AREA HANDBOOK
for
BULGARIA
Coauthors
Eugene K. Keefe
Violeta D. Baluyut
William Giloane
Anne K. Long
James M. Moore, Jr.
Neda A. Walpole
Research completed August 1973
First Edition
Published 1974
DA Pam 550-168
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Keefe, Eugene K.
Area handbook for Bulgaria.
"DA Pam 550-168."
"One of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area Studies (FAS) of the American
University."
Bibliography: p. 301-316
Supt. of Docs. no.: D 101.22:550-168
1. Bulgaria. I. American University, Washington, D.C. Foreign Area Studies. II. Title.
DR90.K4 914.977 03'3 74-600028
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402—Price $5.55
FOREWORD
This volume is one of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area Studies (FAS) of The American University, designed to be useful to military and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basic facts about the social, economic, political, and military institutions and practices of various countries. The emphasis is on objective description of the nation's present society and the kinds of possible or probable changes that might be expected in the future. The handbook seeks to present as full and as balanced an integrated exposition as limitations on space and research time permit. It was compiled from information available in openly published material. An extensive bibliography is provided to permit recourse to other published sources for more detailed information. There has been no attempt to express any specific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contents of the handbook represent the work of the authors and FAS and do not represent the official view of the United States government.
An effort has been made to make the handbook as comprehensive as possible. It can be expected, however, that the material, interpretations, and conclusions are subject to modification in the light of new information and developments. Such corrections, additions, and suggestions for factual, interpretive, or other change as readers may have will be welcomed for use in future revisions. Comments may be addressed to:
The Director
Foreign Area Studies
The American University
5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016
PREFACE
Although many changes have swept across the Eastern European communist countries, Bulgaria through the years has remained a bastion of consistency. It is a loyal military ally of the Soviet Union as a member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), and its economy is inextricably linked to the Soviet Union through bilateral agreements as well as through membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). Of the six Eastern European members of the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria shares with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) the distinction of not having contiguous borders with the Soviet Union. It is, however, important geographically because it anchors the southeastern sector of the alliance and borders two member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—Greece and Turkey.
The authors of the Area Handbook for Bulgaria have attempted to describe, comprehensively and objectively, the workings of the economic, political, social, and military systems dominant in the country in the early 1970s as those systems have developed in the post-World War II period. Despite the concentration on the communist era, important historical factors are referred to wherever necessary for understanding the modern scene, and a historical chapter is included to provide the proper setting for the modern state.
The spelling of place names conforms to the transliteration system used by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The use of abbreviations, acronyms, and foreign terms has been held to a minimum. The one abbreviation that necessarily appears throughout the work is BKP for Bulgarian Communist Party (Bulgarska Komunisticheska Partiya). All tons are metric unless otherwise stated. A glossary is appended for convenience, but all unfamiliar terms are explained on first use in the text.
COUNTRY SUMMARY
1. COUNTRY: People's Republic of Bulgaria. Proclaimed by the communist party in the 1947 Constitution. Formerly, Kingdom of Bulgaria.
2. SIZE AND LOCATION: Area 42,800 square miles. Located in eastern part of Balkan Peninsula on Black Sea south of Danube River. Borders Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey.
3. TOPOGRAPHY: Mountains predominate in west and in ranges that run west to east across the central and southern regions. Lower and more level areas south of Danube River and between the mountain ranges permit extensive cultivation.
4. CLIMATE: Transitional between Eastern European continental and Mediterranean. Northern regions have hot summers, cold winters; south is more moderate but has hot, dry summers.
5. POPULATION: About 8.7 million in 1973; density 203 persons per square mile. Growth rate 0.7 percent annually.
6. ETHNIC GROUPS AND LANGUAGES: 85 percent of population is Bulgar. Persons of Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, Romanian, and other origins are guaranteed the right to use their languages and to preserve their cultural heritage, but Bulgarian, the official language, is spoken by the entire population.
7. RELIGION: 90 percent of population adheres to the Eastern Orthodox faith. There are some 750,000 Moslems, 26,000 Protestants, 32,000 Roman Catholics, and 3,000 to 7,000 Jews. Freedom of religion guaranteed, but practice strictly controlled by state.
8. GOVERNMENT: National Assembly is unicameral legislature. Council of Ministers, performing governmental administrative functions, is responsible to State Council, the supreme executive body. Real power vested in communist party's first secretary, Politburo, Secretariat, and Central Committee.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS: Administration is by people's councils at district (okrug) and township or borough (obshtina) levels. There are twenty-eight districts, including one composed only of metropolitan Sofia. Districts subdivided into about 1,150 townships and boroughs.
10. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact); the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON); and the United Nations (UN), including several UN specialized agencies.
11. JUSTICE: Three-level court system headed by Supreme Court. Military and special courts responsible directly to Supreme Court. Judiciary administered by Ministry of Justice within Council of Ministers.
