Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs (also known as ''Union of the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs'') ( bg, Съюз на българските конституционни клубове) was an ethnic

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

political party in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, created after the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...

, by members of the

Internal Macedonian Adrianople Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

. The party functioned for a little over a year - from September 1908 until November 1909. Its main political rival was the Peoples' Federative Party (Bulgarian Section).

Inauguration, ideas and goals

The Constituent assembly of the party was held between 7 and 13 September 1908 in Solun. Attending the congress were 72 representatives of the Macedonian-Bulgarian middle class, but only two farmers, one craftsman and one worker. A statute and an agenda of the organization were soon established: SBKK dve

Toma Karayovov, Vladimir Rumenov, Todor Lazarov were voted members of the Central Committee. Among the founders of the party were also Georgi Kulishev,

Georgi Bazhdarov Georgi may refer to: * Georgi (given name) * Georgi (surname) See also *Georgy (disambiguation) *Georgii (disambiguation) Georgii may refer to: ;Given name * Georgii Zantaraia (born 1987), Ukrainian judoka of Georgian origin * Georgii Karpechenko ...

, Kiril Parlichev,

Andon Dimitrov Andon Dimitrov - (January 1867 – 13 March 1933) ( bg, Андон Димитров) was a Bulgarian revolutionary. He was among the founders of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees.People in World History, , Susan K. Kinn ...

Hristo Batandzhiev Hristo Batandzhiev ( bg, Христо Батанджиев, mk, Христо Батанџиев) (Gyumendzhe, Ottoman Empire, present day Goumenissa, Greece – 1913, Aegean Sea) was a Bulgarian revolutionary,Freedom Or Death: The Life of Gots ...

Simeon Radev Simeon Traychev Radev ( bg, Симеон Трайчев Радев; 19 January 1879 – 15 February 1967) was a Bulgarian writer, journalist, diplomat and historian, most famous for his three-volume book ''The Builders of Modern Bulgaria''. Biog ...

and others.

Hristo Tatarchev Hristo Tatarchev ( Macedonian and ; December 16, 1869 – January 5, 1952) was a Bulgarian doctor and revolutionary, the first leader of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace. He wrote a memoirs called ''The First Cent ...

openly supported UBCC, although he never participated in the organization's affairs. ''Otechestvo'' (''Fatherland'' in Bulgarian) served as the party's newspaper. An article, dedicated to the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising and published in issue 43 of the newspaper from 18 July 1909, reads: The Union of the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs put emphasis on the collective rights of the non-Turkish peoples in the Ottoman Empire; agricultural and social reforms, aiming an improvement of the lives of Christians. The party concentrated efforts on the subject of autonomy for Macedonia and the region of

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

. It also believed in the important role of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

in unifying Bulgarians from those regions. The organization was a strong opponent to the colonization of the Macedonian land by

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

settlers. On 23 August 1909, the Ottoman parliament accepted a law banning national political organizations and parties, and the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs was dissolved.

References

UBCC is created, Bulgarian History
(in Bulgarian)

(in Bulgarian) * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071223180349/http://macedonia-science.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?45 Macedonian Scientific Institute
Georgi Bazhdarov, My Memories
(in Bulgarian)

(in Bulgarian) {{Authority control 1908 in Bulgaria Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Thrace Political parties in the Ottoman Empire Political parties established in 1908 Political parties disestablished in 1909 1908 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization