Product Description: Aleksandur Stamboliiski was one of the most original politicians of the 20th century. His tragedy was that he came to power at the end of the First World War in which Bulgaria had been defeated. It fell to him, therefore, to accept and apply the peace settlement...read more

Tracing the evolution of the Bulgarian state and its people, from the beginning of the Bulgarian national revival in the middle of the nineteenth century to the entry of the country into the European Union, Richard Crampton examines key political, social, and economic developments, revealing the history of a country which evolved from a backward and troublesome Balkan state to become a modern European nation. Seeing the collapse as well as the establishment and evolution of communist rule, Bulgaria survived an often painful journey from monolithic authoritarianism to representative democracy and the market system. Crampton follows this journey, and analyses the development of Bulgaria's political culture, examining the emergence of radical movements, both agrarian and socialist, as well as looking at the role of religion and the position of minorities. Crampton highlights the problems and dilemmas created by the country's position situated between East and West, problems which might not be entirely solved by the country's admission to the EU.

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Since the Second World War, Bulgaria has been little known to the outside world. This survey of its history from its liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 to 1985 offers an understanding of the country's present position and the recent past that has shaped it. Dr Crampton begins with a short introduction covering the period of Ottoman rule and then examines the political evolution of the new state. In 1915 the ruler, 'Foxy Ferdinard', chose to join the Germans in the First World War. During the 1920s and early 1930s Bulgaria suffered from political violence, though in the second half of the 1930s stability returned under the strong but not dictatorial rule of King Boris. In 1940 Bulgaria's leaders again chose the wrong side in the Second World War and violence returned as the Communists plotted a bloody path to power. From the mid-1950s the dictatorial rule of Todor Zhivkov ensured stability and, though grave problems remained, the rise in living standards was a considerable achievement.