) and the Union of Officers, Monarchists and Nationalists. Stamboliysky himself was brutally killed. In September 1923, a communist uprising broke out, seeking to create a united front with the BZNS. It was suppressed and the Communist Party was outlawed.

From 1923 to 1931 the governments of Bulgaria were formed by the union of the bourgeois parties "Democratic Collusion" headed by Alexander Tsankov until 1926, and then with the Macedonian Andrei Lyapchev. The armed forces of the VMRO ruled in a country torn apart by political divisions. In VMRO itself, there were also deep contradictions, sometimes reaching the level of bloodshed. The leader of this organization, Todor Aleksandrov, was killed for his anti-communist policy. VMRO split into a moderate wing headed by Alexander Protogerov, who supported the Balkan Union, which opened the way to solving the Macedonian problem, and an extremist wing headed by Ivan Mikhailov, who, along with Bulgarian nationalists and monarchists, defended the old idea of ​​Great Bulgaria. After the assassination of Protogerov in 1928, Mikhailov's position in the VMRO was strengthened, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Hundreds of members of this organization were destroyed using gangster methods, and the organization itself finally disintegrated; in 1934 the government outlawed it. VMRO leader Mikhailov fled abroad.

Bulgaria's relations with Yugoslavia and Greece became more and more tense, as VMRO agents were thrown into these countries from bases located in the Pirin mountains. During one of the frequent border incidents in October 1925, large Greek troops advanced into Pirin, and the threat of war with Greece arose. Bulgaria raised the issue of the violation of the border before the League of Nations, which forced Greece to withdraw its troops and compensate Bulgaria for the damage caused. In 1926 and 1928, the League of Nations provided Bulgaria with funds to help refugees and earthquake victims, as well as to stabilize public finances.

In 1931, Lyapchev's government held relatively free parliamentary elections. The winning coalition of the People's Bloc consisted of representatives of the Democratic, National Liberal, Radical parties, as well as BZNS - "Vrabcha-1" and BZNS - "Stara Zagora". The government, headed first by Alexander Malinov and then by Nikolai Mushanov, tried, largely unsuccessfully, to cope with the deepening economic downturn. This trend has been outlined since the time of the severe military defeats of 1913 and 1918. Backward agriculture, on which more than 80% of the country's population directly depended, was characterized by extremely fragmented land tenure and a significant surplus of labor. In the absence of rich natural resources, industry remained underdeveloped. The chronic internal depression was exacerbated by the world economic crisis of 1929. About 90% of the country's exports were agricultural products; therefore, the loss of foreign markets led to a halving of prices and agricultural production declined. Rural and urban unemployment increased, and the country's debts rose sharply.

In foreign policy, the new government of Bulgaria returned to the course of rapprochement with Yugoslavia and a gradual revision of relations with Romania and Greece. This facilitated Bulgaria's participation in the Balkan Conferences of 1931-1933, and in December 1933 Tsar Boris and Prime Minister Nikola Mushanov paid a state visit to Yugoslavia. With the coming of Hitler to power in Germany, the threat of fascism loomed over the countries of southeastern Europe. In February 1934, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia formed an alliance known as the Balkan Entente, which guaranteed the inviolability of their borders.

The economic crisis, the shortsightedness of politicians, social antagonisms and the isolation of Bulgaria all underlined the need for decisive reforms. The discussions were organized by the Zveno political circle. On May 19, 1934, "Link" under the leadership of Kimon Georgiev and the Secret Military Union led by Damian Velchev carried out a coup d'etat and overthrew the Mushanov government. An authoritarian regime was established in the country. The National Assembly was disbanded, political parties were banned, strict censorship was introduced, and a large-scale program to overcome the economic crisis was outlined. The May 19 government sought to normalize relations with Yugoslavia, adhered to an orientation toward France and Great Britain, and established diplomatic relations with the USSR.

Government leaders realized that a monarchy with ties to Germany and Italy (in 1930 Tsar Boris married the daughter of the Italian king) could harm the country, and wanted to establish republican rule. However, in 1935 Tsar Boris succeeded in removing the government from power and introducing a personal authoritarian regime with the support of compliant prime ministers. These were successively General Pencho Zlatev, Andrey Toshev, diplomat Georgy Kyoseivanov and professor of archeology Bogdan Filov. The tsar continued the policy of rapprochement with Yugoslavia and in 1937 signed a treaty of "eternal friendship" with it. At the same time, ties with Germany and Italy were strengthened. The expansion of German-Bulgarian trade increased Bulgaria's dependence on Germany. In March 1938, Tsar Boris concluded the first secret agreement with Germany on loans for the supply of weapons, and in July 1938 in Thessaloniki the Balkan Entente was faced with the fact of rearmament of the Bulgarian army.

Tsar Boris wanted to enlist the internal support of his regime and in 1938 decided to hold parliamentary elections. However, since political parties remained banned, candidates could only come up with individual programs. About a third of the 160 elected deputies identified themselves with former parties that were in opposition to the tsar's policies. The opposition was weakened by the expulsion of MPs from the BZNS and the Communist Party from parliament, and in the more carefully rigged elections of 1940, only a few opposition representatives got into parliament.

After the Munich Conference in September 1938, which contributed to the revision of political boundaries in Eastern Europe, Tsar Boris turned to Hitler for help in returning Southern Dobrudja, captured by Romania in 1913. But Hitler, mindful of the need to maintain peace in the Balkans - a vital source of economic resources for Germany, refused this request. When World War II broke out in 1939, Bulgaria formally declared neutrality, but nevertheless, its ties with Germany and Italy were constantly strengthening. After Romania, with the approval of Germany, ceded Bessarabia to the USSR, Hitler in September 1940 achieved the return of Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria; this action was supported by the USSR and Great Britain. In Bulgaria itself, official propaganda interpreted this act as a merit of Hitler and Mussolini. The USSR tried to flirt with Bulgaria, offering to conclude a pact of mutual assistance and support territorial claims to Greece and Turkey, but Tsar Boris long ago made his choice and rejected Soviet proposals. On March 1, 1941, Bulgaria officially joined the Rome-Berlin axis, and large German military formations, concentrated on the territory of Romania for an attack on Greece (Operation Marita), entered the territory of Bulgaria.

The Second World War.

Operation "Marita" was also deployed on the territory of Yugoslavia and Greece. After the German army conquered these countries in April 1941, Bulgaria, in accordance with previous agreements, was allowed to introduce its troops and administration into Greek Western Thrace and Yugoslavian Vardar Macedonia. Bulgarian propaganda presented Boris as the unifying tsar, but the territorial gains had dire consequences. After the rapid withdrawal of a significant contingent of German troops from there for military operations against the USSR, a powerful Resistance movement developed in Yugoslavia and Greece, and the Bulgarian army had to fight the partisans.

After the attack on the USSR in June 1941, Hitler repeatedly demanded that Tsar Boris send Bulgarian troops to the Eastern Front. However, fearing the growth of pro-Russian sentiments, the tsar avoided fulfilling this requirement and Bulgaria actually did not participate in the war of Germany against the USSR. When in December 1941 Japan unleashed a war with the United States, Tsar Boris, out of a sense of solidarity, yielded to the German demands, and on December 13, 1941 Bulgaria declared war on the United States and Great Britain. Tsar Boris placed the country's economic resources at the disposal of the Germans and introduced discriminatory measures against the small Jewish population of Bulgaria, including the eviction of Jews from the big cities. However, he reckoned with public opinion against the extradition of Jews to the Germans, and not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported.

When Germany began to suffer military defeats, Tsar Boris tried to break off the alliance with Germany, but on August 28, 1943, after visiting Hitler's headquarters, he died suddenly. The Regency Council, which consisted of Boris's brother Prince Kirill, Prime Minister Filov and General Nikola Mikhov, with the approval of the Germans, took control of the country, ruling on behalf of Boris’s son Simeon, who was then 6 years old. Filov and the new Prime Minister Dobri Bozhilov began to clearly follow the pro-German course, pursuing a policy of "loyalty" towards Germany at any cost.

Soviet calls for help forced the Bulgarian communists to begin sabotage and partisan warfare in the German rear, and gradually a resistance movement grew in Bulgaria. It was led by the communists, but also included representatives of other parties - the left wing of the agrarians, socialists, "Link", the Union of Officers and other opponents of the alliance with Germany. In 1942, at the initiative of the Bulgarian communist leader Georgiy Dimitrov, these political groups formed the Fatherland Front coalition. The victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad and its advance to the west contributed significantly to the development of the Resistance movement in Bulgaria. In 1943 the Bulgarian Workers' Party (BRP) created a united People's Liberation Insurrectionary Army. In September 1944, when the Red Army reached the borders of Bulgaria, approx. 30 thousand partisans.

