site.btaSeptember 27, 1918: Bulgaria Declared Republic in Soldiers' Uprising

In a Soldiers' Uprising of September 27, 1918, Bulgaria was declared a republic.

Shortly before the signing of the Armistice of Salonika, which ended Bulgaria’s participation in World War I, Rayko Daskalov, who was among the chief leaders of the Soldiers’ Uprising, announced the monarch’s ouster and declared Bulgaria a republic on September 27, 1918.

After Entente forces breached Bulgaria’s defensive line at Dobro Pole earlier in September, the retreating Bulgarian troops organized an uprising against the government and Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Having broken out on September 24, the Soldiers' Uprising was the first attempt to abolish the monarchy in Bulgaria and replace it with republican rule. 

On September 25, agrarian leaders Daskalov and Alexander Stamboliiski were freed from prison, where they had been held for their anti-war stances. They were tasked with convincing the mutinous soldiers in the western towns of Radomir and Kyustendil to go back to the front.

Daskalov took the lead of the mutiny and captured the general staff headquarters of the active army in Radomir. It was there that Daskalov declared Bulgaria a republic, Alexander Stamboliiski head of an interim government, and himself commander-in-chief. In an address to the Bulgarian people, they demanded peace and called for the establishment of a republican government and the implementation of social reforms.

By the time Stamboliiski arrived in Kyustendil, Daskalov had decided that the radical forces in the army were strong enough to take Sofia, and he suggested to Stamboliiski that they march on the capital. Despite Stamboliiski’s non-committal reply, Daskalov set off from Radomir for Sofia. 

However, the attack was repulsed by troops that were loyal to the government and were strengthened by German units.

The Radomir rebellion failed primarily because the main objective of the mutineers, an end to the war, was achieved with the signing of the Armistice of Salonika on September 29. The terms were announced early in October. The first required Tsar Ferdinand to leave the country, and he therefore abdicated in favour of his son, who became King Boris III. The armistice also stipulated that Bulgaria would have to withdraw from virtually all the territory it had acquired during the war.

The uprising officially ended on October 2 with the capture of Radomir by government troops.