Todor Zhivkov

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party

Todor Hristov Zhivkov 7 September 1911 Pravets, Kingdom of Bulgaria

5 August 1998(1998-08-05) (86) Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria

4 March 1954 – 10 November 1989

Eastern Bloc Republics of the USSR Armenia Azerbaijan Byelorussia Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kirghizia Latvia Lithuania Moldavia Russia Tajikistan Turkmenia Ukraine Uzbekistan Allied states Afghanistan Albania (until 1961) Angola Benin Bulgaria China (until 1961) Congo Cuba Czechoslovakia East Germany Ethiopia Grenada Hungary Kampuchea Laos Mongolia Mozambique North Korea Poland (until 1989) Romania Somalia (until 1977) South Yemen Vietnam (North Vietnam, PRG) Yugoslavia (until 1948) Related organizations Warsaw Pact Comecon Cominform World Federation of Trade Unions World Federation of Democratic Youth Dissent and opposition Anti-Soviet partisans Albania Bulgaria Croatia Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Serbia Ukraine Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Operation Jungle Soviet occupation Protests and uprisings Plzeň 1953 East Germany 1953 Georgia 1956 Poznań 1956 Hungary 1956 Novocherkassk 1962 Prague 1968 Invasion Moscow Czechoslovakia 1976–92 Romania 1977 Poland 1980–89 Kazakhstan 1986 Brașov 1987 Tbilisi 1989 Baku 1990 Lithuania 1991 Riga 1991 Cold War events Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Korean War Secret Speech Sino-Soviet split Soviet–Albanian split De-satellization of Communist Romania Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War Cuban intervention in Angola Afghan War 1980 Moscow Olympics 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Gulf War Decline Singing Revolution Polish Round Table Agreement Revolutions of 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall January Events in Latvia Breakup of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Wars End of the Soviet Union Post-Soviet conflicts Fall of communism in Albania Dissolution of Czechoslovakia vte Todor Hristov Zhivkov (Bulgarian: Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the de facto leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 as General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party. He was the second longest-serving leader in the Eastern Bloc, the longest-serving leader within the Warsaw Pact and the longest-serving non-royal ruler in Bulgarian history. He became First Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) in 1954 (General Secretary from April 1981), served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1971 and from 1971 onwards as Chairman of the State Council, concurrently with his post as First Secretary. He remained in these positions for 35 years, until 1989, thus becoming the second longest-serving leader of any Eastern Bloc nation after World War II, and one of the longest ruling non-royal leaders in modern history. His rule marked a period of unprecedented political and economic stability for Bulgaria, marked both by complete submission of Bulgaria to Soviet Union and a desire to expand ties with the West. His rule remained unchallenged until the deterioration of east–west relations in the 1980s, when a stagnating economic situation, a worsening international image and growing careerism and corruption in the BCP weakened his position. He resigned on 10 November 1989, under pressure by senior BCP members due to his refusal to recognise problems and deal with public protests. Within a month of Zhivkov's ouster, Communist rule in Bulgaria had effectively ended, and within a year the People's Republic of Bulgaria had formally ceased to exist.