bulgaria communist leader

Chervenkov joined the Bulgarian Workers' Party in 1919 and was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (1920-25). This, alongside the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, done ostensibly in order to protect the interests of Turkish Cypriots in 1974, alongside a fear of the militarist, anti-communist regime brought in power in Turkey by the 1980 Turkish coup d'tat caused both Zhivkov and the establishment to fear for a similar scenario in Bulgaria. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria's Communist dictator for 35 years who was the longest-serving Soviet Bloc leader and the first convicted of corruption after the fall of Communism in 1989, has died.. Lyudmilla lived in poor health, ostensibly due to her unusual lifestyle, failed relationships and stress, dying abruptly at the age of 38 in 1981.[13][85][86]. Learn about a certain Bulgarian leader that spent more than three decades in power but sometimes was the butt of many jokes. Todor Hristov Zhivkov (Bulgarian: [tdor xristof ifkof]; 7 September 1911 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the de facto leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 as General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The CSS was a feared tool of control, and overt opposition largely stayed underground until the late 1980s. The faces of Dimitr Blagoev (founder of Bulgarian socialism) and Georgi Dimitrov (first communist leader of Bulgaria) were positioned alongside that of Todor Zhivkov, communist leader of Bulgaria from 1954-1989. [37] Events such as the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan automatically distanced Bulgaria from the West; then, in the early 1980s Soviet efforts to split NATO by cultivating Western Europe brought Bulgaria closer to France and West Germany - a position that continued through the 1980s. His family moved from Moscow to Bulgaria after the 1944 communist takeover. Among her policies was closer cultural contact with the West; her most visible project was the spectacular national celebration of Bulgaria's 1,300th anniversary in 1981. Vezhdi Rashidov Supreme Administrative Court Supreme Court of Cassation Office of the General Prosecutor 2007 EU enlargement Kristalina Georgieva Politics of the European Union Bulgaria portal This is a list of the heads of government state, from the establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria Following the end of Zhivkov's rule state properties were widely embezzled and stripped of assets, the revenues of which were funnelled through tax havens, creating a new class of nouveau riche oligarchs at the cost of the destruction of Bulgaria's industry. Government and Politics Bulgaria Table of Contents ON NOVEMBER 10, 1989, after thirty-five years as undisputed leader, Todor Zhivkov resigned his positions as head of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and head of state of Bulgaria. The party's founding leader was Dimitar Blagoev, who was the driving force behind the formation of the BSDWP in 1894. Bulgaria be incorporated into the USSR, both times because the Bulgarian government, having engaged in Available automobiles were primarily Soviet Fiats, some of which were manufactured in Bulgaria. Mladenov was elected his successor. The BCP was organized on the basis of democratic centralism, a principle introduced by the Russian Marxist scholar and leader Vladimir Lenin, which entails democratic and open discussion on policy on the condition of unity in upholding the agreed upon policies. This would be shipped to Bulgaria's modern refinery in Burgas at subsidised prices, processed, and resold on world markets at a huge premium. Petar Mladenov. Bulgaria - Government and Politics - Country Studies The Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum (Bulgarian: ) was a ceremonial tomb on Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square in Sofia, Bulgaria.It was built in 1949 to house the embalmed body of Georgi Dimitrov, the first leader of Communist Bulgaria. It was not traditional to memorialize communist . In 1932, he joined the BWP proper, later serving as secretary of its Second Borough Committee and as a member of its Sofia County Committee. Huge Sculpture to Replace Communist's Mausoleum in Sofia In this position, she actively promoted cultural liberalisation with the aid of several of Bulgaria's top intellectuals, while at the same time her avant-garde tastes were left unappreciated by the general masses. [40] Zhivkov's extensive campaign of cultural restoration provided at least some common ground between him and the Bulgarian intelligentsia. [citation needed], In March 1954, one year after Joseph Stalin's death, Chervenkov was deposed. [18] Zhivkov, whose "theses" had defined the goals of the plan, purged Politburo members and party rivals Boris Taskov (in 1959) and Anton Yugov (in 1962), citing their criticism of his policy as economically obstructionist. By Ashira Morris June 15, 2023. Zhivkov reserved a special attention for his birthplace of Pravets. The Party House building was designed by a team under architect Petso Zlatev and was completed in 1955.