The Assassination of the King of Bulgaria

Since the armistice, attention had somewhat shifted away from the Balkans, a centuries-old theater of bloody wars, fratricidal struggles, assassinations, and successive revolutions. There was reason to believe, in short, that these peoples, who had suffered so much, were devoting all their efforts, with the return of peace, to rebuilding themselves through order and hard work.

Now, suddenly, events as serious as they were unexpected occurred in Bulgaria, revealing a state of ferment, if not anarchy, of which Western Europe seemed unaware.

The first of these was the assassination attempt on King Boris: He was returning from hunting in his car and was following the road from Orhanie to Sofia when, at the side of the road, a group of men appeared and opened fire on the royal carriage. There was a brief fight during which two of the king's companions were killed and the driver wounded. But the king himself escaped the ambush unharmed.

It might have been thought to be an isolated act of terrorism, but shortly afterward, in the streets of Sofia, General Gorgueff, president of a major political party and a member of parliament, was assassinated. From then on, suspicion began to mount that these two attacks were the execution of a plan devised by a revolutionary organization. Proof of this was soon to emerge.

General Gorgueff's funeral was being held in Sofia at the Cathedral of the Seven Saints. Government and army representatives were attending along with a huge crowd, when a tremendous explosion occurred, triggered by an infernal machine. One of the cathedral's three domes and part of the vault collapsed on top of the crowd. Among the rubble, more than 150 people were killed and over 200 injured. The victims included the police chief, the departmental prefect, the mayor of the capital, numerous generals, women, and children.

This was clearly the result of a vast plot aimed at nothing less than terrorizing the population and, taking advantage of the general dismay, overthrowing the government and proclaiming an agrarian republic, a sort of copy of the Russian Soviets.

King Boris escaped the cathedral attack because, that day, he had to go to another church for the funeral of his hunting companion, who had been killed at his side.

The Bulgarian government reacted immediately to this series of revolutionary attempts. Martial law was declared, and accomplices were sought and hunted down mercilessly. There is reason to hope that order will be restored promptly, but we must not forget that a deep malaise is currently troubling the population of this unfortunate country.