Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944
Encyclopedia
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, also known as the 9 September coup d'état and called in pre-1989 Bulgaria the National Uprising of 9 September or the Socialist Revolution of 9 September was a change in the Kingdom of Bulgaria
's administration and government carried out on the eve of 9 September 1944. The government of Prime Minister Konstantin Muraviev
was overthrown and replaced with a government of the Fatherland Front
led by Kimon Georgiev
. While the Soviet Union supported the coup, their forces (the Third Ukrainian Front
) were not directly involved in as they had only entered northeastern Bulgaria at this point. Following that date, large-scale political, economic and social changes were introduced to the country, with Bulgaria quitting the Axis and coming into the Soviet sphere of influence.
. At the same time, in Egypt
the government had entered separate peace talks with the United Kingdom
and the United States
, hoping to secure the dispatch of British and American troops in Bulgaria. On that same day, the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Workers' Party
(BWP) proclaimed the assumption of power by means of a popular uprising to be its official task.
A government of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
(BANU) "Vrabcha 1", until then in opposition
, was formed on 2 September 1944, headed by Konstantin Muraviev. It continued the peace talks, declared its support for democratic
reforms and ordered the withdrawal of German Army
troops from Bulgaria. At the same time, the guerrilla actions of the partisans
did not cease, the alliance with Nazi Germany
was not disbanded and no attempts were made to normalize the relations with Moscow
, forcing the Soviet Union to treat the new government with suspicion. On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war
on Bulgaria.
On 5 September, the Central Committee of the BWP and the general staff of the Popular Liberation Revolutionary Army commenced the planning of an uprising. The plan was further detailed on 8 September. According to the plan, the coordinated actions of the partisans, the BWP combat groups and the pro-Fatherland Front army detachments would assume power and effective control of government during the night of 9 September. The stated goal of the uprising was the "overthrowing of the fascist
authorities and the establishment of popular-democratic power of the Fatherland Front".
Unrest began all around Bulgaria on 6 September and 7 September, with the strikes of the Pernik
miners and the Sofia
tram employees, as well as the general strikes in Plovdiv
and Gabrovo
. The prisons in Pleven
, Varna
and Sliven
had their political prisoners released; 170 localities were entered by partisan detachments between 6 September and 8 September. In many cities and villages, the strikes and meetings grew into armed clashes with the police
, with victims on both sides. On 8 September, the Red Army entered Bulgaria meeting with no opposition on the order of the new Bulgarian government.
, the telegraph, the radio
, the railway station, etc. Early in the morning, the new Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev informed the people on the radio of the shuffle:
On 9 September, on the order of the Popular Liberation Revolutionary Army commander-in-chief Dobri Terpeshev, all partisan units descended from the mountains and assumed power in the villages and cities. In most places, this was not met with much resistance, but in other cases army and police detachments loyal to the old government put up violent resistance to the Fatherland Front forces. In Sofia, Plovdiv, the region of Pernik, Shumen
and Haskovo
, the old regime's supporters were defeated by military means, with the army coming under the effective control of the Fatherland Front. The establishment of the new leadership happened at the latest in Haskovo, where partisans and other antifascists seized the artillery barracks on 12 September, but suffered many casualties, as the negotiations with the commanding officers failed to reach a compromise.
As of 9 September, the Red Army had not reached Sofia but remained in northeastern Bulgaria. As the Bulgarian communists
were capable of assuming power without any aid, the Red Army commanders decided not to hurry with a seizure of the capital.
. The former Prime Minister Konstantin Muraviev was arrested, as were Tsar Simeon II
's regents, members of the former government, and some army detachment heads. On 10 September, the police was abolished and replaced with a popular militia
consisting mainly of recent partisans; 8,130 political prisoners were released from the prisons, and the concentration camps of the former regime (e.g. Gonda voda, Krasto pole, Lebane) were closed down. The fascist organizations were banned, as were their publications. The former regents, Prince Kyril
, Bogdan Filov
, and Nikola Mihailov Mihov, were executed in February. On 15 September 1946, a plebiscite referendum was held and monarchy
was abolished.
, helping drive out the Germans from much of Yugoslavia
and Hungary
, reaching as far as Klagenfurt
in Austria
by April 1945. Although Bulgaria was not recognized as a true member of the Allies, it still managed to retain Southern Dobruja
which it had acquired in 1940 per the Treaty of Craiova
.
