The Army and the War of Stamboliyski with the “Internal Enemies”

(October 1919 - March 1920)

Abstract

On the basis of authentic documentary material, the study reveals the ideological and political views of the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union (BZNS) and the steps undertaken by the coalition government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski to eliminate the right opposition (the ex-ruling liberal parties) as well as the left one (Communists, Social-democrats, Anarchists). The focus is on the employment of the army for the realization of the policy of the ruling coalition through preserving the imposed martial law, the censorship and the drumhead courts-martial.The paper studies the measures embarked upon by the civilian and military authorities to get the 24 - 25 December 1919 strikes under control and to prevent and quell the transport and political strike at the end of 1919 - beginning of 1920. The divergence between the positions of the military and those of the politicians with regard to the way for overcoming the severe post-war crisis are explained. While the military sympathize with the people's demands and are ready to arbitrate, the agrarian ministers threaten with the ghost of the revolution and take a hard and aggressive stand of no compromise, seeking a conflict that would allow them to suppress the “internal enemies” from the left. The conclusion is that in this critical time the army remains loyal to the authorities. This paves the way for new parliamentary elections and formation of a single-party agrarian government.