Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

100 years since the 9 June coup d'état

Vazrazhdane recalls the events of 1923 and warns Bulgaria may be facing a new national catastrophe

Alexander Stamboliiski

Vazrazhdane MP Ivelin Parvanov recalled the dark events related to the military coup of June 9, 1923, when the government of Alexander Stamboliiski was ousted from power. Parvanov pointed out that the reason for the coup was Stamboliiski's idea to hold accountable the politicians responsible for the national catastrophe after World War I and the signing of the nation-destroying Treaty of Neuilly. 

In the early hours of 9 June 1923, a military coup was carried out in Bulgaria against the government of Alexander Stamboliiski, who was captured and killed in a particularly cruel manner by representatives of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO). The coup was carried out with the backing of the Tsar, the opposition, the officers and IMRO.  

At the head of the country stood prof. Alexander Tsankov, known by his nickname "The Bloody Professor". He is responsible for the deaths of many journalists, progressive-minded writers and public figures, including poet-publicist Geo Milev and journalist Joseph Herbst, who exposed the political repression following the coup and the subsequent communist uprising in Bulgaria in 1923, known as the September Uprising. 

The brutal political persecution of opponents of the Bloody Professor's rule became the occasion for many foreign observers to describe Tsankov's cabinet as "the most terrible and unscrupulous government in Europe".

In the words of Ivelin Parvanov it was then that a cruel civil war began in Bulgaria, which caused the death of tens of thousands of Bulgarians. Parvanov warned that the current rulers are capable of pushing Bulgaria towards a similar situation, which will inevitably lead to a new national catastrophe.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria mark Day in commemoration of the dead on February 22

All Souls' Day (Zadushnitsa in Bulgarian) is an important day for many Christians. On this day, we remember deceased relatives and loved ones. The first of the three All Souls' Days of the year, also known as the Great or All Souls' Day, falls on the..

published on 2/22/25 5:05 AM
Photo: Bulgarica Center

152 years of immortality... The personality of Vasil Levski continues to unite Bulgarians abroad

152 years after Bulgaria lost its beloved son and advocate for a free, independent and tolerant state – Vasil Levski, his personality continues to excite and inspire Bulgarians from all generations. Scholars continue to study the work of the Apostle..

published on 2/19/25 12:58 PM

Levski's notebook is a whole universe revealing many faces of the Apostle of Freedom

Vasil Levski is a Bulgarian revolutionary and national hero who fought for the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. He is an ideologist, founder and organizer of the Internal Revolutionary Organization, for which grateful..

published on 2/18/25 10:20 AM