Bulgaria under Communism

The book traces the history of communist Bulgaria from 1944 to 1989. A chronological overview of the building of the socialist state from the ground up, its peaceful entrenchment into the routine of everyday life, its inner crises, and its gradual running out of steam and self-destruction are charted. The book is the definitive guide to Bulgaria under communism and how the communist system operates on a day-to-day level.

Autorentext
Ivaylo Znepolski (Editor) is Emeritus Professor at the University of Sofia and Director of the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Mihail Gruev is Head of the Bulgarian State Archive.
Momtchil Metodiev is Research Fellow at the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Martin Ivanov is Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Sofia.
Daniel Vatchkov is Head of the Institute of Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Ivan Elenkov is Full Professor at the University of Sofia, teaching the History of Bulgarian Modern Culture.
Plamen Doynov is Associate Professor at the New Bulgarian University.

Klappentext
The book traces the history of communist Bulgaria from 1944 to 1989. A detailed narrative-cum-study of the history of a political system, it provides a chronological overview of the building of the socialist state from the ground up, its entrenchment into the peaceful routine of everyday life, its inner crises, and its gradual decline and self-destruction. The book is the definitive and the most complete guide to Bulgaria under communism and how the communist system operates on a day-to-day level.

Inhalt
Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION: HOW SHOULD WE WRITE THE HISTORY OF COMMUNIST BULGARIA? The Problem of Distance: From Close Up and Far Away Why the Silence about Communism? Macrohistory or History from the "Bottom Up" The Trajectory of the Regime: Three Provisionally Differentiated Periods The Regime and Society in an Interdisciplinary Perspective The People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Bulgaria - Continuity or a Break? HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: THE COMMUNIST PARTY'S PATH TO POWER The Building of the Modern Bulgarian State The Upturn of the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Centuries Bulgaria's Participation in Wars from 1912-1918 and the Subsequent Catastrophe Intense Struggles during the Interwar Period The Initial Phase of the War and Bulgarian Neutrality (1939-1941) Bulgaria in the Orbit of the Third Reich (1941-1944) PART ONE: THE TIMES OF HIGH STALINISM 1. BULGARIA IN THE SHADOW OF STALIN Establishment of the Fatherland Front Government in Bulgaria The Moscow Truce and Bulgaria's Participation in the Final Stage of World War Two Conflicts within the Fatherland Front and the Formation of a Legal Opposition to the Regime The Intensification of Social-Political Struggles within the Country Signing the Peace Treaty with Bulgaria Convening a Grand National Assembly and the Liquidation of the Opposition 2. GEORGI DIMITROV AND "THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY" Georgi Dimitrov and His Diary Dimitrov and Stalin On the Nature of "The People's Democracy" 3. BULGARIA IN THE YEARS OF CLASSICAL STALINISM The Second Major Wave of Repression Vâlko Chervenkov - The New Charismatic Leader 4. BUILDING THE COMMUNIST ECONOMY IN BULGARIA The Post-War Economic Crisis and the Beginning of Deep Transformations within the Bulgarian Economy (1944-1947) The Sovietization of the Bulgarian Economy (1948-1953) Ideas for Bulgaria's Economic Development as a Weapon in Power Struggles (1953-1956) 5. THE BULGARIAN VILLAGE UNDER COMMUNISM: COLLECTIVIZATION, SOCIAL CHANGE AND ADAPTATION At the Crossroads Between Private and Collective Agriculture Tools for Imposing the Soviet Kolkhoz Model The First Stage of Mass Collectivization The TKZS and Social Change in the Bulgarian Village The Villagers' Resistance The Temporary Lull The Final Push Towards Mass Collectivization The Villagers' Strategies for Adaptation 6. THE GORYANI - ARMED RESISTANCE AGAINST COMMUNIST REPRESSION 7. THE SOVIETIZATION OF BULGARIA - A BASIC RESOURCE FOR THE NEW COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES Objective Factors in the Sovietization of Bulgaria Subjective Factors in Sovietization Entanglement in the Totalitarian Web 8. STATE SECURITY WITHIN THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNIST STATE - RULING THROUGH VIOLENCE Building State Security Political Repression Organizational Principles Intelligence Departments Domestic Security and Political Police 9. EDUCATION AND CULTURE WITHIN THE SYSTEM OF THE COMMUNIST STATE The New Government's Educational Policy The Seizure and Centralization of Cultural Institutes and Independent Organizations of Intellectuals Censorship Institutions The Imposition of Socialist Realism in the Literature and Culture of Communist Bulgaria 10. COMMUNIST BULGARIA'S FOREIGN POLICY AND THE COLD WAR The Idea of a South Slavic Federation and Its Failure The Signing of the Peace Treaty and the Official Establishment of Bulgaria's Status as a Soviet Satellite Bulgaria and International Relations within the Borders of the Eastern Bulgaria's Relations with the United States and Other Western Countries during the Cold War Bulgaria and Bloc-Internal Crises Bulgaria and the Third World PART TWO: FROM SHEEPISH DESTALINIZATION TOWARDS THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE REGIME AND ITS PENETRATION INTO EVERYDAY LIFE 11. AFTER STALIN - POLITICAL PROCESSES WITHIN "REAL SOCIALISM" A Timid Thaw in Bulgarian Society The 1956 April Plenum of the CC of the BKP and Its Consequences Todor Zhivkov's Seizure of Absolute Power Factional Struggles and Conspiracies within in the BKP during the 1960s and the early 1970s The Zhivkov Constitution of 1971 and the Leader's New Cult of Personality Old Foreign Policy with a New Voice Bulgaria and the End of the Cold War 12. THE COURSE TOWARDS ACCELERATED ECONOMIC DEVELOPM…