[5]. Lyudmila Zhivkova - Wikipedia His sentence was subsequently reduced to 1 year and 8 months and finally overturned by the Supreme Court, which ruled him innocent. In the years which followed, he was involved in countering countryside resistance to forced farm collectivisation in north-western Bulgaria. [22], After a relative stagnation in the 1970s, the New Economic Model (NEM), instituted in 1981 as the latest economic reform program, seemingly improved the supply of consumer goods and generally upgraded the economy. Vlko Velyov Chervenkov | Communist leader, Prime Minister Following Dimitrov's sudden death, the party was led by Valko Chervenkov, a Stalinist who oversaw a number of party purges that met with Moscow's approval. What Does Qin Gang's Removal Mean for China's Foreign Policy? In a critical step, they convinced Defence Minister Dobri Dzhurov to support them. Militant anti-government groups formed in one village and when local government officials came to negotiate with the protesters, they were taken prisoner by the groups, which subsequently cut off all communication between the village and the outside world. The leading force in society and politics is the Bulgarian Communist Party ." The BCP created an extensive nomenklatura on each organizational level. Home Geography & Travel Countries of the World The early communist era The consolidation of communist power in Bulgaria was carried out by 1948, coinciding with the completion of the peace treaty with the Allies and the presence of Soviet occupation forces. The State Council took over some of the roles previously exercised by the country's communist party and had the ability to enact laws on behalf of the assembly when the latter was not in session. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. In: [Declaration Condemning the Attempted Forced Assimilation of Bulgarian Muslims]. ), first secretary of the ruling Bulgarian Communist Party 's Central Committee (1954-89) and president of Bulgaria (1971-89). Workers of the world, unite! [78][79][80], Zhivkov ultimately survived the Sino-Soviet split, Khrushchev's fall in October 1964, an attempted Stalinist-Maoist coup dtat in 1965, his daughter Lyudmila Zhivkova's death in 1981, Brezhnev's death in 1982, and Mikhail Gorbachev's post-1985 reforms. As prime minister, Zhivkov remained faithful to the Soviet Union, but adopted a more liberal stance than his predecessor by allowing some market reforms (such as allowing surplus agricultural goods to be sold for profit) and ending persecution of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Consequently, groups began openly petitioning Zhivkov for further increases in the freedom of the press, cultural freedoms and subsequently, even some open protests formed, petitioning Zhivkov to take action against local party leaders that the protesters were unhappy with. He was succeeded by a considerably more liberal Communist, Petar Mladenov. In 1923 Chervenkov took part in an unsuccessful communist uprising, and in Bulgaria - THE EARLY COMMUNIST ERA A study published by RC Trend pegged Zhivkov as one of the top 5 most approved of Bulgarian politicians of all time, alongside former prime ministers Petko Karavelov, Stefan Stambolov and Aleksandar Stamboliyski, while another by Gallup International Association found that 74% of Bulgarians believe the country to have been "ruined" by the politicians that took power after his resignation, most prominently blaming UDF leader Ivan Kostov (49% of respondents). [81][82], Zhivkov's attempts to integrate and assimilate Bulgarian Turks ultimately did not yield their intended results, instead leading to the creation of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a party largely based on ethnic Turkish affiliation. [29] Availability of consumer durables significantly improved in the 1970s. He left Sofia and moved to Pazardzhik, where he lived with a low state pension until his death in 2013. His rule . Strauss expressed pessimism in the idea, telling him that, in his opinion, the system could not be reformed, only replaced. In the face of Moscow's post-1953 efforts to reach out to Belgrade and Athens, Zhivkov seems to have calculated that a policy of unswerving loyalty to the Kremlin would ensure that it remained more valuable for the USSR than non-aligned Yugoslavia or NATO-affiliated Greece. The Council of Ministers ( Bulgarian: , Ministerski savet) is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Bulgaria. He spoke of the socialist society in Bulgaria as being divided into two parts - the [societal] order, which he described as the basic societal organisation and