Fresh off the Agrarian victory in Veliko Tarnovo, Stamboliiski notches yet more victories for his government. But will such a brilliant triumph be enough to ensure victory when the final showdown comes between the Agrarians and their many enemies?

Major Characters in this Episode:

Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliiski

Nikola Yurukov

Tsanko Bakalov

Asen Daskalov

Timeline for this episode:

• 1922, Nov 20th - Lausanne Conference begins.

• 1922, Dec 30th - The Soviet Union is formed.

• 1922, Dec - An Italian Fascist group is founded in Sofia.

• 1923, Jan 5th - Martial law is lifted in the Dupnitsa and Radomir districts.

• 1923, Jan 16-17 - VMRO detachments attack villages inhabited by Serbian colonists in Macedonia in an attempt to pressure the populations to return to Serbia.

• 1923, Jan 24th - There’s an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Minister Tsanko Bakalov.

• 1923, Jan 28th - A unification congress of the Macedonian brotherhoods is held in Sofia, The Macedonian Federalist Emigrant Organization merges into the Union of Macedonian Brotherhoods. A day earlier Arch. Nikola Yurukov was killed.

• 1923, Feb 4th - An assassination attempt on Stamboliiski and ministers Alexander Obbov, Petar Yanev, and Tsanko Bakalov at a box in the National Theater fails.

• 1923, Feb 9th - Five ministers are removed from government (including Raiko Daskalov) and are replaced with young agricultural leaders.

• 1923, Feb 23rd - A new electoral law is passed abolishing proportional representation and further advantaging the largest party. At the same time, Stamboliiski calls for new elections in April.

• 1923, Mar 1-17th - Bulgarian and Yugoslav officials meet in Nis and agree on common border protection against the VMRO.

• 1923, Mar 21st - The Bulgarian government and the Inter-Allied Commission agree to restructure reparation payments.

• 1923, Mar 27-30 - The Dobrudja organization decides to create an Internal Dobrudja Revolutionary Organization IDRO. The details will be worked out over the coming month.

• 1923 Mar 31st - The People’s Court issues its ruling against the former ministers from the Radoslavov cabinet. Six are sentences to life in prison while the remainders receive 10-15 year sentences.

• 1923, Apr 9th - Jul 24th - Further sessions of the Lausanne Conference are held. In them it is decided that Greece will keep Western Thrace.

• 1923, Apr 22nd - Elections for the National Assembly are held (except for the Petritch and Kyustendil districts where VMRO activity leads them to be postponed). The Agrarians win 54% of the votes and 86% of the seats. Ultimately the Agrarians get 212 seats, the Communists 17, the Constitutional Bloc 15, and the Broad Socialists 1.

Sources used in this episode:

• История на България в Дати by Vasil Katsunov, Plamen Mitev, Valeri Kolev, Evgenia Kalinova, and Iskra Baeva

• Crown of Thorns: The Reign of King Boris III of Bulgaria 1918-1943 by Stephane Groueff

• Aleksandur Stamboliiski by R.J. Crampton

• Peasants in Power by John D. Bell

• The Rose of the Balkans by Ivan Ilchev

• History of the Balkans; Twentieth Century by Barbara Jelavich

• Bulgaria 1878-1946: the Challenge of Choice by Tatiana Kostadinova