Zveno ( bg, Звено, lit=link), ''Politicheski krŭg "Zveno"'', officially Political Circle "Zveno" 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 Macedon ...

n political organization, founded in 1930 by Bulgarian politicians, intellectuals and

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

officers. It was associated with a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

of that name. As a palingenetic

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

movement, ''Zveno'' advocated for rationalization of Bulgaria's economic and political institutions under a

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

that would be independent from both the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

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 ...

. They strongly opposed the Bulgarian

party system A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stab ...

, which they saw as dysfunctional, and the terror of the

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

(IMRO), the Bulgarian Macedonian liberation movement. ''Zveno'' was also closely linked to the so-called Military League, the organization behind a coup in 1923, responsible for killing

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski ( bg, Александър Стоименов Стамболийски; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, ...

. In 1934, pro-''Zveno'' officers like Colonel

Damyan Velchev Damyan Velchev or Velcev ( bg, Дамян Велчев) (4 March 1883, Gabrovo – 25 January 1954) was a Bulgarian politician and general. From 1925 to 1935 he was the leader of the Military League (1919–1947), an organization of Bulgarian off ...

and Colonel

Kimon Georgiev Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov ( bg, Кимон Георгиев Стоянов; August 11, 1882 – September 28, 1969) was a Bulgarian general who was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1934 to 1935 and again from 1944 to 1946. Life an ...

seized power. Georgiev became Prime Minister. They dissolved all parties, political organizations and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s and openly attacked the IMRO. As a political organization itself, Zveno dissolved itself. The new government introduced a

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

economy, similar to that of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. As a nationalist organization, Zveno changed many of the Ottoman-era Turkish place names of villages and towns in Bulgaria to Bulgarian ones.

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Boris III Boris III ( bg, Борѝс III ; Boris Treti; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier) , was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until h ...

, an opponent of ''Zveno'', orchestrated a coup through a

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

''Zveno'' member, General

Pencho Zlatev Pencho Ivanov Zlatev ( bg, Пенчо Иванов Златев, 2 November 1881 – 24 July 1948), also known as Petko Ivanov Zlatev ( bg, Петко Иванов Златев), was a Bulgarian general and politician in the years before the Secon ...

, who became Prime Minister (January 1935). In April 1935, he was replaced by a civilian,

Andrey Toshev Andrey Slavov Toshev ( bg, Андрей Славов Тошев) (16 April 1867, Stara Zagora – 10 January 1944) was Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 1935. He was also a Bulgarian scientist and a diplomat. Toshev was a professor of botany ...

, also a monarchist. After participating in the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934, Zveno supporters declared their intention to immediately form an alliance with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and to seek the unification of Bulgaria into an Integral Yugoslavia. Zveno supported an Integral Yugoslavia that included Bulgaria as well as Albania within it.Plamen S. T︠S︡vetkov. ''A history of the Balkans: a regional overview from a Bulgarian perspective''. EM Text, 1993. P. 195. In 1943, ''Zveno'' joined the anti-Axis resistance movement, the Fatherland Front. In September 1944, the Fatherland Front engineered a coup d'état. Georgiev became Prime Minister and Velchev Minister of Defense, and they managed to sign a

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

agreement with the

. In 1946, Velchev resigned in protest against communist actions, while Georgiev was succeeded by communist leader

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...

, after which Bulgaria became a People's Republic. Georgiev remained in government until 1962, but ''Zveno'' was disbanded as an autonomous organization in 1949. ''Zveno'' continued to exist within the Fatherland Front but was only a puppet organization by then.

References

External links

Bulgarizaedno

{{Bulgarian political parties 1927 establishments in Bulgaria Nationalist parties in Bulgaria Parties of one-party systems Political parties established in 1927 Political parties disestablished in 1949 Defunct political parties in Bulgaria Bulgaria–Yugoslavia relations Pan-Slavism Formerly banned far-right parties 1949 disestablishments in Bulgaria