 The left @-@ wing uprising of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of monarchic rule , but it was not until 1946 that a one @-@ party people 's republic was established . It became a part of the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov ( 1946 – 1949 ) , who laid the foundations for a rapidly industrialising Stalinist state which was also highly repressive with thousands of dissidents executed . By the mid @-@ 1950s standards of living rose significantly , while political repressions were lessened . By the 1980s both national and per capita GDPs quadrupled , but the economy remained prone to debt spikes , the most severe taking place in 1960 , 1977 and 1980 . The Soviet @-@ style planned economy saw some market @-@ oriented policies emerging on an experimental level under Todor Zhivkov ( 1954 – 1989 ) . His daughter Lyudmila bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage , culture and arts worldwide . In an attempt to erase the identity of the ethnic Turk minority , an assimilation campaign was launched in 1984 which included closing mosques and forcing ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names . These policies ( combined with the end of communist rule in 1989 ) resulted in the emigration of some 300 @,@ 000 ethnic Turks to Turkey . 
