The Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party (Broad Socialists) ( bg, Българска работническа социалдемократическа партия (широки социалисти), ''Balgarska rabotnicheska sotsialdemokraticheska partiya (shiroki sotsialisti)'') was a reformist socialist
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
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 Macedon ...
. The party emerged from a division at the Tenth Party Congress of the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party
The Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party ( bg, Българска работническа социалдемократическа партия, translit=Bŭlgarska rabotnicheska sotsialdemokraticheska partiya; BRSDP) was a Bulgarian leftis ...
held in 1903 (the other faction forming the
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists)). The 'Broad Socialist' faction had appeared inside the pre-split party around 1900, when
Yanko Sakazov
Yanko Ivanov Sakazov ( bg, Янко Иванов Сакъзов; 24 September 1860 – 2 February 1941Heumos, Peter. Europäischer Sozialismus im Kalten Krieg: Briefe und Berichte 1944 - 1948'. Frankfurt/Main .a. Campus-Verl, 2004. p. 55) was a ...
had started the magazine ''Obshto delo'' ('Common Action'). The Broad Socialists, analogous to the
Menshevik
The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.
The factions eme ...
s in the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...
, argued in favour a broad social base of the party and broad class alliances.
[Linden, Marcel van der, and Jürgen Rojahn. ]
The Formation of Labour Movements, 1870–1914: An International Perspective. Contributions to the history of labour and society, v. 2
'. Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
: E. J. Brill, 1990. p. 406.
In 1909 the
Social Democratic Union 'Proletarian'
Social Democratic Union 'Proletarian' was a political party organization in Bulgaria from 1906 until 1908. The organization was led by Dimitar Blagoev, who had been expelled from the Narrow Socialists for being an "anarcho-liberal". 'Proletarian' ...
of
Dimitar Blagoev (a group that had been expelled from the Narrow Socialists) merged into the Broad Socialist party. The grouping would function as a leftwing tendency inside the Broad Socialist party for the years to come.
The party was divided in right, centre and left factions. Its membership had a mixed social background. As of 1910 workers constituted about 35% of the party membership. Rural workers were generally absent in the party ranks.
The party published the daily newspaper ''
Narod'' between 1911 and 1934. The rightist tendency inside the party ran a newspaper of their own, ''
Epoha'', between 1923 and 1925. The
Bulgarian Socialist Youth Union was the youth wing of the party. The
Free Trade Unions were politically close to the party.
The party was a member of the
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...
1923–1940. It was represented by Sakazov in the LSI Executive during the entire existence of the International (until August 1925 Sakazov's seat was shared with the
Yugoslav socialist leader
Živko Topalović Živko Topalović (21 March 1886 in Užice – 11 February 1972 in Vienna) was a Yugoslav socialist politician. Topalović became a leading figure in the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia, founded in 1921.Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugos ...
).
In the
Bulgarian parliamentary election on 18 November 1945, the party got 31 seats (of 276).
In the
Constitutional Assembly election on 27 October 1946, it got 8 seats (of 465).
In 1948 the party was forced by Soviet authorities to merge into 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 ...
(into which the Narrow Socialists had developed). The process of verification of memberships began in June 1948, around half of the Broad Socialist party members were allowed to enter the Communist Party. The merger was finalized in December 1948.
[Kersten, Krystyna. ]
The Establishment of Communist Rule in Poland 1943–1948
'. Societies and Culture in East-Central Europe, 8. Berkeley t. al. University of California Press, 1991. p. 432.
Historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
in
Socialist Bulgaria generally downplayed the Broad Socialists, repeatedly denouncing the party as 'opportunists'. The first book to be published in Socialist Bulgaria about the Broad Socialist party came in 1981, Klara Pinkas' ''Reformistkata sotsialdemokratsia v Balgaria. Ideologia, politika, organizatsia, 1903–1917''.
In January 1990 the party was revived under the name
Bulgarian Social Democratic Party
The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party ( bg, Българска социалдемократическа партия, ''Balgarska Sotsialdemokraticheska Partiya'', BSDP) is a social democratic political party in Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, ...
.
References
{{reflist
Defunct political parties in Bulgaria
Political parties established in 1903
Social democratic parties in Bulgaria
Members of the Labour and Socialist International
Formerly banned socialist parties