A referendum for trying the culprits for the national catastrophes was held in
Bulgaria on 19 November 1922.[1] It was approved by 74% of voters.[1]
Background
The ruling
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BANU) sought to prosecute members of the cabinets of the governments led by
Ivan Geshov,
Stoyan Danev and
Aleksandar Malinov motivated by the dissatisfaction of large parts of the populace with the outcome of the
Balkan Wars and
World War I for
Bulgaria. After the wars, BANU and other opposition forces and intellectuals classified Bulgaria's territorial loses
during 1913 and 1918 as national catastrophes — called in Bulgaria the First and Second national catastrophes, respectively. These terms were frequently used in Bulgaria during the
Interwar period. On 24 September 1922 17 of the 22 ministers were arrested, and a law on prosecution was published on 17 October.[1]