Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov (; 29 June 1879 – 27 July 1959) was a leading

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n politician during the period between the two World Wars.

Biography

A professor of political economy at

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

from 1910 onwards, Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' he took a leading role in the coup that deposed

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

on 9 June 1923. The coup succeeded when the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

took a neutral attitude towards the Agrarians rather than supporting Stamboliyski. He was chosen to head the coalition that succeeded the deposed premier, and became Prime Minister of Bulgaria the same day. He continued in this role until 4 January 1926. During that period, he was the leader of the Democratic Alliance. Tsankov's premiership was marked by deep internal struggles with the Bulgarian Communist Party, which he repressed mercilessly, declaring

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

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 the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

denouncing his government as a "victorious Bulgarian fascist clique"; he later turned his attentions to the Agrarian Peoples Union, which was also suppressed, albeit less ferociously. A brief invasion by

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) 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 (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, the country was left crippled by debt. Tsankov was removed from office after failing to secure a loan for the country. Support for him 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, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

and soon became a supporter of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

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

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. The movement proved relatively unimportant (although it did represent a further fragmentation of the governing coalition), lacking the support of Zveno and failing to secure Nazi approval, which was primarily reserved for the

Union of Bulgarian National Legions The Union of Bulgarian National Legions (UBNL) ( (СБНЛ); ''Sayuz na Balgarskite Natsionalni Legioni'' (''SBNL'')), until 1935 the Union of the National Youth Legions (UNYL); Съюз на Младежките Национални Легион� ...

. Nonetheless, Tsankov was appointed by the Nazis in 1944 as prime minister of the Bulgarian government-in-exile set up in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in response to Kimon Georgiev's Fatherland Front government. This was even though Tsankov had been a signatory, one of only two from the right-wing opposition, to Dimitar Peshev's letter calling for an end to the deportation of Jews. Michael Bar-Zohar, ''Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews'', Adams Media Corporation, 1998, p. 147 Tsankov fled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and died in

Belgrano, Buenos Aires Belgrano is a northern ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is made up of Middle class, middle and upper class people. Belgrano has three distinct areas: the main one that is made up of apartment buil ...

, 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 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 Nazis who fled to Argentina

Biography

See also

References

External links