On September 30, 1923, the September Uprising was finally suppressed by government troops and specially formed volunteer units. It was organized by the Bulgarian Communist Party as an attempt to overthrow the government of Alexander Tsankov, who came to power after the June 9 coup d'état.
The events unfolded in a country shaken by political violence, economic crisis and the consequences of the wars. On June 9, 1923, the Military Union and political forces, united in the People's Agreement, overthrew the cabinet of the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union. Alexander Stamboliyski was captured and killed, and a government with Prime Minister Alexander Tsankov was appointed in his place. In June, agricultural units resisted the coup, but it was crushed.
From neutrality to armed uprising
The Bulgarian Communist Party did not actively intervene in the resistance to the coup and declared the conflict a struggle between agricultural and urban bourgeois forces. This position was later sharply criticized by the Comintern, which insisted on a common front of workers and peasants and on preparing armed action against the government.
On September 12, the authorities arrested about 2,000 prominent communist figures. The arrests accelerated the outbreak of the uprising. On September 13, armed actions began in Maglizh, and tension spread to Stara Zagora, Nova Zagora and Kazanlak. The leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party set the night of September 22-23 as the beginning of the general uprising.
The battles in Northwestern Bulgaria
The uprising gained its greatest momentum in Northwestern Bulgaria. On the night of September 23, the rebels established control over Varshets, and then captured Ferdinand, today's Montana. Georgi Dimitrov, Vasil Kolarov and Gavril Genov operated in the area. Rebel forces also headed for Vratsa, but the local organization was defeated and the city was not captured.
On September 25, a battle was fought at Boychinovtsi station. The rebels defeated a government unit, but failed to turn their success into a general breakthrough. In Lom, they captured a large part of the city, while the government forces fortified themselves in the barracks and awaited reinforcements from Vidin.
A turn of events followed. The army went on the offensive, Berkovitsa was captured, and on September 27, the government units recaptured Ferdinand. The scattered units retreated to the mountainous regions and the border with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. On September 30, the uprising was considered finally defeated.
The dispute over the nature and cost of the events
For decades, official communist historiography defined the September Uprising as the first anti-fascist uprising in the world. Later studies question both the unambiguous definition of “anti-fascist“ and the presentation of the events as a unified national movement, as the uprising remained uneven and was strongest in separate regions.
In a later assessment, Georgi Dimitrov linked the defeat to the lack of unity between communists and farmers:
“The most important reason for the defeat was that a strong alliance between workers and peasants was not established.“The defeat was followed by mass arrests, violence and political repression. The exact number of victims remains controversial, with different historiographical schools giving widely divergent estimates. The September Uprising deepened the division in Bulgarian society and became one of the most traumatic episodes in the political history of Bulgaria between the two world wars.
Sources: BNR, BTA