MM Park Bulgaria

Description

Bulgarian Red Cross collection box.

Manufacturer / main description

Bulgarian Red Cross collection box / donation box.

Made of metal, probably steel or tinned iron.

Box painted in white and black with a red cross.
Slot in the lid, typical of an institutional donation box or money box.

Used for fundraising:
medical aid
war wounded
humanitarian actions
Circa 1930–1944

Rectangular metal box fitted with a hinged lid pierced by a slot for receiving coins and banknotes. The front face bears a Cyrillic inscription meaning “Red Cross”, accompanied by a painted red cross emblem.

The closing device, placed on the lid, suggests controlled use in an institutional context. The non-compartmented interior shows traces of use and oxidation.

This type of object was used to collect funds for the activities of the Bulgarian Red Cross, particularly during the period of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Second World War, when the organization played an essential role in medical assistance to military personnel and civilian populations.

The associated banknotes and coins, denominated in leva and bearing the inscriptions of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, make it possible to place the set in the years 1930–1944.

The Bulgarian Red Cross.

The Bulgarian Red Cross is one of the oldest public-benefit organizations in Bulgaria. It was founded in Sofia in October 1878, shortly after the Treaty of Berlin, which ended the Russo-Turkish War and established Bulgaria as an autonomous principality. Numerous local charitable committees, organized independently in provincial towns to assist sick or wounded soldiers from the recent war, gradually joined the Sofia committee. On 1 March 1884, the Bulgarian government formally acceded to the Geneva Convention and, that same year, was represented at the Third International Conference of the Red Cross. On 27 July / 8 August 1885, the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the ICRC that notable citizens of Sofia had taken the initiative to create a Bulgarian Red Cross Society and had drawn up its statutes, approved by the princely government. With the conditions for recognition fulfilled, the ICRC recognized the Bulgarian Red Cross Society and announced it to the other National Societies in a circular dated 20 October 1885, signed by G. Moynier, president, and G. Ador, secretary. The young Society had not waited for official recognition from Geneva to organize and develop itself. Emerging from a war in which Russian Red Cross medical teams had been active, and whose immense services to soldiers and civilians had been appreciated, the Bulgarian population felt the need for a national Red Cross society of its own. Under the impetus of figures from medicine, the Church and government circles, the Bulgarian Red Cross quickly established branches in several major towns. The Society considered that its priority was to prepare for intervention in case of war, and secondarily in the event of natural disasters. These expectations were soon confirmed. The Serbo-Bulgarian War broke out at the end of 1885 and found the Bulgarian Red Cross ready: it was able to organize fourteen hospitals, help equip twenty-seven others, establish fifteen emergency aid posts and participate in many relief operations. This war was a fine example of the spirit of mutual aid that animated the Red Cross, as the National Societies of Russia, Greece, Romania, Belgium, France, Italy and England sent medical missions to Bulgaria, where they performed admirable work. After the war, the Bulgarian Red Cross continued its efforts to expand its action. Its main concern at the time was the training of nurses. In 1895, at the initiative of the ladies’ committee of the Red Cross, a course was organized and fifteen nurses were trained by Bulgarian doctors. Five years later, under the direction of two Russian nurses, the first nursing school in Bulgaria was opened, together with a hospital where students could receive practical training. This institution grew rapidly and became the Red Cross Hospital, renowned for the teaching and care it provided. The Bulgarian Red Cross played an important role through its health activities during the wars that followed the proclamation of independence in 1908: the Balkan War of 1912, the Inter-Allied War of 1913 and the First World War. While many missions from foreign Red Cross societies came to assist it during these conflicts, it was also able, in important circumstances, to send medical delegations abroad, for example during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and in the first years of the First World War, in 1915 and 1916. In the months following the armistice of 1918, the Bulgarian Red Cross took an active part in the repatriation of Russian and Bulgarian prisoners of war and also assisted refugees. During the famine that struck the Volga region in 1921, it formed a special committee, raised 2 million leva, and placed this sum at the disposal of the Nansen Committee; it opened a canteen in the Saratov region and fed two thousand children for two years. It later intervened, in 1928, in the relief operations made necessary by the terrible earthquake that affected Bulgaria. These were exceptional activities required by external circumstances, but the Bulgarian Red Cross also carried out ordinary long-term activities: courses for visiting nurses, first-aid courses, health exhibitions, fundraising for orphanages, sanatoriums, children’s camps and hospitals specializing in the treatment of tuberculosis. The Youth Section of the Bulgarian Red Cross was founded in 1921 and very quickly became an important active element in the health education of the population.

Dating of Bulgarian words:

Before 1945:

Many masculine words ended with a final letter in writing.

This letter was often not pronounced, or only very weakly.
Reform of 1945:
The Bulgarian government simplified the spelling.
The final letter was removed in most cases.
The aim was to bring written Bulgarian closer to the spoken language.
Today
This letter still exists in Bulgarian, but never at the end of a word; it is used inside words. Bulgarian words therefore ceased to end with this letter in 1945.