Dragan Tsankov at the head of the Liberal party (1894–1897): the main activities and the reasons for the loss of authority

Abstract

The article is devoted to studying Dragan Tsankov's activities as the head of the Liberal Party and the reasons for his loss of authority in the mid-1990s. In 1894 after a long break in the activities of the "tsankovists" a period of legalization began in the history of the party, which stimulated the renewal and restructuring of the political force. D. Tsankov returned from a long exile and was able to reunite and lead the Liberal Party. The study of D. Tsankov's activities in 1894-1997 will allow us to analyze the degree of cohesion of liberals, in particular, the "tsankovists" the reasons for the failures of alliances of different political forces, as well as the role of "moderates" in the political life of Bulgaria. In addition, the article examines the reasons for the change of the tsankovists' political leader and Dragan Tsankov's departure from the leadership role.

It is worth noting that after a long break from full-fledged activity, the party has retained the main feature of its ideology – moderation. This determined the party's traditions and the behavior of its leader, Dragan Tsankov. Unable to legally return to Bulgaria D. Tsankov focused on consolidating like-minded people. However,  in 1894, a split in the party was brewing for different reasons. Part of the "tsankovists" had already rallied around another bright young representative of the group, Stoyan Danev, who intended to work closely with the pro‑government party. Given the situation D. Tsankov was in, his only option was to ally with other political groups to secure at least a few positions in parliament. However, even this attempt to get to the levers of power was unsuccessful. After the failed elections in 1896, the leader of the "tsankovists" began to lose popularity among his fellow party members, Bulgarians, and even Russian ruling circles. So in 1897 Stoyan Danev became the new leader of the party. Dragan Tsankov resigned but did not leave politics.