To this day, it is debated whether the referendum on the abolition of the monarchy in Bulgaria is legal. Most often they talk about falsified votes, and the polling of the people is just a screen behind which a dictatorship is established smoothly, but very surely. Today we will follow exactly how this referendum is happening, its results and overall consequences.
Only a few months ago, the Second World War ended both in Europe and in the Far East. The victorious countries begin to prefigure the politics of the enemy camp and influence the population. The Kingdom of Bulgaria falls into the Soviet sphere of influence and is under the occupation of the forces of the Red Army.
After the end of the First World War, the largest empires in Europe lost their monarchs – Russia, headed by Nicholas II, Austria-Hungary, led by Charles IV, and Germany, ruled by Wilhelm II. A little later, the Ottoman Empire also became a republic. After May 1945, it was the turn of other European countries to change their governance structure. In order to consolidate its positions, the Fatherland Front organized a referendum, which aimed, in an apparently legal way, to indirectly transfer power entirely into its hands.
Sentiments to change the state structure appeared as early as 1944, but there were legal obstacles that stopped the process.
One of them is that, according to the current Tarnovo Constitution, Bulgaria is a hereditary constitutional monarchy with national representation. Nowhere is it mentioned in the basic law that a change to a republic can be made. The monarchy after September 9, 1944 was preserved, but the change of the regency and its composition were in conflict with the Tarnovo constitution. Changes to the Constitution require the convening of a Grand National Assembly. But since the king is the only one who can do it, but he is only 9 years old. This is also a kind of obstacle. In order for everything to be absolutely legal, the power had to wait until 1955. Then the monarch would have come of age.
Such a wait was inadmissible and this necessitates the quick actions of those in power.
According to the law, this referendum on a republic is illegal.
Despite all the speculation today, the fact is that the Bulgarian people voted unanimously for a given cause. The results are striking: over 90% voter turnout, over 95% vote “FOR” a republic. Regardless of political and class affiliation, the population desires change, the consequences of which it cannot even suspect.
It is assumed that the authorities used fear as a weapon to manipulate the population to vote positively in the referendum. Many historians question whether the vote was actually rigged. Whatever the scale of such a forgery, however, the results are telling. They point out that at that moment the majority of Bulgarians wanted the poll to end with the establishment of a republic.
On September 8, 1946, just over 4 million voters cast their ballots. With a 91.63% voter turnout and 97.01% actual ballots cast, 95.63% voted for the republic. Those who voted against and invalid ballots were less than 4%. On September 14, the Supreme Court announced the results and the next day Bulgaria was declared a People’s Republic. The international communities, led by the victorious countries of the war, support the referendum. In Bulgaria, no party disputes the results obtained.
The regents of the Bulgarian monarch, who was then 9 years old, accepted the election results. And they assume his departure from the country, although there is no formal act of abdication.
The young Simeon II and his mother – the widow Queen Joanna settled in Egypt, and a little later in Spain.
What is interesting about the referendum campaign is that both the social and political content of the republic were clarified in advance. From the very beginning, the BRP (k) strongly argued that Bulgaria would not turn into a Soviet republic. On the contrary, they want the state to become a “people’s republic”.
In 1948, during the 5th Congress of the BRP (k), “people’s democracy” declared itself the dictatorship of the proletariat. This was imposed by Stalin during his meeting with Georgi Dimitrov, Traicho Kostov and Valko Chervenkov in Moscow. Thus, Bulgaria begins its transformation towards a one-party state on the Soviet model.
From the results of the referendum, the OF opposition also feels victorious and rejoices. Nikola Petkov is delusional that the republic and complete immunity go hand in hand. Such was the conviction of a large part of the nations at that time.
After a referendum and before the dissolution of the Grand National Assembly, Vasil Kolarov was elected as the temporary president of the country.
He is one of the key communist figures in the composition of the Fatherland Front. On his order, Nikola Petkov was removed from the Supreme Court, arrested and later sentenced to death.
The elections for the Great National Assembly were held on October 27, 1946, but lasted until October 21, 1949. Then OF received 70.10% of the votes, with more than 50% for BRP(k). Out of all 465 mandates, OF received 366, and communists occupied 2/3 of the parliament. On November 22, 1946, the third government of the Patriotic Front was formed. Georgi Dimitrov was elected Prime Minister.
During the VI Supreme Court, several different approaches to the creation of the new constitution were outlined. The opposition decided to modernize the Tarnov model according to the trends in modern constitutionalism. Initially, the draft of the basic law of the OF country also borrows from the European ones, but also adds principles that are difficult to understand.
After the discussion of the commission for preparation and preparation of the constitution of the NRB, the draft of the OF is presented as the only one. The coalition sees a reason for their proposal to be accepted. In the previous elections, a change in the constitution was included in the pre-election program. It has been supported by nearly 3 million people. After the third reading and handwritten signature of each of the people’s representatives, the basic law was adopted.
According to the new constitution adopted on December 14, 1947, called “Dimitrovsk” after that, the supreme body of power is the National Assembly.
It follows the Soviet model, with parliamentarism and the separation of powers being eliminated because they are considered bourgeois vestiges.
The rights of the state to take part in the reconstruction of the country are also guaranteed. As well as – in the regulation and planning of economic and social relations.
The sole presidency of the state is abolished. This position is being replaced by a newly created body of state power – the Presidium of the National Assembly. Its activities are almost the same as those of the president today, but they are performed by a collective body, elected by the parliament. Since some activities cannot be carried out by a collective, they are transferred to the chairman of the Presidium.
The Constitution is slowly but surely leading Bulgaria to a state built on the model of the USSR. In general, the 6th Congress of the National Assembly remains in the history of the country with the adoption of the first socialist constitution. This overturns the relations between the state and society without any publicity. The next General Assembly, which is convened after more than forty years, has the same historical significance for the state. But with the opposite political sign.
Changes in the work of the judicial system and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are also taking place. Judicial independence has been liquidated, and the militia can detain persons without a judicial decision for an indefinite period. This is the first step towards the creation of a society controlled solely by the authorities.
The governance of Bulgaria increasingly resembles a satellite state of the Soviet Union, albeit implicitly. The purpose of the announced “people’s democracy” is to prepare the state for totalitarian rule based on a foreign model. The presence of opposition at the date of the new constitution does not yet suggest totalitarianism, but the government is heading headlong towards Sovietization of the country.
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