Bulgaria What is the Bulgarian "Fatherland Front"?

[Stogieman]

... and why did they have so many awards?

[Guest Rick Research]

The case calls this their "Honour Badge in Gold" so there must be Silver and Bronze classes too?

The DDR maintained dummy literally front groups to veneer the fiction of a free society with "opposition" political parties. Welllllllll, not that any Right Thinking Person actually OPPOSED the Communist Party Line... they just sort of had minor little permitted, tolerated, available for photos with visiting foreign dupes ... differences of opinion. See? "Freedom!"

[Ulsterman]

Also called the "Patriotic Front" or "National Front". Originally founded in 1942 as an anti-fascist group of everyone against the alliance with Hitler. Purportedly, from September 1944 until 1948, the Popular Front made up the interim government. There are also merit and members badges.

Most socialist states had a "popular front" organization.

[Theodor]

The "Otechestven front" , OF /Motherland Front/ was at first a secret alliance of the evil powers in Bulgaria and later a formal state organization in the socialist republic.

Established secretly in 1942 on initiative of the Bulgarian communist party, it was a coalition of: the Bulgarian Communist Workers Party /as the Communist party was named at that time/, one of the left wings of the Agrarian Union, the Workers Socialdemocratic Party and the political group "Zveno" /"Zveno" was a small political swamp,,, I mean, organization; union of opportunists; only 2 -3 hundred officers, intellectuals and mostly self-proclaimed intellectuals. Their ideas varied from far left to far right, the uniting idea of this strange mob was the denial of the parliamentary democracy and the struggle for an authoritarian style of rule; they already had made the coup of 19 may 1934/.

So, in other words, the OF was not at all a wide coalition and not at all united all who were against the alliance with Hitler. It was a very narrow coalition of the left to far left forces and yet not all of them /the Communist party, another similar party, one of the communist streams of the peasants' union and the dangerous rope-dancers of the criminal union Zveno/. No matter what the propaganda said, their aim was clear - getting Bulgaria out of the war, knocking the government, establishing a pro-Soviet dictatorship and... getting Bulgaria back in the war, this time on the other side /they did all that brilliantly, of course backed by the Red Army/

On 9 September 1944 the OF made a coup against the Bulgarian democratic government - which had already declared the country goes out of the war, free elections will be made and etc. The country was steering out of the conflict, after had already avoided conflict with the USSR /never declared war/, but of course, the USSR had different plans for the region and the local communists were here to assist. The officers traitors from Zveno managed to involve parts of the army in the coup, but still the State could kick them very easy. However, the coup was left to be, as the Red Army was advancing through the Danube from the North. Some wise men saved the country from a bloodshed, no matter most were killed within the following 5 months. By the way, most of the Zveno traitors also did not see good days after the war, many of those idiots bitterly regretted involving with the CP and the OF, but it was too late.

After the war, the OF remained as an organization in the socialist republic. I remember there were OF clubs in the districts, also all people had to pay membership tax - you did not join the OF, the OF joined you

After 1989 OF was renamed to Motherland Union and became a political party /totally unimportant/, closely tied to the Socialist party /the former Communist party/. Right now the chairman of that "party" /and son-in-law of Kimon Georgiev, former prime-minister from Zveno/ is the national Ombudsman /sp?/ of the country. And also the Socialist party /the "former" Communist party/ has majority in the Parliament and has the Government - prime minister is the Russian-born son of a former partisan and then whole life highest communist leader... Add to that a communist president with Secret Services slanderer past.... Well guys, I think very soon there may be new emmissions of communist badges for your collections

[Stogieman]

Hi Theodor, thank you for all the history & information!!