12. COMMUNICATIONS: Mass media are state owned and regulated. Little latitude given subject matter produced locally; imports of foreign films and
13. EDUCATION: Free and compulsory until age fifteen. Priority on scientific, technological, and vocational curricula. Marxism-Leninism stressed in all curricula.
14. ECONOMY: Production, growth, and development programmed in five-year plans, drawn up and monitored by party. The 1971-75 plan, dependent on financial and technical aid from Soviet Union, recognizes need to raise standard of living; improvement is conditional upon rising productivity.
15. LABOR: Work force numbers about 4.4 million. About 27 percent (1.2 million) of the total are in state and collective industries; 25 percent (1.1 million) work full time on agroindustrial complexes. Skilled workers in short supply.
16. AGRICULTURE: Approximately 53 percent of land is agricultural, 69 percent of which is cultivated. All but small mountain farms are organized into 170 agroindustrial complexes. Grains predominate on plains south of Danube River; irrigated Thracian Plain produces more diversified crops. Livestock production inadequate for domestic needs and exports.
17. INDUSTRY: Virtually all state owned. Rapid expansion encouraged by state, increasingly slowed by inadequate raw material resources and skilled labor. Emphasis in early 1970s on improving unsatisfactory productivity levels and quality of industrial products.
18. FINANCE: Nonconvertible lev (see Glossary) has officially declared values ranging from 0.59 to 1.65 leva per US$1; unofficial rates in early 1973 were substantially higher. Banking system consists of Bulgarian National Bank and subordinated Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank and the State Savings Bank.
19. FOREIGN TRADE: State monopoly administered by Ministry of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Finance, and the state banks. Bulk of trade is with Soviet Union and other COMECON countries.
20. RAILROADS: Operational network totals about 2,620 miles, most of it standard gauge. System carried bulk of long-distance domestic cargo and passenger traffic.
21. ROADS: Total mileage about 21,000, but less than one-half has asphalt or other paved surface. Highway vehicles carry increasing traffic, preponderance of short-haul cargo and passengers.
22. INLAND WATERWAYS: Lower course of Danube River accommodates 2,500-ton vessels. Black Sea and ocean commerce increasing rapidly.
23. CIVIL AVIATION: State-owned Balkan-Bulgarian Airlines (BALKAN) connects Sofia with about a dozen cities on internal routes and almost twice as many foreign capitals.
24. ARMED FORCES: Bulgarian People's Army is subordinate to Ministry of National Defense. Ground forces have 80 percent of its personnel; air and naval forces, included in the army, have only about 15 and 5 percent, respectively, of total strength.
25. SECURITY: Ministry of Internal Affairs controls police and security organizations, except Border Troops, which are part of army. Party and mass organizations apply pressures on behalf of public order and in defense of the system.
BULGARIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
Figure 1. Bulgaria
SECTION I. SOCIAL
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY
In mid-1973 Bulgaria was under the complete control of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP—see Glossary) as it had been since the latter days of World War II. As that war came to a close, the Kingdom of Bulgaria was occupied by the Soviet army and was governed by a coalition under the communist-dominated Fatherland Front. By 1947 the monarchy had been deposed, a new constitution had been promulgated, and the country had become the People's Republic of Bulgaria under the BKP. Todor Zhivkov, who became first secretary of the party in 1954, retained that position in 1973 and, with nineteen years' tenure, was senior in length of service among the top leaders of the Soviet-aligned, communist countries of Eastern Europe. Zhivkov, who weathered several years of intraparty struggles after assuming the secretaryship, has led an apparently stable regime since an abortive coup d'etat failed to dislodge him in 1965. The hallmark of Zhivkov's leadership has been his intense loyalty to the leaders of the Soviet Union.
Zhivkov's critics accuse him of what they call subservience to the Soviet Union, stating that he relies on Soviet backing to remain in power. His supporters, on the other hand, commend him for his loyalty to the Soviet Union, pointing out the historical affinity between the Bulgarians and the Russians that dates back to the nineteenth-century Russian role in the liberation of Bulgaria from 500 years of Turkish rule. Whether he should be condemned or praised for it, the fact is that Zhivkov has guided his ship of state in very close conformity with directions first taken by the Soviet Union.
Bulgaria, motivated mainly by irredentism, fought on the German side during both world wars. The lands that Bulgaria coveted and pressed ancient claims for were Macedonia (which had become part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Thrace (which had become Greek territory). Its claims to these lands date back to the glorious days of Bulgarian kingdoms in the Middle Ages, when its territory stretched from the Black Sea in the east to the Adriatic Sea in the west and from the Carpathian Mountains in the north to the Aegean Sea in the south. Five hundred years of Turkish rule failed to erase the Bulgarian ideas of territorial grandeur.