The deteriorating martial law and the bombing of Sofia by the allies forced Bozhilov to resign, and on June 1, 1944, a cabinet was formed headed by a representative of the right wing of the agrarians, Ivan Bagryanov. The new government tried to pacify the USSR and internal opposition, as well as reach an armistice with the United States and Great Britain. On August 26, it announced the complete neutrality of Bulgaria and demanded the withdrawal of German troops from the country. Faced with an unfriendly attitude from the USSR and not having achieved positive results in the negotiations on the armistice, the Bagryanov government resigned. The new government, which consisted of agrarians, democrats and representatives of other parties and headed by the agrarians Konstantin Muraviev, came to power on September 2. In an effort to gain full control over Bulgaria, the Soviet government declared war on it on September 5. The Red Army occupied the country, on September 8-9, the communists and their sympathizers staged a coup d'etat and formed the government of the Fatherland Front headed by Kimon Georgiev, and on October 28, 1944, an armistice was signed in Moscow.

Communist regime.

The communist movement in Bulgaria emerged in the 1880s. The first leader of this movement was Dimitar Blagoev (1856–1924), who became interested in Marxism while a student at St. Petersburg University. In 1883 he organized the first Marxist circle in Russia, and in 1885 he was expelled from Russia and returned to Bulgaria. In 1891 Blagoev and other socialists created the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party. The differences between revolutionaries and reformists eventually led to a split in this party. In 1903, Blagoev and his supporters formed the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party, known as the Narrow Party of Narrow Socialists, which became the most influential Marxist revolutionary party in the Balkans and a staunch ally of the Russian Bolsheviks. Always a reliable pillar of the left wing of the Second International, in 1919 she became a founding member of the Third (Communist) International and was named the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP).

After the First World War, this party was led by Vasil Kolarov (1877-1950) and Georgy Dimitrov (1882-1949). In 1922-1924 Kolarov was the general secretary of the Comintern, and after the unsuccessful rebellion of the Bulgarian communists in September 1923, he, Dimitrov and other communist leaders left for the USSR, where they established the foreign bureau of the BKP. Thinned as a result of the rebellion and outlawed in 1924, the BKP went through a period of struggle between the overseas bureau and the so-called. "Leftist sectarians" in Bulgaria itself; the number of its members decreased from 38 thousand (1922) to 3 thousand. After Dimitrov was elected general secretary of the Comintern in 1935, the foreign bureau of the BKP won this struggle, and the triumvirate headed by Traicho Kostov (1897-1949) returned to Bulgaria, in order to cleanse the ranks of the BKP from the left sectarians and create a party of the "Bolshevik type". Thus, when the communists came to power in 1944, Dimitrov and Kolarov in Moscow and Kostov in Bulgaria became their generally recognized leaders. In September 1944 the party was renamed the Bulgarian Workers' Party (communists) - BRP (k).

The communists occupied key posts of the ministers of the interior and justice in the government of the Fatherland Front and drove out all their opponents from there. A “people's militia” was organized under the leadership of the Minister of the Interior, and partisan leader Todor Zhivkov organized mass raids that ended in lawsuits; they were held by special "people's tribunals" over the country's top wartime officials (regents; members of the cabinets that existed before September 9, 1944; deputies of the wartime People's Assembly, elected in 1940) and many others. According to official figures, in 1945 more than 2,800 people were executed and 7,000 people were imprisoned. Although the Bulgarian army initially remained under the leadership of Minister of War Damian Velchev, the BRP (k) introduced communists, former commanders of partisan detachments, into army units as political commissars. Key positions in the army were received by persons who served in the Red Army or fought in international brigades in Spain in 1936-1939 (about 400 Bulgarian communists and fighters sympathizing with them fought in these brigades). The Bulgarian army, subordinate to the Soviet command, took part in operations against the retreating German troops in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria.

The tough course of the BRP (k) in the struggle for power destroyed the coalition of the Fatherland Front. The first sign of the conflict was the resignation of the leader of the BZNS G.M. Dimitrov, who emigrated to the United States. In 1945-1946, the split within the Fatherland Front deepened, and the leader of the BZNS Nikola Petkov led the "tolerant" opposition, which included socialists and representatives of other parties. Both the government and the opposition intended to abolish the monarchy and create a republic. After a referendum on September 15, 1946, Bulgaria was proclaimed the "People's Republic". In the October 27 elections to the Great People's Assembly, which was supposed to draft a new constitution, the opposition gained approx. 30% of the vote and received 99 out of 465 seats. BRP (k) received 277 seats. The government, completely under her control, was formed by Georgy Dimitrov, who returned from the USSR in November 1945.

The communists of the Balkan countries decided to create a Balkan federation of communist countries in order to resolve all Balkan problems, including the Macedonian one, while Bulgaria and Yugoslavia studied ways to create a Bulgarian-Yugoslav core, to which other Balkan countries were to join. However, Bulgaria's insistent demand for parity with Yugoslavia, as well as the Yugoslav proposal for Bulgaria's joining the Yugoslav Federation as a seventh member, led in 1944-1945 to disruption of the negotiation process. Negotiations resumed in August 1947. An agreement was signed to begin the process of unification - the creation of a customs union, the lifting of border restrictions and the promotion of cultural ties between Bulgarian Macedonia and the Macedonian Republic of Yugoslavia.

The peace treaty, which entered into force on October 2, 1947, recognized the borders as of January 1, 1941, i.e. secured the annexation of Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria, but rejected its claims to the Greek and Yugoslav territories, as well as the claims of Greece to the Bulgarian lands. According to the agreement, Bulgaria had to pay reparations in the amount of 45 million dollars in favor of Greece and 25 million dollars - in favor of Yugoslavia.

After the elections and the signing of the peace treaty, Dimitrov considered it possible to start liquidating the opposition. Opposition leader Nikola Petkov was arrested and executed on September 23, 1947, despite protests from Western countries. Other opposition leaders were thrown into prisons, and all parties, with the exception of the BZNS part that wished to cooperate with the communists, were disbanded or included in the BRP (k). After the liquidation of the opposition, the Great People's Assembly on December 4, 1947 adopted the so-called. Dimitrov's constitution, and Bulgaria was reorganized along the Soviet model.

The enmity that arose in 1948 between JV Stalin and JB Tito had far-reaching consequences. Dimitrov sided with Stalin, which led to a deterioration in Bulgarian-Yugoslav relations. The course towards the unification of Macedonia was suspended, and Bulgaria became one of the most energetic participants in Stalin's anti-political campaign. In Bulgaria itself, repressions against the Macedonians and supporters of an alliance with Yugoslavia, Protestant and Catholic communities and schools, as well as everyone who had contacts with Western countries, intensified. Trials were organized against Protestant priests who were convicted of spying for the United States and imprisoned; relations with the Vatican were severed, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was forced to remove the Patriarchal Exarch Stephen from his post.

The death of Dimitrov in 1949, in the midst of the conflict between Stalin and Tito, provoked a crisis in the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP - this was the name of the BRP (k) since December 1948). A long-brewing conflict broke out between the repatriated communists who returned from the USSR after 1944 and the "local" communists. Traycho Kostov was the main candidate to succeed Dimitrov, but he opposed the Soviet policy of economic exploitation of the country and Stalin suspected this was an actual or potential "nationalist bias". Stalin supported the candidacy of Dimitrov's son-in-law, Vylko Chervenkov, who spent most of his life in the USSR. In 1949 Chervenkov organized a trial against Kostov and his supporters, accusing them of conspiring with Tito and American diplomats to carry out a coup d'etat. Kostov was executed, Chervenkov became the head of the BKP, and in February 1950, immediately after the death of Kolarov, he also took over as prime minister.

Chervenkov acquired the reputation of the Bulgarian "little Stalin". Mass repressions against supporters of Kostov and Tito led to the expulsion of 92.5 thousand members from the party. A fierce propaganda campaign was launched to isolate Bulgaria from the "pernicious Western influence" and to fight against the "enemy encirclement." The USA and Great Britain were portrayed as imperialist aggressors, inciting Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey against Bulgaria; Yugoslavia was called a renegade of socialism; the borders with these three neighboring countries were closed. In 1950, the need to deport 250 thousand Turks from Bulgaria was announced, and in 1951-1952 approx. 160 thousand of them were resettled to Turkey. In order to strengthen elements of Bulgarian nationalism in this campaign and enlist the support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, in 1953 it was given the status of patriarchy, which it lost in the 14th century. during the seizure of the country by the Ottoman Turks.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Chervenkov's position in Bulgaria began to weaken. The harbinger of changes was his resignation from the post of head of the BKP in March 1954. Todor Zhivkov became the first secretary of the BKP Central Committee. Chervenkov discovered a complete inability to adapt to the policy of de-Stalinization pursued in the USSR by N.S. Khrushchev, and in April 1956 was removed from the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers of the NRB. The new regime tried to adapt to the changed situation in Moscow and to apply Khrushchev's ideas and policies to the Bulgarian realities. Following similar processes in the USSR, the process of liberalization began. So, in 1956 Kostov was posthumously rehabilitated.

