Unofficial medal marking 60 years of the September uprising of 1923
The medal was awarded by the Regional Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Executive Committee of the Regional PeopleÂ’s Organization in Mihailovgrad town.
(Mihailovgrad was named after a general who was a distinguished anti- fascist. The town, which bore the name of King Ferdinand, was renamed after General Hristo Mihailov in 1944).
On the obverse is the image of an armed man ringing a bell as well as the word “September”.
This medal was awarded by Mihailovgrad municipality to show respect to the people who took an active part in the September uprising (1923) and to the ones that died after the tragic, full-of-massacre end of the uprising. As there were a lot of people who were devoted to the September cause, the Mihailovgrad municipal council was given a special permission to issue this medal and award it to the brave participants. Although, the medal has mainly a regional meaning, its importance on a larger scale cannot be denied.
General information: In 1918-1925 the Bulgarian state underwent a serious crisis. In 1923 there was an uprising of the Bulgarian agrarians. Having suppressed their uprising in June, the government undertook mass repressions against the communist party, too. The BCP leadership took a decision in August to foment an armed uprising in conjunction with the BPAU (the Bulgarian Agrarian Party), no later than September 1923. On the eve of the uprising the government found out about its plans and subjected the communists to mass arrests. This was a severe blow on the whole organization. On the night of the 22nd to the 23rd the uprising broke out in some regions in the country, but it was quickly suppressed by government detachments. The rebellious areas were drowned in blood. Thousands of Bulgarians - BPAU supporters and, especially, BCP followers, were killed without charge or trial.
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