ALEXANDER Stamboliiski Boulevard is one of the major arterial routes in Sofia. It got its name in 1946 during the first big renaming of streets after the end of the fascist regime in Bulgaria on September 9, 1944.
It started out as a shorter street called Suborna Street in 1833. It had a short spell as Zahari Stoyanov Street from 1892 until 1895 when it was renamed Suborna Street. In 1897 it was made a boulevard and called Knyaginya Klimentina Blvd.
Alexander Stamboliiski, after whom the boulevard is named, was prime minister during the term of the independent government of the Bulgarian Agrarian Union from October 1919 to June 1923. An ideologist and leader of the peasantry, he has been celebrated as a reformer with broad views.
Born in 1879 in the village of Slavovitsa in the Pazardjik region, Stamboliiski attended an agricultural college in Halle, Germany. He gradually ascended in the hierarchy of the Bulgarian Agrarian Union until, at the turn of the century, he was its leader and chief ideologist and entered the National Assembly in 1908.
Stamboliiski boldly opposed Bulgaria's entry into the First World War in the face of the monarch Tsar Ferdinand. A republican and opponent of the ruling Coburg dynasty, Stamboliiski spent several years in prison, serving a life sentence. He was released during the turmoil of 1918 and immediately led a soldiers' revolt.
As the country's prime minister, Stamboliiski adhered strictly to the principle that any nationwide undertaking should start with addressing the needs of the poor. To that end, his government took control of the grain trade and took steps to solve housing problems. Followed a strong anti-urban and anti-industrial policy, Stamboliiski's government redistributed land to the peasantry.
In 1919 he signed the Treaty of Neuilly with the Allied Forces, which considerably decreased the size of the territory of Bulgaria. In spite of that he and his party did not lose popularity among the people and the Agrarians gained a majority in the 1920 parliamentary elections.
His government's policy led to some social tension, however, by creating an artificial division between town and village. His agrarian reforms, especially those against large property, made him unpopular among the bourgeoisie. The power of the people, advocated by the Bulgarian Agrarian Union, gradually turned into a peasant dictatorship. The incidence of violence against political opponents became more frequent, which led to growing discontent in political circles affected by Stamboliiski's reforms.
On June 9, 1923, his government was overthrown in a military coup. Stamboliiski attempted to organise armed resistance in his native village but was captured and brutally executed.