Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

80 years since the communist coup in Bulgaria

Photo: historymuseum.org

It is 80 years, on 9 September, since the communist coup d'état which put an end to the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

On 9 September, 1944, as World War II was still raging, officers who had passed over to the so-called Fatherland Front seized the Ministry of War, the Central Post Office, the Central Railway Station and other key sites in Sofia. The cabinet ministers from the government of Konstantin Muraviev were arrested and Kimon Georgiev, who took the helm of the new government, declared, over the radio, the new government of the national committee of the Fatherland Front. Bulgaria, which had been an ally of Nazi Germany, had by that time severed relations with the Third Reich. Nevertheless, on the night of 9 September, 1944, the government was overthrown, and Bulgaria was occupied by the Soviet Union’s red army. Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence, and a wave of brutal violence and repressions ensued, with the so-called People’s Court later sentencing thousands to death, thus effectively beheading the country’s political, state, military and intellectual elite.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Temperatures will rise at the end of the week

On Saturday, minimum temperatures will range from 13 to 19 °C . In Sofia, it will be 15 °C. Sunny weather will prevail with temporary cloud cover increasing in the afternoon. Maximum temperatures will rise to between 28 and 33 °C. In the capital, it will..

published on 7/11/25 7:25 PM

Robotic surgery factory opens in Parvomay

A global leader in the production of robotic and minimally invasive surgical equipment has officially opened a new manufacturing facility in Parvomay , Plovdiv Province, as part of its planned expansion in Europe, BNR Plovdiv reports. The American..

published on 7/11/25 4:52 PM

President requests inquiry into missed benefits in Botas contract

'It is blatantly untrue that the contract with the Turkish state-owned company Botas is not being put into use." President Rumen Radev stated this to journalists at the Krumovo Air Base. The terminal in Alexandroupolis has not been operational..

published on 7/11/25 3:51 PM