The Buzludzha Congress () was the constituent assembly of the

Bulgarian Social Democratic Party The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (, ''Balgarska Sotsialdemokraticheska Partiya'', BSDP) is a social-democratic political party in Bulgaria. History The party was launched on 26 November 1989 under the name Bulgarian Social Democratic Work ...

(). It began on August 2, 1891 on Buzludzha peak on the initiative of

Dimitar Blagoev Dimitar Blagoev Nikolov (, ; 14 June 1856 – 7 May 1924) was a Bulgarian political leader and philosopher. He was the founder of the Bulgarian left-wing political movement and of the first social-democratic party in the Balkans, the Marxist ''Bu ...

. Around 20 members of the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

party from

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

, Dryanovo,

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

and other cities took part in the Congress. The Congress marked the end of the beginning phase of the Socialist movement in Bulgaria, and the beginning of organized party activity for the uniting of Socialism with the worker's movement. The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party took

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

as its ideology.

Preparation

The conference was held, from May 3 to May 5 in 1891, in Veliko Tarnovo under the leadership of

Attendance

The members in the meeting were: * Dimitar Blagoev, * Nikola Hr. Gabrovski, * and Dragomir Gerganov, from Veliko Tarnovo. * Mihail Ivanov, * Mihail Boichinov, * Mihail Radev, * and Panayot Venkov, from Dryanovo. * Unknown member, from Gabrovo. * Sava Mutafov, from Sevlievo. * Konstantin Bozveliev, from Kazanlak. The main question in the meeting would be if they were to be shown to the public as a social-democratic party, and what their character would be. With no exceptions but the members from Sevlievo and Kazanlak, they decided to create a party, and that it did not have to be a worker's movement. Furthermore, they decided to lay the groundwork for the party on July 20, 1891, in the same Congress.

Meetings

The meeting was conducted in secrecy, because

Stefan Stambolov Stefan Nikolov Stambolov (; 31 January 1854 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS – 19 July 1895 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS) was a Bulgarian politician, journalist, revoluti ...

's government strongly controlled freedom of association in Bulgaria. Buzludzha and the time of the meeting were chosen due to the fact that at the same place and time, massive celebrations of the anniversary of the death of Hadzhi Dimitar were being held. Because of this, the small group remained unknown and held its meeting. The Congress decided on an agenda and other matters for the Bulgarian Social Democratic party. The agenda, which was written like the French and Belgian workers' parties, contained the basis of Marxism. It stated that Bulgaria had (temporarily) gone down the path of

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and that the Bulgarian socialists must collaborate and merge into a single party to await the oncoming Socialist "coup" and to organize and enlighten them. The members of the BSDP also approved the decentralized structure of the party and the autonomy of the smaller associations within it. A General Soviet for the party to guide it was headquartered in Tarnovo. It decided that it was necessary to produce a weekly digest of the party and a series of brochures, which comprised the "Bulgarian Socialdemocratic Library" (), whose first piece of literature was Dimitar Blagoev's book ''What is Socialism and is it Starting in Us?''. For Socialist propaganda the party used Yanko Sakazov's edited newspaper "Day."

References

{{Reflist 1891 in Bulgaria 1891 in politics Politics of Bulgaria