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| 1975, June 27 |
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| Todor Zhivkov's talk with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican resulted in an agreement that led to the appointment of a Roman Catholic bishop and a vicar-apostolic for the first time in more than 20 years. Eighty percent of Bulgarians were estimated to be followers of the Roman Catholic Church. | 1 |
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| 1976, Jan. 27–28 |
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| The Central Committee of the Communist Party proposed intensification of political and economic integration with the Soviet Union, with which Bulgaria had more than 50 percent of its total foreign trade. Russian language began to be taught in the third grade instead of the fifth in all schools. | 2 |
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| 1980, June |
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| New legislation was passed to permit, for the first time, the establishment of joint economic ventures involving Bulgarian and noncommunist foreign enterprises. | 3 |
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| 1981, June 16 |
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| Grisha Filipov replaced Todorov as chairman of the Council of Ministers. | 4 |
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| 1984, Sept |
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| Under Soviet pressure, Zhivkov canceled a visit to West Germany. | 5 |
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| 1984–89 |
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| Turkish minority problems: an alleged “Bulgarization” campaign was launched by the government in 1984–85 to force ethnic Turks to change their names to the Bulgarian (Slav) form. Clashes occurred when the campaign met resistance in certain areas. | 6 |
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| 1986, April |
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| Amnesty International reported that more than a hundred ethnic Turks had been killed. Defections to the West and an exodus to Turkey continued into 1989 (it was estimated that more than 3 percent of the total population fled the country), causing serious disruption to Bulgaria's already shaky economy. | 7 |
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| 1987, July–Aug |
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| Reform proposals: at a party plenum of the Central Committee, Zhivkov presented proposals for wide-ranging constitutional and economic reforms, including multicandidate elections, a major reorganization of state and government bodies, and devolution of economic management. | 8 |
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| 1989, June 7 |
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| Thousands of ethnic Turks were expelled from the country. | 9 |
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| Nov.–Dec |
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| The fall of Zhivkov. Todor Zhivkov, the longest-serving leader in Eastern Europe, was forced to resign on Nov. 10. He was replaced by former foreign minister Petur Mladenov, who promised reform and began sweeping personnel changes in the government. In December Zhivkov and his close associates were expelled from the party and the National Assembly. In early 1990 documentary evidence showed that Zhivkov had secretly agreed in 1972 with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to create conditions for Bulgaria's annexation by the Soviet Union. Zhivkov and his second-in-command, Milko Balev, were indicted on Dec. 7, 1990, on charges of “gross embezzlement” and abuse of power. The trial of Zhivkov was indefinitely adjourned because of his ill health. | 10 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| The Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) was formed as an umbrella organization to coordinate political activities. It began to dismantle the totalitarian political system. | 11 |
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| Dec |
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| Mass demonstrations in Sofia demanded democratic reforms and talks between the authorities and the opposition. | 12 |
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