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| As a state established by khan Asparoukh,
Bulgaria has been existing for more than 13 centuries.
Thracians were the first settlers in the Bulgarian lands
and their civilisation is evidenced by the numerous archaeological
finds, uncovered tombs, discovered gold and silver treasures.
Testimonies for the presence of life in the pre-historic
ages have been preserved in the best-preserved Neolithic
housings discovered world-wide - namely those off the
town of Stara Zagora, in the "Bacho Kiro" cave
off the town of Dryanovo and in the Magurata cave - close
to the town of Belogradchik. The first written reference
where the name "Bulgarians" is to be found is
included in an anonymous Roman chronograph of 452 AD. |
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| During the Bronze Age
the present-day Bulgarian lands were inhabited by the
Thracians, mentioned for the first time by Homer. They
were engaged in agriculture and stockbreeding, and left
evidence of a rich culture (the Vulchitrun gold treasure).
The first Thracian state unions emerged in the 11th-6th
centuries BC, which flourished in the 7th-6th centuries
BC. In the 1st century BC their lands were conquered by
Rome, and after the 5th century AD they were incorporated
in the Byzantine Empire. The Thracians were later gradually
assimilated by the Slavs who settled in the Balkan Peninsula
in the 6th century AD. |
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| In the second half of
the 7th century, the Proto-Bulgarians - an ethnic community
of Turkic origin - settled on the territory of the present-day
Northeastern Bulgaria. In alliance with the Slavs they
formed the Bulgarian State, which was recognised by the
Byzantine Empire in 681 AD. Khan Asparouh stood at the
head of that state and Pliska was made its capital. |
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| Under the rule of Khan
Tervel (700-718 AD), Bulgaria expanded its territory and
turned into a major political force. Under Khan Kroum
(803-814 AD) Bulgaria bordered with the empire of Carl
the Great to the west, and to the east the Bulgarian troops
reached the walls of Constantinople, the capital of the
Byzantine Empire. In 864 AD, during the rule of Prince
Boris I Michail (852-889 AD), the Bulgarians adopted Christianity
as their official religion. This act abolished the ethnic
differences between Proto-Bulgarians and Slavs, and started
building a unified Bulgarian nation. After adopting Christianity,
the influence of the Byzantine Empire grew. This is evidenced
by the ossuary in the Bachkovo Monastery (1083 AD). Bulgarian
church music was created. |
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| In the second half of
the 9th century the brothers Cyril (Constantine the Philosopher)
and Methodius created and disseminated the Cyrillic alphabet.
Their disciples Clement and Nahum came to Bulgaria, where
they were warmly welcomed and found good conditions for
work. They developed a rich educational and literary activity.
From Bulgaria the Cyrillic script spread to other Slavic
lands as well - present-day Serbia and Russia. The cities
of Ochrida and Pliska, and subsequently the new capital
city Veliki Preslav as well, became centres of Bulgarian
culture, and of Slav culture as a whole. |
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| The reign of Tsar Simeon
I (893-927 AD) marked the "Golden Age of Bulgarian
Culture", and the territory of his state reached
the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. During the reign of
Simeon's successors, Bulgaria was weakened by internal
struggles, the heresy of the priest Bogomil spread and
influenced the teachings of the Cathars and Albigenses
in Western Europe. |
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| In 1018, after prolonged
wars, Bulgaria was conquered by the Byzantine Empire.
From the very first years under Byzantine rule, the Bulgarians
started fighting for their freedom. In 1186, the uprising
led by two boyars, the brothers Assen and Peter, overthrew
the domination of the Byzantine Empire. The Second Bulgarian
Kingdom was founded, and Turnovo became the new capital.
After 1186, Bulgaria was initially ruled by Assen, and
after that by Peter. The earlier power of Bulgaria was
restored during the reign of their youngest brother, Kaloyan
(1197-1207), and during the reign of Tsar Ivan Assen II
(1218 -1241) the Second Bulgarian Kingdom reached its
greatest upsurge: political hegemony was established in
Southeastern Europe, the territory of the country spread
to the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea,
the economy and culture developed. |
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Bulgaria reached a
new peak, which lasted until the end of the Second Bulgarian
Kingdom (1186-1396). The schools of literature and the
arts in Turnovo developed the traditions in Bulgarian
culture, which is evidenced by the frescoes in the Boyana
Church, the churches in Turnovo, in the Zemen Monastery,
the churches hewn into the rocks near Ivanovo, the miniatures
in the Gospel that belonged to Tsar Ivan Alexander,
kept at the British Museum in London, and Manassiy's
Chronicle. In 1235, the Head of the Bulgarian Church
was given the title of Patriarch. |
| The strife among some
of the boyars resulted in the division of Bulgaria into
two kingdoms: the kingdoms of Vidin and Turnovo. This
weakened the country and it was conquered by the Ottoman
Empire in 1396. For nearly five centuries Bulgaria was
under Ottoman domination. The initial years were characterised
by sporadic and unorganised attempts to win freedom. Later
the appearance of the clandestine fighters, the "haydouts",
made the emergence of a well-organised national liberation
movement possible. |
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The formation of the Bulgarian
nation and the development of Bulgarian education started
in the beginning of the 18th century. One impetus for
this was the work of the monk Paissii of Hilendar History
of Slavs and Bulgarians, written in 1762. The ideas of
national freedom led to the establishing of an autonomous
Bulgarian national Church, and to the flourishing of education
and culture. Some of the key figures during the Bulgarian
National Revival were Zachary Zograph, Nikolay Pavlovich,
Stanislav Dospevski, and many others. That period marked
also the beginning of the first amateur theatre performances. |
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The start of the organised
revolutionary movement for liberation from Ottoman domination
is associated with the work of Georgi Sava Rakovski (1821-1867)
- writer and journalist, founder and ideologist of the
national-liberal liberation movement. The main figures
in the national liberation movement were Vassil Levski
(1837-1873) - strategist and ideologist of the movement
and national hero; Lyuben Karavelov (1834-1879) - writer
and journalist, leader and ideologist of the movement;
Hristo Botev (1848-1876) - poet and journalist, revolutionary,
democrat, national hero, and many other Bulgarians. |
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In 1876 the April Uprising broke out
- the first significant and organised attempt at liberation
from Ottoman domination. The uprising was brutally crushed
and drowned in blood, but it drew the attention of the
European countries to the Bulgarian national issues. In
1878, as a result of the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation
(1877-1878), the Bulgarian State was restored, but national
unity was not achieved. The former Bulgarian territories
were divided into three: the Principality of Bulgaria
was proclaimed - with Prince Alexander Battemberg at its
head, Eastern Rumelia - with a Christian Governor appointed
by the Sultan, while Thrace and Macedonia remained under
the domination of the Ottoman Empire. |
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After 1878, the first cultural and
educational institutions in the Principality began to
be built. The St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library
was built in 1878, the St. Kliment Ohridski University
of Sofia opened its doors in 1888, and the Ivan Vazov
National Theatre - in 1904. The first film was shown
in Rousse in 1897. The late 19th and the early 20th
century were characterised by remarkable achievements
in all fine arts. That was the period marked by the
works of the Bulgarian poets and writers Ivan Vazov,
Aleko Konstantinov, Dimcho Debelyanov, Pencho Slaveykov
- the only Bulgarian nominated for Nobel Prize, Peyo
Yavorov and many others. The artists Anton Mitov, Ivan
Angelov, Ivan Mrkvicka, Yaroslav Veshin, B. Schatz and
others created some of the most remarkable works of
art during that time. The late 19th century also marked
the beginning of Bulgarian professional musical culture.
The first Bulgarian composers were Emanouil Manolov,
Dimiter Christov and Georgi Atanassov-Maestro. |
| The decision for the fractionation
of Bulgaria, taken at the Berlin Congress (1878), was
never accepted by the people. The decisions of 1878 triggered
the Kresna-Razlog Uprising (1878-1879), which in 1885
led to the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria
and Eastern Rumelia. The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
also broke out (1903). Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Bulgarian
Prince since 1887, proclaimed Bulgaria's independence
from Turkey and in 1908 became Kniaz of the Bulgarian
people. Bulgaria took part in the Balkan War (1912) and
fought together with Serbia and Greece for the freedom
of Thrace and Macedonia. Bulgaria won that war, but in
the subsequent war among the allies (1913) it was defeated
by Romania, Turkey and by its earlier allies, who tore
from her territories with a Bulgarian population. |
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The intervention of Bulgaria in
World War I on the side of the Central Powers ended
with a national catastrophe. In 1918, Kniaz Ferdinand
abdicated in favour of his son Boris III. The Neuilly
Peace Treaty of 1919 imposed severe provisions on Bulgaria:
it lost its outlet on the Aegean Sea, Western Thrace
became a part of Greece, Southern Dobroudja was annexed
to Romania, and the territories around Strumica, Bosilegrad,
Zaribrod and villages around Kula were given to the
Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom. (Southern Dobroudja
was restored to Bulgaria by the Bulgarian-Romanian Treaty
of 1940 |
| In the early 1940s, Bulgaria led a
policy in the interest of Germany and the Axis powers.
Later the participation of Bulgarian cavalry units on
the Eastern Front was discontinued. Tsar Boris III supported
the public pressure and did not allow the deportation
of about 50,000 Bulgarian Jews. In August 1943 Tsar Boris
III died and the regency of the young Tsar Simeon II took
over the governing of the country. On 5 September 1944,
the Soviet Army entered Bulgaria and on 9 September the
Fatherland Front Government, headed by Kimon Georgiev,
came to power. In 1946 Bulgaria was proclaimed to be a
People's Republic. The Queen-Mother, Tsar Simeon ?? and
Princess Maria-Louisa left Bulgaria for Egypt via Turkey.
The Bulgarian Communist Party came to power. The political
parties outside the Fatherland Front were banned, the
economy and the banks were nationalised, the arable land
was coercively organised in cooperatives. The governing
of the state went successively into the hands of Georgi
Dimitrov, Vassil Kolarov, Vulko Chervenkov, Anton Yougov
and Todor Zhivkov. |
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The date 10 November 1989 marked the
beginning of the democratic changes in Bulgaria. A new
Constitution was adopted (1991), the political parties
were restored, the property expropriated in 1947 was resituated,
privatisation and restitution of the land started. In
1990 Zhelyu Zhelev became President of Bulgaria - the
first democratically elected President. The key priorities
in Bulgaria's foreign policy became the membership in
the European Union and NATO. As a result of the country's
considerable progress towards meeting the criteria for
EU membership, Bulgaria received on 10 December 1999 the
invitation to start the pre-accession negotiations. The
negotiations started in Brussels on 15 February 2000.
On 1 December 2000, the Council of Ministers of Justice
and Home Affairs of the European Union decided to remove
Bulgaria from the negative visa list. |
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