After the May 19th coup, the new government quick sets about abolishing the constitution and ruling by decree.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Tsar Boris III

Kimon Georgeiv

Princess Marie-Louise

Tsarina Giovanna

Timeline for this episode:

• 1934, May 30th - Zveno dissolves itself.

• 1934, End of May - Mass arrests of activities and armed groups of the IDRO.

• 1934, Jun 9th - The Directorate of Public Renewal is established to censor the press, control public life, and generally enact the regime’s goals.

• 1934, Jun 14th - All political parties are banned and their property and archives confiscated.

• 1934, Jun 15th - Under pressure from the government, 19 banks merge to become the Bulgarian Credit Bank, which is then granted significant credit and capital from the government.

• 1934, Jun - Prince Kiril heads the creation of a secret group of officers to combat the Military Union called the Central Kiril Directorate (CCU).

• 1934, Jul 23rd - Bulgarian-Soviet diplomatic relations are restored.

• 1934, Jul 30th - Trade Unions for public workers are banned.

• 1934, Jul 30th - Internal and external opponents of the Nazis in Germany are murdered in the Night of the Long Knives.

• 1934, Aug 2nd - Hitler officially becomes Fuhrer of Germany.

• 1934, Aug 3rd - Municipal reform begins, initially with municipalities deprived of autonomy and transformed into arms of the central government. They are also consolidated into about ⅓ their previous number.

• 1934, Aug 19th - A referendum approves Hitler’s consolidation of power as dictator.

• 1934, Aug 23rd - Mass arrests of Macedonian activists, though 10 leaders including Mihailov, go into hiding and escape the country. Authorities seize 47 machine guns, 11,000 rifles, 15 assault rifles, 637 pistols, 3 grenade launchers, 7,800 hand grenades, and 71,000 cartridges.

• 1934, Aug-Oct - State monopolies are established for essential goods including cereals and alcohol.

• 1934, Sep 1st - A new law for the Protection of the Security of the State is implemented, directed against all armed national liberation movements and including up to 10 year prison sentences.

• 1934, Sep 9th - The Directorate of Professions is established to manage trade unions.

• 1934, Sep 13th - A law is implemented to create 7 official trade unions along corporatist lines for areas like peasants, workers, merchants, etc.

• 1934, Sep 27th-29th - King Aleksander of Yugoslavia visits Sofia and Plovdiv.

• 1934, Sep - Ivan Mihailov flees to Turkey.

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

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

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

• Yugoslav Communism and the Macedonian Question by Stephen E. Palmer Jr. and Robert R. King