Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov ( bg, Александър Цолов Цанков; June 29, 1879 – July 27, 1959) was a leading

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n politician during the interwar period between the two world wars.

Biography

A professor of political economy at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

from 1910 onwards,

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'' he took a leading role in the overthrow of the government of

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski ( bg, Александър Стоименов Стамболийски; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, ...

in 1923 and was chosen to head the coalition that succeeded the deposed premier. The coup was able to succeed as the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...

took a neutral attitude towards the Agrarians rather than supporting Stamboliyski. He became Prime Minister of Bulgaria on 9 June that same year and continued in the role until 4 January 1926. During that period he was the leader of the Democratic Alliance. His premiership was marked by deep internal struggles with the Bulgarian Communist Party, which Tsankov repressed mercilessly, declaring

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

and outlawing the Communists in 1925 following an attempt on Tsar Boris's life and a bomb attack on the St Nedelya Cathedral. His actions led to Comintern denouncing the government as a "victorious Bulgarian fascist clique", whilst he later turned his attentions on the Agrarian Peoples Union, who were also suppressed, albeit less ferociously A brief invasion by

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

troops followed and, although they did not stay long following condemnation by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, the country was left crippled by debt and Tsankov was removed from office after failing to secure a loan for the country. By this point any support for Tsankov had dwindled as the people tired of his reign of terror. After being removed from the political mainstream, Tsankov began to develop an admiration for

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and soon became a supporter of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. In 1932, he set up his own National Social Movement largely in imitation of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. The movement proved fairly unimportant (although it did represent a further fragmentation of the governing coalition), lacking the support of

Zveno Zveno ( bg, Звено, lit=link), ''Politicheski krŭg "Zveno"'', officially Political Circle "Zveno" was a Bulgarian political organization, founded in 1930 by Bulgarian politicians, intellectuals and Bulgarian Army officers. It was associated ...

and failing to secure Nazi approval, which was largely reserved for the

Union of Bulgarian National Legions The Union of Bulgarian National Legions (UBNL) ( bg, Съюз на Българските Национални Легиони (СБНЛ); ''Sayuz na Balgarskite Natsionalni Legioni'' (''SBNL'')), until 1935 the Union of the National Youth Legions ...

. Nonetheless, Tsankov was appointed by the Nazis in 1944 as prime minister of the

Bulgarian government-in-exile The Bulgarian National Government-in-exile ( bg, Българско национално правителство в изгнание, ''Balgarsko natsionalno pravitelstvo v izgnanie'') was a right-wing Bulgarian government-in-exile after the King ...

set up in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in response to

Kimon Georgiev Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov ( bg, Кимон Георгиев Стоянов; August 11, 1882 – September 28, 1969) was a Bulgarian general who was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1934 to 1935 and again from 1944 to 1946. Life an ...

's Fatherland Front government. This was despite the fact that Tsankov had been a signatory, one of only two from the right-wing opposition, to

Dimitar Peshev Dimitar Peshev ( bg, Димитър Пешев; 25 June 1894 – 20 February 1973) was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and Minister of Justice (1935–1936), before World War II. He rebelled against the pro-Nazi cabinet and ...

's letter calling for an end to the deportation of Jews.

Michael Bar-Zohar Michael Bar-Zohar ( he, מיכאל בר-זהר, born 30 January 1938) is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party in the 1980s and early 1990s. Biography Born in Bul ...

, ''Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews'', Adams Media Corporation, 1998, p. 147 After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Tsankov fled to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and died in Belgrano, Buenos Aires in 1959.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsankov, Aleksander 1879 births 1959 deaths Chairpersons of the National Assembly of Bulgaria People from Oryahovo Democratic Alliance (Bulgaria) politicians National Social Movement (Bulgaria) politicians Prime Ministers of Bulgaria 20th-century Bulgarian economists Bulgarian fascists Bulgarian anti-communists Bulgarian emigrants to Argentina Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Bulgarian collaborators with Nazi Germany 20th-century Bulgarian politicians Rectors of Sofia University Defence ministers of Bulgaria

Biography

See also

References

External links