Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2016) |
Fatherland Front Отечествен фронт | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Founded | July 17, 1942 |
| Dissolved | 1989 |
| Succeeded by | Отечествен съюз (Fatherland Union) |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism-Leninism Stalinism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Party flag | |
 | |
The Fatherland Front (Bulgarian: Отечествен фронт, ОФ; Otečestven Front, OF) began as a Bulgarian Bolshevik political resistance movement during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party, a wing of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party, were all part of the OF. The constituent groups of the OF had widely contrasting ideologies and had united only in the face of the pro-German militarist dictatorship in Bulgaria. At the beginning, the members of the OF worked together, without a single dominating group. Professional associations and unions could be members of the front and maintain their organisational independence. However, the Bulgarian Communist Party soon began to dominate. In 1944, after the Soviet Union had declared war on Bulgaria, the OF committed a coup d'état and they declared war on Germany and the other Axis nations. The OF government, headed by Kimon Georgiev (Zveno), immediately signed a ceasefire treaty with the Soviet Union.
On November 18, 1945, it won a large majority after being the only party or alliance listed on the ballot.[1] In 1946 Georgiev resigned and his successor was Georgi Dimitrov, leader of the communists, and Bulgaria became a People's Republic. It eventually transformed into a wide-ranging popular front under overall Communist control, and all member parties except the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union dissolved. With the end of Communism in 1989 it was dissolved.
Chairmen of the National Council
- Georgi Dimitrov - 1949
- Encho Stajkov - 1957 - May 1967
- Boyan Bulgaranov - May 1967 - April 1972
- Georgi Traikov - 1972 - 1974
- Pencho Kubadinski - 1974 - 1989
- Zhivko Zhivkov - 1989 - April 1, 1990
Electoral history
Grand National Assembly elections
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 4,588,996 | 100% | 241 / 241
|
 241
|
| 1953 | 4,981,594 | 99.8% | 249 / 249
|
8
|
| 1957 | 5,204,027 | 100% | 247 / 247
|
 2
|
| 1962 | 5,461,224 | 100% | 321 / 321
|
74
|
| 1966 | 5,744,072 | 100% | 414 / 414
|
93
|
| 1971 | 6,154,082 | 100% | 400 / 400
|
14
|
| 1976 | 6,369,762 | 100% | 400 / 400
|
|
| 1981 | 6,519,674 | 100% | 400 / 400
|
|
| 1986 | 6,639,562 | 100% | 400 / 400
|
|
| 1990 | only Constituencies | 2 / 400
|
398
| |
References
- ^ Jessup, John E. (1989). A Chronology of Conflict and Resolution, 1945-1985. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-24308-5.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1942 establishments in Bulgaria
- Political parties established in 1942
- Political parties disestablished in 1989
- 1989 disestablishments in Bulgaria
- Popular fronts of communist states
- Defunct political party alliances in Bulgaria
- Anti-fascist organizations
- Bulgaria–Soviet Union relations
- Defunct left-wing political party alliances
- Stalinist parties