"Tracing the evolution of the Bulgarian state and its people, from the beginning of the national revival in the middle of the nineteenth century to the entry of the country into the European Union, Richard Crampton examines key political, social, and economic developments, showing how a backward and troublesome Balkan state became a modern European nation."--BOOK JACKET.

Preface --Acknowledgements -- List of maps -- List of tables -- Abbreviations -- Transliteration scheme -- Prologue -- [pt]. 1. Origins -- 1. Bulgaria and the Bulgarians -- 2. Bulgaria before the Ottoman conquest -- 3. The Bulgarians under Ottoman rule -- [pt]. 2. The Bulgarian national resistance, 1 : Introduction -- 1. The pre-renaissance -- 2. The kŭrdjaliĭstvo -- 3. Population movements -- [pt]. 3. The Bulgarian national resistance, 2 : The cultural revival and the creation of the modern Bulgarian state -- 1. The Tanzimat and the modernization of the Ottoman system -- 2. The education movement -- 3. Language and the press -- 4. The campaign for a Bulgarian Church -- 5. The revolutionary and political movements -- [pt]. 4. The Turnovo Constitution and the reign of Prince Alexander, 1878-1886 -- 1. The Tŭrnovo constitution and political instability, 1879-1881 -- 2. Prince Alexander's attempted authoritarian rule, 1881-1883 -- 3. The restoration of the Tŭrnovo constitution and the rule of the liberals, 1883-1885 -- 4. The national question, and the unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, 1878-1885 -- 5. War with Serbia and the deposition of Prince Alexander, 1885-1886 -- 6. The election of Prince Ferdinand. [pt]. 5. Stefan Stambolov, Prince Ferdinand, and the quest for recognition, 1887-1896 -- 1. Stambolov ascendant, 1887-1890 -- 2. The decline and fall of Stambolov, 1890-1894 -- 3. The recognition of Prince Ferdinand, 1894-1896 -- 4. Parties, partizanstvo, and the political system -- [pt]. 6. Prince Ferdinand's personal rule, 1896-1912 -- 1. The Macedonian question, 1894-1898 -- 2. The ORC fiasco, 1894-1899 -- 3. The agrarian crisis and the birth of BANU, 1899-1901 -- 4. Money and Macedonia, 1900-1903 -- 5. The Ilinden rising and the second stambolovist government, 1903-1908 -- 6. The government of Malinov and the declaration of independence, 1907-1911 -- 7. The growth of political radicalism -- [pt]. 7. Bulgaria at war, 1912-1918 -- 1. Constitutional change and the formation of the Balkan league -- 2. The first Balkan war -- 3. The second Balkan war : the first 'national catastrophe' -- 4. From Balkan to European war -- 5. Bulgaria and the first world war : the commitment to the central powers -- 6. Bulgaria in the first world war : the second 'national catastrophe'. [pt]. 8. Between two wars, 1919-1941 -- 1. The treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine -- 2. The agrarians versus the communists, 1919-1920 -- 3. BANU in power, 1920-1923 -- 4. The tsankovist terror, 1923-1926 -- 5. The government of the Democratic Alliance, 1926-1931 -- 6. The People's Bloc and the great depression, 1931-1934 -- 7. The zvenari government, 19 May 1934-January 1935 -- 8. The personal regime of King Boris, 1935-1941 -- [pt]. 9. Bulgaria and the Second World War, 1941-1944 -- 1. The occupied territories -- 2. Domestic politics during the war -- 3. Bulgaria's military participation in the war -- 4. The regency and the end of the 'symbolic' war -- 5. Internal opposition : the Fatherland Front, and the partisan movement -- 6. Bulgaria's exit from the war -- [pt]. 10. Social and economic factors, 1878-1944 -- 1. Demography -- 2. Stability and change -- 3. The persistence and dominance of the small peasant proprietor -- 4. Standards of living in rural areas -- 5. Agricultural backwardness -- 6. Urban growth -- 7. Industrial development -- 8. The state and industry -- 9. Public health -- 10. The position of women in Bulgarian society. [pt]. 11. The Communist acquisition of power, 1944-1948 -- 1. The first purges, September 1944-May 1945 -- 2. The communists versus the agrarians, May-November 1945 -- 3. The communist offensive, December 1945-October 1946 -- 4. The communists embattled, October 1946-February 1947 -- 5. The peace treaty and the elimination of Perkov, February-September 1947 -- 6. The Communists assume total control September-December 1947 -- [pt]. 12. The Communists in power, 1 : The rule of terror, the reign of Vulko Chervenkov, and the rise of Todor Zhivkov, 1948-1965 -- 1. The transformation of the social and economic order -- 2. The terror and the Stalinist purges -- 3. Vŭlko Chervenkov and the sovietization of Bulgaria, 1949-1953 -- 4. The 'new course' in Bulgaria, 1953-1956 -- 5. The April plenum 1956 -- 6. Zhivkov versus Yugov, 1956-1962 -- [pt]. 13. The Communists in power, II : The rule of Todor Zhivkov, 1965-1989 -- 1. Todor Zhivkov -- 2. Building socialism -- 4. Zhivkov ascendant, 1965-1975 -- 5. Zhivkov's external policies -- 6. The amazing career of Lyudmila Zhivkova -- 7. The decline of communist power : the collapse of the economic strategy -- 8. The decline of communist power : the 'regenerative process' -- 9. The decline of party authority, 1975-1985 -- 10. The collapse of the Zhivkov regime, 1985-1989. [pt]. 14. Post-Communist Bulgaria, 1989-2005 -- 1. Devising a new constitution, December 1989-July 1991 -- 2. Treading water, October 1991-January 1995 -- 3. The BSP government, January 1995-April 1997 -- 4. The Kostov government and movement towards the EU and NATO, April 1997-June 2001 -- 5. Government by 'the king' and entry into NATO and the EU, June 2001-June 2005 -- 6. Postscript : the elections of 2005 -- [pt]. 15. The minority and demographic questions -- 1. The Muslims : Turks and Pomaks, 1878-1989 -- 2. The other minorities, 1878-1944 -- 3. The minorities under communist rule, 1944-1989 -- 4. The minorities since 1989 -- 5. Recent demographic decline -- Epilogue : Bulgaria between East and West -- Appendix : Bulgarian political parties, 1878-1934 -- Bibliographical notes -- General histories -- The Bulgarian national revival -- From the liberation to the end of the first world war -- From the end of the first to the end of the second world war -- Social and economic development from 1878 to 1944 -- The years of communist domination, 1944-1989 -- Bulgaria since 1989 -- Minorities and ethnic questions -- Index.