After a period of factional struggle and purges, Zhivkov, with the support of Khrushchev, won a victory and in November 1962 became chairman of the council of ministers and first secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP. After the fall of Khrushchev in 1964, Zhivkov's internal party policy was reduced to maneuvering between the "revisionists", that is, pro-Yugoslav elements, and "dogmatists", i.e. Stalinists and pro-Chinese elements. He tried to create a broad base for his support among the party cadres and the people, calling for moderation. However, Zhivkov's policies were not flawless. In foreign policy, Bulgaria copied the USSR. Bulgaria opposed democratic reforms in Czechoslovakia and in August 1968, together with the USSR, Hungary, Poland and the GDR, participated in the entry of its territory by the troops of the Warsaw Pact.

In 1971, a new constitution was approved in a referendum. It legitimized the economic, political and ideological sovereignty of the communists. In the early 1970s, a campaign was launched against the rights of some national minorities, in particular the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims (Pomaks), Roma and Turks. This campaign received ideological support at the tenth congress of the BKP (1971) in the form of a thesis of growing social homogeneity at the stage of “developed socialist society”. In 1973-1974, the Pomaks were forced to change their Muslim surnames to Bulgarian ones. The assault on the rights of ethnic Turks led to the gradual closure of Turkish schools and mosques; the number of publications in Turkish was systematically reduced, and atheistic propaganda was directed primarily against Islam. The call for Bulgarian nationalism, which was also fueled by demographic arguments (Bulgarian families had one or two children, while Turkish and Roma families had at least three or four), manifested itself in 1981, after celebrating the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state. This campaign culminated in 1984-1985, when all Turks were forced to adopt Slavic-Bulgarian names and surnames.

After this campaign, accompanied by repression, the communist regime found itself in a period of deepening economic, political and moral crisis. The situation was aggravated by the international isolation of the country, as well as by the external debt, which in 1990 reached $ 10 billion. The reforms initiated by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev were not supported by T. Zhivkov.

Democratic rise.

In 1988-1989, a broad political discussion unfolded in Bulgaria. Among the first dissident associations, the most notable were the Committee for Environmental Protection "Ruse", the Independent Society for the Defense of Human Rights, the club in support of glasnost and perestroika "Ekoglasnost" and the trade union "Podkrepa". Ethnic Turks also actively opposed the authorities. After massive demonstrations in Turkish regions in the spring of 1989, the government opened the border with Turkey, and within two months approx. 300 thousand Turks left Bulgaria, some of them against their will.

Public discontent escalated to the limit after the arrest of 20 members of "Eco-Glasnost" in October 1989, as well as after a demonstration initiated by this organization in front of the National Assembly in early November. This action was taken by 4 thousand people, demanding to pay attention to the state of the environment. Party functionaries, sensing a threat to the existing regime, on November 10, 1989 removed Zhivkov from the posts of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP and chairman of the State Council.

After Zhivkov's resignation, the political activity of the population increased sharply. The prime minister of the communist government, Andrei Lukanov, and the chairman of the state council, Petr Mladenov, who replaced Zhivkov, took a number of steps aimed at democratizing the political system. The most important among these were the recognition of the possibility of official registration of political parties and organizations with clear anti-communist platforms; liquidation of primary organizations of BKP at enterprises; bringing Zhivkov and some prominent BKP functionaries to justice; the first steps to depoliticize the army and security forces; an exception to the Constitution of Article 1, which guaranteed the BKP a leading position in society and the state. Ethnic minorities were allowed to restore their Muslim surnames through the courts.

In April 1990 the BKP was renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). On June 10 and 17, 1990, the first elections were held to the Grand National Assembly, which was supposed to fulfill the functions of parliament and constitutional assembly. The BSP won 211 of the 400 seats and the Union of Democratic Forces (SDF) 144 seats. The remaining seats in parliament were taken by representatives of the BZNS (a former puppet of the BKP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), which represented the interests of the Turkish minority. The Grand National Assembly was empowered to adopt a new constitution. It began its work on July 10, 1990, four days after the resignation of the chairman of the State Council, Mladenov, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Zhivkov. On August 1, 1990, Zhelyu Zhelev, leader of the SDS, was elected President of Bulgaria. In November, Lukanov's government resigned in response to mass demonstrations and a four-day general strike. Independent candidate Dimitar Popov had a hard time forming a coalition government from members of the BSP and SDS.

On July 12, 1991, a new constitution was adopted. After a series of postponements, elections to the new People's Assembly of Bulgaria were held on 13 October 1991. Supporters of the SDF received 110 out of 240 seats, the BSP - 106, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - 24 seats. Philip Dimitrov, who became chairman of the SDS in December 1990, was appointed prime minister. In January 1992, Zhelyu Zhelev won the first direct presidential elections held under the new constitution.

Under the government of F. Dimitrov, the coalition of parties that were part of the SDS began to disintegrate. Although all parties opposed communism, they had different views on the pace and ultimate goals of the political and economic transition. Relations between the president and the government remained tense. In October 1992, F. Dimitrov's government lost a vote of confidence in parliament. The BSP managed to get political support from many Bulgarians who were experiencing economic and psychological discomfort. While many economic problems were rooted in the days of the Communist Party, the BSP was able to convince most of the electorate that the SDF was responsible for all the pressing problems.

On December 30, 1992, the Bulgarian National Assembly approved a government headed by Lyuben Berov, a professional economist who promised to continue the process of economic and political reforms. However, the government faced obstruction from parliament and intraparty divisions. Bulgaria suffered from a lack of rule of law, incompetent economic management and a rise in organized crime. Many former party leaders retained control of important industries.

Berov's government lasted until early 1994, when it was replaced by a provisional government. The latter, in turn, in January 1995 gave way to the BSP government headed by Zhan Videnov. The new government could not and did not want to continue the course of economic and political reforms.

Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the SDS, Ivan Kostov, began to push for radical internal reforms. The local elections held in the fall of 1996 demonstrated the concerted actions of many parties that were members of the SDS.

At the beginning of 1996, the Bulgarian economy was in a state of stagnation. The country was gripped by a banking crisis, there was a grain shortage, and miners were on strike. Against this background, the presidential candidacy of the little-known lawyer Pyotr Stoyanov, nominated by the SDS, looked strange. Despite Zhelev's insistent proposals to reconcile with the SDS, many factions still did not agree with his actions, which contributed to the suspension of the activities of the government formed in 1991-1992. Nevertheless, Zhelev managed to nominate his candidacy for the presidency from the BZNS, and later agree with the SDS, DPS and left-wing agrarians about the theoretical possibility of being elected for a second term. In the June 1996 presidential elections, P. Stoyanov won an impressive victory, receiving 65.74% of the votes.

As the presidential elections approached, signs of political confrontation between the president and parliament began to appear. Zhelev used the right of veto when considering many draft laws. The economic situation became more and more complicated. Privatization dragged on, and inflation began to rise again. There was still a shortage of grain due to the slow pace of decollectivization and due to the collusion of government officials and new businessmen.

In the presidential elections held in two rounds (October 29 and November 3, 1996), Stoyanov won a landslide victory, receiving 59.96% of the vote. The SDS leadership interpreted this victory as a national mandate (although 2 million people took part in the elections, i.e. only 60% of voters) to carry out reforms and immediately announced the need for early parliamentary elections. As winter approached, due to a shortage of food and fuel, dissatisfaction with the economic policy of the BSP government increased, which, led by its leader Zh.Videnov, was forced to resign in December. Although the BSP tried to form a new government, early parliamentary elections had to be scheduled for April 1997. At the end of December 1996, the Socialists elected a new party leader, 39-year-old Georgy Parvanov.

On April 19, 1997, in the elections to the People's Assembly (NA) of the 38th convocation, in which 3.82 million voters (about 56% of the total electorate) took part, the majority of votes were received by the United Democratic Forces (UDF) bloc, which included SDS, BZNS and Democratic Party. 52.5% of voters voted for him (UDF received 137 seats in parliament, SDS - 69). The second was the BSP, which was supported by 22.1% of the voting participants. This was followed by: Union for National Salvation - 7.5%, the Eurolevant Party - 5.6% and BBB - 5.3% of the vote. The remaining 30 political parties and movements that took part in the elections could not overcome the four percent barrier and did not make it to the National Assembly. On May 21, the National Assembly approved I. Kostov, the leader of the SDS, as the head of the new government. In order to stabilize the economy, the government immediately entered into agreements with international financial organizations.