The 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war that liberated Bulgaria ended in the Treaty of San Stefano, which reestablished a Bulgarian kingdom using the ancient boundaries; but the treaty was never put into effect because the European powers feared a large Russian client-state in the Balkans. Meeting in the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the powers nullified the Treaty of San Stefano and decreed Bulgarian boundaries that drastically reduced the size of the newly liberated country. Bulgaria seethed
The original Bulgars were of an Asian tribe that moved into the Balkan Peninsula as conquerors during the seventh century A.D. The occupants of the area at the time were mostly Slavs who had been migrating to that region for more than a century, absorbing former inhabitants as they settled. Within about two centuries of their conquest, the Bulgars also had been completely absorbed by the much more numerous Slavs, leaving only their name to mark the land they had conquered. From the ninth century A.D. on, Bulgarian history is the story of this amalgamated nation of Bulgar-Slavs who enjoyed two different epochs of independent glory under medieval Bulgarian kingdoms but who also suffered invasion and defeat and, eventually, 500 years of domination by Ottoman Turks. In 1878 Turkish rule was finally ended, and a truncated Bulgaria reappeared on the map of Europe. After five centuries of foreign domination, Bulgaria was backward, underdeveloped, and poor.
The descendants of the Bulgar-Slavs made up the majority of the approximately 8.7 million people living in Bulgaria in 1973. The largest minority group, which numbered about 0.7 million people, was Turkish. The few Greeks, Romanians, Armenians, and Jews in the population collectively accounted for only about 1 percent of the total. These modern Bulgarians live in a country that is almost rectangular in shape and covers roughly 42,800 square miles of the lower Balkan Peninsula. Their country is bounded on the east by the Black Sea, on the south by Greece and the part of Turkey that is in Europe, on the west by Yugoslavia, and on the north by Romania.
The most prominent communist leader of Bulgaria was Georgi Dimitrov, a native-born Bulgarian who had lived in exile during most of the period between the two world wars and had become a Soviet citizen in 1935. Dimitrov was prominent in the international communist movement and, while resident in Moscow, had served as secretary general of the Comintern (Communist International), founded under Lenin's guidance in 1919. Dimitrov returned to his homeland in late 1945, resumed his Bulgarian citizenship, and took over the leadership of the BKP and the government. He was instrumental in developing the 1947 Constitution (usually referred to as the Dimitrov Constitution) and set about remaking his country's economic, political, and social structures in the Soviet image. Nationalization of all means of production, collectivization of agriculture, and an ambitious program of industrialization all commenced under Dimitrov.
Dimitrov died in 1949 but, before he died, his programs were well under way, the Moscow-oriented BKP was in complete control, and the country was firmly in the Soviet orbit. Several years later, even though the term satellite was no longer used to describe the Eastern European countries aligned with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria was considered to be the most rigidly loyal of all former Soviet satellites. Shortly after the death of Dimitrov, the top position of leadership was secured by Vulko Chervenkov who, over the next few years, earned a reputation as Bulgaria's version of Stalin. After Stalin died, Chervenkov's power base eroded to the point that he was forced to give up the top party post in favor of Zhivkov; Chervenkov retained the top position in the government, however, and remained on the scene as an opposing locus of political power. The intraparty factional strife that ensued lasted into the 1960s, but Zhivkov, who had established a close relationship with Soviet party leader Nikita Khrushchev, eventually overcame the opposition and stabilized his regime. Zhivkov also managed to establish close relations with the Soviet leaders who ousted Khrushchev and has apparently maintained good rapport with Leonid Brezhnev, the general secretary of the Soviet party.
The BKP in 1973 was structured very much like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The structure is pyramidal in form, the general membership making up the base and the office of first secretary occupying the apex. Between the two extremes the most important bodies from bottom to top are the Party Congress, the Central Committee, the Secretariat, and the Politburo. The Party Congress is a large gathering of delegates, representing the rank and file, that meets every five years, theoretically, to make party policy, amend party statutes if necessary, and determine the party program for the ensuing five-year period. Actually the congress is a large, unwieldy body (over 1,500 delegates at the 1971 congress), which meets to demonstrate solidarity rather than to make policy. The congress, by party statute, elects the Central Committee, which is a permanently sitting body that acts in the name of the congress during the long intervals when the larger body is not in session. The so-called election of the Central Committee is, in fact, a ratification of preselected members. The same holds true for the election of the Politburo and the Secretariat by the Central Committee—in effect, the Politburo has already determined its own membership and that of the Secretariat, and the election process by the Central Committee is unanimous confirmation rather than election, making the Politburo a self-perpetuating body.
The Politburo for policymaking and the Secretariat for policy implementation are the true centers of power in the overall party-government system. The Central Committee is an operating body and is made up of important members of the party, although they rank below the small group that has reached the top echelons of the structure. It is the interlocking of various party and government positions that really concentrates power in the hands of a few individuals and permits the ultimate leader, Zhivkov, to control the entire apparatus. Zhivkov himself is an example of the interlocking in that, since 1971, he has been the first secretary of the party and a member of the Politburo at the same time that he was the president of the governmental State Council. Only one other individual in 1973 combined membership in the party's most prestigious bodies—Politburo and Secretariat—with membership in the government's leading body—the State Council. Two other party secretaries were candidate (nonvoting) members of the Politburo, but they did not concurrently hold any high government office.
