E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker, Juliet Sutherland, and Project
Gutenberg the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original maps and charts.
See 32627-h.htm or 32627-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32627/pg32627-images.html)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32627/32627-h.zip)
Transcriber's note:
In the footnotes to Table 20, two subsrcipted numbers are
represented as _{2} and _{5}.
AREA HANDBOOK FOR BULGARIA
_Coauthors_
Eugene K. Keefe
Violeta D. Baluyut
William Giloane
Anne K. Long
James M. Moore, Jr.
Neda A. Walpole
Research completed August 1973
First Edition
Published 1974
DA Pam 550-168
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Keefe, Eugene K.
Area handbook for Bulgaria.
"DA Pam 550-168."
"One of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area Studies (FAS)
of the American University."
Bibliography: p. 301-316
Supt. of Docs. no.: D 101.22:550-168
1. Bulgaria. I. American University, Washington, D.C. Foreign Area
Studies. II. Title.
DR90.K4 914.977 03'3 74-600028
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office
Washington, D.C. 20402--Price $5.55
FOREWORD
This volume is one of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area
Studies (FAS) of The American University, designed to be useful to
military and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basic
facts about the social, economic, political, and military institutions
and practices of various countries. The emphasis is on objective
description of the nation's present society and the kinds of possible or
probable changes that might be expected in the future. The handbook
seeks to present as full and as balanced an integrated exposition as
limitations on space and research time permit. It was compiled from
information available in openly published material. An extensive
bibliography is provided to permit recourse to other published sources
for more detailed information. There has been no attempt to express any
specific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contents
of the handbook represent the work of the authors and FAS and do not
represent the official view of the United States government.
An effort has been made to make the handbook as comprehensive as
possible. It can be expected, however, that the material,
interpretations, and conclusions are subject to modification in the
light of new information and developments. Such corrections, additions,
and suggestions for factual, interpretive, or other change as readers
may have will be welcomed for use in future revisions. Comments may be
addressed to:
The Director
Foreign Area Studies
The American University
5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016
PREFACE
Although many changes have swept across the Eastern European communist
countries, Bulgaria through the years has remained a bastion of
consistency. It is a loyal military ally of the Soviet Union as a member
of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), and its economy is
inextricably linked to the Soviet Union through bilateral agreements as
well as through membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(COMECON). Of the six Eastern European members of the Warsaw Pact,
Bulgaria shares with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) the
distinction of not having contiguous borders with the Soviet Union. It
is, however, important geographically because it anchors the
southeastern sector of the alliance and borders two member states of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization--Greece and Turkey.
The authors of the _Area Handbook for Bulgaria_ have attempted to
describe, comprehensively and objectively, the workings of the economic,
political, social, and military systems dominant in the country in the
early 1970s as those systems have developed in the post-World War II
period. Despite the concentration on the communist era, important
historical factors are referred to wherever necessary for understanding
the modern scene, and a historical chapter is included to provide the
proper setting for the modern state.
The spelling of place names conforms to the transliteration system used
by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The use of
abbreviations, acronyms, and foreign terms has been held to a minimum.
The one abbreviation that necessarily appears throughout the work is BKP
for Bulgarian Communist Party (Bulgarska Komunisticheska Partiya). All
tons are metric unless otherwise stated. A glossary is appended for
convenience, but all unfamiliar terms are explained on first use in the
text.
COUNTRY SUMMARY
1. COUNTRY: People's Republic of Bulgaria. Proclaimed by the communist
party in the 1947 Constitution. Formerly, Kingdom of Bulgaria.
2. SIZE AND LOCATION: Area 42,800 square miles. Located in eastern part
of Balkan Peninsula on Black Sea south of Danube River. Borders Romania,
Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey.
3. TOPOGRAPHY: Mountains predominate in west and in ranges that run west
to east across the central and southern regions. Lower and more level
areas south of Danube River and between the mountain ranges permit
extensive cultivation.
4. CLIMATE: Transitional between Eastern European continental and
Mediterranean. Northern regions have hot summers, cold winters; south is
more moderate but has hot, dry summers.
5. POPULATION: About 8.7 million in 1973; density 203 persons per square
mile. Growth rate 0.7 percent annually.
