European Kingdoms

Modern Bulgaria
AD 1944 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1944-2024)

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Predominantly a Slavic-speaking country, the modern republic of Bulgaria is neighboured by Romania to the north, a long Black Sea coast to the east, European Turkey to the south-west, Greece to the south, North Macedonia to the south-west, and Serbia to the west.

With a capital at Sofia, the country has inherited sizable minority populations of Turks, Macedonians, Pomaks (Muslim Slavs), and Roma (Gypsies). Its architecture also reflects its eventful history, in the form of Eastern Roman churches, Ottoman mosques, and Sephardic synagogues.

In ancient Europe, areas of central and eastern Bulgaria formed parts of the kingdom of Thrace, as well as various Thracian tribal areas outside of this somewhat limited area. Other areas were occupied by a large number of barbarian tribes, such as the Dacians and the Celtic Scordisci. Subsequently the region was part of the Roman empire and its Eastern Roman successor.

During this latter period the Balkans were subjected to Slavic incursions in the sixth and seventh centuries AD. One of the main tribes involved in this, the Antes (Antae), eventually settled areas of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and northern Greece. Tribal Bulgars arrived in the later seventh century, expelling Slavs rulers who had settled in the region and forming their own Danubian Bulgar state, the '(First) Kingdom of Bulgaria'.

The Thraco-Slav population which remained within this new state gave it its language, while Thracian cultural elements had also been integrated into the population. After a prosperous and encouraging start, however, the state went through various incarnations: as the '(First) Bulgarian Empire', and under the Cometopuli, Asens, and Terters for a second empire, before being conquered by the Ottomans in 1396.

Much later, after the Russian empire had aided in freeing up large parts of the Balkans, in 1878 the 'Principality of Bulgaria' was founded. This quickly expanded its territory, becoming a '(Third) Bulgarian Empire'. In reality it was little more than a large kingdom, and anything but imperial in nature.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from A Concise History of Bulgaria, R J Crampton (Cambridge University Press, 2005), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Sofia, Bulgaria: An Ancient City That Wears Its History Well, Gregory Dicum (New York Times), and Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site, and Mind our language (The Guardian), and Worldstatesmen, and Bulgaria (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Bulgaria secretly supplied Ukraine (The Guardian).)

1944 - 1946

Head of new regency council at the end of 'Third Empire'.

1944

Ivan Bagrianov, the new prime minister, begins slow and secret negotiations for surrender to the Second World War Allies. Romania suddenly and unexpectedly surrenders at the end of August, bringing Soviet troops to the Danube far earlier than they could have been expected.

Bulgaria's capital city, Sofia, saw the same turbulent mass of people, protests, and political manoeuvring as many other central and Eastern European states as the Second World War edged towards its conclusion

A proclamation of Bulgarian neutrality is rejected, so Bagrianov resigns and is replaced by Kosta Muraviev of the Agrarian Union on 2 September 1944. Three days later the Soviet Union declares war against Bulgaria and enters the country unopposed.

1945 - 1946

On 4 November 1945, communist leader Georgi Dimitrov returns to Bulgaria after twenty-two years of exile to become prime minister. Bulgarian communists and their Soviet sponsors move more forcefully to eliminate internal opposition.

Elections are held in November 1945 which return a substantial majority of communists and their allies. In September 1946 a referendum decides by a ninety-three percent majority that Bulgaria should be a republic, and Tsar Simeon II and the queen mother are required to leave the country.

1946 - Present

Dispossessed king of Bulgaria. Exiled 1946-1996.

1946 - 1947

Provisional president of the republic.

1947 - 1950

Chairman of the presidium.

1948

The communist grip on power in Bulgaria is complete by 1948, coinciding with the completion of the peace treaty with the wartime allies and the presence of Soviet occupation forces. In the country's 'Fatherland Front' coalition government, the communists have control of the interior and judicial ministries, crucial areas in terms of setting up the new state.

Joseph Stalin, who was born in Georgia, led the Soviet Union away from its initial idealistic concept of equal citizenship for all and instead instituted a brutal regime of fear

1949 - 1950

Legislation is adopted in March 1949 which subjects all religious orders to state supervision. At the same time, fifteen pastors from evangelical Protestant churches are arrested, tried, and executed for espionage and other alleged crimes.

Soon afterwards, a number of Bulgarian Catholic clergy are tried for spying for the Vatican and for disseminating anti-communist propaganda. The nearly fifty thousand Bulgarian Jews who have survived the war are encouraged to emigrate to Israel. The regime also attempts to deport ethnic Turks and Roma (Gypsies), causing the Turkish government to seal the border.

1950 - 1958

Chairman of the presidium.

1953

The death of Josef Stalin means the end of the worst Soviet policies with the inauguration of the 'New Course'. Under Kruschev, the Soviet Union begins a process of de-Stalinisation, although direct competition ramps up with the USA as part of an increasingly chilly Cold War.

