Bulgaria
Aleksandar Stamboliyski
1879–1923 Leader of the Agrarian Union; Prime Minister of Bulgaria, 1919–1923
Born in the village of Slavovitsa, Stamboliyski led the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, a peasant party. He opposed Bulgaria's alliance with the Central Powers and was sentenced to life in prison in 1915 after confronting Tsar Ferdinand over the war; he was released on 25 September 1918, as the army mutinied. His party became the largest in the 1919 election and he became prime minister; after the 1920 elections he headed a purely Agrarian government. His government took Bulgaria into the League of Nations in 1920, broke up large landholdings and in 1923 signed the Treaty of Niš with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, pledging to suppress Macedonian militants. A coup overthrew him on 9 June 1923; he was captured, tortured and murdered, dying on 14 June.