Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
조국전선 (불가리아)
The Bulgarian anti-fascist coalition founded on the programme published on 17 July 1942 by the leadership of the Bulgarian Workers' Party (Communists) in Moscow. The Communists, the Political Circle Zveno, the Pladne wing of the Agrarian Union, part of the Social Democrats and unaffiliated public figures joined it. It took power in the coup of 9 September 1944 under Kimon Georgiev and from 1947 was in effect the only legal political organisation, presenting a single list under Communist control. In 1990 it was renamed the Fatherland Union.
In depth
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Workers' Party leadership in Moscow, Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov among them, published the Fatherland Front programme on 17 July 1942. It demanded withdrawal from the Tripartite Pact and of the occupation troops from Serbia, freedom of the press and association, an amnesty for political prisoners, repeal of the anti-Jewish laws and a Grand National Assembly to abolish the monarchy. Inside Bulgaria Tsola Dragoycheva and Kiril Dramaliev organised it; most leaders of the former parties refused to work with the Communists, but the Political Circle Zveno, the Pladne wing of the Agrarian Union, part of the Social Democrats and unaffiliated figures such as Petko Stoyanov and Dimo Kazasov joined.
A National Committee of Dramaliev, Nikola Petkov, Kimon Georgiev, Grigor Cheshmedzhiev and Dimo Kazasov was formed on 10 August 1943; from the start the Communists held the majority of the leadership and chose the other participants. The National Committee's manifesto of late August 1944 set out the aim of taking power, and on 9 September the Front seized power in Sofia in a coup. The government of Kimon Georgiev of Zveno signed the armistice with the Allies in Moscow on 28 October and joined the war against Germany.
In the summer of 1945, as Communist dominance hardened, most of the Agrarian Union under Nikola Petkov, most of the Social Democrats and unaffiliated figures such as finance minister Petko Stoyanov left the Front and formed an opposition; the Communists split off parts of both parties to keep them in the Front and brought in Stoyan Kosturkov's Radical Party. The Front won a large majority in the election of 18 November 1945; after the referendum of September 1946 proclaimed a People's Republic, Dimitrov became prime minister in November.
In 1948 and 1949 the remaining parties except the pro-communist Agrarians dissolved themselves into the Communist Party or the Front, which became a mass socio-political organisation under Communist control. Voters received a single Front list at every election from 1949 to 1986, with official approval above 99 per cent. Chairmen of its National Council ran from Dimitrov (1942–1949) to Valko Chervenkov, Encho Staykov and others, and in 1990 it was renamed the Fatherland Union. It is distinct from the Fatherland Front of Austria (1933–1938) and the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.