Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T19:13:30.755Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The National Discourse of the Bulgarian Communist Party on National Anniversaries and Commemorations (1944–1948)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Yannis Sygkelos
Yannis Sygkelos*
Affiliation:
DEI, 131 Tsimiski and Ethnikis Amynis, 546 21, Thessaloniki, Greece. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

During the early post-war years (1944–1948), the newly established communist regimes in Eastern Europe followed the Soviet example. They honoured figures and events from their respective national pasts, and celebrated holidays dedicated to anti-fascist resistance and popular uprisings, which they presented as forerunners of the new, bright and prosperous “democratic” era. Hungarian communists celebrated 15 March and commemorated 6 October, both recalling the national struggle for independence in 1848; they celebrated a martyr cult of fallen communists presented as national heroes, and “nationalized” socialist holidays, such as May Day. In the centenary of 1848 they linked national with social demands. In the “struggle for the soul of the nation,” Czech communists also extensively celebrated anniversaries and centenaries, especially in 1948, which saw the 600th anniversary of the founding of Prague's Charles University, the 100th anniversaries of the first All-Slav Congress (held in Prague) and the revolution of 1848, the 30th anniversary of the founding of an independent Czechoslovakia, and the 10th anniversary of the Munich Accords. National holidays related to anti-fascist resistance movements were celebrated in Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia; dates related to the overthrow of fascism, implying the transition to the new era, were celebrated in Romania, Albania, and Bulgaria.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , July 2009 , pp. 425 - 442
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Abrams, Bradley. The Struggle for the Soul of the Nation: Czech Culture and the Rise of Communism. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.Google Scholar
Amalvi, Christian. “Bastille Day: From Dies Irae to Holiday.” In Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, edited by Nora, Pierre. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Blagoev, Dimitir. Selected Historical Works [Избрани Исторически Съчинения]. Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo, 1985.Google Scholar
Bulgaria before the Peace Conference: The Demand of Bulgaria for Western Thrace [България преди Конференцията за Мир]. Statement of the Bulgarian Representative Vasil Kolarov—President of the Bulgarian Parliament, issued in the 5th session of the political and territorial commission. Sofia: n.p., 1946.Google Scholar
Bulgaria Claims Western Thrace. V. Why Bulgaria should Take back this Region. Sofia: Justice for Bulgaria Committee, 1946.Google Scholar
Chervenkov, Vilko. Dimitir Blagoev and his Work—The Lifework of the Brothers Cyril and Methodius [Димитър Благоев и неговото Дело—Делото на Братя Кирил и Методий]. Sofia: BWPc, 1945.Google Scholar
Dimitrov, Georgi. Selected Works. Sofia: Sofia Press, 1972.Google Scholar
Gillis, John. “Memory and Identity: The History of a Relationship.” In Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity, edited by Gillis, John. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Gorman, Keith. “Resurrecting the Dead: Socialist Contestation for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.” Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Western Society for French History 21 (1994): 307–14.Google Scholar
Grigorov, B. “The Party's Struggle for Defence of Botev's Work during the Stabilisation Period: 1925–1929” [Борбата на Партията в Защита на Ботевото Дело през Периода на Стабилизация, 1925-1929]. Istoricheski Pregled 19, no. 4 (1963): 63–71.Google Scholar
Karakostov, Stefan. Cyril and Methodius and the Struggle for Freedom and Slav Education [Кирил и Методий и Борбата за Свобода и Славянска Просвета]. Sofia: Narodna Youth Library, Central Youth Committee of the National Committee of the Fatherland Front, 1945.Google Scholar
Mevius, Martin. Agents of Moscow: The Hungarian Communist Party and the Origins of Socialist Patriotism 1941–1953. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Natan, Zhak. “The Ideology of Hristo Botev” [Идеологията на Христо Ботев]. Istoricheski Pregled 2, no. 3 (1945-1946): 272–316.Google Scholar
Pitasio, A. “The Bulgarian National Revival and Garibaldi” [Българското Възраждане и Гарибалди]. Istoricheski Pregled 42, no. 4 (1986): 46–56.Google Scholar
Smith, Anna Marie. Laclau and Mouffe: The Radical Democratic Imaginary. London: Routledge, 1998.Google Scholar
Sygkelos, Yannis. “Nationalism from the Left: The Case of the Bulgarian Communist Party during the Second World War and the Early Post-War Years.” Ph.D. diss., Kingston University, 2005.Google Scholar
Thompson, Ewa. “Nationalist Propaganda in the Soviet Russian Press, 1939–1941.” Slavic Review 50, no. 2 (1991): 385–99.Google Scholar
Tzvetkov, Plamen. A History of the Balkans: A Regional Overview from a Bulgarian Perspective. San Francisco: EM Text, 1993.Google Scholar
Zarev, Pantelei. The Bulgarian Revival: Character and Peculiarities [Българското Възраздане: Характер и Особености]. Sofia: Hr. Cholchev, 1946.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. London: Verso, 2002.Google Scholar
Billig, Michael. Banal Nationalism. London: Sage, 1997.Google Scholar
Carrier, Peter. “Historical Traces of the Present: The Uses of Commemoration.” Historical Reflections 22, no. 2 (1996): 431–45.Google Scholar
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.Google Scholar
Hobsbawm, Eric. “Introduction: Inventing Traditions.” In The Invention of Tradition, edited by Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.Google Scholar
Nora, Pierre. “The Era of Commemoration.” In Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, edited by Nora, Pierre. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Spillman, Lynette. Nation and Commemoration: Creating National Identities in the United States and Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. London: Verso, 2002.Google Scholar
Billig, Michael. Banal Nationalism. London: Sage, 1997.Google Scholar
Carrier, Peter. “Historical Traces of the Present: The Uses of Commemoration.” Historical Reflections 22, no. 2 (1996): 431–45.Google Scholar
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.Google Scholar
Hobsbawm, Eric. “Introduction: Inventing Traditions.” In The Invention of Tradition, edited by Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.Google Scholar
Nora, Pierre. “The Era of Commemoration.” In Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, edited by Nora, Pierre. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Spillman, Lynette. Nation and Commemoration: Creating National Identities in the United States and Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.Google Scholar