Lessons from Bulgaria - How a military coup did not lead to "national revival"?

published on 5/19/24 7:05 AM

Sofia residents flock to read the royal manifesto decreeing the coup plotters' new rule.

Photo: State Agency "Archives"

Ninety years ago, on 19 May 1934, the Zveno political movement and the Military League staged a bloodless coup in Bulgaria. In the name of modernising the country, the so-called "national revival", they suspended the Tarnovo Constitution, banned the political parties and the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement (VMRO). The date marks a turning point between an earlier military coup on 9 June 1923 and the subsequent Soviet military intervention that led to the coup of 9 September 1944.

The leaders of these events were Colonel Damyan Velchev, the reservist Lieutenant Colonel Kimon Georgiev and the founder of Zveno Dimo Kazasov. Prof Daniel Vachkov, director of the Institute for Historical Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, told Radio Bulgaria that the violent seizure of power was driven by objective and subjective factors.

The objective reasons lie in the post-World War I crisis, which was all-encompassing—political, moral, and, at times, economic—creating favorable conditions for seeking solutions through coups rather than democratic means. The subjective factor is that these individuals, particularly Damyan Velchev and to some extent Kimon Georgiev, were fundamentally opposed to democracy".

The professor notes that the link between the 1934 coup plotters and Royal Yugoslavia is obvious. It is financial and, to some extent, ideological. The participants clearly believe that Bulgaria should seek rapprochement with Yugoslavia.

Tsar Boris and the coup plotters at the inauguration of the Shipka monument in August 1934.

The vision of Bulgaria becoming part of Yugoslavia was particularly prevalent in anti-monarchist circles. These inter-war projects were willing to sacrifice the Bulgarian monarchy to the Karadjordjević dynasty. In general, the idea of sovereignty was compromised. It is obvious that the inclusion of Bulgaria in a Yugoslav project, which existed under Alexandar Stamboliyski, would mean a certain subjugation of Bulgaria by Serbia.

The historian does not accept the speculation that Bulgaria was threatened with occupation by the Balkan Pact** if the VMRO led by Ivan Mihailov had not staged a coup d'état. He also questions the recollections of some of the participants in the events that they were planning to assassinate Tsar Boris III if he opposed the changes. He also comments on why, in the intellectual turmoil of the inter-war years, we see in the Zveno circle Bulgarian intellectuals and writers of note tempted by politics.

Kimon Georgiev at the microphone of Radio Sofia, reading a speech for the opening of the Shipka Memorial in 1934. Tsar Boris looks at him and listens with discernible contempt.

"Unfortunately, we have the typical use of intellectuals in politics. Especially when they are not careful enough that their ideas and research may be used by unscrupulous politicians. Since World War I, the world has been searching for a new model. Classical democracy is being seriously questioned for its failure to prevent the great catastrophe of WWI.

Many intellectuals are looking for solutions in the new radical political movements that history has now categorically condemned as anti-human - I am talking about fascism, communism, national socialism. Not a few serious intellectuals are associated with these movements. At the time of the 1934 coup, there was a feeling that authoritarian regimes could cope with the economic crisis better than liberal democracies".

Kimon Georgiev listening to the Tsar's speech at the inauguration of the Shipka monument in 1934.

The organisers of the coup capitalised on widespread disillusionment and low political morale under the rule of the five-party "People's Bloc" coalition. They came with the promise of social and state "revival". But the putschists were fast losing public support. In the end, Tsar Boris III managed to remove them from power in a very elegant and bloodless way, without any riots, using only the contradictions among the putschists themselves.

In 1934, Tsar Boris III elegantly ousted the coup plotters.

The coup was intended to bring about a complete reform of society towards modernisation and what they called benign nationalism. They wanted to revive the values of the Renaissance, a time when the Bulgarian nation was united. However, this 'restoration' tolerated the regime's inherent problems, demonstrating the need to maintain a link with society.

Despite the involvement of many prominent cultural figures, events unfolded in isolation. The 'revival' became bureaucratised, working for its own interests rather than gaining the public support needed to implement such a policy effectively.

*Alexander Stamboliiski was the leader of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union and Prime Minister from 1919 to 1923. His authoritarian regime, known as the Peasant Dictatorship, was overthrown in a military coup on 09.06.1923.

** The Balkan Pact was signed on 09.02.1934 by Turkey, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia against Bulgaria's policy of seeking a peaceful revision of the borders established after the First World War.

Photos: Ivo Ivanov, State Agency "Archives"

Translated and posted by Elizabeth Radkova

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