6. ETHNIC GROUPS AND LANGUAGES: 85 percent of population is Bulgar.
Persons of Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, Romanian, and other origins are
guaranteed the right to use their languages and to preserve their
cultural heritage, but Bulgarian, the official language, is spoken by
the entire population.
7. RELIGION: 90 percent of population adheres to the Eastern Orthodox
faith. There are some 750,000 Moslems, 26,000 Protestants, 32,000 Roman
Catholics, and 3,000 to 7,000 Jews. Freedom of religion guaranteed, but
practice strictly controlled by state.
8. GOVERNMENT: National Assembly is unicameral legislature. Council of
Ministers, performing governmental administrative functions, is
responsible to State Council, the supreme executive body. Real power
vested in communist party's first secretary, Politburo, Secretariat, and
Central Committee.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS: Administration is by people's councils at
district (_okrug_) and township or borough (_obshtina_) levels. There
are twenty-eight districts, including one composed only of metropolitan
Sofia. Districts subdivided into about 1,150 townships and boroughs.
10. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Warsaw Treaty
Organization (Warsaw Pact); the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(COMECON); and the United Nations (UN), including several UN specialized
agencies.
11. JUSTICE: Three-level court system headed by Supreme Court. Military
and special courts responsible directly to Supreme Court. Judiciary
administered by Ministry of Justice within Council of Ministers.
12. COMMUNICATIONS: Mass media are state owned and regulated. Little
latitude given subject matter produced locally; imports of foreign films
and publications are restricted.
13. EDUCATION: Free and compulsory until age fifteen. Priority on
scientific, technological, and vocational curricula. Marxism-Leninism
stressed in all curricula.
14. ECONOMY: Production, growth, and development programmed in five-year
plans, drawn up and monitored by party. The 1971-75 plan, dependent on
financial and technical aid from Soviet Union, recognizes need to raise
standard of living; improvement is conditional upon rising productivity.
15. LABOR: Work force numbers about 4.4 million. About 27 percent (1.2
million) of the total are in state and collective industries; 25 percent
(1.1 million) work full time on agroindustrial complexes. Skilled
workers in short supply.
16. AGRICULTURE: Approximately 53 percent of land is agricultural, 69
percent of which is cultivated. All but small mountain farms are
organized into 170 agroindustrial complexes. Grains predominate on
plains south of Danube River; irrigated Thracian Plain produces more
diversified crops. Livestock production inadequate for domestic needs
and exports.
17. INDUSTRY: Virtually all state owned. Rapid expansion encouraged by
state, increasingly slowed by inadequate raw material resources and
skilled labor. Emphasis in early 1970s on improving unsatisfactory
productivity levels and quality of industrial products.
18. FINANCE: Nonconvertible lev (see Glossary) has officially declared
values ranging from 0.59 to 1.65 leva per US$1; unofficial rates in
early 1973 were substantially higher. Banking system consists of
Bulgarian National Bank and subordinated Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank
and the State Savings Bank.
19. FOREIGN TRADE: State monopoly administered by Ministry of Foreign
Trade, Ministry of Finance, and the state banks. Bulk of trade is with
Soviet Union and other COMECON countries.
20. RAILROADS: Operational network totals about 2,620 miles, most of it
standard gauge. System carried bulk of long-distance domestic cargo and
passenger traffic.
21. ROADS: Total mileage about 21,000, but less than one-half has
asphalt or other paved surface. Highway vehicles carry increasing
traffic, preponderance of short-haul cargo and passengers.
22. INLAND WATERWAYS: Lower course of Danube River accommodates
2,500-ton vessels. Black Sea and ocean commerce increasing rapidly.
23. CIVIL AVIATION: State-owned Balkan-Bulgarian Airlines (BALKAN)
connects Sofia with about a dozen cities on internal routes and almost
twice as many foreign capitals.
24. ARMED FORCES: Bulgarian People's Army is subordinate to Ministry of
National Defense. Ground forces have 80 percent of its personnel; air
and naval forces, included in the army, have only about 15 and 5
percent, respectively, of total strength.
25. SECURITY: Ministry of Internal Affairs controls police and security
organizations, except Border Troops, which are part of army. Party and
mass organizations apply pressures on behalf of public order and in
defense of the system.
BULGARIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD iii
PREFACE v
COUNTRY SUMMARY vii
SECTION I. SOCIAL
Chapter 1. General Character of the Society 1
2. Historical Setting 9
Early History--Turkish Rule--The Rise of Nationalism
--Liberation and Its Aftermath--World War I--The
Interwar Years--World War II--The Communist State
3. Physical Environment and Population 37
Natural Features--Boundaries and Political
Subdivisions--Settlement Patterns--Population--
Transportation
4. Social System 65
Ethnic and Religious Composition--The Family--Social
Stratification--Other Social Groups
5. Living Conditions 79
Health--Personal Income and Expenditures--Housing--
Social Benefits--Work and Leisure
6. Education 93
History of Education--Communist Educational Policies
--Educational Reforms--Literacy--The Educational
System--Teacher Training--Other Education
7. Artistic and Intellectual Expression 123
The Arts and Sciences under Communism--Literature--
Theater--Films--Music--Folk Arts--Painting and
Sculpture--Architecture --Scholarship and Science
SECTION II. POLITICAL
8. Governmental System 137
Constitutional Evolution--Structure and Function
of the Government--Judicial Procedure--The Electoral
Procedure
9. Political Dynamics 153
Major Political Developments, 1965-71--The Bulgarian
Communist Party--The Bulgarian Agrarian Union--Mass
Organizations
10. Foreign Relations 171
Determinants of Foreign Policy--Conduct of Foreign
Affairs--International Relations--Membership in
Regional and International Organizations
11. Mass Communications 183
Background--Objectives of Mass Communications--
Freedom of Information--Administration of the Mass
Communications System--Themes of the Media--The
Press--Radio--Television--Publishing--Libraries--Films
SECTION III. ECONOMIC
12. Character and Structure of the Economy 203
Organization--Structure and Growth--Labor--Investment
--Budget--Banking and Currency--Foreign Trade
13. Agriculture 225
Climate and Soils--Land Use--Organization--Planning
and Management--Labor and Wages--Investment and
Mechanization--Marketing--Production
14. Industry 249
Organization and Structure--Fuels and Power--Raw
Materials--Investment--Labor--Production
SECTION IV. NATIONAL SECURITY
15. Public Order and Security 269
Internal Security--Civil Defense--Public Order--
Crime and Justice
16. Armed Forces 287
Historical Background--Governmental and Party
Control Over the Armed Forces--Organization and
Mission--Foreign Military Relations--Manpower,
Training, and Support--The Military Establishment
and the National Economy
BIBLIOGRAPHY 301
GLOSSARY 317
INDEX 319
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1 Bulgaria xiv
2 Topography of Bulgaria 39
3 Political Subdivisions of Bulgaria, 1973 51
4 Communications Systems of Bulgaria, 1973 60
5 The Bulgarian School System, 1973 111
6 Bulgaria, Structure of Government, 1973 144
7 Bulgaria, Organization of the Council of Ministers, 1973 146
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Bulgaria, Population by Age and Sex, 1973 Estimate 39
2 Use of Transportation Facilities in Bulgaria, 1960 and
1970 61
3 Bulgaria, Percentage Distribution of Household Expenditures
by Population Group, 1962 and 1971 85
4 Bulgaria, Actual and Desired Annual Consumption Levels 87
5 Bulgaria, Percentage of Housing Units Equipped with
Various Amenities, December 1965 89
6 Number of Schools in Bulgaria, Selected Years, 1938-70 101
7 Number of Students in Bulgaria, Selected School Years,
1938-70 101
8 Number of Teachers in Bulgaria, Selected School Years,
1938-70 102
9 Number and Proportion of Students in Various Bulgarian
University Faculties, Selected Years, 1939-71 114
10 Bulgaria, Newspaper Circulation by Frequency of Issue,
1971 192
11 Bulgaria, Circulation of Newspapers and Periodicals,
Selected Years, 1939-71 193
12 Bulgaria, Number of Radio Stations and Subscribers,
Selected Years, 1939-71 194
13 Bulgaria, Book and Pamphlet Publication, 1971 198
14 Libraries in Bulgaria, 1971 200
15 Bulgaria, Films Produced and Translated, Selected Years,
1939-71 201
16 Bulgaria, Production of Major Crops, Annual Average,
Selected Years, 1958-60 to 1966-70, and 1970 242
17 Bulgaria, Livestock Numbers, Selected Years, 1948-72 244
18 Bulgaria, Production of Meat, Selected Years, 1948-71 247
19 Bulgaria, Production of Milk, Eggs and Wool, Selected
Years, 1960-71 247
20 Output of Selected Industrial Products in Bulgaria,
Selected Years, 1960-71 266
[Illustration: _Figure 1. Bulgaria_]
SECTION I. SOCIAL
