Nikola Petkov
Encyclopedia
Nikola Dimitrov Petkov was a Bulgarian
politician, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
(usually abbreviated as BZNS). He entered politics in the early 1930s. Like many other peasant party leaders in Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria in 1945-1947, Petkov was tried and executed soon after postwar Soviet control was established in his country. He was a son of the politician Dimitar Petkov
. His brother Petko Petkov was shot dead by a killer in 1924. Nikola Petkov was among the founders of the Fatherland Front
(FF) in 1943 and participated in the establishment of the new government before becoming its target.
, Paris
. He returned to Bulgaria to participate in the Balkan Wars
(1912-1913) serving in a Guards regiment. After World War I
Petkov continued his studies in Paris and graduated with excellent marks in 1922. He worked in the Bulgarian legation in Paris. After the coup of 9 June 1923
when the BZNS government under Aleksandar Stamboliyski
was removed from office, Nikola Petkov resigned and stayed in France
where he worked as a journalist.
After the coup of 19 May 1934
Petkov cooperated with democratic parties including the Labours' Party - the legal organization of the banned Bulgarian Communist Party
. He was elected to the 24th National Assembly (1938-1939).
Due to his anti-fascist activity his election as a member of the parliament was invalidated in December 1938 and Nikola Petkov was interned in Ivailovgrad.
After Dr G. M. Dimitrov
emigrated in 1941, Nikola Petkov took the leadership of BZNS "Aleksandar Stamboliyski". That same year he was sent to the Gonda Voda camp. He negotiated with the other democratic parties for the establishment of the Fatherland Front and represented BZNS in the National council of the FF. In 1943 Nikola Petkov was interned in Svishtov
where he continued with his political activity and was engaged in the organization of the FF. He was meeting with Kosta Lulchev and other political activists.
Petkov returned to Sofia in the summer of 1944.
His struggle to preserve parliamentary democracy was viewed by the communists as a form of counter-revolutionary activity. His parliamentary immunity was lifted on 5 June 1947 and was arrested in the Parliament building itself. After a show trial
in which the defence was denied the rights to legal representation or to present evidence, he was found guilty of espionage and was sentenced to death on 16 August that year. Though he protested his innocence during his staged group trial with 4 other 'co-conspirators,' and despite the protests of Western nations, Nikola Petkov was hanged
on 23 September 1947 and buried in an unknown grave. The Bulgarian secret police arranged for a false confession to be publicly printed after Petkov's death, but it was so obviously faked that the move quickly became an embarrassment and ceased to be mentioned by the authorities. Petkov had been denied a Christian burial or last rites, despite being one of Bulgaria's few genuinely religious public figures. He was posthumously rehabilitated on 15 January 1990.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
politician, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union also tiranslated to English as Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union is a political party devoted to representing the causes of the Bulgarian peasantry. It was most powerful between 1900 and 1923. In practice, it was an agrarian movement...
(usually abbreviated as BZNS). He entered politics in the early 1930s. Like many other peasant party leaders in Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria in 1945-1947, Petkov was tried and executed soon after postwar Soviet control was established in his country. He was a son of the politician Dimitar Petkov
Dimitar Petkov
Dimitar Nikolov Petkov was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from November 5, 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following year....
. His brother Petko Petkov was shot dead by a killer in 1924. Nikola Petkov was among the founders of the Fatherland Front
Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
The Fatherland Front was originally a Bulgarian political resistance movement during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party, a wing of the Agrarian Union and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party, were all part of the FF...
(FF) in 1943 and participated in the establishment of the new government before becoming its target.
Early years
He graduated from the 1st Sofia Boys High School in 1910 and after that studied law and politics at the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He returned to Bulgaria to participate in the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
(1912-1913) serving in a Guards regiment. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Petkov continued his studies in Paris and graduated with excellent marks in 1922. He worked in the Bulgarian legation in Paris. After the coup of 9 June 1923
Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923, also known as the 9 June coup d'état , was a coup d'état in Bulgaria implemented by armed forces under General Ivan Valkov's Military Union on the eve of 9 June 1923...
when the BZNS government under Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, an agrarian peasant movement which was not allied to the monarchy, and edited their newspaper...
was removed from office, Nikola Petkov resigned and stayed in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he worked as a journalist.
Civil activities
In 1929 he returned to Bulgaria and became an editor of the newspapers "Zemya" (1931-1932) and "Zemedelsko zname" - an organ of Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union "Aleksandar Stamboliyski" (1932-1933). He prepared and published a book on Aleksandar Stamboliyski in which he made political analysis and characteristics on the personality and the activities of the agrarian leader.After the coup of 19 May 1934
Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934, also known as the 19 May coup d'état , was a coup d'état in the Kingdom of Bulgaria carried out by the Zveno military organization and the Military Union with the aid of the Bulgarian Army...
Petkov cooperated with democratic parties including the Labours' Party - the legal organization of the banned Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
. He was elected to the 24th National Assembly (1938-1939).
Due to his anti-fascist activity his election as a member of the parliament was invalidated in December 1938 and Nikola Petkov was interned in Ivailovgrad.
After Dr G. M. Dimitrov
G. M. Dimitrov
Georgi Mihov Dimitrov , known as Gemeto to distinguish him from Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov, was a Bulgarian politician, a leading figure of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union in the 1930s and 1940s and an opponent of Nazism and communism alike.G. M...
emigrated in 1941, Nikola Petkov took the leadership of BZNS "Aleksandar Stamboliyski". That same year he was sent to the Gonda Voda camp. He negotiated with the other democratic parties for the establishment of the Fatherland Front and represented BZNS in the National council of the FF. In 1943 Nikola Petkov was interned in Svishtov
Svishtov
Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipality...
where he continued with his political activity and was engaged in the organization of the FF. He was meeting with Kosta Lulchev and other political activists.
Petkov returned to Sofia in the summer of 1944.
Political activity
From 9 September 1944 to 26 August 1945 he was a minister without portfolio in the first government of the FF. From January 1945 he became a leader of the anti-communist United opposition. From 26 November 1946 he was an MP in the 6th Great National Assembly.His struggle to preserve parliamentary democracy was viewed by the communists as a form of counter-revolutionary activity. His parliamentary immunity was lifted on 5 June 1947 and was arrested in the Parliament building itself. After a show trial
Show trial
The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
in which the defence was denied the rights to legal representation or to present evidence, he was found guilty of espionage and was sentenced to death on 16 August that year. Though he protested his innocence during his staged group trial with 4 other 'co-conspirators,' and despite the protests of Western nations, Nikola Petkov was hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
on 23 September 1947 and buried in an unknown grave. The Bulgarian secret police arranged for a false confession to be publicly printed after Petkov's death, but it was so obviously faked that the move quickly became an embarrassment and ceased to be mentioned by the authorities. Petkov had been denied a Christian burial or last rites, despite being one of Bulgaria's few genuinely religious public figures. He was posthumously rehabilitated on 15 January 1990.
External links
- The Case of Nikola Petkov - Charles A. Moser at www.worldandi.com
- Dimitrov: a different verdict - Comment news at www.sofiaecho.com
- Bulgaria -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia at www.britannica.com