Aleksandar Tsankov Staliyski ( bg, Александър Цанков Сталийски) (28 August 1893 – 2 February 1945) was a

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 far right politician active before and during 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 ...

. He briefly served as a minister in the final pro-

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

cabinet.

Early years

Staliyski was born in

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

, the son of the founder of a leading academic who was the founder of the Bulgarian Union of Academics.

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 ...

'', 1990, p. 372 Following in the family tradition, he studied law 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 ...

.Александър Сталийски прави партия
/ref> Staliyski interrupted his academic pursuits to volunteer for service during both the Balkan Wars and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. However, in 1923 he successfully completed his doctorate in constitutional law at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

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 ...

. Having completed his studies he worked as a lawyer in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

between 1928 and 1944.

Politics

Staliyski first entered politics as a member of

Aleksandar Malinov Aleksandar Pavlov Malinov ( bg, Александър Павлов Малинов) (3 May 1867 – 20 March 1938) was a leading Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister on three occasions. He was born in Pandakli, Bessarabia (presen ...

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

before switching to the Democratic Alliance of

Aleksandar Tsankov Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov ( bg, Александър Цолов Цанков; June 29, 1879 – July 27, 1959) was a leading Bulgarian politician during the interwar period between the two world wars. Biography A professor of political econom ...

after the 1923 coup. It was for this group that he served as a deputy in the

National Assembly of Bulgaria The National Assembly ( bg, Народно събрание, Narodno sabranie) is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. Ordin ...

from 1923 to 1928. Staliyski became attracted to the growing fascist movements elsewhere in Europe and in 1931 he abandoned his support of Tsankov, who would later convert to fascism himself, and instead set up his own National Fascist Union. The new group soon attracted subsidies from Fascist Italy, allowing Staliyski to produce his own journal ''Vasrajdane''. Indeed, he gained a strong reputation as a writer of fascist propaganda with his book on the fascist

corporate state Corporate statism, state corporatism, or simply corporatism is a political culture and a form of corporatism whose adherents hold that the corporate group (sociology), corporate group, which forms the basis of society, is the State (polity), stat ...

a notable success that was even translated into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. Much of his fascism was however mimetic of the Italian model rather than

the German ''The German'' is a short film written and directed by Nick Ryan, Starring Toby Kebbell and Christian Brassington. It premiered at the 2008 Cork Film Festival and has subsequently been screened at Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Shorts Fest and S ...

. Preaching a form of fascism that was particularly critical of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, he had attracted 20,000 followers by May 1934, all dressed in the movement's green jacket uniforms. A number of other fascist movements had grown up since the arrival of Staliyski's and represented a threat to the position of King Boris. As such the king outlawed a number of these groups, including the National Fascist Union and so Staliyski disappeared from political life.

Return to politics

On 1 June 1944, with Bulgaria on the verge of defeat

Ivan Ivanov Bagryanov Ivan Ivanov Bagryanov ( bg, Иван Иванов Багрянов) (17 October 1891, in Razgrad – 1 February 1945, in Sofia) was a leading Bulgarian politician who briefly served as Prime Minister during the Second World War. Biography After a ...

formed a right-wing administration that included a number of politicians active in the old fascist movements. Staliyski became one of that number on 12 June 1944 when he replaced Russi Rustev as Minister of Justice.Frederick B. Chary, ''The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution, 1940-1944'', 1972, p. 218 However given that Bulgaria was already under attack by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

his membership of the cabinet proved short-lived as he remained in his ministry until 2 September 1944. He was not included in the last-ditch cabinet of

Konstantin Muraviev Konstantin Vladov Muraviev ( bg, Константин Владов Муравиев) (5 March 1893, Pazardzhik – 31 January 1965) was a leading member of the Agrarian People's Union who briefly served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria near the ...

and then was arrested following the coup of 9 September 1944. Brought before the People's Court, Staliyski was condemned to death for

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

. He was one of 92 collaborators executed in

on the same day. Staliyski's son Aleksandar Aleksandrov (1925–2004) entered politics in post-communist Bulgaria and has served as Minister of Defence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staliyski, Aleksandar 1893 births 1945 deaths People from Vidin Democratic Party (Bulgaria) politicians Democratic Alliance (Bulgaria) politicians Bulgarian fascists Bulgarian nationalists Government ministers of Bulgaria Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Bulgarian jurists Bulgarian male writers Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Sofia University alumni University of Würzburg alumni Executed politicians Executed Bulgarian collaborators with Nazi Germany People executed by the People's Republic of Bulgaria People's Court (Bulgaria)