s on objective
description of the nation's present society and the kinds of possible or
probable changes that might be expected in the future. The handbook
seeks to present as full and as balanced an integrated exposition as
limitations on space and research time permit. It was compiled from
information available in openly published material. An extensive
bibliography is provided to permit recourse to other published sources
for more detailed information. There has been no attempt to express any
specific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contents
of the handbook represent the work of the authors and FAS and do not
represent the official view of the United States government.

An effort has been made to make the handbook as comprehensive as
possible. It can be expected, however, that the material,
interpretations, and conclusions are subject to modification in the
light of new information and developments. Such corrections, additions,
and suggestions for factual, interpretive, or other change as readers
may have will be welcomed for use in future revisions. Comments may be
addressed to:

The Director
Foreign Area Studies
The American University
5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016

PREFACE

Although many changes have swept across the Eastern European communist
countries, Bulgaria through the years has remained a bastion of
consistency. It is a loyal military ally of the Soviet Union as a member
of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), and its economy is
inextricably linked to the Soviet Union through bilateral agreements as
well as through membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(COMECON). Of the six Eastern European members of the Warsaw Pact,
Bulgaria shares with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) the
distinction of not having contiguous borders with the Soviet Union. It
is, however, important geographically because it anchors the
southeastern sector of the alliance and borders two member states of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization--Greece and Turkey.

The authors of the _Area Handbook for Bulgaria_ have attempted to
describe, comprehensively and objectively, the workings of the economic,
political, social, and military systems dominant in the country in the
early 1970s as those systems have developed in the post-World War II
period. Despite the concentration on the communist era, important
historical factors are referred to