Religion was viewed by the Communists as a means for manipulating and indoctrinating the people, much as it had been during the periods of Byzantine and Turkish rule. Since its founding in the ninth century, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had claimed most of the population as members. The Communists perceived a dual purpose in their cooptation of this institution. On the one hand, by patronizing the Bulgarian church, they believed that they would receive support from its members. On the other hand, they sought to unify the churches by placing the Bulgarian Orthodox Church under close control of the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, the regime reestablished the Bulgarian patriarchate; the patriarch, in turn, required all church members to support governmental policies.
Minority religions were treated as separate entities, although all of them had to register with the Committee for Religious Affairs, a body attached to the Council of Ministers. The leadership of all churches was considered responsible ultimately to the state. The churches became financially dependent upon the government as all church funds were in the hands of the bureaucracy. A certain percentage of Muslims—who constituted the largest minority religion—were expelled from the country. Those Muslims who remained were organized into small communities, and their religious leader, the grand mufti, was allowed to retain his position as long as he remained subservient to the state.
As far as other minority religions were concerned, their churches were, for the most part, closed, and their leaders were either harassed or executed. Roman Catholic churches were closed, the church hierarchy was abolished, and in 1952 forty leading Catholics were tried and sentenced to death. The Protestants were allowed slightly more latitude. Although all Protestant schools were immediately closed, five Protestant denominations were allowed to merge into the United Evangelical Church. In 1949, however, fifteen Protestant pastors were executed. Some Jews were allowed to emigrate to Israel in the early period of communist rule, but in Bulgaria the grand rabbi, like the Moslem grand mufti, was rendered completely subordinate to the state.
In 1949 Dimitrov died and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Vulko Chervenkov, known as the Stalin of Bulgaria, who controlled the government from 1950 until 1956. His was a one-man rule, patterned completely on the rule of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. He was both the premier and the First Secretary for the six years of his rule. There was an increase in industrial production under Chervenkov. Production plans, however, appeared to be conceived more in the light of Soviet five-year plans than with regard to Bulgaria's economic needs. Agriculture was almost completely collectivized, although production goals were not achieved, and the standard of living declined appreciably under Chervenkov's rule.
In foreign policy Bulgaria under Chervenkov continued to follow the Soviet example. International communism dominated all Bulgaria's foreign policies. In the early 1950s Bulgaria supported the abortive communist uprising in Greece. Chervenkov attempted to rid the country of all Western influence and severed diplomatic relations with the United States in 1950. After Chervenkov's term relations were reestablished in 1960 and promoted from legation to embassy status in 1966. Again, following the example of the Soviet Union, which was then on strained terms with the nationalistic Yugoslavs, Chervenkov purged 100,000 nationalists from the party and executed Traicho Kostov, the deputy premier, on the grounds that he was a Titoist. Because of Bulgaria's antisocial behavior in the world community, the country was excluded from the United Nations until 1955.
Although Stalin died in 1953, Chervenkov retained his office as premier until 1956 but held only nominal powers. He was ultimately purged in 1962. Chervenkov, in the post-Stalin period, was openly charged with supporting the personality cult policies of Stalin. After Stalin's death there was a degree of political relaxation under a policy known as the New Course. Police terrorism abated, and there was greater freedom of movement in the society as a whole. Travel abroad was tolerated to a greater degree, and an increased interest in the welfare of the people was manifested. The government actively courted the peasants in order to win them over to its policy of collectivization. The working classes, office workers, and even artisans were given more latitude by the government. On the foreign front, following the example of Nikita Khrushchev, who sought reconciliation with Tito, and despite Bulgaria's reluctance over the still-fiery Macedonian issue, Bulgaria made some efforts at reconciliation with Yugoslavia. In order to establish better relations both with the Yugoslavs and with the Bulgarian nationalists, Kostov was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956.
In 1954 Chervenkov gave up his title as first secretary of the party, thus setting a new precedent for separation of party and state posts and dispelling the concept of one-man rule. Although Chervenkov retained his title as premier temporarily, Todor Zhivkov became the first secretary. Shortly thereafter, Chervenkov was replaced as premier by Anton Yugov. As Zhivkov, despite his backing by Khrushchev, was not firmly in control of the party, his takeover was followed by widespread purges.
Zhivkov's rule, like that of his predecessor, emulated the Soviet model. Unlike Chervenkov, however, Zhivkov based his government on the principle of collective leadership. In the early years of his rule he based his foreign policy on allegiance to the Soviet Union. He strongly supported the Soviets in their border conflicts with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Bulgaria, despite basic sentiments concerning Macedonia, still attempted to renew its friendship with Yugoslavia, again following the Khrushchev example.
In 1962 Zhivkov purged the party of both Chervenkov and Yugov and made himself premier as well as first secretary, thus reestablishing the principle of unity of rule (see ch. 9). At the same time, this move increased Zhivkov's control over the party. Internal problems continued to plague the Zhivkov government. There were, in the 1960s, severe shortages of food, housing, and consumer goods.
Bulgaria's foreign policy under Zhivkov, however, continued on an even, strongly Soviet, keel. Bulgaria's foreign policy has been assessed by some observers as "a carbon copy of Moscow's." Bulgaria was, and is, considered to be the most reliable partner of the Soviet Union in the Balkans. In contrast, Albania has supported the PRC, Romania has pressed its case for independence, and Yugoslavia has essentially followed a nationalistic policy.