Journal of Urban History 37(2) 155–175 © 2011 SAGE Publications Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0096144210391612 http://juh.sagepub.com The City and the Nation: Sofia’s Trajectory from Glory to Rubble in WWII Irina Gigova 1 Abstract 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. Keywords Bulgaria, urban planning, civil society, nationalism, Second World War In the summer of 1940, an aspiring provincial Bulgarian writer wrote a series of letters to the editor of the leading cultural journal, Zlatorog, seeking to join the publication’s prestigious circle of contributors. Residing in the small town of Tûrgovishte, thirty-year-old Petur Stûpov complained of the ever-growing gap between capital and province, highlighting the obstacles small-town literati encountered because everything revolved around the capital city of Sofia. 1 The remon- strations of the young man must have resonated with Zlatorog’s editor; the journal published his article, titled “The State in Regards to Sofia and the Countryside,” in the spring of 1941. 2 Echo- ing other contemporary publications, the author asked why the state’s entire support and planning focused on the capital city. Such a misbalance only hurt the country, he argued, as all ambitious, educated, and driven individuals streamed to Sofia, leaving behind towns and villages deprived of the ability to grow and prosper. Stûpov noted that Sofia’s central position in Bulgaria stood in 1 College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA Corresponding Author: Irina Gigova, History Department, 216 Maybank Hall, Charleston, SC, 29424-0001, USA Email: GigovaI@cofc.edu