The Bulgarian Army 1919–1927: the Internal Political Aspect in Historical Discourse

Abstract

The first decade after the Great War (1914–1918) in Bulgaria was a time of significant restructuring of the national armed forces and the system of state power over a deep political and economic crisis. The consequences of the defeat of the Radomir Republic, the resistance to the military coup in June 1923, the armed uprising in September 1923 and the period of political repression from 1925 to 1927, affected the Bulgarian army in one way or another. The analysis and narrative of these events in Bulgarian and Russian historiography is studied by the author on the basis of the problem-chronological method. The author comes to the conclusion that the origin and development of a united and well organized force in the Bulgarian army, as a factor in internal policy, has not been well studied. The stages of internal political activity of the army, which could be defined on the bases of reasoned criteria and indicators, have not been identified as well as the ways of ideological confrontation in the army were not detailed. These issues are important for studying the history of not only Bulgaria or the Balkan region, but also the whole Europe, since the form of resolving internal political conflicts with military force still remains relevant.