in other ways as opportunities arise.

Enthusiasm for civil defense activities varies widely. One town with a
population of just over 1,000, for example, built or modified areas to
shelter 6,000 people. In more typical situations tasks such as those of
civil defense that have little to contribute to the needs of the moment
receive much lower priority.

PUBLIC ORDER

The Communist Party and Social Organizations

The most important element in establishing control of the country at the
inception of the post-World War II communist government was the
Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP--see Glossary), with the iron discipline
it held over its carefully chosen members and its single-minded planning
and direction. After gaining control, the party attempted to retain its
exclusive character, insofar as possible recruiting as members only
those whose loyalty was unquestioned and who could organize and lead.

To maintain control based on a broader segment of the population, the
party then encouraged the development of a number of social and
special-interest organizations, designed to appeal to the interests of
as many of the people as possible and to enlist them in activities that
shape public opinion, regulate the conduct of the people, and support
the party and its policies. These organizations ranged in size from the
extremely large Fatherland Front and the trade unions to the painters,
writers, and composers unions, whose memberships numbered between 100
and 800 (see ch. 9).

With the exceptions of the party, the Fatherland Front, and the small
artists unions, these groups are called mass organizations. The small
unions do not qualify because they are far from massive in size; the
party and the front have the requisite membership, but they are set
apart from the others. The Fatherland Front attempts to gather members
from all other socially or politically active organizations in the
country, combining as many as possible of them within it. Its membership
includes nearly one-half of the country's population. The party,
although ostensibly a member organization of the Fatherland Front, is
set above all other organizations. It controls and directs the others
and requires them to support it in general and specific ways (see ch.
9).

The largest of the mass organizations are, in descending order, the
trade unions, the Bulgarian Red Cross, the Dimitrov Communist Youth
Union (Dimitrovski Komunisticheski Mladezhki Suyuz--commonl