On September 15, 1946, the monarchy was abolished (referendum on September 8) and the People’s Republic was proclaimed. After the elections on November 18, 1945 (88.2% of the votes for the Patriotic Front determined by the CP) and October 27, 1946 (70% of the votes), the Bulgarian CP (since 1948; abbreviation BKP) was able to take the lead General Secretary Dimitrov (1944–49; in the country since 1945, from November 1946 also Prime Minister) Bulgaria into a people ‘s democracy communist character (inter alia March 12, 1946 Land Reform Act, December 1947 nationalization of industry and banks). The opposition, which had been weakened by the punishment of “war criminals” in autumn 1944 (around 28,000 people abducted and murdered), was fiercely fought in the spring of 1947 (including the dissolution of the non-communist parties). After their final elimination, especially the Peasant Party (execution of its chairman Nikola Dimitrow Petkow [* 1889, † 1947]), a constitution based on the Soviet model was put into effect on December 4, 1947. The peace treaty of Paris (February 10, 1947) imposed Bulgaria among others. Reparations on.
According to globalsciencellc, the plans for a Balkan federation of communist states, supported by Dimitrov, failed because of Stalin’s veto, who enforced the system of bilateral friendship and assistance agreements in the spirit of Soviet power politics. After Tito’s rebellion against the hegemony of the USSR (1948) Bulgaria terminated the friendship treaty with Yugoslavia in 1949. With the accession to the Cominform (1947), the conclusion of a friendship and assistance pact with the USSR (March 18, 1948), the accession to the Comecon and the Warsaw Pact (1955) Bulgaria firmly integrated itself into the Eastern bloc led by the USSR.
After Dimitrov’s death (1949), his successor as general secretary of the BKP, the Stalinist W. Chervenkov (1949–54), who was also prime minister from 1950–56, purged the party in order to eliminate supposed or actual supporters of Tito and his national communist ideas. After a show trial in 1949, the former Deputy Prime Minister T. Kostow was executed. The personality cult and the Stalinist terror against political opponents (Stalinism) increased (expansion of the »Bulgarian GULAG«; existed from 1944 to the early 1960s). In early March 1954, T. Zhivkov became First or (from 1981) General Secretary of the BKP (1962–71 also Prime Minister); In 1971 he also became chairman of the newly constituted Council of State. In August 1968 Bulgarian troops took part in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. In the constitution of May 18, 1971, friendship with the USSR was established as the basic orientation of Bulgarian politics. Since about 1966, an officially promoted Bulgarian nationalism had become formative in politics and culture. Although relations with Yugoslavia improved with the Yugoslav-Bulgarian Declaration on the Inviolability of Common Borders (1978), profound disagreements over Macedonia continued.
Under the communist prime ministers (1956–62 the Stalinist Anton Jugow, then Zhivkov, 1971–81 S. Todorov [* 1920, † 1996], 1981–86 G. Filipov [* 1919, † 1994], from 1986 G. Atanasov [ * 1933]) Bulgaria was also economically closely linked to the USSR. Because of von Zhivkov The nationalist and anti-minority treatment of the Turkish nationality in Bulgaria (Bulgaro-Turks; about 1 million) led to a rift with Turkey; At the end of 1982 in so-called »Bulgarization campaigns« the Bulgarian Turks were forced to use Bulgarian names and thus to give up their cultural independence. This v. a. From the mid-1980s onwards, increased compulsory Bulgarization (officially not lifted until December 29, 1989) triggered serious unrest in northeastern Bulgaria on May 20, 1989, over 300,000 Bulgaro Turks fled to Turkey (until the borders were closed by Turkey on August 17, 1989). A new national holiday was celebrated for the first time on March 3rd, 1988 (previously September 9th). Starting in autumn 1989, opposition forces forced T. Zhivkov to resign on November 10, 1989as chairman of the BKP; on November 17, he was also released from his position as chairman of the State Council and later (on January 18, 1990) arrested and sentenced (September 4, 1992, confirmed on January 19, 1994). His successor as general secretary of the BKP (until February 1990) and chairman of the State Council, Petar Mladenow (* 1936, † 2000), tried to proclaim a “new course” for the emerging citizens’ movement under control, and initiated a cautious democratization under the pressure of events (including mass demonstrations on November 18, 1989). On February 11, 1989, artists and intellectuals in Plovdiv founded the first independent trade union Podkrepa (since 1944); on December 7, 1989, the formation of an umbrella organization of numerous opposition parties and movements (Union Democratic Forces, abbreviation SDS). In January 1990, the members of parliament approved a declaration on the nationality issue, which restored the rights of the Turkish minority, but triggered nationalistically motivated mass actions in the Bulgarian majority. With the declared waiver of the BKP (13.12. 1989) and the cancellation of their right to leadership, which was previously enshrined in the constitution, by parliament on January 15, 1990, following the constitutional amendment of April 3, the legal formation of parties was made possible. After their fundamental agreement on December 27, 1989, the government and the opposition began their negotiations on January 3, 1990 at the “round table”, the transition to a parliamentary-democratic system on March 12 and elections for June on March 30 1990 decided. On February 3, 1990 the reform communist became Elections for June 1990 decided. On February 3, 1990 the reform communist became Elections for June 1990 decided. On February 3, 1990 the reform communist became Andrei Lukanow (* 1938, † [shot] 1996) Prime Minister of a pure BKP government; On April 3, 1990, parliament passed an election and party law (the right to strike had already been legalized on March 6), deleted the term “socialist” from the constitution and dissolved.
