Yugoslavia gets a new constitution, the VMRO takes its violence to a new level, and Bulgaria gets brought ever closer to an increasingly authoritarian Germany.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Prime Minister Andrey Lyapchev

Prime Minister Nikola Mushanov

King Aleksander of Yugoslavia

Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria

Adolf Hitler

Hermann Goering

Georgi Dimitrov

Timeline for this episode:

• 1931, Sep 3rd - King Aleksander of Yugoslavia announces a new constitution.

• 1932, Sep 7th - Prime Minister Mushanov makes key changes in his government.

• 1932, Sep 25th - Municipal elections in Sofia see the Worker’s Party win 19 seats, People’s Bloc, 12 Tsankov’s Blue Alliance 4, but a court cancels the election of 15 of the worker’s party seats. The Tsankov aligned members also resign, leading to the Democrat Party winning the mayorship and control of the Municipal Council.

• 1932, Sep 27th - The Second Fascist National Council is held in Sofia and changes its name to the National Association of Fascists.

• 1932, Sep - Reforms for Bulgarian Muslim communities are implemented, appointing new teachers and requiring instruction in Bulgarian.

• 1932, Oct 22-26th - The Third Balkan Conference is held in Bucharest. However, due to the conference’s refusal to discuss minority issues, the Bulgarian delegation withdraws.

• 1932, Dec 31st - Prime Minister Mushanov makes further changes to his government.

• 1933, Jan 13th - Princess Maria-Louise of Bulgaria is born.

• 1933, Jan 17th - Those tried under the State Protection Act up to June 29th 1931 are amnestied.

• 1933, Jan 24th - Members of the Mihailovist wing of the VMRO assassinate Communist MP Hristo Traykov.

• 1933, Jan 30th - Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany and begins rearming the country almost immediately.

• 1933, Feb 5th - 18 former Agrarians return from exile under the amnesty program and join the Vrabcha Agrarian party.

• 1933, Feb 12th - A Great Macedonian Assembly is held in Gorna Dzhumaya in which the Mihailovists declare that an armed struggle should be waged against Yugoslavia to obtain an independent Macedonian state. Yugoslavia protests, though Sofia denies any support for the movement. This results in further crackdowns on VMRO activity by Bulgarian authorities.

• 1933, Feb 27th - The Reichstag fire gives the Nazi government a pretense for ending civil liberties. Three Bulgarians are arrested in connection with the incident.

• 1933, Mar 5th - 9 More Agrarians return from exile and join the Pladne Agrarian party.

• 1933, Mar 23rd - A law specifically addressing political assassinations is passed.

• 1933, Mar - Ivan Mihailov leads the creation of a Macedonian Auxiliary Legion of secret terrorist cells to fight against his faction’s opponents.

• 1933, Apr 12th - The Minister of Justice Yordan Kachakov uses the Law on the Protection of the State to revoke the mandate of 29 MPs from the Worker’s Party.

• 1933, May - Bulgaria and Yugoslavia sign their first commercial treaty, marking their return to formal economic relations after 37 years.

• 1933, Jun 6th - An attempted assassination of Greek PM Venizelos fails.

• 1933, Jun 20th - A law is passed as a part of ongoing agrarian reform which makes it easier for poor peasants to acquire land.

• 1933, Jun 25th - Police blockade Sofia in order to seize weapons from the VMRO.

• 1933, Jul-Sep - Tsar Boris III embarks on a tour of Europe, notably meeting Yugoslav King Aleksander at the Belgrade Train Station on September 18th.

• 1933, Sep-Nov - Turkey signs a series of border guarantee agreements directed against Bulgaria with Greece, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

• 1933, Sep 20th - The 1925 Treaty of Ankara is extended for 5 years.

• 1933, Sep 21-Dec 23rd - The Bulgarian communists accused of the Reichstag Fire are put on trial in Leipzig, but are acquitted due to lack of evidence.

• 1933, Nov 5-11th - The Fourth Balkan Conference is held in Thessaloniki. There, the Bulgarian delegation is pressured by the British and French to sign a draft of the Balkan Pact.

• 1933, Nov 27th - The Military Union holds a secret congress in Sofia where it decides to stage a coup against the People’s Bloc government.

• 1933, Dec 29th - Members of the fascist Iron Guard assassinate Ion Duca, the Prime Minister of Romania.

• 1933, Japan and Germany withdraw from the League of Nations.

• 1934, Jan 10th - At the request of the German government, the Bulgarians accused of the Reichstag Fire have their citizenship revoked. As a result they are granted Soviet citizenship and are extradited there.

• 1934, Feb 6th - The French far-right mounts a failed coup against the government.

• 1934, Feb 9th - Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Romania sign the Balkan Pact against Bulgaria and Albania. Despite British and French pressure, Bulgaria refuses to sign it and instead proposes bilateral territorial guarantees with its neighbors.

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Sources:

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

• The Rose of the Balkans by Ivan Ilchev

• History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavich

• Crown of Thorns by Stephane Groueff

• The Balkans by Misha Glenny

• Alexander Stamboliiski by R.J. Crampton

• A Concise History of Bulgaria by R.J. Crampton

• Bulgaria 1879-1946: The Challenge of Choice by Tatiana Kostadinova

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