The government established under the Dimitrov Constitution, as changed by the Constitution of 1971, is the instrument through which the party administers the country. The central government consists, essentially, of the National Assembly, the State Council, and the Council of Ministers. The unicameral National Assembly is described in the constitution as "a supreme body of state power," whereas the State Council is described as "a supreme constantly functioning body of state power." In practice, if one or the other were to be described as the single supreme body of state power, it would be the State Council, the membership of which in 1973 included seven (out of twenty-four) members or candidate members of the party Politburo and the operations of which, during its first two years of existence, have stamped it with the mark of supreme authority.
The role of the National Assembly as a legislative body is circumscribed by the infrequency of its meetings. The assembly is popularly elected from a single list of nominees at five-year intervals, but it is required to meet only three times annually. The sessions of the assembly are usually so brief
At its first session after general elections the National Assembly elects the State Council, but it would be highly unlikely if not impossible for the assembly to refuse to elect the complete slate of nominees that has been preselected by the party hierarchy. The election of the State Council, therefore, as is the case with various party elections, is a unanimous vote of approval rather than a true election. The State Council is the true center of the government. When it was created by the 1971 Constitution, Zhivkov chose to relinquish his governmental post as chairman of the Council of Ministers (the country's premier) and assume the position of president of the State Council, leaving no doubt about where real governmental power lay. The State Council, in effect, is a collective executive body that, because the National Assembly meets so infrequently, also becomes a major initiator of legislation.
The Council of Ministers, also elected by the National Assembly in the same manner as the State Council, functions as the administrative arm of the government. Here again, party influence is pervasive. In 1973 the chairman of the council (premier) and four deputy chairmen were concurrently members of the party Politburo, the minister of internal affairs was a candidate member of the Politburo, and most other ministers were members of the Central Committee.
Matters of state—such as defense, foreign affairs, education, and welfare—usually associated with the central government of any country are handled by individual ministries and are overseen by the Council of Ministers. In addition to such affairs of state, however, various ministries, as well as the council itself, are charged with administering the country's entire economy, as is the case in other communist-ruled states. In mid-1973 eleven ministries out of a total of twenty-two dealt exclusively with economic matters. In addition, the State Planning Committee, the chairman of which holds ministerial rank, is of great importance in the overall economic structure.
The economic ministries control virtually every aspect of the country's economy. The goals of nationalization of all industry and collectivization of agriculture were achieved early in the communist era, and the efforts of the party-government ever since have been toward increased efficiency. In Bulgaria the quest for greater production has led to ever greater centralization of control. In the early 1970s this quest has brought about the reorganization of industry wherein industrial enterprises have been grouped into huge trusts at the same time that collective and state farms have been similarly grouped into so-called agroindustrial complexes.
The consolidation of agriculture into extremely large complexes, begun in 1970, was intended to raise productivity through concentration of effort, specialization of production, and increased control by the central government. The reorganization is a long-range program that is expected to be completed by 1980, at which time authorities predict that farm incomes will have risen to equal industrial incomes and, because agricultural enterprises will be run just like factories, the social differences between peasants and workers will have been eliminated. By 1973 results of the reorganization that had already occurred were mixed, and it was still too early to assess the long-range value of the agroindustrial complexes.
In the industrial sector the consolidation of various enterprises into trusts was undertaken in the early 1970s for the same reasons that the agroindustrial complexes were formed, that is, greater efficiency through concentration, specialization, and increased control. Bulgarian industrial growth since World War II had been remarkable, considering particularly the inadequate base of skilled labor and natural resources in a country that had been predominantly agricultural. Bulgaria's need for raw materials, machinery, and technological assistance during its long period of industrialization and the Soviet Union's willingness to supply them accounted in large measure for the extremely close economic ties between the two countries. Because the growth rate had begun to slow toward the end of the 1960s, the BKP decided to try a massive reorganization of the economic structure as a remedy for the situation.
In addition to the political and economic systems of the country, the social system has been a major concern of the party and government ever since the BKP took power. Social restructuring has resulted in a system wherein the party elite occupies the highest level. This group is small and represents the apex of the social pyramid. The next level down, which is much broader, includes lesser party functionaries, professionals, administrators and managers, technicians, and all white-collar workers. The next level is made up of blue-collar industrial workers, who constitute the largest group in the society. At the bottom of the structure are the peasants. There are, of course, gradations of power, privilege, and prestige within all of the social groupings. The society has been very mobile since World War II with rapid upward mobility based mainly on the expanding economy, industrialization, and modernization. Toward the end of the 1960s, as the economic growth rate slowed, so also did the social mobility, and there was evidence that social groups were stabilizing.
