The City and the Nation: Sofia’s Trajectory from Glory to Rubble in WWII

This article untangles the history of the Bulgarian capital city from that of the state to analyze how the development of Sofia between 1934 and 1944 embodied the achievements and weaknesses of midcentury Bulgaria. During this period, Sofia embarked on an intensive project of urban planning and renewal. Municipal leaders and intellectuals aspired to transform the cluttered and chaotic city into a modern and attractive “European” capital on the one side and the heart of national existence on the other. This bifurcated vision of the nation—rooted in the past yet forward and Westward looking—failed to convince Sofia’s growing citizenry to stay and defend their city during the Allied bombing campaign of late 1943/early 1944. The wartime fate of this Axis capital revealed the shortcomings of the Bulgarian state and the nationalism it promoted. When residents did return to the bombed city, it was not out of patriotic duty but because it still appeared more “European,” more “modern” than any other place in the country. Therefore, one could interpret Sofia’s rapid and continued growth as a popular rejection of the traditions of Bulgarian rural existence and a desire for a different type of nation: convenient, democratic, dynamic, and modern.