movement. Historians dispute the extent of partisan
activity; some state that it did not become active until the Soviet
victory at Stalingrad in 1943, and others claim that the movement was
active from the onset of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

In 1942, on the initiative of Dimitrov, the Fatherland Front was
established. The organization was essentially a coalition, composed of
members of the Workers Party, the Bulgarian Agrarian Union, the Social
Democratic Party and the BKP. Its purpose was to overthrow Boris and rid
the country of the Germans, simultaneously forming a new government that
could more adequately meet the needs of the workers and the peasants.

In 1943 the National Committee of the Fatherland Front was formed, and
this committee became the vehicle for the communist takeover in 1944. In
the same year the so-called National Liberation Army, composed of
partisans and certain units of the Bulgarian army who had joined forces
with them, was established. In the fall of 1944 there were approximately
18,000 people in the National Liberation Army, augmented by some 200,000
people who sheltered and assisted them.

Before 1944, however, the Communists were still not widely popular. The
apathy of a large portion of the population was due primarily to the
fact that the country had remained relatively untouched by the war; but,
as the country was not actually at war with the Soviet Union, little
rationale was provided to the Soviet-backed Communists in their attempts
to enlist the support of the partisans. The Bulgarian army and police
were active in hunting down the known Communists. All of these factors
precluded the possibility of the country becoming totally committed to
either the communist cause or armed resistance. By 1944, however, when
Soviet troops entered Romania, activity became widespread within
Bulgaria. In August 1944 Romania completely capitulated. By early
September the Soviet Union declared war on the Bulgarian government, an
act more symbolic than real, as Soviet armies met no Bulgarian
resistance. On September 9, 1944, the Fatherland Front was installed,
and the Communists were firmly entrenched in the country.

Development Since World War II

At the time of the Fatherland Front takeover in Bulgaria the Soviets,
with the assistance of the partisans and units of the National
Liberation Army, occupied many Bulgarian towns and cities. It is said
that they were received by the people