Education has been the key to upward mobility and, since coming to power, the Communists have given preference in educational opportunity to formerly underprivileged groups. At the beginning of the 1970s, however, the percentage of students of worker and peasant origin enrolled in institutions of higher learning was far below the percentage of workers and peasants in the population. Students from the lower income groups have not competed favorably against those from more advantaged backgrounds and, although upward mobility is not blocked, it has been becoming more difficult. Membership in the BKP remains important for persons desiring to move upward in the social structure.
For the leadership the importance of education lies in the fact that it is the best means for orienting the people in the official ideology as well as for training the professionals, technicians, and skilled workers needed to run the country. The ideological indoctrination is pervasive throughout the entire school system, but the concurrent goal of meeting the needs of the economy has suffered because the system of higher education has not expanded rapidly enough to absorb most secondary school graduates who are desirous and capable of pursuing higher studies. Many educational reforms have been enacted over the years, but they have been cautious and limited and have not attacked the major problem of providing much greater funding for higher education.
In the cultural sphere the party and government have promoted pride in the ancient Bulgarian heritage but have regulated art, music, and literature in order to bring about conformity with the Soviet-developed doctrine of Socialist Realism. Throughout the communist era there have been periods of freeze and thaw in the controls imposed on artists and intellectuals, but the periods of greatest restriction in later years have not equaled the severity of the Stalinist times. In the 1960s and early 1970s control has been exercised primarily through publishers, art galleries, theaters, and other outlets. Artists and intellectuals know that their work must pass through state-owned outlets if it is to be seen or heard; therefore, they exercise self-censorship to ensure acceptability. Other means of control are the
For control of the general population the government relies on the regular police, court, and penal systems, which are supplemented by state security police, paramilitary police auxiliaries, and militarized border guards. The regular police forces, the auxiliaries, and the state security police are all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, whereas the border guards are subordinated to the army and are regulated by the Ministry of National Defense. Courts and penal institutions are under the Ministry of Justice.
Also as means of control, the government sanctions and the party operates a number of mass organizations that affect or influence the lives of most people in the country. The Fatherland Front is a large umbrella organization that includes all other groups as well as individual members. The other mass organizations include trade unions, youth groups, athletic societies, and similar interest groups. Other than these officially sanctioned groups, there are no organizations permitted and, because the party retains control through the leadership positions, all organized activity in the country comes under BKP supervision. Such organizations also serve as upward channels of information through which the party hierarchy is able to keep in touch with popular opinion.
Militarily, Bulgaria in 1973 maintained about 160,000 men in its armed forces, which are committed to the Soviet-dominated alliance known as the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact). Ground forces constitute the great bulk of the so-called Bulgarian People's Army, but it also includes a small air and air defense force, a small naval force, and the border guards. All of the armed forces are under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defense, but top-level policymaking is a prerogative of the BKP. The party maintains great influence in the armed forces through the officer corps, 85 percent of which is made up of party members. Those officers who are not party members usually belong to the communist youth organization. Many career noncommissioned officers are also party members and, for the conscript in the ranks, political indoctrination is as regular as his military training.
CHAPTER 2
HISTORICAL SETTING
The history of Bulgaria is marked by four interrelated motifs or themes. The first motif is that of regional rivalry coupled with irredentism. The second is Bulgaria's strategic significance for the leading powers of Europe and the varying relationships with those powers. The third theme is Bulgaria's constant conflict between loyalty to, and alliances with, the East—particularly Russia and the Soviet Union—on the one hand and to the West—particularly Italy and Germany—on the other. The fourth major theme in Bulgarian history is the influence exerted by Russia (and the Soviet Union) on the internal and external affairs of Bulgaria. This influence was intermittent from the late nineteenth century until World War II but was constant after that war.
From its earliest history Bulgaria was in continual conflict with its Balkan neighbors. The area that eventually became Bulgaria was the object of regional disputes as early as the fourth century B.C. Later, when that area was taken over by the Slavs in the sixth century A.D. and the Bulgars in the seventh, a state evolved that proceeded to encroach on the territory of the mighty Byzantine Empire itself. Despite successful raids and conquests during the periods of the First Bulgarian Kingdom and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, Bulgaria was eventually reduced to subject status by the Byzantines and later by the Ottoman Turks. During Turkish rule the country was not only under constant attack by neighbors but was also utilized by the Turks as a base for Turkish expansion. When Bulgaria was finally liberated from the Turks by the Russians, irredentism and regional rivalry became the prime focus of its foreign policy. Macedonia, a much-valued land throughout Bulgarian history, became the major object of Bulgaria's irredentist campaigns, although eventually most of the land reverted to Serbia and was later incorporated into Yugoslavia. Macedonia, in addition to Thrace, which was valued because it provided access to the sea, was the primary motive for Bulgaria's role not only in the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 but also in the two world wars.
