The Fatherland Front grew out of the internal dissension between the government and various political parties, in particular, the pro-Soviet elements who objected to the alliance with Nazi Germany. In March 1942 the government launched repressive measures in an attempt to immobilize communist activities. Working with a group of exiled Bulgarian leaders in Moscow, Georgi Dimitrov, former secretary-general of the Communist International (Comintern), urged action against the country's rulers, "who have sold themselves to Hitler." As conceived by Dimitrov, the program of the Fatherland Front aimed not only to bring down the "Hitlerite" regime and consequently establish a "true Bulgarian national regime" but also to declare Bulgaria neutral and dissolve its alliance with Germany. Established in 1942, the Fatherland Front operated underground under communist leadership but also included other political parties. Cooperation among these political parties, however, did not take place without problems, mainly because each one espoused its own particular interests and viewed the BKP with suspicion. Leaders of each party worked as members of the National Committee (later known as the National Council) of the Fatherland Front. It was from within the Fatherland Front movement that the coup d'etat of September 1944 took place, the result of which was a coalition government. When the Communists took full control of the government and dissolved the coalition, they retained the Fatherland Front as an umbrella organization. The BKP, of course, is the leading force within the front, which also includes the Bulgarian Agrarian Union and several other organizations. In effect the Fatherland Front is an instrument of the party through which most of the country's organized activities are controlled and supervised. Some of the tasks relegated to the front include the nomination and discussion of candidates for election to central and local bodies of state authority; the right to supervise the activities of enterprises, institutions, and organizations operating public utilities and services; and the right to supervise activities of workers and professionals to ensure conformance to party line and policy. In 1973 the Fatherland Front continued to be a large mass organization working fully for and with the BKP. Available statistics showed a membership of 3.86 million in July 1970, of which 3.1 million were nonparty members. It included both individual members and collective groups--mainly trade unions and youth organizations. Central Council of Trade Unions