On October 21, 1997, a law on lustration was passed, which strengthened the line on "complete decommunization of the country", previously proclaimed by the president. During its implementation approx. 50 thousand former members of the BCP were deprived of their jobs for political reasons. In this regard, the chairman of the BSP Georgy Parvanov called for the organization of an anti-communization movement, which was also supported by parties of other orientations.

Under Stoyanov and Kostov, Bulgaria took major steps towards political and economic transformation. The implementation of the privatization program proceeded at a much faster pace. The country is striving for integration with European countries. A number of agreements have been concluded with the European Union. Bulgaria is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

Bulgaria in the 21st century

However, Bulgaria is entering the 21st century with incessant economic difficulties (with relative financial stabilization), clashes within the parliament over the attitude to the military intervention of NATO countries in Yugoslavia, as well as unstable relations with Russia. In June 2001, the National Movement "Simeon II" received the largest number of votes in the parliamentary elections. This coalition, now transformed into a party, was created by the supporters of the former Tsar Simeon II, who returned to the country, Simeon of Saxe Coburgot. He does not formally claim to restore his power as king. But as the leader of the parliamentary party in July 2001 he headed the government. In January 2002, P. Stoyanov was replaced as president by the leader of the BSP G. Pyrvanov (he won the elections in November 2001). In 2006, Parvanov won the elections again - he was supported by about 80 percent of voters. Parvanov formally ran as an independent candidate, but enjoys strong support from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which he previously headed. Parvanov's rival, the leader of the Bulgarian nationalists, Volen Siderov, received about 20 percent of the vote.

A deep economic crisis continued in Bulgaria. Hopes for overcoming it were associated with the prospect of joining the European Union. In 2002 Bulgaria received an invitation to this organization, and in January 2007 it was accepted as a member of the EU. However, it must comply with a number of rather strict conditions, in particular, it will have to report every six months to Brussels on the progress in the fight against corruption; introduce transparent procedures for the allocation of millions of euros in EU aid to farms; restrictions on the export of food products of animal origin will be introduced. In addition, Sofia needs to revise its safety standards. These conditions, observers note, are tougher than those imposed on the countries that joined the European Union in 2004. On March 29, 2004 Bulgaria officially became a NATO member.

At the same time, the standard of living in Bulgaria remains low: the average salary in the country is 160 euros, which is one of the lowest rates among all EU countries.

Parliamentary elections were held on June 25, 2005. The victory was won by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Since the BSP did not receive the required number of votes to create a government, a broad coalition was created, which included, in addition to the BSP, the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and the National Movement "Simeon II". Sergei Stanishev, chairman of the BSP party, became prime minister.

On July 5, 2009, the next parliamentary elections took place. The center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) received the largest number of votes. The leader of the party was Boyko Borisov, who became the prime minister.

On October 23, 2011, the first round of the presidential elections took place. 18 candidates took part in the presidential race, but the majority of votes were received by Rosen Plevneliev (GERB party) and Ivaylo Kalfin (BSP). Although the BSP candidate won, he did not get enough votes of 51% to become president in the first round. The second round was scheduled for October 30, 2011. Rosen Plevneliev, having received 60% of the votes, became the new president.

On February 20, 2013, the government resigned as a result of mass protests and demonstrations. The protesters opposed a sharp increase in prices (almost doubled) for electricity. The President of the country appointed an interim government.

Early parliamentary elections (People's Assembly) were held on May 2, 2013 instead of the regular elections in July. The majority of votes were received by the resigned center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), which received 30.5% of the vote, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) received 26.6%, the Turkish ethnic minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms "(DPS) - 11.3%, the nationalist party -" Attack "7.3%. Despite the fact that the GERB party received the majority of votes, other parties that made it to parliament refused to join a coalition with it and form a government. As a result, the BSP received a mandate to form a government. The BSP formed a coalition with the DPS, supported by the Attack party. Plamen Oresharski, a BSP representative but non-partisan, a former finance minister, became prime minister. He formed the so-called. technocratic government.

Literature:

Valev E.B. Bulgaria. Economic and geographical characteristics. M., 1957
Gylybov J., Ivanov I., Penchev P., Mishev K., Nedelcheva V. Physical geography of Bulgaria... M., 1960
A brief history of Bulgaria from ancient times to the present day... M., 1987
Nefedova T.G., Treivish A.I. Regions of Russia and other European countries during the transition period... M., 1994
Essays on the history of culture of the Slavs... M., 1996
Socio-economic geography of the foreign world... M., 1998
History of the South and West Slavs, vols. 1-2. M., 1998

The red star is a symbol of communist power on five continents of the globe. Hammer and sickle is a symbol of the power of the Union of Workers and Peasants (from Lat. Communis- general, general) - since the 19th century. the idea of ​​a utopian society of universal equality and freedom, as well as the doctrine of such a society.

From the point of view of apologetics, communism is a socio-economic formation based on the socialization of the means of production; it is a scientific and philosophical teaching about the future of a classless society and the practice of translating this teaching into practice.
Critically, communism is the utopian ideology of a totalitarian society based on a camp economy; this is one of the extreme forms of collectivism, which leads to oppression and degradation of the social subject - the human personality.

In social relations, the communist doctrine notes the superiority of the interests of the collective over the interests of the individual, on the absolute dominant, the conquest of the human personality to the interests of the community. The alienation of private interests of man in communism begins with the abolition of private ownership of the means of production, its appropriation.
The transfer of communist ideas into the sphere of politics, the adoption of the communist doctrine - as a rule, leads to the establishment of a totalitarian type of power in the country. After the destruction of the political system of the USSR and the world socialist system at the end of the 20th century, communist state political practice was condemned in most European countries, where communist political regimes previously existed.
Various forms of communism are conditionally piddling for:

Socio-political doctrines and philosophy (cm.: Marxism)
political ideology and doctrine (cm.:"Scientific communism", "real socialism")
political movements, parties, state formations and interstate groupings (blocs) that identified themselves as "communist" (see KPSS, CPC, etc.)

History of communist ideas
Communism, as a practical doctrine and philosophy, has manifested itself at least three times in the history of Europe (not to be confused with the modern concept of "Eurocommunism"). The first expression of communism, as is often thought [A source?], Plato is not at all. Rather, it refers to medieval thought, probably the first modernization of Christian theology and politics: it is the philosophy of poverty (not to be confused with poverty) as a condition of righteousness in the world and salvation of the community, as it was developed (and tried to be applied in practice) in XIII-XIV centuries the radical wing of Franciscanism, equally opposed mystical or monastic asceticism and the absolutization of private property.
The second expression - several centuries later - is egalitarian communism, the main component of the "bourgeois revolutions" of the 17th-18th centuries, in particular in England and France, the great theoreticians of which were Winstenley and Babeuf: this time it is essentially a secular ideology, designed to build a society, realizing freedom and equality not through the denial of property, but by subordinating it to equality (or settling in an egalitarian way the conflict between individual and collective property). This second form of communist thought is based on the representation of the proletariat as the embodiment of the true reality of the people in spite of the "bourgeois" egoism, which was adopted throughout the 19th century.
But then a third concept of communism arose, which is no less closely related to the general history of European society: history is created in the context of workers' socialism, i.e. in connection with the representation of the economic contradictions of society and with the anthropology of labor - from Fourier to Marx and Engels. It will place - at the center of the community's problems - the struggle against the subordination of labor to industrial and financial capital, a latent conflict within the modern organization of production between two types of productivity or human "development of productive forces": one - on the fragmentation of tasks, the second - on cooperation and unification of physical and mental abilities.
Karl Marx harshly criticized the utopian “crude and ill-conceived communism” of those who, like Cabet, simply extended the principle of private ownership to everyone (“common private property”). Rough communism, according to Marx, is a product of "worldwide envy." But true communism is a positive abolition of the principle of private property, aims to end the exploitation of man by man and alienation of man and create real moral ties between individuals and between people and nature. Communist production is a cooperative activity and, finally, there is no distinction between physical and mental labor. Many anarchists, contemporaries of Marx, also defended communal property (Peter Kropotkin called his system "anarcho-communism"), but they feared the centralization that Marxist communism seemed to consolidate, which could threaten personal freedom. In turn, anarcho-communism tends to an individualistic worldview in matters of freedom. Communism is characterized by its key words "freedom", "equality" and "brotherhood". Freedom under communism is inherent in all of society, as well as in each individual member of it. Therefore, the principle of "freedom" by the communists cannot be conceived without the principle of "equality". Likewise, anarchists, following Bakunin, believe that "freedom for all is necessary for my freedom."
Communism as an ideology
Communism as a social idea gained popularity for the first time in the countries of Western Europe (especially in France) in the middle of the 19th century among the intelligentsia and the declared urban poor during the so-called "bourgeois revolutions". The idea of ​​communism as a political movement was formulated by K. Marx and F. Engels in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" in 1848 and in later works. In the predictive component of The Theory of Communism, communism is understood as ideal condition"Society of the future", when all people, members of society will put public interests above their own, understanding the decisive role of society in their lives. In this aspect, the communist doctrine is also a separate form of utopian worldview. [A source?].

