The Bulgarian Workers' Party (Bulgarian: Българска работническа партия (БРП), Romanised: Bŭlgarska rabotnitscheska partiya; BRP) was a name adopted by the BKP after its merger with the Workers' Party in the late 1930s. The BRP declared against Bulgaria's accession to the Tripartite Pact, and after the start of the war against the USSR, it proceeded, under instructions from Moscow, to organize an armed resistance movement. A little later, in 1942, again on the initiative of Moscow, the BRP proposed the creation of the Fatherland Front to a number of other opposition formations, which would be politically and organizationally liquidated after only a few years. From 1948, the BRP was renamed again to the BKP.
History
In 1938, by decision of the Central Committee, the illegal Bulgarian Communist Party and the legal Workers' Party merged their activities into a new party under the name Bulgarian Workers' Party.
In 1936–1940, the party organized numerous strikes of varying scale. In 1940, it led the Sobolev's Action in an attempt to gain acceptance of the Soviet Union's proposal to Bulgaria for a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance. The pro-German government of Bogdan Filov, however, was oriented towards an alliance with Nazi Germany and rejected the proposal.
According to Daniela Gorcheva, the Bulgarian communists were the only ones who in November 1940 wanted Bulgaria to enter the Tripartite Pact. On June 22, 1941, immediately after the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the BRP called on the people not to cooperate with the government and the German troops. On June 24, the party declared a course of armed struggle. The BRP headed the activities of the terrorist battle groups and the partisan movement in Bulgaria, published illegal newspapers and pamphlets. It participated in the organization of the Fatherland Front and as part of it declared Bulgaria's withdrawal from the Tripartite Pact and joining the anti-Hitler coalition. On August 26, 1944, encouraged by the successful advance of the Red Army into the Balkans, the leadership of the BRP issued District No. 4, in which it called on all its activists to prepare an armed uprising with the aim of "overthrowing the monarcho-fascist dictatorship". After the USSR declared war on Bulgaria on September 5, on September 6, the capture of populated areas in the country by partisan formations and combat groups began. On September 7, the prisons in Pleven and Varna were broken up and the political prisoners were released. Early in the morning of September 9, 1944, military units that had gone over to the OF side, assisted by partisan detachments and combat groups, seized key points in Sofia and overthrew the government of Konstantin Muraviev.
A government was formed, headed by Kimon Georgiev, in which the BRP (presenting itself under that name for the first time), the BZNS Pladne and the PK "Zveno" participated with an equal number of ministers. Local power in the country was taken over by committees of the OF, dominated by communists and left-wing farmers. On October 6, 1944, the government approved the Regulation-law on the trial by people's court of those responsible for Bulgaria's involvement in the war. On December 20, 1944, the Regulation-law on the labor and educational dormitories for politically dangerous persons was adopted. BRP activists, mostly former partisans, were widely appointed to the influential post of assistant commander during Bulgaria's participation in World War II against Nazi Germany. After the conclusion of the People's Court trials in April 1945, numerous forced labor camps were established throughout the country and a large number of political opponents were killed. In 1945, the government organized parliamentary elections. In the opinion of the opposition and the Western Allies, they were heavily manipulated and they boycotted them. Under pressure from the United States and Great Britain through their representatives in the Allied Control Commission, the OF agreed to include opposition leaders in the government, but negotiations with them failed. In March 1946, a new OF government was formed, headed by Kimon Georgiev. During this election campaign, women and military personnel received voting rights for the first time. 14 women were elected to parliament for the first time. In 1945, an expanded plenum of the Bulgarian Communist Party was held, where the party seniority and social status of 94 out of a total of 120 members of the Bulgarian Communist Party's Regional Committees were established. By social status, 38 of the members are workers (including industrial and artisan workers), 50 are intelligentsia (50 are students, etc., 13 are teachers, 2 are engineers, 3 are accountants, 3 are lawyers, 1 doctor and 1 technician), 3 are small owners (farmers), 3 are artisans. By party seniority, people with 11 to 15 years predominate – 38 people, followed by those with 6 to 10 years – 21 people and 21 – 25 years – 16 people. 6 people have 16 to 20 years of experience, 10 people have 1 to 5 years of experience and 3 people have the most party experience of 26 to 30 years.