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

4.2% decline in exports to the EU in January - April 2025

In the first four months of the year, export of goods from Bulgaria to the European Union decreased by 4.2% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 8.6 million euros, BGNES reports, quoting data from the National..

published on 7/10/25 2:36 PM

Police uncover the largest illegal cigarette factory in Bulgaria

An operation by the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime and the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office has uncovered the largest illegal cigarette factory to date, Radio Stara Zagora of the Bulgarian National Radio has..

published on 7/10/25 1:53 PM
Elisa Spiropali and Natalia Kiselova

Albania wants cooperation for peace with Bulgaria, Kosovo and Croatia, Elisa Spiropali says

Albania is extremely committed to security and peace in the region, said the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Elisa Spiropali, who is on an official visit to Sofia. After a meeting with her Bulgarian counterpart Natalia Kiselova,..

published on 7/10/25 1:41 PM