Между обществения договор и любовта към отечеството: Освобождението и инициацията на българските културни елити
Between the Social Contract and Love for the Fatherland: The Liberation of Bulgaria and the Initiation of the Local Cultural Elites

Summary/Abstract: In the fi rst years after the establishment of the modern Bulgarian state in 1878, the fi rst Bulgarian political parties – these of the “liberals” and of the “conservatives” – emerged by claiming to represent two different visions on the state’s development and welfare. The conservatives defended the idea of gradual and consistent preparation of the folk for the adoption of the modern European citizenship through a government of experts, while the “liberals” appealed for giving total freedom to the common people. Analyzing their legitimization strategies in various public discussions and journalistic writings, this paper shows how, beyond the heated speeches of ideological rivalry, the two parties reproduced one and the same dichotomy of corrupted “individuals” vs. uncorrupted “people.” Thus, the striving for property, social prestige and, above all, for high positions in the state hierarchy was perceived as a threat to the equitable distribution of national wealth. The implicit presence of this dichotomy in the Bulgarian political thinking from the end of the 19th century onwards explains the electoral victories of the liberals as well as the prevailing of populist concepts over the rational debate on the national representation and the forms of government, which impeded the successful recognition of the important social functions of the state elites.

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