Stalin’s Cold War Soviet Foreign Policy, Democracy and Communism in Bulgaria, 1941–48 Vesselin Dimitrov 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page i Stalin’s Cold War 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page ii Global Conflict and Security since 1945 Editors: Professor Saki R. Dockrill, King’s College London and Dr. William Rosenau, RAND Palgrave Macmillan’s new book series Global Conflict and Security since 1945 seeks fresh historical perspectives to promote the empirical understanding of global conflict and security issues arising from international law, leadership, politics, multilateral operations, weapons systems and technology, intelligence, civil- military relations and societies. The series welcomes original and innovative approaches to the subject by new and established scholars. Possible topics include terrorism, nationalism, civil wars, the Cold War, military and humanitarian interventions, nation-building, pre-emptive attacks, the role of the United Nations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the national security and defence policies of major states. Events in the world since September 11, 2001 remind us that differences in ideology, religion and values and beliefs held by a group of societies or people affect the security of ordinary peoples and different societies often without warning. The series is designed to deepen our understanding of the recent past and seeks to make a significant contribution to the debates on conflict and security in the major world capitals. Advisory Board Members: Professor Mats Berdal, Chair of Security and Development, King’s College London Ambassador James Dobbins, Director International Security and Defence Policy Center, RAND Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Vice Principal (Research), King’s College London Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and former Director of RAND’s Washington Office Titles in the series include: Vesselin Dimitrov STALIN’S COLD WAR: Soviet Foreign Policy, Democracy and Communism in Bulgaria, 1941–48 James Ellison UNITED STATES, BRITAIN AND THE TRANSATLANTIC CRISIS, 1963–69 Peter Lowe CONTENDING WITH NATIONALISM AND COMMUNISM: British Policy Towards South-East Asia, 1945–65 Jon Roper OVER THIRTY YEARS: The United States and the Legacy of the Vietnam War. Global Conflict and Security since 1945 Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–230–52123–0 hardcover (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page iii Stalin’s Cold War Soviet Foreign Policy, Democracy and Communism in Bulgaria, 1941–48 Vesselin Dimitrov 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page iv © Vesselin Dimitrov 2008 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–0–230–52138–4 hardback ISBN-10: 0–230–52138–X hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dimitrov,Vesselin, 1974– Stalin’s cold war : Soviet foreign policy, democracy and communism in Bulgaria, 1941–1948 / Vesselin Dimitrov. p. cm.—(Global conflict since 1945) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–230–52138–X (alk. paper) 1. Soviet Union – Foreign relations – 1917–1945. 2. Soviet Union – Foreign relations – 1945–1991. 3. Bulgaria – Politics and government – 1944–1990. 4. Political parties – Bulgaria – History – 20th century. 5. Communism – Bulgaria. 6. Dimitrov, Georgi, 1882–1949. 7.Western countries – Foreign relations – Soviet Union. 8. Soviet Union – Foreign relations – Western countries. 9. Cold War. I. Title. DK268.5.D56 2007 327.47049909Ј044—dc22 2007018605 10987654321 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page v To my parents This page intentionally left blank 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page vii Contents Acknowledgements viii List of Abbreviations and Non-English Words x Introduction: Casting a New Look at the Origins of the Cold War 1 1. Prelude: Stalin, Dimitrov and the Nazi Threat (1933–41) 13 2. Great Power Diplomacy, Resistance and Popular Front in Bulgaria (June 1941–September 1944) 41 3. Wartime Coalition: Unity and Conflict (September 1944–April 1945) 69 4. The Break-up of the Wartime Coalition (May–August 1945) 104 5. The Search for Common Ground (September 1945–March 1946) 128 6. The Hardening of Battle Lines (April–October 1946) 145 7. Towards Confrontation (October 1946–September 1947) 162 8. The End of National Communism (September 1947–December 1948) 173 Conclusion: Reinterpreting the Origins of the Cold War 181 Notes 205 Bibliography 226 Index 233 vii 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page viii Acknowledgements In the course of writing this work, I have accumulated numerous debts, of which unfortunately I am able to acknowledge only the most impor- tant. I would like, first of all, to thank Jonathan Haslam, who super- vised my doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge, from which this book grew, for his inspiration and encouragement. I would also like to express my gratitude to Richard Crampton, University of Oxford, and Orlando Figes, then at the University of Cambridge and subsequently at Birkbeck College, University of London, who acted as examiners of the thesis and offered valuable and generous advice. I am grateful to Neil McKendrick, the Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and the Fellows of the College, who offered me a Research Fellowship based on the thesis, which I was regretfully unable to take up because of my appointment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I would like to extend my gratitude to my col- leagues in the Government Department at the London School of Economics, with whom it has been a genuine pleasure to work for more than eleven years. I would especially like to mention Dominic Lieven and Sebastian Balfour, whose kindness, wisdom and friendship I value most highly. I would also like to thank Anita Prazmowska of the Department of International History at the London School of Economics, for her generous advice and support. I would like to express my gratitude to the directors of the Bulgarian national archives, V. Metodiev and S. Doinov, the director of the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation (AVP RF), I. Lebedev, the director and deputy director of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI), K. Anderson and O. Naumov, and their staff, as well as the staff at the Public Record Office in London, for giv- ing me access to their collections and providing prompt and courteous assistance. I would like to thank Saki Dockrill, the academic editor of Palgrave Macmillan’s Global Conflict and Security since 1945 series, Michael Strang, Palgrave’s History Publisher and his assistant Ruth Ireland, for their support in the course of preparing this book for publication. viii 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page ix Acknowledgements ix I am particularly grateful to my parents for their understanding and encouragement, and I dedicate this work to them. I would also like to mention my grandfathers, who had stood on the opposite sides of the conflict analysed in this book, and yet were both able to retain, in their different ways, their dignity, idealism and optimism. VESSELIN DIMITROV London, October 2006 9780230_521384_01_prexii.qxd 1-11-07 11:49 AM Page x List of Abbreviations and Non-English Words ACC Allied Control Commission AYL Agrarian Youth League – the BANU’s youth wing (Zemedelski Mladezhki Suiuz) BANU Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (Bulgarski Zemedelski Naroden Suiuz) BANU-FF Bulgarian Agrarian National Union – Fatherland Front. The ‘loyalist’ agrarian party, which stayed in the Fatherland Front after the summer of 1945, led by Alexander Obbov and Georgi Traikov. (Bulgarski Zemedelski Naroden Suiuz) BANU-NP Bulgarian Agrarian National Union – Nikola Petkov. The opposition agrarian party (September 1945–August 1947). (Bulgarski Zemedelski Naroden Suiuz – Nikola Petkov) BWP Bulgarian Workers’ Party (full name in 1945–48: Bulgarian Workers’ Party (communists)) (Bulgarska Rabotnicheska Partiia (komunisti)) BWSDP Bulgarian Workers’ Social Democratic Party (Bulgarska Rabotnicheska Sotsial Demokraticheska Partiia) BWSDP-FF Bulgarian Workers’ Social Democratic Party – Fatherland Front. The ‘loyalist’ social democratic party, which stayed in the Fatherland Front after the summer of 1945.