Radical Party of Bulgaria

a party founded in 1905 as the Radical Democratic Party by a faction that left the Democratic Party, which had been founded in 1896; the party changed its name in 1922. The Radical Party represented the part of the urban petite bourgeoisie and intelligentsia that opposed the autocracy of King Ferdinand I (until 1908, Prince Ferdinand).

At the beginning of World War 1 the Radical Party defended Bulgaria’s neutrality, but it soon became pro-Entente. Representatives of the party were members of the governments of A. Malinov and T. Todorov in 1918 and 1919. In 1922 and 1923 the Radical Party, together with the People’s Progressive and Democratic parties, formed the Constitutional Bloc. In 1924 its right wing joined the fascist party called the Democratic Union, and its left wing, headed by S. Kosturkov, began opposing the government of A. Tsankov’s fascist dictatorship. The party was part of the People’s Bloc from 1931 to 1934.

When a fascist military dictatorship was established in Bulgaria in 1934, the Radical Party was disbanded along with other political parties. It was reconstituted in 1945 and joined the Fatherland Front of Bulgaria, accepting the front’s goals and tasks. In March 1949 the Twenty-third Congress of the Radical Party decided that the party should disband and merge with the Fatherland Front.