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY
In mid-1973 Bulgaria was under the complete control of the Bulgarian
Communist Party (BKP--see Glossary) as it had been since the latter days
of World War II. As that war came to a close, the Kingdom of Bulgaria
was occupied by the Soviet army and was governed by a coalition under
the communist-dominated Fatherland Front. By 1947 the monarchy had been
deposed, a new constitution had been promulgated, and the country had
become the People's Republic of Bulgaria under the BKP. Todor Zhivkov,
who became first secretary of the party in 1954, retained that position
in 1973 and, with nineteen years' tenure, was senior in length of
service among the top leaders of the Soviet-aligned, communist countries
of Eastern Europe. Zhivkov, who weathered several years of intraparty
struggles after assuming the secretaryship, has led an apparently stable
regime since an abortive coup d'etat failed to dislodge him in 1965. The
hallmark of Zhivkov's leadership has been his intense loyalty to the
leaders of the Soviet Union.
Zhivkov's critics accuse him of what they call subservience to the
Soviet Union, stating that he relies on Soviet backing to remain in
power. His supporters, on the other hand, commend him for his loyalty to
the Soviet Union, pointing out the historical affinity between the
Bulgarians and the Russians that dates back to the nineteenth-century
Russian role in the liberation of Bulgaria from 500 years of Turkish
rule. Whether he should be condemned or praised for it, the fact is that
Zhivkov has guided his ship of state in very close conformity with
directions first taken by the Soviet Union.
Bulgaria, motivated mainly by irredentism, fought on the German side
during both world wars. The lands that Bulgaria coveted and pressed
ancient claims for were Macedonia (which had become part of Yugoslavia)
and parts of Thrace (which had become Greek territory). Its claims to
these lands date back to the glorious days of Bulgarian kingdoms in the
Middle Ages, when its territory stretched from the Black Sea in the east
to the Adriatic Sea in the west and from the Carpathian Mountains in the
north to the Aegean Sea in the south. Five hundred years of Turkish rule
failed to erase the Bulgarian ideas of territorial grandeur.
The 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war that liberated Bulgaria ended in the
Treaty of San Stefano, which reestablished a Bulgarian kingdom using the
ancient boundaries; but the treaty was never put into effect because the
European powers feared a large Russian client-state in the Balkans.
Meeting in the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the powers nullified the
Treaty of San Stefano and decreed Bulgarian boundaries that drastically
reduced the size of the newly liberated country. Bulgaria seethed with
irredentism and fought wars over the so-called lost territories until
World War II, from which it emerged with a communist-dominated coalition
government but confined to almost the same boundaries. After the
Communists took complete control, irredentism was overshadowed by
Marxist ideas of internationalism; but the dream of a greater Bulgaria
did not die, and irredentist opinions were commonly expressed until
1972, when they were muted, probably on the insistence of the Soviet
Union.
The original Bulgars were of an Asian tribe that moved into the Balkan
Peninsula as conquerors during the seventh century A.D. The occupants of
the area at the time were mostly Slavs who had been migrating to that
region for more than a century, absorbing former inhabitants as they
settled. Within about two centuries of their conquest, the Bulgars also
had been completely absorbed by the much more numerous Slavs, leaving
only their name to mark the land they had conquered. From the ninth
century A.D. on, Bulgarian history is the story of this amalgamated
nation of Bulgar-Slavs who enjoyed two different epochs of independent
glory under medieval Bulgarian kingdoms but who also suffered invasion
and defeat and, eventually, 500 years of domination by Ottoman Turks. In
1878 Turkish rule was finally ended, and a truncated Bulgaria reappeared
on the map of Europe. After five centuries of foreign domination,
Bulgaria was backward, underdeveloped, and poor.
The descendants of the Bulgar-Slavs made up the majority of the
approximately 8.7 million people living in Bulgaria in 1973. The largest
minority group, which numbered about 0.7 million people, was Turkish.
