People's Republic of Bulgaria: Map & History

History

On 1 March 1941, the Kingdom of Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact, and officially became a member of the Axis. Following the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in April, Bulgaria came to occupy large parts of those countries. In 1942, the anti-Axis resistance movement Fatherland Front was formed from a mixture of Communists, Socialists, left-wing Agrarians and members of Zveno. The estimate for the number of partisans (armed guerrilla fighters) at any one time in Bulgaria is 18,000.

In 1944, with the entry of the Red Army into Romania, the Kingdom of Bulgaria renounced the Axis and declared neutrality.

Government and politics

The constitution was changed two times, with the Zhivkov Constitution lasting the longest. According to article 1, "The People's Republic of Bulgaria is a socialist state, headed by the working people of the village and the city. The leading force in society and politics is the Bulgarian Communist Party." The BCP created an extensive nomenklatura on each organizational level.

The PRB functioned as a unitary one-party people's republic, with People's Committees representing local governance. Their role was to exercise Party decisions in their respective areas and to otherwise defer to popular opinion in decision-making. In the late 1980s, the BCP had an estimated peak membership of 1,000,000 — more than 10% of the population.

Military

In 1946, the military rapidly adopted a Soviet military doctrine and organization. The country received large amounts of Soviet weaponry, and eventually established a domestic military vehicle production capability. By the year 1988, the Bulgarian People's Army (Българска народна армия) numbered 152,000 men, serving in four different branches – Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, and Missile Forces. The Bulgarian People's Army (BPA) operated 3,000 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 large caliber artillery systems, over 500 combat aircraft, 33 combat vessels, as well as 67 Scud missile launchers, 24 SS-23 launchers and dozens of FROG-7 artillery rocket launchers.

Economy

The PRB adopted a centrally planned economy, similar to those in other COMECON states. In the mid-1940s, when collectivisation began, Bulgaria was a primarily agrarian state, with some 80% of its population located in rural areas. Production facilities of all sectors were rapidly nationalised. Chervenkov finally ended all private economic activity. Bulgarian agricultural productivity increased rapidly after collectivisation. Large-scale mechanisation resulted in an immense growth in labour productivity. Government subsidies covered the large losses from the artificially low consumer prices.

Chervenkov's Stalinist policy led to a massive industrialisation and development of the energy sector, which remained one of Bulgaria's most advanced economic sectors.