After his return to Bulgaria, Dimitrov immediately threw himself into the electoral campaign, which the Fatherland Front won in mid-November, aided by the Communist control of the state agencies and the opposition boycott. There commenced a prolonged cat-and-mouse game with the Bulgarian opposition, in which the Agrarians of Nikola Petkov and the Social Democrats were most contentious. The Communists rallied thanks to the dependent parties, particularly the Zveno (Link) of Kimon Georgiev and Damian Velchev, but had to consider the foreign-policy implications of their moves, as the Bulgarian peace treaty was not yet signed. They, Dimitrov included, were constantly prodded by contradictory Soviet directives, sometimes critical of the Bulgarians’ lack of boldness and on other occasions decrying their sectarianism.
As a consequence, by the end of March 1946 Bulgaria got a Communist-dominated cabinet, headed by Kimon Georgiev, and free of overt opposition influence. By the summer the Communists were on an offensive against the opposition, arresting certain opposition figures and purging the army. By September they carried out a referendum that sealed the fate of the monarchy, the People’s Republic being proclaimed on 15 September. By the end of October they undertook elections for the Grand National Assembly, a Bulgarian constitution-making institution, thereby legitimating their power. Dimitrov became the premier of Bulgaria on 22 November.
Throughout the period Dimitrov carried on a special relationship with the Yugoslav Communists, whose policies (such as the “Serbianization” of Macedonia) were not always welcome. Nevertheless, Dimitrov and
Tito entertained land swaps (of Bulgaria’s Pirin Macedonia for the “western borderlands,” probably the Caribrod and Bosilegrad salients, transferred from Bulgaria to Yugoslavia by the Treaty of Neuilly in 1919) and unification schemes.
It was Stalin and the Soviet policy, however, that continued to preoccupy Dimitrov after his return to Bulgaria. The diary documents the exact mechanics of control of the satellite countries. During this period, from June to November 1946, Dimitrov visited the Soviet Union no fewer than four times, once on Balkan business (Stalin’s meeting with Dimitrov and Tito in June), once on the resolution of internal Bulgarian policy (November), and twice for health reasons (August and October). His health failing, increasingly susceptible to the flu, Dimitrov was still savoring the memories of the Leipzig days, to which he intermittently returned.—i. b.
• 4 November 1945 •
—Early this morning (8:30) we took off from Vnukovo airport.
—Landed at Sofia airport at 4:00 in the afternoon. Met by Biriuzov. Shared the ride to Kniazhevo (once the dacha of Gen[eral] Zhekov). After twenty-two years I am again on Bulgarian soil.
—Visits tonight from Kostov, Yugov, Chervenkov. Discussed issues connected with my arrival and my possible meetings with Kimon Georgiev, etc.
• 5 November 1945 •
—Settling down. Session of the Politburo. I noticed some confusion among our comrades related to the negotiations (behind the scenes!) of some Zveno members and Petkov’s supporters; many rumors about the resignation of Kimon [Georgiev] and other ministers, turning down of offers for government posts on the verge of elections, etc. I decided that it is necessary to take the very first occasion to clarify in public our position and to stress the need to be firmly convinced that the elections will be held on November i8. They will be conducted by the present government, and any changes in the future cabinet can be effected by the future National Assembly, etc.
[ ... ]
[ ... ]
—Received two coded messages from Alekseev (M[olotov]):
1. It has been decided to grant to the Bulg[arian] gov[ernment] thirty thousand tons of corn and twenty thousand tons of wheat.
2. (At my proposal) it was decided to provide an additional hundred thousand tons to “our southern neighbors” [the Greek Communists].
[ ... ]
—Session of the Politburo (G. D. [Georgi Dimitrov], Tr[aicho] K[os-tov], V[iilko] Cher[venkov], V[asil] Kolarov, G[eorgi] Damianov):
1. On military questions (with the participation of Gen[eral] Ki-nov);549
2. Organizational questions (inner-party campaign—account reports— and elections of the new leadership);
3. Distribution of work within the secretariat and improvement of its organization;
4. Kolarov read his speech for the meeting on the occ[asion] of the nat[ional] day of Yugoslavia. We made some corrections of substantial importance.
—Martulkov,550 from Macedonia, informed us about the situation there. He pointed out the dangerous tendencies of Serbianization of language, culture, and public life.
—Moshetov551 and a courier (Adilov) arrived from Moscow. Moshe-tov brought $ioo, ooo US for the Greek comrades.
—Moshetov awarded me with a Medal for Exceptional Achievement in the Fatherland War, 1941-1945, on the instructions of the presidium of the Sup[reme] Soviet of the USSR.
—Sent to Marshal Tito a political greeting on the occasion of the Yu - 451 452 453 goslav nat[ional] holiday and the opening of the constit[uent] assembly.
[ ... ]
—Sent the following letter to Tito with the ambassador to Yugoslavia, KovaCSeviC:454
Dear Friend Tito,
First of all, I would personally like to congratulate you most cordially on the historic occasion of the proclamation of Yugoslavia as a Federal People’s Republic. One can hardly imagine the enormous impact of that event on Bulgaria’s political development. It will greatly ease our task of declaring Bulgaria a People’s Republic.
The National Assembly will now summon a Grand National Assembly, which will change the constitution in this spirit. The transformation of Bulgaria into a people’s republic will not encounter any serious resistance among the people or in the National Assembly. Our situation is more complicated than the one in your country (for obvious reasons), but now, after the elections, it is rapidly becoming more stable. The Fatherland Front (our party in the first place), despite all the difficulties, firmly holds in its hands the administration of the country. It is certainly true that Bulgaria’s international situation is much more difficult and complicated than that of Yugoslavia, but I have no doubts whatsoever that we will be able to overcome the existing difficulties in that respect, too!
It is my conviction that today we should consolidate, broaden, and deepen the fraternal ties between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in all possible spheres—between governments, parliaments, the Yugoslav People’s Front, and the Bulgarian Fatherland Front, and of course, between the Yugoslav and the Bulgarian Com[munist] parties.
I believe it would be necessary to agree in the immediate future and in more concrete and precise terms on how better to react to the hostile and subversive activity of the external reaction, which makes use, whenever possible, of the reactionary groups inside our countries.
We should also discuss in detail the issue of a treaty of alliance between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and seek the advice of our great friends on the time and the way this extremely significant event should take place.
I would suggest that the initiative on all these matters should belong to you, with respect to the Yugoslav side.
Could you, please, think all that over and inform me about your opinion and considerations.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
World History