1955

The USSR forms the Warsaw Pact in direct response to the admission of the 'Federal Republic of Germany' (West Germany) into Nato whilst itself being barred from joining. The states involved in the founding of this eastern alliance are Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Russia.

Russia, plus its seven Warsaw Pact allies, signed the treaty of establishment in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on 14 May 1955, with the location of signing giving the pact its name

1958

Chairman of the presidium for 3 days.

1958 - 1964

Chairman of the presidium.

1964

Chairman of the presidium again, for 3 days.

1964 - 1971

Chairman of the presidium.

1971 - 1989

Chairman of the state council.

1984

Late in 1984 the government begins a major campaign to 'Bulgarise' or assimilate the country's ethnic Turks (ironic, given that the seventh century Slavicisation of the originally-Turkic Bulgars occurred as the first Balkans-based Bulgarian state was being formed).

Measures which are aimed at the Turkish population, with an estimated number of 800,000, include the discontinuation of Turkish-language publications and radio broadcasts and the requirement that Turks adopt Bulgarian names. The ethnic Turkish population, however, resists assimilation, and clashes with the authorities continue.

Despite the increasing frostiness of the Cold War and the slow recovery from the worst of Stalin's repressions, the post-war period saw a steady improvement in Russia's living conditions, and relative safety and security at home

1985

The death of Soviet General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko allows a 'new guard' to take over supreme power. The era of reforms that is launched throughout in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev has a major impact on Bulgaria, inspiring greater demands for openness and democratisation.

1989 - 1990

Chairman of the state council.

1990

President of the republic.

1990 - 1997

Chairman (to 13 Jul 1991), and president of the republic.

1990 - 1991

In early 1990 the communist party holds an extraordinary congress which enacts significant changes in party structure. In April 1990 it renames itself the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The National Assembly adopts a new constitution on 12 July 1991 which proclaims Bulgaria a parliamentary republic and promises citizens a broad range of freedoms.

One of the first casualties of war in the Balkans was the infrastructure of areas of southern and south-eastern Croatia which were occupied by Serbian-dominated militia groups and rebels, with Vukovar being especially heavily bombed

1991 - 1993

Bulgaria recognises the newly independent former Yugoslav republics and, on 16 January 1992, becomes the first country to recognise the 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'. In the same year Bulgaria joins the Council of Europe, and in 1993 it signs the Europe Agreement with the European Union, with which it seeks membership.

1997

Near the start of 1997, when monthly inflation has reached around 240 percent, mass protests force the government to resign. President Zhelev's successor, Petar Stoyanov, calls new elections and, following a decisive victory, UDF leader Ivan Kostov forms a pro-market government. This reduces inflation by introducing a currency board.

1997 - 2002

President of the republic.

2001 - 2005

Former king, Simeon II, becomes prime minister. He is now known as Simeon Saxecoburggotski - a Bulgarianisation of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the noble house which had recreated the Bulgarian kingdom in 1908. He continues Bulgaria's programme of financial restraint and increased privatisation. In that time, Bulgaria joins Nato (in 2004).

The country's new prime minister in 2001 (and soon-to-be head of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry) was hereditary king of Bulgaria, Simeon II, here seen on his wedding day on 21 January 1962 to Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela of Spain

2002 - 2012

President of the republic.

2007

In January, Bulgaria becomes a member state of the European Union. However, as the union's poorest state it remains vulnerable to the forthcoming financial crisis and exposure to various ailing southern economies. Despite this it weathers any impact from the Greek debt crisis of 2009-2015 and even experiences modest growth.

2010 - 2012

The death of Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry in April 2010 means that Simeon, his distant cousin, becomes heir to the title. The late prince's uncle, Philipp, and his descendants from his morganatic marriage with Sarah Aurelia Halasz have already been barred from the inheritance.

In 2012, Simeon nominally cedes his rights (and those of his children) to leadership of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry to his sister, Marie Louise.

The death of Prince Maria Emanuel (third from left, with Princess Gisela on his left) and his choice of Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe (left, next to Princess Anastasia-Luise, Maria's wife) as his successor has left divided Saxony's modern-day royal house

2012 - 2017

President of the republic.

2017 - On

Former general. President of the republic.

2023

Early in the year Vladimir Putin orders Russian troops which had been massing along Ukraine's borders (and even its Belarussian border) to enter Ukraine on a 'peacekeeping' mission. The invasion targets several cities, including Kyiv.

The scale of Ukrainian resistance surprises and delays the Russian forces, while Belarus is also included in the unprecedented international backlash against an increasingly isolated Russia.

In these early days of the conflict, Bulgaria belies its perceived pro-Moscow bias by secretly supplying Ukraine with large amounts of desperately-needed diesel and ammunition, even while officially refusing aid.

Despite outnumbering the more lightly-armed Ukrainian forces by at least three-to-one, Russian forces continued to suffer far heavier rates of attrition, with tank losses surprisingly high as Ukrainian units undertook highly effective ambushes against them

Son and heir of Simeon II. Born 2 Dec 1962. Died 2016.

Brother, and current heir. Born 11 Jul 1964.