Classless state of society (see primitive communism, pre-class or Dostanova social system)
The order of social organization of society, in which society is the owner of all property. In reality, the state is the owner of all property. The state also plans and controls the economy under the structure of a one-party political government. (For example, the policy of "War Communism" during the Civil War 1918-1921)
The theoretical concept of a future classless society, without a state social organization (Marxism,"Scientific communism"), based on joint ownership of the means of production and can be seen as an offshoot of socialism. It proceeds from the principle:
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."
Political utopian doctrine and the program of political parties and movements directly derives from this concept.

Communism as a political doctrine
Communist Iconostasis: Leaders of World Communism Communism also denotes the various political movements fighting to establish, on the one hand, a classless and stateless society, and on the other, fight against capitalist exploitation and against the economic alienation of the proletarian class.
There are a significant number of interpretations among communists, the two main ones being Marxism and anarchism. The first division in the communist movement occurred between Marxism and anarchism during the First International (1864-1876). Then the ideas of communism began to be inextricably linked with the teachings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In the times of the I, II, III International, the prevailing belief was that communism was a socio-economic formation that was replacing capitalism. The first phase of communism below is socialism. At the stage of social and economic maturity of socialist society, a gradual transition to communism takes place. This theory of transitional "stages" later showed its inadequacy.
In the twentieth century, in particular after the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, Marxists (directly through the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" or indirectly - Marxism-Leninism) have more influence on the world political order than anarchists. Together with the establishment of the USSR, etc. The "socialist camp", and especially together with the victory of Stalinism, is establishing the regime of state communism, which contradicts the principles and tasks of communism (see Stalinism, state capitalism). Stalin's "Thermidor", which denies the principles of "permanent revolution" in favor of "socialism in a single country", is systematically criticized by revolutionary Marxists (Trotskyism). The class struggle plays a central role in Marxism. According to this theory, the establishment of communism corresponds to the end of any class struggle, and the class division of people disappears. This did not happen in the USSR, so the Soviet regime is called “communist” for ideological reasons (see Cold War).
Communism and terror

See also: red terror

In countries where communists were in power, the method of terror was used. In Soviet Russia in 1918, the "Red Terror Decree" was adopted, in which the path of terror was declared "a direct necessity." The Red Terror also spread to other Soviet republics. The continuation of the Red Terror in the USSR was the Stalinist repressions, as well as a number of artificially created famines, which claimed the lives of millions of people.
The communist authorities of other countries also resorted to methods of terror. In particular, the communists of Hungary resorted to terror (in March-July 1919), the communist military junta of Ethiopia (1977-79), the Red Army was repeatedly involved in suppressing anti-communist uprisings (in particular, in 1956 - in Hungary, in 1968 - in Czechoslovakia).
According to rough estimates of the Special Rapporteur of the Council of Europe Geranium Lindblad, China (65 million) and the USSR (20 million) account for the largest number of victims of communist rule.
Criticism of communism
http: // site / uploads / posts / 2011-01 / 1295077866_4РєРѕРјСѓРЅРѕС „Р ° С? РёР · РјСѓ.jpeg Monument" to the fighters for freedom of Ukraine, victims of the communist-fascist terror of 1939-54. " In Yaremche Monument to the Victims of Communism in Krakow, Poland Beginning with Pope Benedict XV's Encyclical in 1920 Bonum sana and a number of subsequent official documents issued by the heads of the Catholic Church, communism was condemned by the popes for atheism, the desire to destroy the social order in society and undermine the foundations of Christian civilization.
Conviction in legislative acts of post-communist countries
After the end of the USSR, the post-communist countries of Western Europe officially condemned the communist regime. In 1993, the Czech Republic adopted the Law on the Wrongfulness of the Communist Regime and Resistance against It, in which, in particular, the communist regime was called "criminal, illegitimate and unacceptable." A similar 1996 law was adopted by the Slovak Parliament.
The 1997 Polish Constitution contains an article prohibiting the existence of organizations advocating "totalitarian methods and practices of Nazism, fascism and communism."
On May 12, 2005, the Latvian Seim adopted a "Declaration on the Condemnation of the Totalitarian Communist Occupation Regime of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which was carried out in Latvia. In the same year, the Latvian Seim adopted a special law prohibiting the public use of Soviet and fascist symbols. Latvia banned the hammer and sickle. Similar laws were adopted. in January 2007 in Estonia, and in June 2008 in Lithuania
Condemnation in speeches of heads of state
Equality between communism and Nazism was also expressed in the official statement of US President George W. Bush, who said the following:

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko said at the opening of the Holodomor Victims Memorial in Kharkiv region:

Council of Europe resolution
In 2006, a Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was adopted, which unequivocally condemned the crimes of the communist totalitarian regimes. In particular, the resolution states:
The resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly also focuses on the fact that
In a number of European countries, including Ukraine, there are monuments and memorial complexes in memory of victims of communist regimes, or their individual crimes. In total, on the territory of the former USSR, activists have 1213 monuments and memorial plaques. Several such monuments exist on the territory of Russia.
At the same time, there are monuments to the ideologists and leaders of communism on the territory of the former USSR. In particular, in Ukraine, as of 2009, there are more than 2 thousand monuments to the figures of the totalitarian period.
Communism as a religion
There is also a theory of the perception of the phenomenon of communism as a kind of religion. According to the theory, when studying a person who grew up surrounded by communist ideology, many parallels were found between how this person perceives the very idea of ​​communism and other people who are very strongly attached, for example, Islam, Christianity, etc. All these people are united by the same aggressive tendencies towards people who do not agree with their idea, often these people lose the opportunity to analyze their global ideologies, do not tolerate any criticism from differently thinking people, although this does not bother them at all. The idea of ​​communism for them turns into truth, is not subject to any doubts, you just need to believe in it and not ask any questions. Since communism does not tolerate the very thought of foreign thinking, it creates a vacuum of faith in a person, filling it himself. This is how communism turns from a form of government into a religion. Particularly regarding this fact, it testifies that the communists (using the example of the USSR) actually had holy relics - the mummified body of V.I. the room was also used as a tribune.
Political and ideological currents of the twentieth century

Marxism
Anarcho-communism
Leninism
Trotskyism
Stalinism
Maoism
Eurocommunism

Communism as Politics
Interstate communist blocs

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) 1949-1991
Warsaw Pact Organization (ATS) 1955-1991

Attempts at political-state implementation in practice

See also: Real Socialism

the USSR
Cuba
PRC
DPRK
Cambodia
Vietnam
Ethiopia

Negative consequences of implementation in practice in the USSR

Civil War 1917-1921
Holodomor in Ukraine 1932-1933
Collectivization and dispossession
The aftermath of the Communist Party in China

14Oct

What is Communism

Communism is utopian philosophical idea about the ideal economic and social arrangement of the state, where equality and justice flourish. In practice, this idea turned out to be unviable and unrealizable for many reasons.

What is Communism in simple words - briefly.

In simple words, communism is the idea of ​​creating a society in which people will be provided with everything they need, regardless of their capabilities. Ideally, under the communist system, there should not have been a poor and rich class, and all the country's resources should be equally distributed among all citizens equally. In this scheme, there is no private property as such, and all people work to create the common good. Naturally, this ideology belongs to the category of utopian by virtue of the nature of man himself.

The essence of communism.

Before you begin to understand the essence of communism, you should understand the fact that the original idea and its practical implementation are completely different things. If the idea itself, in principle, can be called completely idealistic, then the way of its implementation, obviously, cannot be called that. Thus, this expensive and large-scale social experiment to build an ideal society consisted in a complete reformation of power and strengthening the role of the state. The implementation of the plan included such items as:

• Abolition of private property;
• Cancellation of inheritance rights;
• Confiscation of property;
• Heavy progressive income tax;
• Creation of the only state bank;
• Government ownership of communications and transport;
• Government ownership of factories and agriculture;
• State control of labor;
• Corporate farms (collective farms) and regional planning;
• State control over education.

As can be seen from this far from complete list of reforms, civil society was limited in many rights, and the state took control of almost all aspects of human life. From this we can conclude that, despite the declared lofty ideals, the essence of communism was the transformation of citizens into a weak-willed population under the control of the state.

Who invented communism. The origin of the theory of communism and basic principles.

