Origins The party's origins lay in the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists) (
Tesni Sotsialisti, "Narrow Socialists"), which was founded in 1903 after a split in the 10th Congress of the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party. The party's founding leader was
Dimitar Blagoev, who was the driving force behind the formation of the BSDWP in 1894. It comprised most of the hardline Marxists in the Social Democratic Workers' Party. The party opposed
World War I and was sympathetic to the
October Revolution in
Russia. Under Blagoev's leadership, the party applied to join the
Communist International upon its founding in 1919. Upon joining the Comintern the party was reorganised as the
Communist Party of Bulgaria.
Georgi Dimitrov was a member of the party's
Central Committee from its inception in 1919 until his death in 1949, also serving as Bulgaria's leader from 1946. In 1938 the party merged with the Bulgarian Workers' Party and took the former party's name.
Ruling party Following Dimitrov's sudden death, the party was led by
Valko Chervenkov, a
Stalinist who oversaw a number of party purges that met with
Moscow's approval. The party joined the
Cominform at its inception in 1948 and conducted purges against suspected
Titoists following the expulsion of the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the alliance. Suspected counter-revolutionaries were imprisoned. In 1948 the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Broad Socialists) was forced to merge into the BKP, thus liquidating any left-wing alternative to the communists. In March 1954, one year after
Joseph Stalin's death, Chervenkov was deposed. From 1954 until 1989 the party was led by
Todor Zhivkov, who was very supportive of the
Soviet Union and remained close to its leadership after
Nikita Khrushchev was deposed by
Leonid Brezhnev. His rule led to relative political stability and an increase in living standards. The demands for democratic reform which swept
Eastern Europe in 1989 led Zhivkov to resign. He was succeeded by a considerably more liberal Communist,
Petar Mladenov. On 11 December Mladenov announced the party was giving up its guaranteed right to rule. For all intents and purposes, this was the
end of Communist rule in Bulgaria, though it would be another month before the provision in the constitution enshrining the party's "leading role" was deleted.
Post-1990 The party moved in a more moderate direction, and by the spring of 1990 was no longer a
Marxist-Leninist party. That April, the party changed its name to the
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). A number of hardline Communists established several splinter parties with a small number of members. One of these parties, named
Communist Party of Bulgaria (
Komunisticeska Partija na Balgarija), is led by
Aleksandar Paunov. == Headquarters ==