Dimitar Stoyanov Tonschew

Dimităr Tontschew, dating unknown

Dimitǎr Stoyanov Tontschew ( Bulgarian Димитър Стоянов Тончев ) (born October 26 ^{. Jul} / 7. November  1859 ^greg. In Kalofer , then in the Ottoman Empire ; † 20th February 1937 in Sofia ) was a Bulgarian jurist and politician. Between 1886 and 1918 he was minister in six different governments, among others in justice, finance and foreign affairs, and at times President or Deputy President of the National Assembly of his country.

Life

Tonschew attended school in his hometown before he was sent in 1875 as a scholarship holder of the Bulgarian National Association Kalofer for further training in Odessa in what was then the tsarist empire . There he first attended high school and then studied law at the city's university , which at that time was the closest higher education institution for Bulgarians with Slavic language of instruction. In 1882 he completed his studies and returned to his homeland, which has since become the Principality of Bulgaria . From 1883 to 1885 he was a public prosecutor and later a judge at the Philippopel District Court (today: Plovdiv), the capital of the then autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia , which was united with the Principality in 1885, and was politically active in the province's liberal party. After unification, he moved to Sofia.

After almost 40 years in politics and most recently in prison, Tonschew withdrew into private life in the mid-1920s and devoted his time to writing legal specialist literature.

Political career

While he was still a judge in Eastern Rumelia, Tonschew was elected to the principality's parliament for the first time in 1884, to which he belonged for nine of the following 13 legislative periods up to 1919. From August 16, ^Jul. / August 28, 1886 ^greg. until August 27th ^jul. / 8th September 1886 ^greg. For a few days he was Minister of Justice in the Radoslawow government (1st) , but had to relinquish this position as a result of an exchange of responsibilities between conservatives and liberals. From October 1886 to June 1887 he was Vice President of the National Assembly, then President until December 1888. In this capacity, he had the leading role in the appointment of Ferdinand to the Bulgarian throne after the forced abdication of Prince Alexander . From the presidential position, Tonschew was appointed Minister of Justice in the Stambolov government, which he remained until September 1891, when he and his close supporters left the Stambolov wing of the Liberal Party and transferred to the Radoslavov wing, which was in the opposition.

The next term of office as minister followed between May and October 1894, this time in the Stoilow coalition cabinet (2nd) for the trade and agriculture department. In 1895 (until 1901) Tonschew became deputy chairman of the Central Bureau of the Radoslavists and thus one of the closer leaders of the party. When the Radoslavists formed a coalition with the People's Liberals under Prime Minister Grekow in January 1899 , Tonschew became Minister for Public Buildings, Roads and Transport and this remained in the Ivanchev government, which was made up solely by the Radoslavists (1st) from October 1899 November 1900 to January 1901 following government Ivanchev (2nd) he was foreign minister. After this government was overthrown, several ministers were charged with abuse of office for irregularities in the procurement of railway material and sentenced in March 1903, including Tonschew to eight months in prison. As early as May 1903, after the fall of the Danew government , the convicts were given amnesty by a resolution of the National Assembly.

Already towards the end of the ministerial time under Ivanchev, the political disputes within the Radoslawow wing had increased, so Tonschew founded a new party in 1904, which he called the Young Liberal Party and whose leader he remained until 1920. Due to his foreign policy views (see below), however, this group was not considered capable of forming a coalition and so it was not until after the defeat in the second Balkan War in July 1913 that Tonschew became minister again, this time finance minister in the coalition government Radoslawow (2nd) of various liberal groups. In this function he remained in the following Radoslawow (3rd) cabinet, which held office until June 1918.

Tonschew was arrested on November 4, 1919 and sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of civil rights in 1923 on charges of being one of the main culprits for Bulgaria's entry into the First World War on the side of the later losers, but was given amnesty in 1924. Subsequent attempts to return to political life failed due to the resistance of the younger party leaders, who did not want to be identified with the discredited politicians of the World War II, which is why Tonchev withdrew into private life.

Tonschev's stance on the Bulgarian / Macedonian national question

After decades of silence or condemnation, mainly due to the conviction in 1923, Bulgarian historiography has in recent years endeavored to take a more differentiated view, which particularly honors Tonschev's ideas about the solution of the Bulgarian national question: creating an internal autonomy for Macedonia in cooperation with the Ottoman Empire instead of constant uprisings, assassinations, threats of war, etc. The idea underlying this idea that every successful war between the Balkan states against the Ottoman Empire leads to an immediate rift between the victors because of the mutually incompatible territorial claims and Bulgaria because of its geographical location with one The Balkan Wars confirmed that the war on the two fronts could hardly be won .

literature

From 1886 to 1907 Tonschew was one of several editors of the newspaper Пловдив ( Plovdiv ), which appeared until 1944, and wrote articles for them, as well as for other newspapers close to the various liberal currents. From 1895 to 1899 he was editor of the Radoslav newspaper Narodna prava ( People's Law ). In March 1901 he founded the newspaper Свободна дума ( Free Thought ), which appeared until 1919. The main focus of his journalistic activity, however, was his legal writings:

• Commentary on the law on inheritance law (2 volumes: 1893, 1896), greatly expanded edition (6 volumes: 1926/27)
• Commentary on the Law of Obligations and Contracts (1896)
• Anti-Constitutional Laws (1921)
• Commentary on the Law on Obligations and Contract Law (8 volumes: 1929 to 1937)

About Tonchev appeared:

• Кацарова, Румяна (Kacarova, Rumjana): Димитър Тончев. Общественик, политик, партиен лидер ( Dimitǎr ​​Tontschew. Public person, politician, party leader ), Plovdiv: Zombori, 2011, ISBN 978-954-91740-7-6

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Short biography ДИМИТЪР ТОНЧЕВ on the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance, accessed on April 8, 2016.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Кацарова, Румяна (Kacarova, Rumjana): 155 години от рождението на Димитър Тончев - истъкнат юрист, общественик и политик ( Dimitǎr Tontschew - distinguished lawyer, public person and politician ) in: Адвокатски (Journal of the Supreme attorney Council Bulgaria) преглед , Edition 10/2014, pages 23 to 27.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Георгиев, Бисер (B. Georgiev): Алтернативиат път на Дмитър Тончев за разрешаването на българския национален въпрос през първото десетилетие на ХХ век ( The alternative pathway D. Tontschews to solve the Bulgarian national question of the 20th century in the first decade ) , Shumen, 2014.
4. ↑ Information on terms of office for Димитър Стоянов Тончев on the website of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, accessed on April 8, 2016.