The Thracians lived in what is now known as Bulgaria from about 3500 B.C. They were incorporated into the Roman Empire by the first century A.D. At the decline of the empire, the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, and Avars invaded. The Bulgars, who crossed the Danube from the north in 679, took control of the region. Although the country now bears the name of the Bulgars, the Bulgar language and culture soon died out, having been replaced by Slavic language, writing, and religion. In the year 865, Boris I adopted Orthodox Christianity. The Bulgars twice conquered most of the Balkan Peninsula between 893 and 1280. But in 1396 they were invaded by the Ottoman Empire, which made Bulgaria a Turkish province until 1878. www.infoplease.com
| Thracian peltast - source |
In 1878, Bulgaria became an independent state after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The Congress of Berlin (1878) limited Bulgaria’s territory and fashioned it into a small principality ruled by Alexander of Battenburg.
Alexander was succeeded in 1887 by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who declared Bulgaria a kingdom.
During the First Balkan War (1912–1913), Bulgaria and the other members of the Balkan League fought against Turkey to regain Balkan territory. Angered by the small portion of Macedonia it received after the battle (having considered Macedonia an integral part of Bulgaria) the country instigated the Second Balkan War (June–Aug. 1913) against Turkey as well as its former allies. Bulgaria lost the war and all the territory it had gained in the First Balkan War. Bulgaria joined Germany in World War I in the hope of again gaining Macedonia. After this second failure, Ferdinand abdicated in favour of his son, Boris III, in 1918. Boris III squandered Bulgaria’s resources and assumed dictatorial powers in 1934–1935. Bulgaria then fought on the side of the Nazis in World War II, but after Russia declared war on Bulgaria on Sept. 5, 1944, Bulgaria switched sides. Three days later, on Sept. 9, 1944, a Communist coalition took control of the country and set up a government under Kimon Georgiev. www.infoplease.com
| Balkan Wars source |
A Soviet-style People’s Republic was established in 1947. The general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhikov, resigned in 1989 after 35 years in power. His successor, Peter Mladenov, purged the Politburo, ended the Communist monopoly on power, and held free elections in May 1990 that led to a surprising victory for the Communist Party. Renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Mladenov was forced to resign in July 1990.
www.infoplease.com, www.wikipedia.org - History of Bulgaria
In October 1991, the Union of Democratic Forces won, forming Bulgaria’s first non-Communist government since 1946. Power shifted back and forth between the pro-Western Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the BSP during the 1990s.