ethos in country and the system, the practical structure of government, led by a Vanguard party. From fall 1944 to 1962, at least 23.531 persons were sent t prison camps; 478 persons were sentenced to death as "public enemies" during 1952-1985. On the other hand, entry required intellectual compromise, and refusal to compromise led to dismissal from the union and loss of all privileges. Todor Zhivkov himself was said to have altered his daily commute in order to avoid having to look at it, though he never scolded the sculptor for it. Zhivkov then asked what Bulgaria had to do in order to potentially join the European Economic Community (EEC), which Strauss initially thought was a misinterpretation, asking Zhivkov whether he meant closer cooperation between Bulgaria and Bavaria. In 1942 the broad Fatherland Front coalition was formed as the communists attempted to involve legal opposition groups in exerting antiwar pressure on the government. Petar Toshev Mladenov ( Bulgarian: ; 22 August 1936 - 31 May 2000) was a Bulgarian communist diplomat and politician. [54][55][56][57], In 1994 his sentence in Trial 4 went into effect, but was substituted by house arrest due to his ill health. The party joined the Cominform at its inception in 1948 and conducted purges against suspected "Titoites" following the expulsion of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the alliance. Petar Mladenov - Wikipedia Already by 1960, however, Zhivkov had been forced to redefine the impossible goals of his theses. She died of the disease on 23 October 1971. It suffered a split as the left-wing of the party broke off in order to form the New Bulgarian Communist Party, while the right-wing opposition remained united and aggressively opposed the government, hampering any attempts at finding an exit to the political crisis that had gripped the country. In 1963 and 1973, the Zhivkov regime made requests it is unclear how far these were in earnest that [citation needed], From 1954 until 1989 the party was led by Todor Zhivkov, who was very supportive of the Soviet Union and remained close to its leadership after Nikita Khrushchev was deposed by Leonid Brezhnev. President: Rosen Plevneliev (2012) Prime Minister: Boyko Borisov (2014) Land area: 42,683 sq mi (110,549 sq km); total area: 42,823 sq mi (110,910 sq km ) Population (2014 est. Zhivkov further wished to distance his country from the image of a one-party state, thus the Zhivkov constitution explicitly mentioned that political power in the country was to be shared "cooperatively" between the Communist Party and the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, the communists' coalition partner. [63][64] A billboard posthumously celebrating his 100th birthday was erected in Nesebar in 2011,[65][64] while portraits, posters and calendars bearing his image are still commonly found in the country, with several mayors and other officials being reported as placing them up or handing them out regularly. [84], Zhivkov married Mara Maleeva (19111971) in 1938. Chervenkov publicly accepted the criticism levied against him, admitted to allowing "mistakes" and "excesses" to take place in the country and resigned from political life. From 1956 to 1988, Bulgaria won an unprecedented 153 Olympic medals and numerous European and world competitions in sports as diverse as volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics and wrestling. [53] On 15 January, the National Assembly struck out the portions of the constitution giving the Communist Party a monopoly of power. Zhivkov respected his wife's wishes during her life, but reconsidered his position following her death and was later convinced to appoint Lyudmilla, who was popular among artists and the intelligentsia, as the vice-chairperson on the consultative committee for friendship and cultural diplomacy. [30] However, many of them were cramped - the average home in Bulgaria had three rooms and an area of 65 square metres (700sqft). Zhivkov also softened organised opposition by restoring symbols of the Bulgarian cultural past that had been cast aside in the postwar campaign to consolidate Soviet-style party control. [17], In 1959 the Communist Party borrowed from the Chinese Great Leap Forward to symbolise a sudden burst of economic activity to be injected into the Third Five-Year Plan (19581962), whose original scope was quite conservative. [41] In this powerful position, Zhivkova became extremely popular by promoting Bulgaria's separate national cultural heritage. 1 regarded the 'Revival Process', Indictment 2 accused him of overstepping his authority in "funding the international communist movement", Indictment 3 accused him and 21 others of giving out high-risk loans to developing countries, Indictment 4 accused him of giving away apartments and cars worth a total of around $24 million (in 1990 dollars) to members of the security forces and indictment 5 accused him of involvement in labour camps. In 1979 Zhivkov introduced a sweeping educational reform, claiming that Marxist teachings on educating youth were still not being applied completely. Zhivkov reiterated that he was asking about a potential membership of Bulgaria in the EEC, much to the Bavarian leader's surprise. 