The few Greeks, Romanians, Armenians, and Jews in the population
collectively accounted for only about 1 percent of the total. These
modern Bulgarians live in a country that is almost rectangular in shape
and covers roughly 42,800 square miles of the lower Balkan Peninsula.
Their country is bounded on the east by the Black Sea, on the south by
Greece and the part of Turkey that is in Europe, on the west by
Yugoslavia, and on the north by Romania.
The most prominent communist leader of Bulgaria was Georgi Dimitrov, a
native-born Bulgarian who had lived in exile during most of the period
between the two world wars and had become a Soviet citizen in 1935.
Dimitrov was prominent in the international communist movement and,
while resident in Moscow, had served as secretary general of the
Comintern (Communist International), founded under Lenin's guidance in
1919. Dimitrov returned to his homeland in late 1945, resumed his
Bulgarian citizenship, and took over the leadership of the BKP and the
government. He was instrumental in developing the 1947 Constitution
(usually referred to as the Dimitrov Constitution) and set about
remaking his country's economic, political, and social structures in the
Soviet image. Nationalization of all means of production,
collectivization of agriculture, and an ambitious program of
industrialization all commenced under Dimitrov.
Dimitrov died in 1949 but, before he died, his programs were well under
way, the Moscow-oriented BKP was in complete control, and the country
was firmly in the Soviet orbit. Several years later, even though the
term _satellite_ was no longer used to describe the Eastern European
countries aligned with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria was considered to be
the most rigidly loyal of all former Soviet satellites. Shortly after
the death of Dimitrov, the top position of leadership was secured by
Vulko Chervenkov who, over the next few years, earned a reputation as
Bulgaria's version of Stalin. After Stalin died, Chervenkov's power base
eroded to the point that he was forced to give up the top party post in
favor of Zhivkov; Chervenkov retained the top position in the
government, however, and remained on the scene as an opposing locus of
political power. The intraparty factional strife that ensued lasted into
the 1960s, but Zhivkov, who had established a close relationship with
Soviet party leader Nikita Khrushchev, eventually overcame the
opposition and stabilized his regime. Zhivkov also managed to establish
close relations with the Soviet leaders who ousted Khrushchev and has
apparently maintained good rapport with Leonid Brezhnev, the general
secretary of the Soviet party.
The BKP in 1973 was structured very much like the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union. The structure is pyramidal in form, the general membership
making up the base and the office of first secretary occupying the apex.
Between the two extremes the most important bodies from bottom to top
are the Party Congress, the Central Committee, the Secretariat, and the
Politburo. The Party Congress is a large gathering of delegates,
representing the rank and file, that meets every five years,
theoretically, to make party policy, amend party statutes if necessary,
and determine the party program for the ensuing five-year period.
Actually the congress is a large, unwieldy body (over 1,500 delegates at
the 1971 congress), which meets to demonstrate solidarity rather than to
make policy. The congress, by party statute, elects the Central
Committee, which is a permanently sitting body that acts in the name of
the congress during the long intervals when the larger body is not in
session. The so-called election of the Central Committee is, in fact, a
ratification of preselected members. The same holds true for the
election of the Politburo and the Secretariat by the Central
Committee--in effect, the Politburo has already determined its own
membership and that of the Secretariat, and the election process by the
Central Committee is unanimous confirmation rather than election,
making the Politburo a self-perpetuating body.
The Politburo for policymaking and the Secretariat for policy
implementation are the true centers of power in the overall
party-government system. The Central Committee is an operating body and
is made up of important members of the party, although they rank below
the small group that has reached the top echelons of the structure. It
is the interlocking of various party and government positions that
really concentrates power in the hands of a few individuals and permits
the ultimate leader, Zhivkov, to control the entire apparatus. Zhivkov
himself is an example of the interlocking in that, since 1971, he has
been the first secretary of the party and a member of the Politburo at
the same time that he was the president of the governmental State
Council. Only one other individual in 1973 combined membership in the
party's most prestigious bodies--Politburo and Secretariat--with
membership in the government's leading body--the State Council. Two
other party secretaries were candidate (nonvoting) members of the
Politburo, but they did not concurrently hold any high government
office.
