Europe’s Liberation 80 Years On: Bulgaria
Bulgaria has one of the oldest traditions of anti-fascist struggle in Europe, dating back to the 1920s. The self-serving narratives of contemporary political forces have obscured this rich heritage.
Group of Bulgarian partisans of the Fatherland Front in 1944. (Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
When speaking of the Bulgarian anti-fascist movement (or rather movements), most sources focus exclusively on the small armed resistance and the coalition of the Fatherland Front, which toppled the Axis-allied monarcho-fascist regime that held power between 1941 and 1944. A closer look, however, shows us that Bulgarian anti-fascism had a much longer lifespan.
Notably, two events that took place in Bulgaria in 1923 compete for the title of “the first anti-fascist rebellion in world history”: the peasant-led resistance to the June 9 military coup d’état against the agrarian government of Aleksandar Stamboliiski; and the communist-led (though also largely peasant-based) uprising against the self-appointed government of Aleksandar Tsankov in late September 1923.
“Open Terrorist Dictatorship”
At the time of the anti-agrarian coup, the communists declared a position of neutrality, calling it an “infight between urban and rural bourgeoisie.” This was despite the fact that peasants formed the core of the communist movement in largely agrarian Bulgaria, whether during the poorly organized 1923 uprising or the guerrilla warfare of the 1940s.
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