4). The country's political ideology and foreign policies of Zhivkov's era have thus been reversed. Bulgaria was the target of near-unanimous condemnation from the international community; even the Soviets protested. The completion of collectivisation in 1958 had shifted 678,000 peasants, about 20 per cent of the active labour force, into industrial jobs. However, the protests turned violent the day after, as the local chief of police alleged that the demonstrators had started throwing stones at both the police and local fire brigade, which led to an attempt by the authorities to disperse the protests via a water cannon. However, after the Turkish episode, he was determined to see Zhivkov gone. During this same period, industrial wages increased by 4.9 per cent annually. Opposition leader Nikola Petkov was hanged on 23. [32] Without exception Zhivkov imitated or supported Soviet twists and turns such as Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin in 1956 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The coup was exposed and between 28 March and 12 April 1965 and most of the plotters were arrested and expelled from the party. The campaign was an abject failure and generally considered to be Zhivkov's biggest mistake. [23] In an effort to remedy the chronic distribution problems of the central economy, higher economic institutions became financially accountable for damage inflicted by their decisions on subordinate levels. [36] Emulating Soviet dtente policy of the 1970s, Bulgaria gained Western technology, expanded cultural contacts, and attracted Western investments with the most liberal foreign investment policy in Eastern Europe. Zhivkov adamantly refused to ask for a pardon and stated that even if given one he would not accept it, as he opined that pardons are only given to guilty people and he did not consider himself guilty. An appellate court found "oddities" in the original verdict and decided to confirm it, but lowered his sentence to just 1 year and 6 months. [21] For example, in July 1968, one month before the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria's unorthodox, three-tiered pricing system was eliminated. [8], In his final interview, conducted before the Bulgarian National Television in 1997, he surprisingly seemed to take more issue with some of his former party members, than the ruling right-wing UDF party at the time. [36], Under Zhivkov Bulgaria's policy toward Western Europe and the United States was determined largely by the position of the Soviet Union. Although the Zhivkov regime often advocated closer relations and multilateral cooperation with Yugoslavia, Turkey, the Kingdom of Greece, Albania, and Romania, a number of traditional issues barred significant improvement until the late 1980s. By Andrew Higgins Published May 22, 2022 Updated May 24, 2022 BUZLUDZHA, Bulgaria Like most Bulgarians of her generation, the young architect had little interest in or knowledge of her. While the feared CSS secret police was commonly said to persecute those who told political jokes, Zhivkov himself was said to have found them amusing and collected an archive of them. [69] Subsequently, the annual celebrations of the anniversary of Zhivkov's birthday on 7 September, gradually developed into a state-wide affair. [15], In the early 1970s, Zhivkov decided to update the country's Dimitrov Constitution, which led him to the creation of the so-called Zhivkov Constitution. [24] However, NEM was unable to drastically improve the quality or quantity of Bulgarian goods and produce. A system of distribution was implemented, which gave priority to 'Active Fighters against Fascism' (those that had been part of the partisan struggle or fought against Nazi Germany in World War II), as well as eminent artists, scientists and "Heroes of Socialist Labour" (mostly collective farmers and shop-floor workers). Zhivkov and the communist Politburo had always quickly repressed any opposition and independent unions or organizations were illegal in the country. Alleged Bulgarian implication in the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 exacerbated the problem and kept relations cool through the early 1980s. In 1982 Bulgaria's first Apple clone personal computer was named the Pravets. Great numbers of specialist personnel retired and died without being replaced, or else emigrated or left their state jobs for more lucrative private employment. The armed groups then detonated bombs in order to demolish the local bridges and set up barricades along the roads.
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