The government established under the Dimitrov Constitution, as changed
by the Constitution of 1971, is the instrument through which the party
administers the country. The central government consists, essentially,
of the National Assembly, the State Council, and the Council of
Ministers. The unicameral National Assembly is described in the
constitution as "a supreme body of state power," whereas the State
Council is described as "a supreme constantly functioning body of state
power." In practice, if one or the other were to be described as the
single supreme body of state power, it would be the State Council, the
membership of which in 1973 included seven (out of twenty-four) members
or candidate members of the party Politburo and the operations of which,
during its first two years of existence, have stamped it with the mark
of supreme authority.
The role of the National Assembly as a legislative body is circumscribed
by the infrequency of its meetings. The assembly is popularly elected
from a single list of nominees at five-year intervals, but it is
required to meet only three times annually. The sessions of the assembly
are usually so brief that it functions as an after-the-fact approving
body rather than as a legislature. The development and initiation of new
legislation, therefore, is handled outside of the actual legislature,
primarily by the State Council and the Council of Ministers.
At its first session after general elections the National Assembly
elects the State Council, but it would be highly unlikely if not
impossible for the assembly to refuse to elect the complete slate of
nominees that has been preselected by the party hierarchy. The election
of the State Council, therefore, as is the case with various party
elections, is a unanimous vote of approval rather than a true election.
The State Council is the true center of the government. When it was
created by the 1971 Constitution, Zhivkov chose to relinquish his
governmental post as chairman of the Council of Ministers (the
country's premier) and assume the position of president of the State
Council, leaving no doubt about where real governmental power lay. The
State Council, in effect, is a collective executive body that, because
the National Assembly meets so infrequently, also becomes a major
initiator of legislation.
The Council of Ministers, also elected by the National Assembly in the
same manner as the State Council, functions as the administrative arm of
the government. Here again, party influence is pervasive. In 1973 the
chairman of the council (premier) and four deputy chairmen were
concurrently members of the party Politburo, the minister of internal
affairs was a candidate member of the Politburo, and most other
ministers were members of the Central Committee.
Matters of state--such as defense, foreign affairs, education, and
welfare--usually associated with the central government of any country
are handled by individual ministries and are overseen by the Council of
Ministers. In addition to such affairs of state, however, various
ministries, as well as the council itself, are charged with
administering the country's entire economy, as is the case in other
communist-ruled states. In mid-1973 eleven ministries out of a total of
twenty-two dealt exclusively with economic matters. In addition, the
State Planning Committee, the chairman of which holds ministerial rank,
is of great importance in the overall economic structure.
The economic ministries control virtually every aspect of the country's
economy. The goals of nationalization of all industry and
collectivization of agriculture were achieved early in the communist
era, and the efforts of the party-government ever since have been toward
increased efficiency. In Bulgaria the quest for greater production has
led to ever greater centralization of control. In the early 1970s this
quest has brought about the reorganization of industry wherein
industrial enterprises have been grouped into huge trusts at the same
time that collective and state farms have been similarly grouped into
so-called agroindustrial complexes.
The consolidation of agriculture into extremely large complexes, begun
in 1970, was intended to raise productivity through concentration of
effort, specialization of production, and increased control by the
central government. The reorganization is a long-range program that is
expected to be completed by 1980, at which time authorities predict that
farm incomes will have risen to equal industrial incomes and, because
agricultural enterprises will be run just like factories, the social
differences between peasants and workers will have been eliminated. By
1973 results of the reorganization that had already occurred were mixed,
and it was still too early to assess the long-range value of the
agroindustrial complexes.
In the industrial sector the consolidation of various enterprises into
trusts was undertaken in the early 1970s for the same reasons that the
agroindustrial complexes were formed, that is, greater efficiency
through concentration, specialization, and increased control. Bulgarian
industrial growth since World War II had been remarkable, considering
particularly the inadequate base of skilled labor and natural resources
in a country that had been predominantly agricultural. Bulgaria's need
for raw materials, machinery, and technological assistance during its
long period of industrialization and the Soviet Union's willingness to
supply them accounted in large measure for the extremely close economic
ties between the two countries. Because the growth rate had begun to
slow toward the end of the 1960s, the BKP decided to try a massive
reorganization of the economic structure as a remedy for the situation.
