1923 Bulgarian coup d'état

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
9 June coup d'état

The leaders of the coup in the house of General Ivan Rusev (the image has been restored).
From left to right: Dimo Kazasov, Kimon Georgiev, Nikola Rachev, Yanaki Mollov, Ivan Valkov, Aleksandar Tsankov, Khristo Kalfov, Ivan Rusev, Petar Todorov, Tsvetko Boboshevski.
Date9 June 1923
Location
Sofia, Bulgaria
Result

Coup successful:
Government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski deposed and replaced by one under Aleksandar Tsankov.

Belligerents
Bulgarian Land Forces
Military League
People's Alliance
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)		 Bulgaria Government of Bulgaria
(Bulgarian Agrarian National Union) Orange Guard
Commanders and leaders
Ivan Valkov (Army)
Damyan Velchev (Military Union)
Aleksandar Tsankov (Democratic Alliance)
Todor Aleksandrov (IMRO)		 Aleksandar Stamboliyski † Rayko Daskalov (Orange Guard)

The 1923 Bulgarian coup d'état, also known as the 9 June coup d'état (Bulgarian: Деветоюнски преврат, Devetoyunski prevrat), was a coup d'état in Bulgaria implemented by armed forces under General Ivan Valkov's Military League on the evening of 9 June 1923. Hestitantly legitimized by a decree of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, the coup overthrew the elected government headed by Aleksandar Stamboliyski of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, and replaced it with one under Aleksandar Tsankov.

Background

The Bulgarian army, defeated in World War I, was limited in size to 20,000 men by the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine. A shadow of its former glory, the army retained weapons hidden away for better times.[1] In 1919 a group of officers led by Generals Ivan Valkov and Velizar Lazarov – and joined by Kimon Georgiev and Damyan Velchev – formed the Military League. This organization grew over the next couple of years to effectively command the army.

After the war

Minister of Defence and had no representation in cabinet since the end of the war. This meant that Stamboliyski's government had no support from the army. As the power of the Military League grew the civilian government was in danger of being overthrown by an unloyal army.[1]

To the dismay of opposition parties and Tsar Boris III, the BANU and

plebiscite
, the government began trying and imprisoning leaders of opposition parties for their roles in previous wars. In the face of repression, several parties decided that the overthrow of the government was a necessity to their survival. Based in the Macedonian region of Bulgaria the nationalist and revolutionary Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization carried out attacks against Greece and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in attempt to free the Bulgarian lands under Greek and Yugoslav rule. On March 23, 1923 Stamboliyski signed the Treaty of Niš pledging to suppress their activities. The organization, until now at peace with the government, now began plotting against it.

Preparations

Opposition parties met with leaders of the Military League to prepare for the coup. The Military League, wanting to give an appearance of legality to the ouster of Stamboliyski, needed a civilian government to hand over power to.[1]

Coup

On the morning of June 9, 1923, before dawn, the order was given for the garrisons in Sofia to block roads, cut telephone lines, and take control of key objectives such as police stations, post offices and train stations.[3] After three hours, the coup was successful. By 5 a.m. a new government led by Aleksandar Tsankov installed in Sofia.[1] The next morning the leaders of the coup meet with Tsar Boris at his palace in Vrana. After a six-hour meeting they convinced him to sign a decree legitimizing the new cabinet, on the condition the new government include agrarians and avoid repression.[3] Both of these conditions were ignored.

Aleksandar Stamboliyski was away from the capital on the day of the coup. He was arrested five days later and handed over to Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) fighters in his home town of Slavovitsa who brutally tortured him for hours, and cut off his hand, before finally murdering him.[4] Besides Stamboliyski, other notable BANU representatives were killed immediately after the coup as well, such as the mayor of Sofia Krum Popov.

Aftermath

Despite the initial success, the new government was still in danger. In several places, the coup met with the armed opposition of agrarians and peasants, an event known in Bulgarian historiography as the June Uprising. The uprising was largely unorganized in its essence, lacking a common leadership – after the death of Stamboliyski – and a nationwide radius of action. Despite large-scale activity by the rebels around Pleven (which they managed to capture), Pazardzhik and Shumen, it was quickly crushed by the new government. Crucial was the inactivity of the Bulgarian Communist Party which viewed the events as "a clash between the urban and peasant bourgeoisie" and greeted the fall of BANU as the Union viewed the Communists as its enemies during its rule.

Unlike the agrarians, the Communists Party of Bulgaria (BCP, member of

Comintern) had a strong military organization. It was well supplied with arms by BCP followers within the barracks and, unlike the party of the agrarians, was already in the grip of the notorious communist iron discipline.[5] Its position could allegedly have decided between the success or failure of the coup. In a move that would prove fatal to both the agrarians and later themselves, the communists did not take part in the June Uprising. Its leadership regarded both the uprising and the coup as "struggle for power between the urban and rural bourgeoisie" and as a replacement of one military dictatorship – that of the "rural bourgeoisie" and their 'posse comitatus', with another – that of the urban upper middle class.[5]
The party's stance of neutrality allowed the new government to crush the rebels and consolidate its power.

Arrested rebels in Vratsa

Under pressure from the Comintern, who condemned their inactivity, the Communist Party made preparations in August for an uprising the following month. This short time frame did not allow for nationwide organization. Furthermore, the new government was made aware of the impending rebellion and subjected the communists to mass arrests. This crippling pre-emptive blow crippled the rebels and who finalized plans for an uprising on the eve of September 23. The insurrection was put down by the army. Thousands of rebels were killed without charge or trial.[5]

This marked the debut of Aleksandar Tsankov's reign of "white terror", prompting the future

bombing
of the St Nedelya Church, prompting, in turn, martial law and an intensification of the terror.

See also

  • St Nedelya Church assault
  • Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934
  • Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944

References

  1. ^ a b c d istorik1973. "Военният преврат на 9 юни 1923г". Bulgarian National Television. Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 14 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Bulgarian)
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0521616379
    .
  3. ^ a b istorik1973. "Превратът на 9 юни 1923г". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 15 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Bulgarian)
  4. ^ "Юнските събития от 1923г". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 15 February 2014. (Bulgarian)
  5. ^ a b c "History of Bulgaria". Extract from the book "Bulgaria Illustrated History". Boriana. Publishing House. Archived from the original on 11 October 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  • Делев, Петър; et al. (2006). "46. Националната катастрофа и бурното следвоенно десетилетие – 1919–1931 г.". История и цивилизация за 11. клас (in Bulgarian). Труд, Сирма.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1923_Bulgarian_coup_d%27état&oldid=1218200629"