Bulgaria was not only struggling for power throughout its history; it was also a pawn in the power struggles of the so-called great powers. Before the Christian era the area was conquered first by Greece and later by Rome and was influenced strongly by both of these early cultures. Later, when the Slavs and Bulgars succeeded in forming a united state, the country was still besieged by both Byzantium and Rome. Although the Romans eventually lost their hold over Bulgaria, the Byzantine Empire took both political and religious control of the country for two centuries. When Bulgaria managed to reassert its autonomy in the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, independence was short lived, and the country again fell under alien control, this time to the Ottoman Turks. The Turks dominated Bulgaria for five centuries, until liberation by the Russians temporarily gave the country full sovereignty. Before each of the two world wars of the twentieth century, Bulgaria was actively courted by both sides as a potentially strategic ally. Realizing Bulgaria's territorial aspirations, Germany played upon Bulgarian irredentism in order to gain its collaboration in the wars, and both times Bulgaria emerged on the losing side. When World War II ended for Bulgaria in 1944, it fell under Soviet influence, where it has remained ever since.
EARLY HISTORY
The history of the country that became modern Bulgaria can be traced back many hundreds of years before the time of Christ, predating by fifteen or more centuries the arrival of the people known as Bulgars, from whom the country ultimately took its name. The earliest people to have a viable political organization in the area were the Thracians, whose loosely organized tribes occupied and controlled much of the Balkan Peninsula. Later, when their society began to disintegrate, the Thracians fell under Greek influence and joined forces with Athens to overrun neighboring Macedonia. In the fourth century B.C., however, Philip of Macedon, competing with the Greeks in a power struggle over Thrace, conquered Thrace and made the Thracians a subject people.
This invasion was followed in the second century B.C. by a Roman invasion of Macedonia and a subsequent conquest of Thrace. By the first century A.D. the Romans totally dominated the area. Despite their strict and unpopular military control over the population, under their tutelage cities grew, roads were constructed, and mining and farming were developed.
In the third century A.D. a series of mass migrations into the Balkans began; these migrations lasted for several centuries (see ch. 3). The Goths came in four separate waves during the third century. In the fourth century the Huns swept across the country, razing cities and villages. They were followed in the fourth and fifth centuries by the Visigoths and Ostrogoths who, like the Huns, continued to ravage the country. These invasions culminated in the eventual conquest and settlement by the relatively civilized Slavs in the sixth century.
In A.D. 330
In the sixth century A.D. the Slavs crossed the Danube River and occupied much of the Balkan Peninsula. Although the Byzantines built fortresses to protect themselves, they were unable to hold the Slavs at bay. Once the Slavs had taken over most of the Balkan Peninsula, they succeeded in destroying the existing social system, rapidly replacing it with their own. Soon the entire Thracian population became slavicized.
In the seventh century A.D. the Bulgars in turn began to migrate into the Balkans. They had come originally from central Asia and were said to be related to the Huns. They were of the same stock as the Turks and spoke a language similar to Turkish. Before migrating to the Balkans, they had lived north of the Black Sea. Their social order was vastly different from that of the Slavs, although eventually the Slavic system became dominant. The Bulgars, unlike the Slavs who repudiated the concept of kingship, were governed autocratically by khans. The Bulgars were warriors who fought on horseback, and their customs and dress were Asiatic.
When the Bulgars overran what is now northeastern Bulgaria, they found Slavic tribes already established and quickly made peace with them in order to strengthen themselves against the Byzantines. As the Slavs were far more numerous than the Bulgars, the latter were assimilated, and within two centuries the Bulgars had been completely slavicized. The Slavic language and culture were adopted, although the Bulgarian name and political structure were retained. A Slav-Bulgarian state was formed with the capital at Pliska.
The First Bulgarian Kingdom lasted from A.D. 679 to A.D. 1018, when it fell to Byzantium. During this period the social system resembled the feudal system of Western Europe. The king, or tsar, was the leading nobleman. As the political situation of the period varied, he was alternately supported or opposed by the boyars (large landowners). The great majority of the people were serfs.
During the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. the Bulgarians consolidated and further reinforced their power. By the ninth century they were so powerful that they challenged the Byzantine Empire itself. Twice in this period the Bulgarians controlled areas of Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Romania, and even Russia. In a battle in 811 the Bulgars completely devastated the Byzantine army that had invaded their country; killed the Byzantine emperor, Nicephorus; and went on to lay siege to Constantinople itself. The siege failed, but Bulgaria had established itself as a power with which to be reckoned.
During the ninth century A.D. Bulgaria once again became the focus of Greek and Roman cultural and political rivalry. The dispute was finally terminated when Bulgaria, under King Boris I, accepted Christianity from Constantinople rather than from Rome. As early as 836 the Byzantine Empire had sent two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to convert the Slavs. When the brothers were in Venice, they argued in favor of church services and literature in the Slavic language, opposing the Roman bishops who believed that only Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were suitable languages for worship. This dialogue further exacerbated the tensions between Byzantium and Rome. By 870 Boris made Orthodox Christianity the official religion of the state. At this juncture Bulgaria fell under the Byzantine sphere of influence, completing—for the moment—its break with the Roman religion and culture.
