A different view of the events of 1923-1924. Veselin Yanchev, "Army, Public Order and Internal Security. September 1923. The Failure of an Ordered Uprising"

Abstract

Review of the monograph by Prof. Dr. Veselin Yanchev, Army, Public Order and Home Security. September 1923. The Failure of an Ordered Uprising, published by St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, Sofia, 2023. ISBN 978-954-07-5641-7. ISBN (Online) 978-954-07-5642-4. Professor Yanchev’s study traces the ways in which the army participated in maintaining public order during the turbulent year of 1923 in Bulgaria. At that time, following an order from the Comintern in Moscow, the Bulgarian communists launched an ill-prepared, unnecessary, and doomed uprisingagainst the government. The military, constitutionally obliged to safeguard peace within the country, intervened – with varying degrees of success. This book is devoted to the methods they used and the results they achieved. It also raises a serious question: Can the authorities afford to act in violation of the law? And who determines whether such actions are justified? Finally, the monograph debunks numerous myths about the September Uprising that have long been embedded in Bulgarian historiography. Purposefully heroized in scholarly and literary works alike, this event takes on an entirely different appearance in the pages of this remarkable study.