VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > B. Europe, 1945–2000 > 7. Eastern Europe, 1945–2000 > g. Bulgaria > 1951, April
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
1951, April
 
The government announced a six-year plan for the collectivization of the Dobrudja in order to turn the area into a vast collective farm.  1
 
1953, Feb. 13
 
The government decreed that all persons who left the country without permission were subject to the death penalty, and their families, to internment in concentration camps.  2
 
1956, April 17
 
Vulko Chervenkov, a protégé of Stalin, was succeeded as premier by Anton Yugov.  3
 
1959, Feb. 16
 
First secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhivkov, issued new directives calling for a 100 percent increase in industrial production and providing for decentralization of the administration and the economy.  4
 
1960, March 7
 
U.S. diplomat Edward Page, Jr., arrived in Sofia, terminating a nine-year break in U.S.-Bulgarian diplomatic ties.  5
 
1964–70
 
Bulgaria might have been described as the perfect Soviet satellite. Its economy was closely integrated with that of the Soviet Union, and the USSR supplied the financial support to implement development plans. Bulgaria worked toward increases in heavy industry, particularly steel. Through electrification, mechanization, and automation of production, the government planned to increase production more than 200 percent, all in line with Soviet needs.  6
 
1968, Aug
 
Bulgarian troops took part with other Warsaw Pact forces in the invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia.  7
 
1971, March 30
 
A new constitution emphasizing Bulgaria's socialist political and economic system was issued for nationwide discussion, to replace the 1947 constitution. A national referendum approved the new constitution on May 16.  8
 
July 7–8
 
Todor Zhivkov was elected chairman of the State Council (president) and Stanko Todorov, chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) by the newly elected National Assembly.  9
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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