Karl Marx, a Prussian sociologist, philosopher, economist and journalist, is considered the father of communism. In collaboration with Friedrich Engels, Marx published several works, including the most famous one under the title - "Communist" (1848). According to Marx, a utopian society will be achieved only when there is a single "civilian" and classless society. He even described three stages of action to achieve this state.

• First, a revolution is needed to overthrow the existing regime and completely eradicate the old system.
• Secondly, the dictator must come to power and act as a single body on all issues, including the personal affairs of the public. Then the dictator will be responsible for making everyone follow the ideals of communism, and also to ensure that property or property is not privately owned.
• The last stage would be the achievement of a utopian state (although this stage was never achieved). As a result, the highest equality would be achieved, and everyone would willingly share their wealth and benefits with others in society.

According to Marx, in an ideal communist society, the banking system will be centralized, the government will control education and labor. All infrastructure facilities, agricultural facilities and industries will be state-owned. Private property and inheritance rights will be abolished, and large income taxes will be levied on all.

Lenin's Role in Building Communism and War Communism.

At a time when many countries of the world were shifting towards democracy, Russia was still a monarchy, where the tsar held all power. In addition, the First World War led to great economic losses for the country and the people. Thus, the king, who continued to live in luxury, became an extremely unpopular character among the common people.

All this tension and chaos led to the February Revolution on February 19, when workers in a closed factory and soldiers in mutiny together raised slogans against the unjust regime. The revolution spread like wildfire and forced the king to abdicate. The quickly formed Provisional Government of Russia has now replaced the monarch.

Taking advantage of the chaos in Russia, Vladimir Lenin, with the help of Leon Trotsky, formed the Bolshevik pro-communist "party". As the Russian Provisional Government continued to support the war effort during World War I, it also became unpopular with the masses. This sparked the Bolshevik Revolution, which helped Lenin overthrow the government and take over the Winter Palace. Between 1917 and 1920, Lenin initiated "War Communism" to secure his political goals.

Extreme measures were used to establish communism in Russia, which marked the beginning of the civil war (1918-1922). After that, the USSR was created, which included Russia and 15 neighboring countries.

Communist leaders and their policies.

To establish communism in the USSR, the leaders did not disdain absolutely any methods. The tools Lenin used to achieve his goals included man-made famine, slave labor camps, and the execution of detractors of power during the Red Terror. Holodomors were provoked by forcing peasants to sell their crops without profit, which in turn affected agriculture. Slave labor camps were places to punish those who disagreed with Lenin's rule. Millions of people died in such camps. During the Red Terror, the voices of innocent civilians, White Army prisoners of war and supporters of tsarism were drowned out by massacres. In fact, it was its own people.

After Lenin's death in 1924, his successor, Joseph Stalin, followed the policy set by Lenin, but also took a step forward by securing the execution of his communist comrades who did not support him 100%. grew. After the end of World War II, the period of the Cold War began, when a democratic society with all its might resisted the spread of communism in the world. The arms race and energy prices severely shook the imperfect planned economy of the USSR, which greatly affected the lives of the population.

Thus, when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, he adopted new principles to rejuvenate the Soviet economy and reduce tensions with the United States. The Cold War ended, and communist governments in Russia's border countries began to fail because of Gorbachev's softer policies. Finally, in 1991, during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet Union formally disintegrated into Russia and several independent countries. This is how the most significant era of communism in the world ended, not taking into account several modern countries living in a similar order.

The results of communism.

It is rather difficult to talk about the results of communism if we approach it from the point of view of its citizens' perception of the "scoop." For some, these were the days of hell on earth, while others remember the scoop as something good and warm. Most likely, the differences of opinion are mostly caused by different factors: class, political preferences, economic situation, memories of youth and health, and the like. However, the bottom line is that we can only rely on the language of numbers. The communist regime was economically untenable. In addition, he brought millions of those killed and repressed. In a way, building communism can be called the most expensive and bloody social experiment on earth, which should no longer be repeated.

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a doctrine proclaiming the creation of a classless and stateless society based on the destruction of private property and the imposition of state property, the elimination of the old state machine, the creation of new principles of management and distribution.

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COMMUNISM

from lat. commi-nis - general) - 1. Ideology, the supporters of which are in favor of building a society without the state, class exploitation and private property. 2. The system, coming, in the opinion of the Marxists, to replace the capitalist socio-economic formation.

The ideas of social justice already in ancient times motivated the activities of entire groups, estates, classes, determined the social psychology of mass movements, riots, uprisings and became the reasons for the appearance of heresies, sects, and political organizations.

Proto-communist ideas of social structure manifested themselves both in the myths about the "golden age" of mankind, about the lost and sought after paradise in various religious systems, and in philosophical utopias about the ideal system - as in Plato, T. Campanella, T. More, representatives of the socialist thought of the end XVIII - early. XIX centuries: A. Sen Simon (1760-1825), R. Owen (1771-1858), C. Fourier (1772-1837), E. Cabet (1788-1856).

Later, the founders of Marxism tried to scientifically substantiate the principles of the structure of communist society. According to K. Marx, communism is a natural stage in the progressive development of mankind, a socio-economic formation coming to replace capitalism, in the depths of which its socio-economic preconditions are ripening. The transition from the old system to a more progressive one will take place in the course of the proletarian revolution, after which private property will be abolished, the bourgeois state will be abolished and a classless society will arise. “At the highest phase of communist society,” wrote K. Marx, “after the enslaving subordination of man to the division of labor has disappeared; when the opposition between mental and physical labor disappears along with it; when labor ceases to be only a means of life, but becomes itself the first need of life; when, together with the all-round development of individuals, the productive forces grow and all sources of social wealth flow in full flow, only then will it be possible to completely overcome the narrow horizon of bourgeois law, and society will be able to write on its banner: Each according to his ability, to each according to his needs! "

The basis of the Marxist understanding of communism as a goal of social development, with the achievement of which the true history of mankind will come, is the conviction of the truth, the objective nature of the laws of social development, first discovered and formulated by K. Marx (1818-1883) and F. Engels (1820-1895) ...

The system of views on society, called "scientific communism", is based on the concept of the universal nature of the method of dialectical and historical materialism, suitable for explaining all the phenomena of social life. "Scientific communism", one of the "three constituent parts of Marxism" (along with materialist philosophy and political economy), from the point of view of its followers, theoretically substantiates the special mission of the proletariat in history and its right to revolution to overthrow the rule of capital.

After its victory, the ruined bourgeois state was replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat, exercising revolutionary violence in the interests of the working people. This is the first stage of the communist formation - socialism; under him, although private property was abolished, class differences still persist, there is a need to fight the overthrown exploiting classes and defend against external enemies.

K. Marx, F. Engels and later V. Lenin (1870-1924), who developed the ideas of his predecessors about two phases of the communist formation, were convinced that the transition to the highest stage of communism would occur when a high level of labor productivity with the domination of public ownership of the means of production will make it possible to embody the principle of distribution of a new society - according to needs, and classes will disappear. Then the need for a state will disappear, but it will not be abolished as a bourgeois one, but will gradually wither away by itself.

Even during the lifetime of the founders of "scientific communism" their ideas were subjected to serious criticism even from like-minded people, not to mention their outspoken opponents. Marx was condemned for economic determinism, accused of reducing the entire diversity of social life to a conflict between productive forces and relations of production. The latter, according to Marx, being the economic basis, determine the entire set of "superstructure" relations - not only the political and social-class spheres, but also the cultural, spiritual life of society, including family ties, relations between the sexes, and religious feelings of people.

Criticizing F. Lassalle and other leaders of the German Social Democracy, Marx opposed freedom of conscience: communists must fight the human right to believe as a "religious dope". This line was consistently continued by the Russian Bolsheviks when they came to power in 1917.

Among the Marxists there were many who, unlike the founder of the doctrine, saw in the capitalist system a significant potential for development and colossal reserves. The absence of objective prerequisites for a revolution, industrial growth in most European states, America, Russia, a noticeable improvement in the material situation of workers, the opportunity for workers to participate in political life through legal methods through parties, trade unions, using the parliamentary tribune - all this has made the slogan of the proletarian revolution irrelevant everywhere. by the end of the XIX century.

It replaced the International Workers' Association, created by K. Marx and F. Engels in the middle. XIX century, the Second International actually abandoned the slogan of an immediate proletarian revolution and advocated reforms with the aim of gradually "growing" the bourgeois state into socialism and communism.

The preferability of such a path for the world communist movement, for the proletariat was most convincingly argued by E. Bernstein (1850–1932), and later by K. Kautsky (1854–1938).

In Russia, G. Plekhanov (1856–1918) was an ardent opponent of the immediate revolutionary seizure of power. In his opinion, a conscious proletariat has not yet formed in the country, and due to the insufficient development of capitalism, there are no economic prerequisites for socialism.

