It looks like we don't have any summaries for this title yet. Be the first to contribute.
Learn more- The BULGARIAN 20th Century documentary series consists of 12 episodes. On the basis of the existing film, video and photo archive, an entertaining and comprehensible plot is built on each topic. The author's comment does not impose on the viewer extreme and unambiguous political evaluations. Considering the events on the European and world stage, each episode explores the purely Bulgarian dimension and meaning of what is happening. The documentary series traces the world major processes and how they affect Bulgaria. This comparison revels the role and place of Bulgarian politics, culture and personalities in the world history.
Episode #1 THE FIRST BALKAN WAR 1912 - UNITED Bulgaria has just gained its independence and is facing a gigantic test - the First Balkan War. Will the young country endure the military might of the vast Ottoman Empire? Are we as Bulgarians scared of the discontent of European powers? Is there a future for the union of Balkan states? The answers to these questions lie in the unique archival footage, shown for the first time, which will bring us back to the difficult years for Bulgaria at the beginning of the 20th century.
Episode #2 THE SECOND BALKAN WAR 1913 - DISUNITED Unique film and photo archive from the Second Balkan War, also called "Inter-Allied". Fratricidal battle for Macedonia, Dobrudja and Eastern Thrace. Sealed in the footage is the tremendous anguish and despair of the Bulgarian people. How Bulgaria reaches its first national catastrophe.
Episode #3 THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918 - FOUR HARD YEARS Are the Balkans really the "gunpowder dump" of Europe? In the years of the First World War, provoked by the assassination in Sarajevo, the answer is probably "Yes." Bulgaria again at a crossroads. A war "while the leaves drop out of the trees" or four years in the trenches with mud, lice, diseases and thousands of victims. National unity or a new national catastrophe?
Episode #4 THE AGRICULTURAL ROAD OF BULGARIA The World after the First World War. Multifaceted, interesting, unpredictable. Another national catastrophe again put Bulgaria at a crossroads. A large, worried and pale Bulgarian signs the Treaty of Neuilly. Aleksandar Stamboliyski. Peasant leader, anti-war agitator, prisoner "for life", Prime Minister.
Episode #5 A COUP CALLED "PEOPLE'S TALK-ASSEMBLY" Bulgaria in the 1920s. A look at the past without nostalgia. Tragic history of civil conflicts and national disunity. The grim chronicle of "Ninth of June" coup. Alexander Stamboliyski - another Bulgarian Prime Minister victim of cruel political assassination. The September Uprising - a naive strategic mistake or cynical political game with the fates of thousands human beings. The attack in the church "Holy Sunday" - the worst terrorist act in Bulgarian history. Hundreds of innocent victims of the explosion and thousands killed and missing in the backlash of the authorities.
Episode #6 THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE 30'S In the 30s Sofia is transformed from a muddy, rural town to a European capital. Europe rejoices under the looming shadow of war. People like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel and Luis Bunuel turn the era into an "A Moveable Feast". They hooligan attack the stereotypes of classical art and create a cultural identity of the 20th century. In the period between the wars the Bulgarian fine arts, music, cinema, secular life gradually took a place in the world cultural process.
Episode #7 FASCIST OR NATIONAL SOCIALISM The Thirties of the 20th Century. Establishing totalitarian dictatorships in Europe. How these processes are reflected in the lives of Bulgarians. The Rise of Mussolini, Hitler and Franco. The Reichstag fire and the Leipzig process. The coup of May 19, 1934. The assassination of King Alexander I in Marseille.
Episode #8 COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL AND BULGARIA On the eve of World War II. The great game between Stalin and Hitler. World domination of Germany or World Socialist Revolution. The role of the Comintern and who will outwit whom.
Episode #9 The Economy of Bulgaria in the 30's In the 1930s, the prosperity of nations was now measured not only by the strength of the army. The level of electrification, standard of living, production of steel and fabrics, roads, railways, the number of cars, planes, radios and telephones are becoming the criteria for the power of states. Where is Bulgaria in this new world?
Episode #10 BULGARIAN DIPLOMACY TO THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II The shadow of the World War II looms over the world. In recent months, complex diplomatic manoeuvres have been running between the European Great Powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Peacetime diplomacy is at an end. In some places in Europe, guns are already spoken. Despite all efforts of diplomats and statesmen, Bulgaria will not stay away from the storm of war. And we may never know for sure the answer to the question: "Could our country have another fate?"
Episode #11 THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN THE 20TH CENTURY The road from the Roman chariot to the phaeton is 2000 years, but from the phaeton to the space shuttle less than 100 years. We will briefly talk about this tremendous leap in people's lifestyles without being able, in such a brief form, to elucidate the impact of change on the spiritual and intimate world of man. How this giddy century of technological revolutions looks like in the narrow confines of Bulgaria in the periphery of Europe?
Episode #12 THOSE YEARS This is the beginning of World War II. Nazi Germany occupies Poland. Italy is at war with Albania. Bulgaria is at the crossroads between the promises and threats of Hitler and Stalin. We are entering the Tripartite Pact. The National Assembly adopts anti-Jewish laws. The Wehrmacht troops crossed Bulgaria and successfully attacked Greece. We get the Black Sea and Vardar Macedonia (Bulgaria has already acquired South Dobrudja). The days of euphoria. Soon, the Bulgarians will painfully understand that Hitler's gifts are expensive. They will be paid for with the blood, misery and broken destinies of millions of ordinary peopl
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content