The September Uprising (, Septemvriysko vastanie), also called the September Riots (Септемврийски бунтове),Голяма енциклопедия България, том 10, Главен редактор акад. Васил Гюзелев, Българска академия на науките, Книгоиздателска къща Труд, София, 2012, с. 3992, ISBN 978-954-8104-32-6 (т.10) ISBN 978-954-398-156-4 (т.10) was a 1923 communist insurgency in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) attempted to overthrow Alexandar Tsankov's new government established following the coup d'état of 9 June.
Background After the conclusion of World War I in Bulgaria, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son, Boris III, who became the new Tsar and freed opposition leaders, including Aleksandar Stamboliyski, the leader of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS). The party went on to win the 1920 Bulgarian parliamentary election, with Stamboliyski remaining prime minister. Though popular with the peasants, the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union antagonized the middle class and military, leading to a progressively more fragile position for the government.
During this time, relations between the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and the ruling Bulgarian National Union of Agriculture remained tense. Although both parties were highly critical of the traditional parties in the country and jointly organized attacks in the press against their activists, the BCP's principled position was not to cooperate with the "bourgeois parties", including the BZNS, and it refused proposals for a coalition government in 1920, when it obtained the second largest share of votes after the BZNS. For its part, the BZNS was afraid of the strengthening its ties to the Communist Party, owing to its closeness to the Soviet Union, and as the ruling party, it was also dissatisfied with the trade union actions organized by the BCP.
Eventually, Stamboliyski was ousted following a military coup in June 1923, and the BZNS government was replaced by a new government led by right-wing politician Aleksandar Tsankov. During the subsequent armed resistance by Stamboliyski and his followers against the new regime (the so-called ), the leadership of the BCP took a position of neutrality. In the words of the senior communist functionary and then General Secretary of the Comintern, Vasil Kolarov, "for the BCP, the leaders of the BZNS are representatives of the rural bourgeoisie", and according to the future party leader, Georgi Dimitrov, "it is a question of vicissitudes between bourgeois forces". The Central Committee of the Party even ordered the communists in certain areas, which in some cases were involved in the actions of the farmers, to disassociate themselves from them. Eventually, Stamboliyski himself was killed and the rebellion was put down.
Uprising preparations Despite the neutral stance of the Bulgarian Communist Party to the coup, for several days after the coup, the Comintern strongly condemned the neutrality of the BCP, criticized by Grigory Zinoviev, Karl Radek, and especially by Joseph Stalin, who even called for "a trial of the Communist Party in Bulgaria or its leaders". The Comintern compared the coup to the Kornilov coup in Russia and the Kapp coup attempt in Germany and issued instructions to organize an uprising and a general strike, and in order to implement this decision, Vasil Kolarov arrived in Bulgaria. In the eyes of the Comintern at that time, Bulgaria occupied an important place, because of the relatively good internal position of the local communist party, which in turn could be used to spread Communist influence across the Balkans, as a preparation for larger-scale actions in Central Europe and especially in Germany.
After being arrested and held for several weeks over falsified documents, Kolarov arrived in Sofia in early August, followed by another Comintern functionary, Alexander Abramovich. At a long meeting of the Central Committee of the BCP from 5 to 7 August, they managed to convince its members, with the exception of Todor Lukanov (party leader Dimitar Blagoev was seriously ill and did not participate in this meeting), to change sharply the course of the BCP, and to begin rapid preparations for an armed action. Already on 6 August, a military-technical committee was created to prepare for the uprising: the country was divided into 5 districts with distinct organizations, and plans for sabotage and guerrilla actions were being developed. Georgi Dimitrov was tasked with attracting factions outside the BCP to participate in the uprising, but especially as the BZNS had been weaked into impotence, the practical outcome of these contact attempts were insignificant.
In the following weeks, rumors about the uprising being prepared by the communists became widespread, and on 10 September, Dimitrov was forced to deny them in his article in the party's official publication, the Workers' Gazette. However, on 12 September, martial law was imposed throughout the country and around 2,000 party activists were arrested, but at the same time orders were received from the Comintern to immediately proceed with open anti-government actions. This was due to the Comintern's planned coup attempt in Germany, which was set to begin on 9 November.Воспоминания бившего секретаря Сталина. Париж, „Третья волна“, 1980, с. 69
On 15 September, the Central Committee designated four of its members, Vasil Kolarov, Georgi Dimitrov, Todor Lukanov and Todor Petrov, as the leading body of the uprising. At a meeting of the Central Committee on 17 September, attended only by Kolarov and Dimitrov, 22 September was set as the starting date, although in some places the mass arrests of communists had already caused spontaneous armed reactions. The goal of the uprising was declared to be the overthrow of the current cabinet and the establishment of a "worker-peasant government". Its leadership was assigned to the Main Military-Technical Committee, which, in addition to Kolarov and Dimitrov, included BCP Vratsa leader Gavril Genov and farmer Nikola Aganski.
