It is 101 years since the September Uprising in 1923 – an expression of political instability and the crisis of democracy in Bulgaria after the First World War. Defeat in the war led to the growth of leftist sentiments in the country. In 1920-1923, the largest left-wing party was in power – The Bulgarian National Agricultural Union /BZNS/ recalls BNR. He initiated some reforms, but his rule was also associated with cases of corruption, authoritarianism and the unceremonious use of the Orange Guard against political opponents.
Agrarian power fell into isolation and was overthrown by a military coup on June 9, 1923. After the coup, Alexander Tsankov became the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. In response, the June Rebellion broke out and was quickly crushed. It is not supported by the Communist Party, which maintains neutrality.
At that time, from June 12 to 23, a plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International was held in Moscow – the historian Prof. Lyudmil Spasov points out in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. – And at this plenum, the BKP's tactics were subjected to devastating criticism. Vasil Kolarov /then General Secretary of the Comintern/ was sent to Bulgaria. After his arrival, he sent a telegram to Moscow in which he stated that everything was calm in the country, that the communists who were arrested around June 9 had been released, that there was only censorship, but no conditions for a revolutionary struggle.
Creator of the organized socialist movement in Bulgaria, Dimitar Blagoev, was against the uprising, condemns it and says that it is doomed.
However, the reaction of the Comintern was sharp. The German Communists claim that the proletariat in their country is ready to rise up and carry out a socialist revolution. In Moscow, they believe that it will lead to successful revolutions in other European countries. And this turns out to be decisive later for the events in Bulgaria.
The Comintern became intransigent towards the Bulgarian communists, and they continued to defend their position. Even Georgi Dimitrov states that the overthrow of the agricultural government is a profoundly progressive act – says Prof. Spasov. – Comintern intervention is required.
Comintern agent Alexander Abramovich-Chetuev was sent to Bulgaria at the beginning of August. Under his pressure, Vasil Kolarov was forced to change his original position. His motives for this are firstly the expected revolution in Germany, secondly - the negotiations that began in Moscow between VMRO and the Soviet government. And thirdly, the readiness expressed by the agricultural emigration in August to participate in an uprising to overthrow the government of Alexander Tsankov is taken into account. Thus, at the beginning of August, the Communist Party in Bulgaria adopted a course of armed insurrection.
BKP begins negotiations with VMRO. The condition of its leader, Todor Aleksandrov, is that there should not be an uprising in Southwest Bulgaria, in the Petrich region, because this would lead to Yugoslav intervention. He declares that if this condition is observed he is ready to maintain neutrality. Northwest Bulgaria, again close to the border with Yugoslavia, was chosen as the center of the uprising. This is related to the contemplated revolution in Germany. A crisis in the relations between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, a chaos in the Balkans will facilitate the victory of the German revolution – Prof. Spasov explains. – In Moscow, only Stalin had certain reservations about the revolutionary possibilities of the German proletariat, but such a revolutionary phraseology had become swirling that he himself was forced to withdraw his objections.
The events in Bulgaria are also developing in this context. The police agents of Alexander Tsankov learned about the change in the position of the BKP. In Lopushna, Tsankov warns the villagers, gathered for the temple festival of the local monastery, that if they succumb to communist propaganda, they will be drowned in blood. On September 12-13, over 2,500 communists were arrested. The uprising broke out prematurely on the 13th in Maglizh. The BKP does not fulfill its commitment to Todor Aleksandrov, a squad has been prepared in Gorna Jumaya /today Blagoevgrad/. The rebellion there was brutally suppressed by the agents of the VMRO.
The leadership of the uprising was concentrated in Ferdinand, today's city of Montana, where Georgi Dimitrov, Vasil Kolarov, Gavril Genov are. With about 2 thousand insurgents, Gavril Genov captured Boychinovtsi.
The Battle of Boychinovo was one of the biggest battles during the September Uprising of 1923 in Bulgaria.
On September 24, by order of the District Revolutionary Committee of the BKP, the main forces of the insurgents, under the leadership of Georgi Damyanov, Ivan Mihailov, Todor Atanasov, Vladimir Minchev, head towards Vratsa with the aim of capturing it. At the same time, government troops from the Shumen garrison, armed with 5 machine guns and 2 field guns, advanced along the Krivodol-Boichinovtsi railway line and captured the Boychinovitsi station at dusk. This forced the leadership of the insurgents to redirect their main forces to Boychinovtsi at night. Gavril Genov arrived there, who was appointed commander-in-chief of the combat operation.
The insurgents are poorly armed – they have only 2000 rifles, 4 machine guns and 1 mountain cannon. The government detachment, despite being repeatedly outnumbered, took an advantageous tactical position on the Boychinovo plateau, and fortified itself in the buildings of the station. The insurgents began the attack on the morning of September 25. Since more than half of them are unarmed, they pluck sunflower stalks from the surrounding fields to make it appear in the morning twilight that they are carrying rifles. This inspired Geo Milev for the metaphor with sunflowers in his poem “September“. The insurgents launched a frontal attack at 4 am. Gradually at first, and soon after – en masse, government troops begin to retreat and eventually surrender.
But on September 18, the government appealed to the Great Powers to be allowed to mobilize in violation of the Treaty of Neuilly. About 3 thousand people were mobilized. Special forces were also created from demobilized officers and sergeants with extensive military experience. In addition, parts of the garrisons were sent to Rousse, Pleven, Shumen. Thus, the uprising in Northwestern Bulgaria was suppressed with particular cruelty.
Over 5 thousand people were killed, about 15 thousand were arrested and repressed, 2 thousand emigrated. The leaders of the uprising, Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov, also emigrated. They flee to neighboring Yugoslavia.
There are several reasons for the failure of the uprising.
The arrests of experienced communist operatives at the beginning of September led to a weak organization of the armed actions. In a large part of the country, even the communists do not welcome the idea of an uprising with enthusiasm.
The uprising did not break out in the large industrial centers - Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, where a significant number of BKP supporters are concentrated. This enables the government to use the large military units in these cities against the insurgency in the countryside. Despite the special efforts of the BKP to agitate among the Bulgarian soldiers, the army is completely on the side of the government, although most of the soldiers come from poor rural families, traditionally sympathetic to the BZNS and the BKP.
The railways of the country, in which some of the biggest strikes broke out in previous years, functioned successfully during the uprising, led by the Social Democratic Minister Dimo Kazasov.
This does not prevent Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov to later address an open letter in which they say that the revolutionary situation in Bulgaria continues and at the beginning of 1924 the Overseas Committee they created will announce a new course towards an armed uprising . Soon after the rebellion, elections were held in Bulgaria and the new parliament passed the Law for the Protection of the State.
It outlawed the Communist Party. BKP creates an illegal military organization that initiates terrorist actions. The government of Prof. Tsankov, who won the elections, rules in an authoritarian manner and also often with the means of terror. The democratic system in Bulgaria remained permanently disrupted until 1944, as well as after, when the Soviet Army entered Bulgaria and a pro-Soviet regime was soon established in the country.