THE COLD WAR

(1947 - 1991)
As seen from Bulgarians' eyes

1 HOW WAS THE COLD WAR

DESCRIBED DURING THE
SOCIALIST PERIOD?

In Bulgaria, the Cold War was

presented as a simple fairytale for
dumb people - we are the good ones,
and the people in the West - the
http://atil.blog.bg/history/2014/11/09/za-quot-ikonomheskiia-mehanizym-quot-i-bylgarskata-
demokra.1312096
imperialists - are the bad ones.

2 WHAT WERE THE MEANS AND

MESSAGES OF THE SOCIALIST
PROPAGANDA RELATED TO
THE COLD WAR?
The West was accused of harassing its
working class and the Socalist party was
praised for its accomplishments. It was
done by all means of mass information -
radio ("Hristo Botev"), newspapers
http://atil.blog.bg/history/2014/11/09/za-quot-ikonomicheskiia-mehanizym-
quot-i-bylgarskata-demokra.1312096

("Zemedelsko zname"), etc.

3 WHAT WAS YOUR PERCEPTION

OF THE USA AND THE WEST IN
GENERAL?

Our generation, driven by the strong and

captivating flow of the "new", construction,
utopian slogans for justice, equality, and
other capitalist features, saw it as an
https://komunistibg.wordpress.com/2019/07/
inaccessible territory, a colorful fairytale,
the "Promised Land".

4 WHAT WAS YOUR PERCEPTION

OF THE USSR AND THE
SOCIALIST BLOC?
In our eyes, the USSR was an epitome of
progress - a country we looked towards
with great respect, treated as brothers,
https://www.actualno.com/viewpoint/nostalgijata-po-komunizma-
stokholmskija-sindrom-news_786331.html
and worshipped.

https://www.marica.bg/balgariq/arestuvat-todor-jivkov-na-tozi-
den-predi-30-godini-snimki
 5 WHICH PARTICULAR CRISIS OF
THE COLD WAR DO YOU
REMEMBER MOST VIVIDLY AND
WHY?

Some of the most notable crises,

representative of that period, are the Prague
Spring, the war in Afghanistan, the creation
of "Solidarity", and the Perestroika, all of
https://www.britannica.com/event/Prague-Spring them resulting in social and political
changes.

6 WAS THERE A FEAR THAT THE

US OR THE SOVIET UNION
WOULD ACT IRRATIONALLY?

What we knew was that, if there were to be

a battle, a single irrational decision would
have been fatal. Still, the security and
safety that we felt was simply a result of
http://www.bgnow.eu/news.php?cat=2&cp=0&newsid=39702
our ignorance and the lack of information.

7 HOW DID THE COLD WAR

IMPACT YOUR LIFE
PERSONALLY?

There were few to no positive impacts on

my life, as there were no material
opportunities or such for self-development,
and there were no connections to the
http://www.bgnow.eu/news.php?cat=2&cp=11&newsid=87885
Western countries and their products.

8 HOW DID THE COLD WAR

IMPACT THE BULGARIAN
ECONOMY?

The Bulgarian economy was connected

to and exploited by the Soviets, since
the USSR did not provide but only
https://ekipbg.com/balgarski-socializum-3/
took.

9 SLOGAN

"LONG LIVE THE BULGARIAN-SOVIET

FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN NATIONS."

Considering the main goals and messages of

the socialist propaganda during the Cold War,
do you think it was successful?

The Socialist party's propaganda was successful because it

persuaded public opinion to accept and follow its messages.
People respected the USSR and saw Russia as a brotherly
nation. They had a negative opinion about capitalism and the
Western powers.

10 JOKE

During the Communist rule, a Muscovite had a pet parrot. The parrot wouldn’t stop
cursing at the Socialist government. The pet owner had a visit from a party
member, and, to make sure that the parrot wouldn’t get him into trouble, he
locked him up in the fridge. After the party member had gone away, the man took
the parrot out of the fridge, and the pet started shouting: “Long live the USSR! Long
live Brezhnev!”. The pet owner was astounded: “What are you saying? Just a few
hours ago you were cursing at the government…” The parrot simply answered:
“Yeah...I was, but two hours in Siberia were more than enough for me…”.

ALEX AHABABIAN, NIKOLAY GEORGIEV, DIMITER MICHAILOV,

KONSTANTIN-KIRIL PEEV, NIKOLA TODOROV 11/3