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

Parliamentary groups comment on the country's accession to the Eurozone

Full EU membership is neither the end of the story nor a solution to all problems. Realism and accurate self-assessment must guide important decisions, said MP Toma Bikov on behalf of the GERB-SDS parliamentary group after Bulgaria's accession to the..

published on 7/9/25 11:28 AM

The Ministry of Finance has launched an online calculator for the lev-euro exchange rate

An online currency converter is now available on the official website for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria: evroto.bg. Following the official announcement of the exchange rate of 1.95583 leva to one euro, the calculator has been made easily..

published on 7/9/25 11:08 AM

ECOFIN allows Bulgaria and 14 other EU states to exceed the deficit limit for defence spending

The EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has allowed Bulgaria and 14 other EU countries to exceed their budget limits in order to boost defence spending . This will enable the countries to take on additional debt for defence purposes...

published on 7/9/25 9:44 AM