His opponent was V. Lenin, who already in one of his early works tried to prove that the development of capitalism in Russia is proceeding at a rapid pace, and the absence of a large class-conscious proletariat is not an obstacle to the revolution. The main condition for its success is the presence of a strong organization of revolutionaries, a "new type" party. It is distinguished from the social democratic parliamentary parties in Europe by its strong discipline, based on the principle of “democratic centralism” (in practice, the absolute subordination of rank-and-file members to the decisions of the leadership).

From the moment of the emergence of the Bolshevik-Communist Party in Russia, the process of preparing for the revolution began, the purpose of which was to overthrow the existing government and accelerate the construction of a communist society.

The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia for the first time in world history brought to power a political force, which in practice began to implement the theoretical principles of Marxism and build a communist society.

Marx himself called the seizure of power in Paris the Communards in 1871 as the first proletarian revolution. But this communist experiment did not have any serious impact either on the European labor movement or on the historical fate of France.

The October Revolution was of world-historical significance not only because it opened the first experience in world history of building real communism on the scale of a huge country, but also provoked revolutionary processes in many countries. In a relatively short period, a number of countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America took a course towards building a new society based on the Marxist theory of scientific communism.

For many decades, it remained the official ideology in these states. In reality, the ruling communist parties, following the example of the Bolsheviks, “creatively developed” the communist ideology in relation to local conditions, adapting Marxist slogans and schemes to the needs of the ruling elites. Leninism was already radically different from classical Marxism: the Bolsheviks attached great importance to the role of the subjective factor in history, in fact, asserting the primacy of ideology over economics. I. Stalin abandoned the basic for scientific communism thesis about the necessity of the victory of the revolution on a world scale (on which Leon Trotsky insisted) and took a course towards the actual construction of state capitalism.

The communist state was to be built on the principle of a single corporation, where the apparatus itself and the government acted as managers, and the workers and the entire people were simultaneously employees and shareholders. It was assumed that shareholders will receive dividends in the form of free housing, medicine, education, by lowering food prices and reducing the working day up to 6 or 4 hours, while the rest of the time will be spent on cultural, spiritual and sports development.

China also approached communist construction from similar positions. In addition, Mao Zedong (1893-1976) brought an even more voluntaristic flavor to the theory of the communist movement. He attached great importance to the conduct of large-scale propaganda campaigns ("people's communes", "great leap forward", "cultural revolution") to mobilize the people to solve economic problems. The fact that there were no real opportunities for an economic breakthrough in the country at that time was not taken into account.

To an even greater extent, the departure from Marxism manifested itself in the DPRK, where the ideas of the Korean dictator Kim Il Sung (1912–94) - "Juche", which are based on the principle of "self-reliance", were declared the theoretical justification of the country's special path to communism.

Ideological voluntarism, ignorance of economic laws to one degree or another manifested themselves in all countries of the socialist camp. Characteristically, in most of them (with the exception of Czechoslovakia and Hungary) capitalism was poorly developed or absent altogether. Then a theory was formulated about the transition of backward countries to socialism and communism, bypassing the capitalist stage (for example, in relation to Mongolia). The only condition for the possibility of such a breakthrough was declared all-round support from the socialist camp and the world communist movement.

The doctrine of the "non-capitalist path of development", the support in backward states of the "socialist orientation" of the ruling regimes using communist phraseology, completely contradicted Marxism. It is not surprising that from October 1917 until the early 1990s, when the socialist camp collapsed, Western socialist thought, including Marxist thought, categorically opposed the theory and practice of communist construction in the USSR and other states of people's democracies. The Soviet communists were criticized for the fact that instead of the gradual implementation of economic and political reforms, which should lead to democratization, a totalitarian system was created in the USSR with the suppression of dissent.

In modern Russia, there are several communist parties and movements (primarily the Communist Party of the Russian Federation). However, they no longer have a serious impact on the political process.

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The Second World War

Operation "Marita" was also deployed on the territory of Yugoslavia and Greece. After the German army conquered these countries in April 1941, Bulgaria, in accordance with previous agreements, was allowed to introduce its troops and administration into Greek Western Thrace and Yugoslavian Vardar Macedonia. Bulgarian propaganda presented Boris as the unifying tsar, but the territorial gains had dire consequences. After the rapid withdrawal of a significant contingent of German troops from there for military operations against the USSR, a powerful Resistance movement developed in Yugoslavia and Greece, and the Bulgarian army had to fight the partisans.

After the attack on the USSR in June 1941, Hitler repeatedly demanded that Tsar Boris send Bulgarian troops to the Eastern Front. However, fearing the growth of pro-Russian sentiments, the tsar avoided fulfilling this requirement and Bulgaria actually did not participate in the war of Germany against the USSR. When in December 1941 Japan unleashed a war with the United States, Tsar Boris, out of a sense of solidarity, yielded to the German demands, and on December 13, 1941 Bulgaria declared war on the United States and Great Britain. Tsar Boris placed the country's economic resources at the disposal of the Germans and introduced discriminatory measures against the small Jewish population of Bulgaria, including the eviction of Jews from the big cities. However, he reckoned with public opinion against the extradition of Jews to the Germans, and not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported.

When Germany began to suffer military defeats, Tsar Boris tried to break off the alliance with Germany, but on August 28, 1943, after visiting Hitler's headquarters, he died suddenly. The Regency Council, which consisted of Boris's brother Prince Kirill, Prime Minister Filov and General Nikola Mikhov, with the approval of the Germans, took control of the country, ruling on behalf of Boris’s son Simeon, who was then 6 years old. Filov and the new Prime Minister Dobri Bozhilov began to clearly follow the pro-German course, pursuing a policy of "loyalty" towards Germany at any cost.

Soviet calls for help forced the Bulgarian communists to begin sabotage and partisan warfare in the German rear, and gradually a resistance movement grew in Bulgaria. It was led by the communists, but also included representatives of other parties - the left wing of the agrarians, socialists, "Link", the Union of Officers and other opponents of the alliance with Germany. In 1942, at the initiative of the Bulgarian communist leader Georgiy Dimitrov, these political groups formed the Fatherland Front coalition. The victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad and its advance to the west contributed significantly to the development of the Resistance movement in Bulgaria. In 1943 the Bulgarian Workers' Party (BRP) created a united People's Liberation Insurrectionary Army. In September 1944, when the Red Army reached the borders of Bulgaria, approx. 30 thousand partisans.

The deteriorating martial law and the bombing of Sofia by the allies forced Bozhilov to resign, and on June 1, 1944, a cabinet was formed headed by the representative of the right wing of the agrarians, Ivan Bagryanov. The new government tried to pacify the USSR and internal opposition, as well as reach an armistice with the United States and Great Britain. On August 26, it announced the complete neutrality of Bulgaria and demanded the withdrawal of German troops from the country. Having met an unfriendly attitude from the USSR and not having achieved positive results in the negotiations on the armistice, the Bagryanov government resigned. The new government, which consisted of agrarians, democrats and representatives of other parties and headed by the agrarians Konstantin Muraviev, came to power on September 2. In an effort to gain full control over Bulgaria, the Soviet government declared war on it on September 5. The Red Army occupied the country, on September 8-9, the communists and their sympathizers staged a coup d'etat and formed the government of the Fatherland Front headed by Kimon Georgiev, and on October 28, 1944, an armistice was signed in Moscow.

The communist movement in Bulgaria emerged in the 1880s. The first leader of this movement was Dimitar Blagoev (1856–1924), who became interested in Marxism while a student at St. Petersburg University. In 1883 he organized the first Marxist circle in Russia, and in 1885 he was expelled from Russia and returned to Bulgaria. In 1891 Blagoev and other socialists created the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party. The differences between revolutionaries and reformists eventually led to a split in this party. In 1903, Blagoev and his supporters formed the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party, known as the Narrow Party of Narrow Socialists, which became the most influential Marxist revolutionary party in the Balkans and a staunch ally of the Russian Bolsheviks. Always being a reliable support for the left wing of the Second International, in 1919 she became a founding member of the Third (Communist) International and was named the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP).

After the First World War, this party was led by Vasil Kolarov (1877-1950) and Georgy Dimitrov (1882-1949). In 1922-1924 Kolarov was the general secretary of the Comintern, and after the unsuccessful rebellion of the Bulgarian communists in September 1923, he, Dimitrov and other communist leaders left for the USSR, where they established the foreign bureau of the BKP. Thinned as a result of the rebellion and outlawed in 1924, the BKP went through a period of struggle between the overseas bureau and the so-called. "Leftist sectarians" in Bulgaria itself; the number of its members decreased from 38 thousand (1922) to 3 thousand. After Dimitrov was elected general secretary of the Comintern in 1935, the foreign bureau of the BKP won this struggle, and the triumvirate headed by Traicho Kostov (1897-1949) returned to Bulgaria, in order to cleanse the ranks of the BKP from the left sectarians and create a party of the "Bolshevik type". Thus, when the communists came to power in 1944, Dimitrov and Kolarov in Moscow and Kostov in Bulgaria became their generally recognized leaders. In September 1944 the party was renamed the Bulgarian Workers' Party (communists) - BRP (k).

