Conservative Party (Bulgaria)


The Conservative Party was a party formed in 1879 as one of Bulgaria's two major parties. It was linked with the newspapers Vitosha, Balgarski Glas and Otechestvo.

History

The Conservative party was formed by the leaders of the conservative movement in the Constituent Assembly. It was less popular than the Liberal Party, but had a close relationship with the monarch Alexander of Battenberg, who tasked them with forming Bulgaria's first two governments, despite their electoral loss in the 1879 election. Following a motion of no confidence and snap elections in 1880, they went into opposition. The party supported the 1881 coup and resulting authoritarian regime of Prince Alexander, which suspended the Tarnovo Constitution and was a member of all his governments from 1881 to 1883. When the constitution was restored in 1883 it joined Dragan Tsankov's second government led by his moderate liberals. In 1884 its pro-Russian faction joined the moderate liberals into the Tsankovist Party. Soon afterwards most of its pro-Austrian faction merged into the Stambolovist Liberals. Many of its remaining members joined the People's Party in 1894.

Political positions

The party's base of support was mostly the clergy, rich urban merchants and the rural wealthy. During the Constituent Assembly it proposed amendments aimed at strengthening of the monarch's powers, introducing a bicameral legislature and restricting freedom of speech and press. The Party was split in terms of foreign policy, with a stronger pro-Russian faction and a weaker pro-Austrian faction.

Important members