The influence of Cyril and Methodius upon the Bulgarian language and culture is incalculable. They not only carried a new liturgical form to Bulgaria but also devised a new alphabet known as Cyrillic. This new alphabet soon replaced Latin and Greek as the only form of writing, and on its base a new Slavic literature and culture grew up.
When Bulgaria adopted Christianity from Byzantium, it also adopted Byzantium's territorial ambitions. Under Tsar Simeon (A.D. 893-927), a period known as the Golden Age, Bulgaria extended its territories from the Black Sea in the east to the southern Carpathian Mountains in the north, to the Sava River in the west, and to Macedonia in the southwest. It was in this period that Bulgaria reached the peak of its territorial expansion, penetrating deep into the Byzantine Empire. Macedonia and Albania became Bulgaria's new frontiers; in 924 Serbia fell under Bulgarian rule. With these victories Simeon claimed the title tsar of all the Bulgarians and the Greeks.
With the territorial expansion came a domestic flourishing in the arts and an increase in trade. The arts and architecture of the period were significant for their beauty and vitality. Preslav, then the capital city, became the center of culture. Crafts, such as goldsmithing, pottery, stonemasonry, and blacksmithing grew, and shops sprang up everywhere. At the same time literature flourished, and education and scholarship took on a new importance. Knowledge of Slavic literature became widespread, and writers treated such varied topics as religion, grammar, logic, and patriotism.
By the end of the tenth century A.D., however, the First Bulgarian Kingdom was beginning to decline. Internally, the local population was weary from continual warring and from the oppression of feudalism. The boyars continued to struggle against the king and his council for their own autonomy. Because of the internal weakness of the country, Bulgaria's neighbors began to encroach on her borders. The Magyars (Hungarians) attacked from the northwest, seizing territory north of the Danube River. The Byzantines in 967 formed an alliance with the prince of Kiev in Russia and, because of this alliance, succeeded in invading Bulgaria repeatedly.
In the late tenth century there was a brief revival of Bulgarian power under Samuel, when the Bulgarians succeeded in liberating the northeastern sector of the country from Byzantine control and captured southern Macedonia. But the revival was short lived. The Byzantine emperor, Basil II, was determined to regain his lost land and once again recaptured the northeastern sector. In 1014 Basil again invaded Bulgaria; defeated Samuel's army; and, in an act of matchless cruelty, blinded 14,000 Bulgarian soldiers. From 1018 until 1185 all of Bulgaria was under Byzantine rule.
The eleventh and twelfth centuries witnessed a period of extreme hardship for the country. Byzantine domination was harsh and punitive. Monetary taxes, which added to the already heavy burdens of the peasantry, were levied in 1040. Bulgarian feudalism was replaced by Byzantine feudalism. The Byzantine church itself was a vehicle of oppression as it was later to become under Turkish rule; the church owned entire estates and villages and the people who inhabited them. There were a series of revolts during the eleventh century, but none were successful in overthrowing Byzantine tyranny. During this period the first and second crusades made their way through the Balkan Peninsula, wreaking havoc among the local populations.
The Second Bulgarian Kingdom was established in 1186 and lasted until 1396, when—like the First Bulgarian Kingdom—it was conquered by a powerful enemy and neighbor. Ironically, history came full circle to spell defeat for the Bulgarians. In the twelfth century, when the Byzantine Empire was declining because of internal weakness, the Bulgarians were able to free themselves from domination. In the fourteenth
At the close of the twelfth century the internal situation in Bulgaria was deteriorating. Taxes had been increased, and the burden borne by the peasants became still heavier. The feudal lords openly began to proclaim their independence from Byzantium, whose empire was by now steadily declining. Bulgaria was surrounded by its enemies: the Ottoman Turks, the Magyars, and the Normans. In 1183 the Magyars invaded, penetrating as far as Sofia. Realizing the vulnerability of the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarians rebelled under the leadership of two brothers, Asen and Peter. The brothers first liberated northeastern Bulgaria and then proceeded into Thrace, where they were opposed by Isaac Angel, then emperor of Byzantium. In 1187 a peace treaty was concluded in which Byzantium conceded autonomy to Bulgaria.
Despite the peace treaty, however, the Bulgarians continued to wage war against the empire, hoping to regain northern Bulgaria and Macedonia—a contested territory and bitterly disputed issue throughout Bulgarian history. In 1201 the empire again concluded a peace treaty with the Bulgarians, ceding all of northern Bulgaria and a large part of Macedonia. Eventually, in 1207 Constantinople recognized the complete independence of Bulgaria, and Bulgarian freedom was firmly established.
This new-found independence, however, did not extend to the Bulgarian church, which was still under the aegis of the empire. For that reason Kaloyan, the Bulgarian ruler, negotiated with the Roman pope, Innocent III, in order to ally the Bulgarian church with the church of Rome. The motives of Rome and those of Kaloyan were similar: to isolate the influence of Byzantium from Bulgaria. In 1204 Kaloyan was crowned king by the papal nuncio in Turnovo. Although this union lasted only briefly, it served the purpose for which it was designed, and Bulgaria was effectively cut off from Byzantium.