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
's administration and government carried out on the eve of 9 September 1944. The government of Prime Minister Konstantin Muraviev
Konstantin Muraviev
Konstantin Vladov Muraviev was a leading member of the Agrarian People's Union who briefly served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria near the end of Bulgarian involvement in the Second World War...
was overthrown and replaced with a government of the Fatherland Front
Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
The Fatherland Front was originally a Bulgarian political resistance movement during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party, a wing of the Agrarian Union and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party, were all part of the FF...
led by Kimon Georgiev
Kimon Georgiev
Colonel General Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov was a Bulgarian general and prime minister.Born at Pazardzhik, Kimon Georgiev graduated from the Sofia military academy in 1902. He participated in the Balkan Wars as a company commander and in the First World War as a commander of a battalion. In 1916 he...
. While the Soviet Union supported the coup, their forces (the Third Ukrainian Front
Soviet Southwestern Front
The Southwestern Front was a name given to a Front by the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the Russian Civil War, and by the Red Army during the Second World War.The Southwestern Front in this article describes several...
) were not directly involved in as they had only entered northeastern Bulgaria at this point. Following that date, large-scale political, economic and social changes were introduced to the country, with Bulgaria quitting the Axis and coming into the Soviet sphere of influence.
Background
On 26 August 1944, the government of Ivan Bagryanov had orally declared Bulgaria's neutrality in the war under the threat of the Red Army's offensive in neighbouring RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. At the same time, in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
the government had entered separate peace talks with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, hoping to secure the dispatch of British and American troops in Bulgaria. On that same day, the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Workers' Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
(BWP) proclaimed the assumption of power by means of a popular uprising to be its official task.
A government of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union also tiranslated to English as Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union is a political party devoted to representing the causes of the Bulgarian peasantry. It was most powerful between 1900 and 1923. In practice, it was an agrarian movement...
(BANU) "Vrabcha 1", until then in opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
, was formed on 2 September 1944, headed by Konstantin Muraviev. It continued the peace talks, declared its support for democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
reforms and ordered the withdrawal of German Army
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
troops from Bulgaria. At the same time, the guerrilla actions of the partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
did not cease, the alliance with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
was not disbanded and no attempts were made to normalize the relations with Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, forcing the Soviet Union to treat the new government with suspicion. On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
on Bulgaria.
On 5 September, the Central Committee of the BWP and the general staff of the Popular Liberation Revolutionary Army commenced the planning of an uprising. The plan was further detailed on 8 September. According to the plan, the coordinated actions of the partisans, the BWP combat groups and the pro-Fatherland Front army detachments would assume power and effective control of government during the night of 9 September. The stated goal of the uprising was the "overthrowing of the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
authorities and the establishment of popular-democratic power of the Fatherland Front".
Unrest began all around Bulgaria on 6 September and 7 September, with the strikes of the Pernik
Pernik
Pernik is a city in western Bulgaria with a population of 81,052 . It is the main city of Pernik Province and lies on both banks of the Struma River in the Pernik Valley between the Viskyar, Vitosha and Golo Bardo mountains.Originally the site of a Thracian fortress founded in the 4th century BC,...
miners and the Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
tram employees, as well as the general strikes in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
and Gabrovo
Gabrovo
Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
. The prisons in Pleven
Pleven
Pleven is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality...
, Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
and Sliven
Sliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
had their political prisoners released; 170 localities were entered by partisan detachments between 6 September and 8 September. In many cities and villages, the strikes and meetings grew into armed clashes with the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, with victims on both sides. On 8 September, the Red Army entered Bulgaria meeting with no opposition on the order of the new Bulgarian government.
The Uprising
On the eve of 9 September, army units together with Fatherland Front detachments captured key locations in Sofia, such as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the postBulgarian Posts
The Bulgarian Posts are the national postal service of Bulgaria. The company was founded after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, as the Russians handed all the post and telegraph offices to the newly-restored Bulgarian state on 14 May 1879...
, the telegraph, the radio
Bulgarian National Radio
Bulgarian National Radio is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organization. It operates two national and seven regional channels, as well as an international service – Radio Bulgaria – which broadcasts in 11 languages.-National:...
