The gradual industrialization and urbanization that took place between the two world wars slowly introduced changes into the traditional family system--at first among the urban population and eventually among the peasantry. Most notable among the changes was the shift toward the nuclear family unit and the disappearance of the extended family household. This reduced the authority of the father over his adult children, who now formed an independent economic and social unit. It also gave greater freedom to young people in choosing their mates and, thereby, in their relations with each other. Within the nuclear family the relationship between husband and wife became a more egalitarian one. Relations between parents and children also became less authoritarian, although the father's relations to his children continued to be rather formal.
The changes in family life and in the role of the family in society that began to take place between the two world wars accelerated during World War II in keeping with the rapid rate of economic change. The greatest assault on the traditional system, however, came in the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s when the new communist government set out to revamp Bulgarian society. The already dying patriarchal system was dealt its final blow with the elimination of inheritance through nationalization of industry and commerce and collectivization of agriculture. After the patrimony had been eliminated, a major incentive for submission to the patriarch had disappeared.
Another factor that contributed to the end of the patriarchal family and to the end of parental authoritarianism was the government's appeal to youth's desire for independence. Young people are taught to believe that they are the foundation of the new Bulgaria and that their elders' traditional ways are outmoded and should be discarded. In this way a generation gap has been created, and youths wanting to escape parental influence can count on the state for support. Their escape has been facilitated through the expansion of educational facilities, the expansion of employment opportunities resulting from economic and bureaucratic expansion, and by the many youth organizations and youth activities--all of which enable young people to spend much time away from home and act independently of their parents.