The communists occupied key posts of the ministers of the interior and justice in the government of the Fatherland Front and drove out all their opponents from there. A “people's militia” was organized under the leadership of the Minister of the Interior, and partisan leader Todor Zhivkov organized mass raids that ended in lawsuits; they were held by special "people's tribunals" over the country's top wartime officials (regents; members of the cabinets that existed before September 9, 1944; deputies of the wartime People's Assembly, elected in 1940) and many others. According to official figures, in 1945 more than 2,800 people were executed and 7,000 people were imprisoned. Although the Bulgarian army initially remained under the leadership of Minister of War Damian Velchev, the BRP (k) introduced communists, former commanders of partisan detachments, into army units as political commissars. Key positions in the army were received by persons who served in the Red Army or fought in international brigades in Spain in 1936-1939 (about 400 Bulgarian communists and fighters sympathizing with them fought in these brigades). The Bulgarian army, subordinate to the Soviet command, took part in operations against the retreating German troops in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria.

The tough course of the BRP (k) in the struggle for power destroyed the coalition of the Fatherland Front. The first sign of the conflict was the resignation of the leader of the BZNS G.M. Dimitrov, who emigrated to the United States. In 1945-1946, the split within the Fatherland Front deepened, and the leader of the BZNS Nikola Petkov led the "tolerant" opposition, which included socialists and representatives of other parties. Both the government and the opposition intended to abolish the monarchy and create a republic. After a referendum on September 15, 1946, Bulgaria was proclaimed the "People's Republic". In the October 27 elections to the Great People's Assembly, which was supposed to draft a new constitution, the opposition gained approx. 30% of the vote and received 99 out of 465 seats. BRP (k) received 277 seats. The government, completely under her control, was formed by Georgy Dimitrov, who returned from the USSR in November 1945.

The communists of the Balkan countries decided to create a Balkan federation of communist countries in order to resolve all Balkan problems, including the Macedonian one, while Bulgaria and Yugoslavia studied ways to create a Bulgarian-Yugoslav core, to which other Balkan countries were to join. However, Bulgaria's insistent demand for parity with Yugoslavia, as well as the Yugoslav proposal for Bulgaria's joining the Yugoslav Federation as a seventh member, led in 1944-1945 to disruption of the negotiation process. Negotiations resumed in August 1947. An agreement was signed to begin the process of unification - the creation of a customs union, the lifting of border restrictions and the promotion of cultural ties between Bulgarian Macedonia and the Macedonian Republic of Yugoslavia.

The peace treaty, which entered into force on October 2, 1947, recognized the borders as of January 1, 1941, i.e. secured the annexation of Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria, but rejected its claims to the Greek and Yugoslav territories, as well as the claims of Greece to the Bulgarian lands. According to the agreement, Bulgaria had to pay reparations in the amount of 45 million dollars in favor of Greece and 25 million dollars - in favor of Yugoslavia.

After the elections and the signing of the peace treaty, Dimitrov considered it possible to start liquidating the opposition. Opposition leader Nikola Petkov was arrested and executed on September 23, 1947, despite protests from Western countries. Other opposition leaders were thrown into prisons, and all parties, with the exception of the BZNS part that wished to cooperate with the communists, were disbanded or included in the BRP (k). After the liquidation of the opposition, the Great People's Assembly on December 4, 1947 adopted the so-called. Dimitrov's constitution, and Bulgaria was reorganized along the Soviet model.

The enmity that arose in 1948 between JV Stalin and JB Tito had far-reaching consequences. Dimitrov sided with Stalin, which led to a deterioration in Bulgarian-Yugoslav relations. The course towards the unification of Macedonia was suspended, and Bulgaria became one of the most energetic participants in Stalin's anti-political campaign. In Bulgaria itself, repressions against the Macedonians and supporters of an alliance with Yugoslavia, Protestant and Catholic communities and schools, as well as everyone who had contacts with Western countries, intensified. Trials were organized against Protestant priests who were convicted of spying for the United States and imprisoned; relations with the Vatican were severed, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was forced to remove the Patriarchal Exarch Stephen from his post.

The death of Dimitrov in 1949, in the midst of the conflict between Stalin and Tito, provoked a crisis in the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP - this was the name of the BRP (k) since December 1948). A long-brewing conflict broke out between the repatriated communists who returned from the USSR after 1944 and the "local" communists. Traycho Kostov was the main candidate to succeed Dimitrov, but he opposed the Soviet policy of economic exploitation of the country and Stalin suspected this was an actual or potential "nationalist bias". Stalin supported the candidacy of Dimitrov's son-in-law, Vylko Chervenkov, who spent most of his life in the USSR. In 1949 Chervenkov organized a trial against Kostov and his supporters, accusing them of conspiring with Tito and American diplomats to carry out a coup d'etat. Kostov was executed, Chervenkov became the head of the BKP, and in February 1950, immediately after the death of Kolarov, he also took over as prime minister.

Chervenkov acquired the reputation of the Bulgarian "little Stalin". Mass repressions against supporters of Kostov and Tito led to the expulsion of 92.5 thousand members from the party. A fierce propaganda campaign was launched to isolate Bulgaria from the "pernicious Western influence" and to fight against the "enemy encirclement." The USA and Great Britain were portrayed as imperialist aggressors, inciting Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey against Bulgaria; Yugoslavia was called a renegade of socialism; the borders with these three neighboring countries were closed. In 1950, the need to deport 250 thousand Turks from Bulgaria was announced, and in 1951-1952 approx. 160 thousand of them were resettled to Turkey. In order to strengthen elements of Bulgarian nationalism in this campaign and enlist the support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, in 1953 it was given the status of patriarchy, which it lost in the 14th century. during the seizure of the country by the Ottoman Turks.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Chervenkov's position in Bulgaria began to weaken. The harbinger of changes was his resignation from the post of head of the BKP in March 1954. Todor Zhivkov became the first secretary of the BKP Central Committee. Chervenkov discovered a complete inability to adapt to the policy of de-Stalinization pursued in the USSR by N.S. Khrushchev, and in April 1956 was removed from the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers of the NRB. The new regime tried to adapt to the changed situation in Moscow and to apply Khrushchev's ideas and policies to the Bulgarian realities. Following similar processes in the USSR, the process of liberalization began. So, in 1956 Kostov was posthumously rehabilitated.

After a period of factional struggle and purges, Zhivkov, with the support of Khrushchev, won a victory and in November 1962 became chairman of the council of ministers and first secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP. After the fall of Khrushchev in 1964, Zhivkov's internal party policy was reduced to maneuvering between the "revisionists", that is, pro-Yugoslav elements, and "dogmatists", i.e. Stalinists and pro-Chinese elements. He tried to create a broad base for his support among the party cadres and the people, calling for moderation. However, Zhivkov's policies were not flawless. In foreign policy, Bulgaria copied the USSR. Bulgaria opposed democratic reforms in Czechoslovakia and in August 1968, together with the USSR, Hungary, Poland and the GDR, participated in the entry of its territory by the troops of the Warsaw Pact.

In 1971, a new constitution was approved in a referendum. It legitimized the economic, political and ideological sovereignty of the communists. In the early 1970s, a campaign was launched against the rights of some national minorities, in particular the Bulgarian-speaking Muslims (Pomaks), Roma and Turks. This campaign received ideological support at the tenth congress of the BKP (1971) in the form of a thesis of growing social homogeneity at the stage of “developed socialist society”. In 1973-1974, the Pomaks were forced to change their Muslim surnames to Bulgarian ones. The assault on the rights of ethnic Turks led to the gradual closure of Turkish schools and mosques; the number of publications in Turkish was systematically reduced, and atheistic propaganda was directed primarily against Islam. The call for Bulgarian nationalism, which was also fueled by demographic arguments (Bulgarian families had one or two children, while Turkish and Roma families had at least three or four), manifested itself in 1981, after celebrating the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state. This campaign culminated in 1984-1985, when all Turks were forced to adopt Slavic-Bulgarian names and surnames.

After this campaign, accompanied by repression, the communist regime found itself in a period of deepening economic, political and moral crisis. The situation was aggravated by the international isolation of the country, as well as by the external debt, which in 1990 reached $ 10 billion. The reforms initiated by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev were not supported by T. Zhivkov.