The 1940s in the Kingdom of Bulgaria (until 1946) and the People's Republic of Bulgaria (from 1946).
Incumbents
Kingdom of Bulgaria Tsar of Bulgaria: Boris III (1918–1943) Simeon II (1943–1946) Regent: Kiril, Prince of Preslav (1943–1944) Bogdan Filov (1943–1944) Nikola Mihov (1943–1944) Todor Pavlov (1944–1946) Venelin Ganev (1944–1946) Tsvetko Boboshevski (1944–1946) Prime Minister of Bulgaria: Georgi Kyoseivanov (1935–1940) Bogdan Filiov (1940–1943) Petar Gabrovski (acting, 1943) Dobri Bozhilov (1943–1944) Ivan Bagrianov (1944) Konstantin Muraviev (1944) Kimon Georgiev (1944–1946)
People's Republic of Bulgaria
General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party: Georgi Dimitrov (1948–1949) Valko Chervenkov (1949–1954) Chairman of the Provisional Presidency: Vasil Kolarov (1946–1947) Chairman of the Presidium: Mincho Neychev (1947–1950) Prime Minister of Bulgaria: Kimon Georgiev (1946) Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949) Vasil Kolarov (1949–1950)
Events
1940
7 September – Bulgaria regained control of Southern Dobruja under the Treaty of Craiova. 14 December – Shipwreck of the Salvador, a ship carrying Jewish refugees to Palestine, in the Sea of Marmara. 230 of the 326 passengers died in the wreck. 24 December – The Law for the Protection of the Nation, an anti-Jewish racial law which included banning Jews from having Bulgarian citizenship, was ratified.
1941
March 1 – Bulgaria joined the Axis.
1942
June 5 – The United States declared war on Bulgaria following the latter's joined of the Axis bloc the previous year.
1943
December 10 – The allies conduct bombing raids over Sofia.
1944
August 26 – Bulgaria officially withdraws from World War II.
September 8 - Soviet forces cross the border. They occupy the north-eastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port cities of Varna and Burgas by the next day. By order of the government, the Bulgarian Army offers no resistance.R. J. Crampton. A Concise History of Bulgaria. Cambridge University Press, 1997. p. 181Marietta Stankova. Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy, 1943–1949. Anthem Press, 2015. pp. 63-64Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries. The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. Routledge, 2007. p. 84
1945
18 November – Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp368-369 21 July – The University of Ruse was founded.
1946
8 September – A referendum was held in Bulgaria on whether to become a republic. The result were unanimously in favour of the change, with 95.6% supporting and with 91.7% voter turnout.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368 Nohlen & Stöver, p375Nohlen & Stöver, p355 31 December – The 1946 Bulgarian census.
1947
Bulgaria's second constitution, the Dimitrov Constitution, came into effect. It was later replaced by the Zhivkov Constitution in 1971.
1948
6 January – Balkantourist (the oldest still running Bulgarian tour operator) is established.
1949
18 December – Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368
Births
1940 2 July – Georgi Ivan Ivanov, first Bulgarian in space. 8 December – Alexander Yossifov, composer and conductor.
Deaths
1940 23 March – Dimitar Stanchov, 15th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1863)Mari Agop Firkatian, Diplomats and Dreamers: The Stancioff Family in Bulgarian History, University Press of America, 2008, pp. 13–14 10 September – Nikola Ivanov, Bulgarian general (b. 1861) 23 December – Mariyka Popova, actress (b. 1866).
See also Bulgaria during World War II History of Bulgaria Timeline of Bulgarian history
References