*** Bulgarian Youth Group Uniforms








Bulgarian Youth Groups

Bulgarian Scouts
Figure 1.--This Sofia boy was a Boy Scout. The portrait is not identified, but he was photographed in his Scout uniform during the 1930s, before the War. The Scouting movement in Bulgaria was fairly small. As the Government was drawn into the NAZI orbit, it banned Scouting in 1940.

The Boy Scouts were organized in Bulgaria during the early-20h century. Groups began organizing local Scout troops (1911-13). Scouters founded a national Scout organization (1923). Bulgarian Scouting participated in the World Organization of the Scout Movement (1924-40). After World War I the Bolshevicks banned Russian Scouting. Bulgaria was one of the places where White Russian émigrés settled and established Scout troops. The Royal Government responding to increasing German influence, suspended Scouting (1940). The Royal government organized a Bulgarian nationalistic youth group--the Brannik. This meant Guardians. The group was in part modeled on the Hitler Youth. After the World War II, the Communists seized power. The Bugarian Communust Party (BCP) banned Scouting and followed the Soviet model set up a party youth organization--the Communist Youth League of Bulgaria which was later renamed the Dimitrov Communist Youth League of Bulgaria and abbreviated as theo Komsomol. The organization for children was the Young Pioneers. The League sought to instill Socialist values among Bulgarian youth and to recruit future Party members. Membership peaked at 1.5 million members (1987). After the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, the Pioneers were disbanned. Without government support, there was little interest in continuing the organization. Scouting was reestablished.

Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts were organized in Bulgaria during the early-20h century. Groups began organizing local Scout troops (1911-13). Scouters founded a national Scout organization (1923). Bulgarian Scouting participated in the World Organization of the Scout Movement (1924-40). After World War I the Bolsheviks banned Russian Scouting. Bulgaria was one of the places where White Russian émigrés settled and established Scout troops. The Bulgarian Scout movement was rather smll, a factor in develping coed Scouting despite the fact tht Bulgarian society was very conservative. The Government responding to increasing German influence, suspended Scouting (1940). Scouting was banned by the Communists (1945). The movement was reestablished after the fall of Communism (1989). It is still avery small group.

Legionairs

The Legionairs were nationalists and royalists, but had the reputation as street brawlers.

REMS

The Communists organized the REMS.

Brannik

King Boris seized control of the Bulgarian Government justifying it as necessary to prevent the Communists from seizing power. The King essentially ruled as a dictator in a 'Regime without Parties'. He did not, however have a political party to generate popular support for his rule. Efforts to generate public support included an initistive to organize Obshtestvena Sila (Public Force), a kind of non-political political party or civic organization, but nothing much came from it. A more successful effort was organizing a Bulgarian nationalistic youth group--the Brannik. This meant Guardians. The Brannik compete with the Communists and Legionairs who were alreading recruiting young people. The Government wanted a nationalist group that was royalist, but non-political. The Government supported the group by paying the salaries of the adult leaders. Chapters were organized in high schools, but not in village schools. Thus it was a mioddle-class organization. Failure to organize at the village level meant that few peasant boys were involved in the organization. There were leather belts with a shoulder strap. The salute was similsr to the Legionars, raising the hand from the elbow. There was an influence of the Hitler Youth, but there was no strong ideological component, only nationalism and support for the King. Membership was open to all young people, both boys anjd girls, although organizing it in secondary schools significantly restricted membership. Membership was optional, but there were advantages concerning educational advancement and careers. Thuis quite a number of secondary school youth joined. In the heated political climate of the 1930s, uniforms were popular with young people. The Brannik was quickly a much larger group than the Boy Scouts. One source suggests that membership in the Brannik was seen by The Communjists aznd other opponents of the regime as a cover for cladestine activities. There was little vetting by the organizers who were anxious to reports large numbers to their superiors. [Raĭkin, pp.145-47.]

Red Cross

The Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) was established iwith the liberation of the Principality of Bulgaria and the region of Eastern Rumelia from the Ottoman Empire (1878). The first BRC organization was established in that same year in Sofia. The regional governor, V.P. Alabin, recruited many prominent citizens of the city, and led their work in the first BRC. The BRC was recognized by, and became a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The BRC aided the Russians in Ruso-Japanese War (1905-06). It was acyive in the Balkan Wars and World War I. Contributions made by King Boris III helped finance the orgnization (1918-43). The IBRC played a major role in creating a Bulgarian national health system system. We note a youth program active in the inter-War era, but do not yet know much about it. We see uniformed BRC boys at what looks like a summer camp. The participants look mostly like teen agers and young adults.

Pioneers

After World War II, the Communists backed by the occupying Red Army and NKVD seized power in Bulgaria. The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) (Народна република България (НРБ) formally took power (1946). The Bugarian Communust Party (BCP) banned Scouting and followed the Soviet model set up a party youth organization--the Communist Youth League of Bulgaria which was later renamed the Dimitrov Communist Youth League of Bulgaria (DPO) and abbreviated as the Komsomol. They were also called Septemberists. The organization for children was the Young Pioneers. There were also an organization called 'Chavdarcheta' for the younger children. The difference between the two was the distinctive scarf, which was sky-blue in the Chavdarcheta movement and red in the Pioneri movement. The Pioneri movement w founded immediately after the arrivlof the Rd Army during World War II allowing the Communists to begin seizing power (September 1944) The DPO "Septemberists" organized Bulgarian children between 9 and 14 years of age. It was organizationlly a unit of the Dimitrovist Young Communist League. The League sought to instill Socialist values among Bulgarian youth and to recruit future Party members. We have been able to find very little information about the Bulgarian Pioneers. We note a choir group visiting Berlin (about 1960). We also note the Pioneers presenting Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-68) a dove presented to him in Sofia by Bulgarian Young Pioneers (1961). Membership totaled 0.7 million (1967) and peaked at 1.5 million members (1987). Membership was essentially compulsory. After the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, the Pioneers were disbanned. Without government support, The uniform was green with Boy Scout-like jackets and berets. there was little interest in continuing the organization. . Isn't it interesting that despite the fact that there were 1.5 million members that today virtually none of them are interested in contributing to this page. This probably reflects the fact that membership was compulsory and few found the movement interesting or beneficial. This seems o have been the case throughout the Soviet empire.

Sources

Raĭkin, Spas. Rebel with a Just Cause: A Political Journey against the Winds of the 20th Century Vol. II.





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Created: 4:33 AM 9/11/2010
Last updated: 3:58 AM 3/4/2017