During the thirteenth century the Holy Roman Empire replaced the Byzantine Empire on the borders of Bulgaria, and Byzantine aggression was replaced by that of the Holy Roman Empire. When Rome declared war on Bulgaria, the Bulgarians invaded Thrace, defeating the crusaders at Adrianople in 1205. The reestablishment of the Bulgarian patriarchate in 1235 represented the end of the short-lived alliance between the Bulgarian church and Rome.
Under the reign of Ivan Asen II in the mid-thirteenth century peace was again restored, and the country once more extended its territories. The Bulgarians succeeded in capturing eastern Thrace, the Aegean coast, Albania, and Macedonia. Bulgarian territory at this time was as great as under the reign of Tsar Simeon; with these conquests Bulgaria became the largest state in the Balkans. The country was now surrounded by three seas—the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Adriatic Sea—opening the country's doors to foreign trade and culture.
Again, as in the time of Simeon, the arts and cultural life of the country flourished. Monasteries, churches, and fortresses were constructed. Religious literature and art achieved a high level of excellence, and secular works became popular. The first chronicle of Bulgarian history was written, and an interest in history grew among the people. The first Bulgarian coins were minted at this time. Trade, particularly with Italy, increased greatly because of Bulgaria's free access to the sea. Merchants and ambassadors came to Bulgaria from abroad, lending their influence to Bulgaria's economic and cultural life.
By the second half of the thirteenth century, however, internal conditions in the country had deteriorated. The feudal system, which had been further consolidated during the thirteenth century, had exacerbated the tensions of the peasants, and hostilities among the boyars increased. The throne was contested between 1257 and 1277 and was eventually taken forcibly by Ivailo, known as the swineherd tsar because of his leadership of a peasant uprising in 1277.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria's neighbors again sensed an opportune time to attack because of the internal divisions in the country. The Byzantines conquered several parts of Macedonia and Thrace, and the Hungarians and Tatars invaded on another front. At one point the Hungarian king declared himself king of Bulgaria. In 1242 there was a large-scale Mongol invasion. Tatar raids went on continually between 1241 and 1300. The country was totally fragmented; each separate area attempted to ally itself with its former enemies, whether Russian, Hungarian, or Tatar, in order to prevent widespread damage.
By the fourteenth century the Turks began to envision the conquest of Bulgaria. Internally the boyars continued to fight among themselves, and externally the country was threatened alternately by Byzantium and by Serbia. By the mid-fourteenth century all of Macedonia was under Serbian control, and the Serbian tsar—much like the Hungarian king before him—called himself the tsar of the Bulgars. The area of the country retained by the Bulgars by this time was divided into three parts: the last Bulgarian tsar maintained his capital at Turnovo in the central highlands; the so-called Vidin Kingdom, ruled by the tsar's brother, existed in the far northwest; and a principality of Dobrudzha was established in the northeast.
At the same time the Ottoman Turks were beginning to advance. Having seized areas of Asia Minor, they proceeded to raid the Balkans from 1326 to 1352. Under their leader, Murad I, they began to attack Thrace, Macedonia, and parts of Bulgaria. By 1371 they were attacking territories in northeastern Thrace. At this point they marched against Sofia and, despite active resistance, succeeded in capturing it. Despite an alliance with the Serbs, the Bulgarians were too weak to resist further; in 1388 the Turks easily won a battle against the Serbs. The fall of Turnovo was followed by the fall of Vidin and Dobrudzha. By 1396 all of Bulgaria was under Turkish domination.
TURKISH RULE
The Second Bulgarian Kingdom, like the first, had ended in total defeat, and the darkest period in Bulgarian history began with the Turkish conquest. Only the priests of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church—despite its takeover by the Greeks—were able to preserve Bulgarian national literature and culture to some degree. The Bulgarians once again were subjected to foreign domination, only this time foreign rule lasted for five centuries. Historians agree that Turkish rule was a death blow to the creative forces that had been responsible for the development of the country to that time. With Turkish domination the normal economic, political, and social life of Bulgaria ground to a halt.
The Ottoman Turks were at a far lower stage of social development than either the Byzantine Empire, which preceded them in their occupation of the Balkans, or the Balkan states themselves. The Turks lived an almost nomadic life in primitive communal systems that were headed by tribal chiefs. When the Turks occupied Bulgaria, they replaced the established feudal system with their own more rudimentary and conservative feudalism. Many boyars were executed or rendered powerless if they failed to convert to Islam. The peasants were more completely under the feudal yoke than they had ever been under Byzantine rule. The Turks imposed heavy taxes and hard labor on the people of the conquered country, whom they considered cattle. Young boys were taken from their homes, proclaimed Muslims, and conscripted into the army.