Aleksandar Stamboliyski is one of the more interesting political figures of the 20th Century - he was an agrarian leftist who wasn't a Marxist-Leninist (indeed, at the time he was active Marxist-Leninism was still very much focused on urban workers). In the aftermath of WW1, he served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 1919 to 1923 and managed to get a pretty impressive amount of stuff done in both domestic and foreign policy, considering how much internal opposition his reforms aroused.
As a leftist and since Bulgaria was a pariah state after WW1, Bulgaria under Stamboliyski was wooed by the Soviet Union (rather unsuccessfully).
However, in 1923, a coup would out him from his office and while Stamboliyski fled and tried to rally support in the countryside, he was captured by
IMRO (the Macedonia terrorist/freedom fighter organization which played a big role in the region in the early 20th Century) and tortured to death. During all this, the Bulgarian Communists stood by and did nothing, despite Moscow very much desiring that they should act. To expunge their sin with blood, the Communists in Bulgaria would be ordered by Moscow to revolt - this rising which came well after Stamboliyski was dead and his BZNS was suppressed - was crushed easily. The Bulgarian rising would be the last Soviet attempt to spread revolution in Europe until WW2.
But what if the Bulgarian Communists rose in support of Stamboliyski? And what if we further assume that this support is enough to tip the balance? What impact might it have for Bulgaria and Stamboliyski to be pushed into an alliance with the Bolsheviks?
I suspect that the Bulgarian Agrarianists could have a real impact on the evolution of Soviet ideology at this early stage. Even if it is as small a change as convincing the Bolsheviks that the peasants are the key revolutionary section of the population. Might that result in less support for Communist parties in the developed world and an early shift to nurturing Communist parties in the less developed world? (With potentially huge impacts in China - the Soviet support for Chang Kai Shek was important for the success of the Chinese republicans in the interwar period.)
Russia having a Bulgarian ally in the run up to WW2 could be interesting as well (though it is quite possible that Stamboliyski could fall to a later coup attempt, or it could be that Bulgaria and the Soviets have a falling out - over Collectivization say).
And what sort of impact would a continuing BZNS/Stamboliyski government have on Bulgaria?
fasquardon