Popular Party

Of Bulgaria (Narodniaki), one of the most influential parties of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie in the late 19th century and early 20th.

The Popular Party was founded in 1894 by leaders of the former Conservative Party and several other groups. The Popular Party represented circles connected with the banking houses of I. Geshov, A. Burov, and others; its foreign policy was oriented toward tsarist Russia and the Entente as a whole. The party came to power a number of times: the governments of K. Stoilov in 1894–99, of I. Geshov in 1911–13, and of T. Teodorov in 1918–19. In 1920 the Popular Party united with the Progressive Liberal Party as the Popular Progressive Party (also called Popular Party). The new party took the lead of the so-called Constitutional Bloc of reactionary parties, participated in the fascist coup d’etat of June 9, 1923, and in August 1923 joined the Naroden Sgovor (National Union), a fascist party that held power in Bulgaria from 1923 to 1931.