An Agrarian Union was first organized in Bulgaria in 1899 — it was to be a professional organization open only to peasants, and was at first not meant to become a political party. The Union initially won widespread peasant support by mobilizing peasants throughout Bulgaria to peaceful demonstrations against the government's unfair taxation policies. Throughout this process the Union remained politically unaligned. However, at its third congress, motivated by upcoming elections for the Bulgarian National Assembly, the Union leaders—not peasants themselves but a group of teachers—voted to become a political party. Thus, in 1901, the Agrarian Union became the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union — Bulgaria's official peasant party. BZNS candidates subsequently ran for positions in local and national elections.