1918-1926 1934-1939







Bulgaria 1926-1934


Administration . The new Prime Minister Andrei Lyapchev (Democratic Agreement, 1926-1931) reduced the controls on political life imposed under martial law. It continued to be extremely difficult to obtain a parliamentary majority, the political fragmentation worsened. In 1931, Lyapchev was succeeded as prime minister by A. Malinov (Democratic Party), who shortly afterward was succeeded by N. Mushanov (DP). General elections were held in 1927 and 1931. A 1931 attempted coup failed (AAnn 1932 p,126).

Foreign Policy . In 1929, Bulgaria signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact (NIYB 1929 p.132).
When the Balkan Pact was founded in 1934, Bulgaria chose not to join. Among the goals of the Balkan Pact was to secure peace on the peninsula, based on the present borders; Bulgaria, on the other hand, aimed at regaining the territories it had to cede in the Treaty of Neuilly. Bulgaria tolerated IMRO, which conducted terrorist activities in Vardar Macedonia and thus strained relarions with SHS/Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece also complained about raids which had originated from Bulgarian territory.
In 1930 Bulgarian Tsar Boris III. married Princess Giovanna of Italy, in a ceremony attended by Benito Mussolini. Italy blocked the discussion of border violations blamed on Bulgaria by her neighbours in the League of Nations.
In 1933 King Alexander of Yugoslavia paid a state visit to Bulgaria.

The Economy . Bulgaria's economy, in the late 1920es, was in a poor shape. The country had to pay reparations; it had to integrate c.120,000 refugees; relations with her neighbours SHS, Greece and Romania were poor. The dominant economic sector still was agriculture.
In 1930 it was announced that the Italian car industry held a quasi monopoly on the Bulgarian market (AAnn 1931 p.131).
In 1930, the Great Depression set in. Unemployment rose; the average income declined sharply, dissatisfaction of peasants and workers with the government equally rose.The reparations Bulgaria had to pay were cancelled on 1932, but this was not enough to improve the economy.
Main agricultural products were wheat, maize, barley, raisins, rye and sunflower seeds. Main animals kept were sheep, cattle, goats and hogs. Lignite mining was considerable. In 1926, Bulgaria produced 0.995 million metric tons of wheat, in 1933 1.509 million, in 1934 1.07 million metric tons (IHS p.261).
In 1932 Bulgaria requested a general moratorium on the service of foreign debt (AAnn 1933 p.120).

Political History . The Communist Party was banned by the government in 1926. By 1933 IMRO activities had reached such a scope, that the death penalty was introduced for political murders, and a one-day state of siege of the capital of Sofia was proclaimed.

Social History . The census of 1926 counted 5.478 million Bulgarians. In 1934 the population of Bulgaria numbered 6,077,939, of which 618,000 were Turks, 81,000 Gypsies, 28,000 Jews. The largest cities were Sofia with 287,095 and Plovdiv with 99,883 inhabitants.
In 1926 the integration of the c.120,000 refugees repatriated since 1923 was still a problem; in 1927 Bulgaria received a loan guaranteed by the League of Nations, for the purpose of repatriating Bulgarian refugees, which numbered c.120,000. By the end of 1927 one third of the number had been provided with adequate housing and land (AAnn 1928 p.120).

Cultural History . Radio broadcasting began in 1930 (BNR).
Bulgarian athletes participated in the Summer Olympics of Amsterdam 1928. Bulgaria did not send a team to the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles 1932, as transportation costs were regarded too high.







EXTERNAL
LINKS 		Articles List of Prime Ministers in Bulgaria, Elections in Bulgaria, Andrei Lyapchev, Tsar Boris III. of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Communist Party, Bulgaria at the 1928 Summer Olympics, IMRO in the Interwar Period, Bulgarian National Radio, from Wikipedia
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Bulgaria
DOCUMENTS Table of Bulgaria's Prime Ministers, 1879-present, from Bulgaria Online
World Statesmen : Bulgaria, from Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : Bulgaria, from Population Statistics, Univ. Utrecht
Bulgarian banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
REFERENCE B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics. Europe 1750-1988, NY : Stockton Press 1992 [G]
R.J. Crampton, A Concise History of Bulgaria, Cambridge Concise Histories 1997 pp.159-163 KMLA Lib.Sign. 949.7 C889a
Article : Bulgaria, pp.623-636, in : Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropaedia vol.14, KMLA Lib.Sign. R 032 B862n v.14
Raymond Detrez, Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria, Lanham Md. : Scarecrow 2006, KMLA Lib.Sign. R 949.9003 D 483h
Hübner's Weltstatistik, 73. issue, edited by Ernst Rösner, Wien 1939, in German [G]
Article : Bulgaria, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1928 pp.715-723, 1929 pp.708-717, 1932 pp.714-723 [G]
Article : Bulgaria, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.132-133; 1928 pp.120-121; 1930 pp.133-136; 1931 pp.129-131; 1932 pp.125-127; 1933 pp.119-121; 1934 pp.120-121; 1935 pp.114-116 [G]
Article : Bulgaria, in : New International Year Book 1928 pp.119-121, 1930 pp.119-121; 1932 pp.121-122; 1933 pp.114-116; 1934 pp.105-107 [G]
Article : Bulgaria, in : Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1932 pp.131-132, 1933 pp.99-100, 1934 pp.114-116 [G]
Time/Life : Time Capsule 1927. A History of the Year Condensed from the Pages of Time, NY : Time/Life 1968, pp.102-103 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on August 24th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics