Old Great Bulgaria and the First Bulgarian Empire

Although people lived in what is modern day Bulgaria for many thousands of years, the first Bulgar state came about in 632 when Khan Kubrat formed an independent state called ‘Great Bulgaria’ between the Danube delta and the Black Sea. These borders were pushed west after the eastern invasion by the Khazars and east after invasion by the Hungarians.

Khan Asparuh, the successor of Kubrat moved down to the lower courses of the Danube and took Moesia and Scythia Minorfrom from the Byzantine Empire, which brought the Bulgarian Empire to the Balkan Peninsular for the first time. This was a bloody time for the Empire and included the raising of the Arab siege of Constantinople, in which around 50,000 Arabs were killed something which gained the Bulgarian army the reputation of "The Saviour of Europe”. It was during this period that Bulgaria adopted the Orthodox faith and became a centre for learning when Ohrid, which is in present day Macedonia, gave birth to the Cyrillic alphabet. However, after many wars with Serbians and Croatia alongside Magyar invasions, Bulgaria fell under Byzantine rule and was destroyed in 1018 as a functioning independent state.

Second Bulgarian Empire and Ottoman rule

After many years under Byzantine rule and widespread passivity, the Bulgarian nobility took advantage of a weakened Byzantine Empire to launch a rebellion and set about the forming the Second Bulgarian Empire. For more than two centuries the country expanded against Hungary as well as to the south with the capital based in Veliko Turnovo under the Asen dynasty. But again the Empire wavered as Tatar invasions weakened the state and allowed the Ottomans to invade. This was not a happy 500 years for the Bulgarians as the population was decimated and many cultural and historic relics were destroyed.

From The Kingdom of Bulgaria to the People’s Republic of Bulgaria

It wasn’t until the Russians, Romanians and Bulgarians got together to fight against the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War from 1877-1878 that a Bulgarian state was once again formed. Initial fears from the western powers that a large Slavic state would serve Russian interests lead to a smaller than planned country being set up as an autonomous Bulgarian principality with Alexander von Battenberg as prince. After wars against Serbia the principality became a Kingdom under Ferdinand I in 1908.

The new Kingdom took part in the Balkan wars first against the Ottomans, after which it took much territory to the south. However, disputes with the other countries it fought alongside over the territory led to a much reduced Bulgaria as it entered into a series of failed wars with its former allies. After loosing in World War One the size of the Bulgarian state shrunk further conceding land to Serbia, Macedonia and Romania. World War Two allowed the Bulgarian state to once again take land of its neighbours, although being on the losing side this didn’t last too long. When the Soviet troops arrived in 1944 it heralded the start of Communist rule in the country. Bulgaria remained one of the U.S.S.R.’s strongest allies until the collapse of the Eastern Block towards the end of the 20th Century.

Modern Times

Since the fall of communism, Bulgarian life has not been easy. Widespread unemployment and harsh economic reforms have led to much out migration and unhappiness with every government which has been elected. However, people can see signs of progress and entry into the EU has given people hope of a brighter future.