As the Tsankov regime tightens its grip on power, opposition to its policies is generating unexpected and controversial partnerships.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Prime Minister Alexander Tsankov

Todor Alexandrov

Alexander Protogerov

Dimitar Blagoev

Ivan Gueshov

Timeline for this episode:

• 1923 Nov 18th - Elections are held for the 21st National Assembly.

• 1923 Nov 26th - Bulgaria and Yugoslavia sign an agreement to pay the Yugoslavs for property confiscated or requisitioned by Bulgarian authorities during WWI.

• 1923 Dec 8-10th - The People’s Unity party holds its first conference.

• 1923, Dec 9th - The 21st National Assembly convenes.

• 1924, Jan 4th - The State Protection Act is adopted.

• 1924, Jan 10th - Political amnesty is granted to participants in the transport strike of 1919-1920, the referendum on people’s courts of 1922, the 1923 people’s courts themselves, and the June 1923 coup.

• 1924, Jan 17th - A ban on the importation of non-essential goods is implemented. This lasts until May 1926.

• 1924, Feb 5th - The Broad Socialists issue an ultimatum to the government which is rejected.

• 1924, Feb 15th - The broad socialists leave the government and go into opposition.

• 1924, Feb 20th - Two members of the Agrarian party sign an agreement with the BCP in Moscow to collaborate on a general armed uprising.

• 1924, Feb 22nd - The Treaty of Rome is signed between Italy and Yugoslavia by which Italy annexes the city of Fiume while Yugoslavia gets some nearby towns. This marked a new period of improved relations between the two countries.

• 1924, Mar 3rd - Under the agreement with Yugoslavia, the government arrests 500 activists from the Ilinden Organization and Macedonian Brotherhoods. This leads the VMRO to deliver an official protest to the Prime Minister.

• 1924, Mar 11th - Ivan Gueshov suffers a heart attack and dies.

• 1924, Mar 24th - An agreement is signed with the Entente that obliges Bulgaria to pay 25 million gold francs over 10 years with 5% interest to cover the costs of occupying the country.

• 1924, Mar 25th - A law is passed creating social security insurance for illness, accidents, old age, etc. This is paid for by a fund created from equal contributions from the state, workers, and employers. It also introduces 6 months of unpaid maternity leave.

• 1924, Mar 26th - Five members of the moderate Communist party in the National Assembly break away to create a Communist parliamentary group called the Labor Party.

• 1924, Mar 28th - The Democratic Party splits into two factions.

• 1924, Apr 2nd - In its first use, the Law for the Protection of the State bans the BCP, the Labor Party, the Bulgarian Communist Youth Union, and their related trade unions are banned.

• 1924, Apr 13th - Greece votes to become a Republic.

• 1924, Apr 22nd - The Romanian Parliament passes a law forcing the transfer of a third of the land in Southern Dobrudja to the government.

• 1924, May 6th - The Central Committee of the VMRO signs the May Manifesto announces a rapprochement with the Communist party. The VMRO also concludes an agreement to merge with the Federalist faction. However, a month later Todor Alexandrov and Alexander Protogerov withdraw their support.

• 1924, May 7th - Dimitar Blagoev, founder of the BCP, dies.

• 1924, May 17-18th - The BCP holds an underground conference, deciding under pressure from the Comintern and its members abroad to prepare for a new armed uprising.

• 1924, Jun 14th - A state security agent and VMRO member kills the Agrarian member of the National Assembly Petko D. Petkov. His father Dimitar Petkov had been Prime Minister in 1906-7 until he too was assassinated. Ironically his brother will be murdered by the Communist regime decades later.

• 1924, Jul 5-6th - A meeting of the Socialist Workers International in Vienna recommends a broad agreement between the various Socialist parties in the Balkans. This ultimately leads to the Greek communist party being forced by the Comintern to accept independent Macedonia and Thrace.

• 1924, Jul 26th - A general amnesty is announced for participants in the 1923 coup and suppression of the September Uprising as well as for the convicted members of the wartime governments (except for Dimitar Tonchev and Vasil Radoslavov).

• 1924, Aug 18th - The German government grants Tsar Ferdinand 1 million gold Marks. It will do so again in 1925.

• 1924, Aug 31st - Todor Alexandrov is murdered.

• 1924, Sep 10th - An agreement is signed and approved by the League of Nations by which Greece recognizes a Bulgarian minority in Aegean Macedonia. However, under pressure from Yugoslavia, the Greek parliament refuses to ratify it.

• 1924, Sep 12-13th - Gorna Dzumaya Events in retaliation for the murder of Todor Alexandrov.

• 1924, Sep 12-24h - Alexander Nevsky church is consecrated.

• 1924, Sep 22nd - The VMRO submits a memorandum to the League of Nations asking for it to help protect Bulgarian minority rights in Macedonia and for the region to have autonomous status under the League.

• 1924, Dec 23rd - VMRO member Dimitar Stefanof kills Peter Chaulev, a member of the VMRO central committee, in Milan.

  
  

Sources used in this episode:

• История на България в Дати by Vasil Katsunov, Plamen Mitev, Valeri Kolev, Evgenia Kalinova, and Iskra Baeva

• Crown of Thorns: The Reign of King Boris III of Bulgaria 1918-1943 by Stephane Groueff

• The Bulgarian Communist Party from Blagoev to Zhivkov by John D. Bell

• History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavic

• The Rough Road to Statecraft by Elena Statelova

• The Balkans by Misha Glenny

• Bulgaria 1878-1946: the Challenge of Choice by Tatiana Kostadinova

• TimeGhost History video