, the railway station, etc. Early in the morning, the new Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev informed the people on the radio of the shuffle:
On 9 September, on the order of the Popular Liberation Revolutionary Army commander-in-chief Dobri Terpeshev, all partisan units descended from the mountains and assumed power in the villages and cities. In most places, this was not met with much resistance, but in other cases army and police detachments loyal to the old government put up violent resistance to the Fatherland Front forces. In Sofia, Plovdiv, the region of Pernik, Shumen
Shumen
Shumen is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and capital of Shumen Province. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov...
and Haskovo
Haskovo
Haskovo , is a city, an administrative centre of the homonymous Haskovo Province in southern Bulgaria, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. As of February 2011, it has a population of 74,843 inhabitants....
, the old regime's supporters were defeated by military means, with the army coming under the effective control of the Fatherland Front. The establishment of the new leadership happened at the latest in Haskovo, where partisans and other antifascists seized the artillery barracks on 12 September, but suffered many casualties, as the negotiations with the commanding officers failed to reach a compromise.
As of 9 September, the Red Army had not reached Sofia but remained in northeastern Bulgaria. As the Bulgarian communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
were capable of assuming power without any aid, the Red Army commanders decided not to hurry with a seizure of the capital.
The new government
The Fatherland Front government included representatives of the BWP, BANU "Pladne", the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (Wide Socialists) and ZvenoZveno
Zveno was a Bulgarian military and political organization, founded in 1927 by army officers. It was associated with a newspaper of that name....
. The former Prime Minister Konstantin Muraviev was arrested, as were Tsar Simeon II
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Simeon Borisov of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Tsar Simeon II or Simeon II of Bulgaria is an important political and royal figure in Bulgaria...
's regents, members of the former government, and some army detachment heads. On 10 September, the police was abolished and replaced with a popular militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
consisting mainly of recent partisans; 8,130 political prisoners were released from the prisons, and the concentration camps of the former regime (e.g. Gonda voda, Krasto pole, Lebane) were closed down. The fascist organizations were banned, as were their publications. The former regents, Prince Kyril
Prince Kyril of Bulgaria
Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, Prince of Preslav was the second son of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and his first wife Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma. He was a younger brother of Boris III of Bulgaria...
, Bogdan Filov
Bogdan Filov
Bogdan Dimitrov Filov was a Bulgarian archaeologist, art historian and politician. He was Prime Minister of Bulgaria during World War II. During his service, Bulgaria became the seventh nation to join the Axis Powers....
, and Nikola Mihailov Mihov, were executed in February. On 15 September 1946, a plebiscite referendum was held and monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
was abolished.
Aftermath
After 9 September 1944, the Bulgarian Army joined the Third Ukrainian Front and contributed to the defeat of Nazism in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, helping drive out the Germans from much of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, reaching as far as Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
by April 1945. Although Bulgaria was not recognized as a true member of the Allies, it still managed to retain Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra...
which it had acquired in 1940 per the Treaty of Craiova
Treaty of Craiova
The Treaty of Craiova was signed on 7 September 1940 between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under the terms of this treaty, Romania returned the southern part of Dobruja to Bulgaria and agreed to participate in organizing a population exchange...
.
See also
- Military history of Bulgaria during World War IIMilitary history of Bulgaria during World War IIThe military history of Bulgaria during World War II encompasses an initial period of neutrality until 1 March 1941, a period of alliance with the Axis Powers until 9 September 1944 and a period of alignment with the Allies until the end of the war. Bulgaria was a constitutional monarchy during...
- Bulgarian government-in-exileBulgarian government-in-exileThe Bulgarian National Government in Exile was the government of Bulgaria after the country had been occupied by the Soviet Union in September 1944. The Bulgarian Government in Exile commanded Bulgarian armed forces operating in Germany and Austria...
- Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
- King Michael's CoupKing Michael's CoupKing Michael's Coup refers to the coup d'etat led by King Michael of Romania in 1944 against the pro-Nazi Romanian faction of Ion Antonescu, after the Axis front in Northeastern Romania collapsed under the Soviet offensive.-The coup:...
- Moscow ArmisticeMoscow ArmisticeThe Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
and Lapland WarLapland WarThe Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...