Aleksandar Tsankov: Difference between revisions

[[File:Altsankov.jpeg|thumb|300px|right]]

 

'''Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov''' (June 29^th, 1879 – July 27^th, 1959) was a Bulgarian Fascist dictator and politician between the two world wars.

A Professor of Political Economy at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_University Sofia University] from 1910 onwards, he took a leading role in the overthrow of the government of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandar_Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stamboliyski] in 1923 and was chosen to head the coalition that succeeded the deposed Premier. The coup was able to succeed as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_Communist_Party Bulgarian Communist Party] took a neutral attitude towards the Agrarians rather than supporting Stamboliyski. He became Prime Minister of Bulgaria on 9 June that same year and continued in the role until 4 January 1926. During that period he was the leader of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Alliance_%28Bulgaria%29 Democratic Alliance]. His Premiership was marked by deep internal struggles with the Bulgarian Communist Party, which Tsankov repressed mercilessly, declaring [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law martial law] and outlawing the Communists in 1925 following an attempt on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_III_of_Bulgaria Tsar Boris's] life and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nedelya_Church_assault bomb attack on the St Nedelya Cathedral].His actions led to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comintern Comintern] denouncing the government as a "victorious Bulgarian fascist clique", whilst he later turned his attentions on the Agrarian Peoples Union, who were also suppressed, albeit less ferociously A brief invasion by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece Greek] troops followed and, although they did not stay long following condemnation by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations League of Nations], the country was left crippled by debt and Tsankov was removed from office after failing to secure a loan for the country, By this point any support for Tsankov had dwindled as the people tired of his reign of terror.

After being removed from the political mainstream, Tsankov began to develop an admiration for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism Fascism] and soon became a supporter of [[Adolf Hitler|Adolf Hitler.]]In 1932 he set up his own [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Social_Movement_%28Bulgaria%29 National Social Movement] largely in imitation of the [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/Nazi_Party Nazi Party]. The movement proved fairly unimportant (although it did represent a further fragmentation of the governing coalition), lacking the support of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zveno Zveno] and failing to secure Nazi approval, which was largely reserved for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Bulgarian_National_Legions Union of Bulgarian National Legions].Nonetheless, Tsankov was appointed by the Nazis in 1944 as Prime Minister of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_government-in-exile Bulgarian Government in Exile] set up in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany Germany] in response to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimon_Georgiev Kimon Georgiev]'s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatherland_Front_%28Bulgaria%29 Fatherland Front] government. After the [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/World_War_II Second World War] Tsankov fled to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina Argentina] and died in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrano,_Buenos_Aires Belgrano, Buenos Aires] in 1959.