In addition to the political and economic systems of the country, the
social system has been a major concern of the party and government ever
since the BKP took power. Social restructuring has resulted in a system
wherein the party elite occupies the highest level. This group is small
and represents the apex of the social pyramid. The next level down,
which is much broader, includes lesser party functionaries,
professionals, administrators and managers, technicians, and all
white-collar workers. The next level is made up of blue-collar
industrial workers, who constitute the largest group in the society. At
the bottom of the structure are the peasants. There are, of course,
gradations of power, privilege, and prestige within all of the social
groupings. The society has been very mobile since World War II with
rapid upward mobility based mainly on the expanding economy,
industrialization, and modernization. Toward the end of the 1960s, as
the economic growth rate slowed, so also did the social mobility, and
there was evidence that social groups were stabilizing.
Education has been the key to upward mobility and, since coming to
power, the Communists have given preference in educational opportunity
to formerly underprivileged groups. At the beginning of the 1970s,
however, the percentage of students of worker and peasant origin
enrolled in institutions of higher learning was far below the percentage
of workers and peasants in the population. Students from the lower
income groups have not competed favorably against those from more
advantaged backgrounds and, although upward mobility is not blocked, it
has been becoming more difficult. Membership in the BKP remains
important for persons desiring to move upward in the social structure.
For the leadership the importance of education lies in the fact that it
is the best means for orienting the people in the official ideology as
well as for training the professionals, technicians, and skilled workers
needed to run the country. The ideological indoctrination is pervasive
throughout the entire school system, but the concurrent goal of meeting
the needs of the economy has suffered because the system of higher
education has not expanded rapidly enough to absorb most secondary
school graduates who are desirous and capable of pursuing higher
studies. Many educational reforms have been enacted over the years, but
they have been cautious and limited and have not attacked the major
problem of providing much greater funding for higher education.
In the cultural sphere the party and government have promoted pride in
the ancient Bulgarian heritage but have regulated art, music, and
literature in order to bring about conformity with the Soviet-developed
doctrine of Socialist Realism. Throughout the communist era there have
been periods of freeze and thaw in the controls imposed on artists and
intellectuals, but the periods of greatest restriction in later years
have not equaled the severity of the Stalinist times. In the 1960s and
early 1970s control has been exercised primarily through publishers, art
galleries, theaters, and other outlets. Artists and intellectuals know
that their work must pass through state-owned outlets if it is to be
seen or heard; therefore, they exercise self-censorship to ensure
acceptability. Other means of control are the professional unions that
all artists, writers, and actors must join if their work is to be
exhibited or published. The unions are run by the BKP and, in effect,
become instruments through which the party promotes its cultural
policies. For some artists conformity with ideological goals leads to
upward social mobility, and some enjoy privileges and life-styles that
are usually reserved for the ruling elite.
For control of the general population the government relies on the
regular police, court, and penal systems, which are supplemented by
state security police, paramilitary police auxiliaries, and militarized
border guards. The regular police forces, the auxiliaries, and the state
security police are all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, whereas the border guards are subordinated to the army
and are regulated by the Ministry of National Defense. Courts and penal
institutions are under the Ministry of Justice.
Also as means of control, the government sanctions and the party
operates a number of mass organizations that affect or influence the
lives of most people in the country. The Fatherland Front is a large
umbrella organization that includes all other groups as well as
individual members. The other mass organizations include trade unions,
youth groups, athletic societies, and similar interest groups. Other
than these officially sanctioned groups, there are no organizations
permitted and, because the party retains control through the leadership
positions, all organized activity in the country comes under BKP
supervision. Such organizations also serve as upward channels of
information through which the party hierarchy is able to keep in touch
with popular opinion.
Militarily, Bulgaria in 1973 maintained about 160,000 men in its armed
forces, which are committed to the Soviet-dominated alliance known as
the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact). Ground forces constitute
the great bulk of the so-called Bulgarian People's Army, but it also
includes a small air and air defense force, a small naval force, and the
border guards. All of the armed forces are under the supervision of the
Ministry of National Defense, but top-level policymaking is a
prerogative of the BKP. The party maintains great influence in the armed
forces through the officer corps, 85 percent of which is made up of
party members. Those officers who are not party members usually belong
to the communist youth organization. Many career noncommissioned
officers are also party members and, for the conscript in the ranks,
political indoctrination is as regular as his military training.