The leaders of the uprising, Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov, chose northwestern Bulgaria as the staging ground - an area closer to the border with Yugoslavia.Марков, Георги. Покушение, насилие и политка в България 1878 – 1947, София 203, с. 221; Грънчаров, Стойчо и Елена Стателова. История на България в три тома, т. III История на Нова България, София 1999, с. 406 The plan consisted in launching an uprising from the Vratsa district, which would then gather strength and march to Sofia to depose the government.
Course of the uprising Initial clashes The first insurgents to take up arms were those from the village of Maglizh, Kazanlashko, already on 13 and 14 September. The BCP organization from the village of Golyamo Dryanovo also joined. The insurgents captured the two villages, but were not supported by the party organizations from the neighboring settlements, who decided to wait for the official announcement of the uprising. A few hours after the beginning of the uprising in Maglizh, they retreated to the mountains. On 12 September, a committee was formed in Stara Zagora, which decided to begin a rebellion in the district on 19 and 20 September. The uprising began in Stara Zagora at the appointed time, but was quickly crushed by government forces. At the same time, communists launched a rebellion in Nova Zagora, and the city and almost the entire municipality fell under control of the insurgents. On 19–20 September, villages in the vicinity of Chirpan revolted, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to capture the city. The failure of the uprising in Burgas allowed the government to mobilize strong military units and suppress the uprising across the Stara Zagora province. Particularly fierce fighting occurred in the villages of Maglizh, Enina and Shipka.
Uprising in northwestern Bulgaria The main units of the Bulgarian Communist Party stuck to the pre-arranged plans, and the uprising in Northwestern Bulgaria thus began on the morning of 23 September, when armed Communist groups established control in a number of settlements, among them Ferdinand, Varshets and a large number of villages in the vicinity of Ferdinand, Oryahovo, Berkovitsa, Byala Slatina, and Lom. In Ferdinand, that same afternoon, military units managed to drive the Communist rebels out of the city, but not long afterwards, a large and well-armed crowd from the neighboring villages pushed the military out took over the city again, and the next morning Dimitrov and Kolarov arrived to Ferdinand, meeting with the leader of the local insurgents, Hristo Mihaylov.
Civilian volunteers were enlisted to fight against the insurgents, later referred to as "sphitskomandi" - the name originating from the sharp tips of the shoes - type "shipts" - that they wore. The communist leadership of the uprising also announced a military mobilization for the creation of workers-peasant military units, with transport and supply units also being created in the areas it controlled. The rebels proceeded to requisition and slaughter animals in the homes of the villagers to feed the insurgent units.Протойерей Йордан Попов. Записки по небългарските въстания, София 1992, с. 31, Енциклопедия България, т. 6, София 1988, с. 164
Rebel forces attacked Lom and captured a large part of it, led by the mayor of Dobri Dol, Rangel Ganev. Military reinforcements from the Vidin garrison were sent to help the cavalry regiment and the government-armed civilians in Lom, who had been encircled by the insurgents. The Communist rebels were aided by an artillery unit under the command of Andrei Ivanov, an Orthodox priest turned revolutionary, but it failed to tip the scales in their favor. After three days of street fighting, the government forces, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Halachev, drove out the rebels from Lom.
Another confrontation ensued on 24 September in Berkovitsa, under the control of a token military force and armed civilians loyal to the government. The town was attacked by a group of poorly armed, disorganized insurgents numbering about 600–800, but despite this, government forces chose to abandon the town, which fell into the hands of the Communists.Протойерей Йордан Попов. Записки по небългарските въстания, София 1992, с. 27 – 28 From there, 200-300 people moved to the Petrohan Pass, where they observed military units moving from Sofia and retreated.
In the municipalities of Vratsa, Vidin, and Belogradchik, there were only isolated rebellions in certain villages, which were quickly brought under control by government forces.
25 September was the decisive day of the uprising. On the morning of that day, under the leadership of Gavril Genov, the insurgents attacked military reinforcements heading to put down the uprising in the town of Boychinovtsi, near Ferdinand, and in the ensuing Battle of Boychin scored a major victory against government forces. This victory raised the morale of the insurgents and they began moving out to capture Vratsa, but on the way, they were attacked and severely defeated by government troops. Rebel forces were also defeated near Brusartsi after a fierce battle with the units of the Vidin garrison. Battered and demoralized, the insurgents failed to capture the desired objectives, while heavily armored reinforcements were being deployed by the government in the direction of Ferdinand and Berkovitsa.
Uprisings in other parts of the country