History

Thracians were the first to settle on the Bulgarian territories, and there are many evidence of their civilization such as numerous archaeological findings, different tombs, in which were found gold and silver treasures. The long-century history of Bulgaria can be divided into 4 major periods: First Bulgarian Kingdom (681-1018AD); Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1185-1396 AD); Third Bulgarian Kingdom (1878-1945) and newest Bulgarian history.

First Bulgarian Kingdom:

681 AD- The Bulgarian state was founded and it was one of the first European states. The first Bulgarian capital was Pliska. Its tsars (khans) Asparukh, Krum the Dreadful (803-814 AD) and Omurtag (852-831 AD) turned the country it into a major power in south-eastern Europe.
855 AD- The Saint brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Slavonic alphabet.
865 AD-Prince Tsar Boris (852-907 AD) solved the problem with paganism and introduced East-Orthodox Christianity as the official religion in Bulgaria. In 865 AD he moved the capital from Pliska to Veliki Preslav (Great Preslav). The Byzantine Empire recognized him as tsar of the Bulgarians.
893-927 AD- Under the reign of Tsar Simeon (the Great), son of Tsar Boris I, the Bulgarian Kingdom became the biggest in territory and the most powerful in Europe in that time the territory spreads between three sea (Mediterranean, Black Sea and Caspian Sea) .It was the ‘golden age" of Bulgarian culture.
1018 AD.- Emperor Basil II conquered Bulgaria and turned it into a province of the Byzantine Empire.

Second Bulgarian Kingdom:

1185-1396- After a successful uprising by the Bulgarian aristocracy was established The Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The first rulers were Assen's dynasty. They proclaimed the town of Turnovo as capital. Ivan-Assen II (1218-1241) was the best-known and powerful ruler of this period.
1396- Bulgaria fell entirely under Ottoman domination. Bulgaria became a province of the Ottoman Empire for 5 centuries. All Bulgarian aristocracy and administration was destroyed, the Bulgarian Church was deprived of patriarchic rang and was placed under the Constantinople patriarchy.
1652- The beginning of the Bulgarian National Revival. Monk Paisii of the Hilendar Monastery (on Mount Ethos) wrote "The Slavonic-Bulgarian History".
1870- Starts the organized national-liberation movement.
1876- The April uprising of the enslaved Bulgarian people burst out.
1877-1878-Russian-Turkish Liberation war.

Third Bulgarian Kingdom:

1878. The Third Bulgarian Kingdom started with the San Stefano peace agreement, signed on March 3rd.By the power of that agreement Bulgaria received all the territory of the three historic Bulgarian regions- named Misia, Thrace and Macedonia. Bulgaria became the biggest Balkan country.
July 13th 1878.- The treaty of Berlin was signed and by the power of which the newly liberated Bulgaria was divided into the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia and a large portion of the Bulgarian lands was cut away to remain under Ottoman domination.
April 16th 1879- The Turnovo Constitution was adopted solemnly by the First Grand National Assembly.
June 26th 1879- Alexander Battenberg became prince of Bulgaria, and Sofia becomes the capital of the new Bulgarian state.
September 6th 1885- Was proclaimed the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia (the real-term liberation of Bulgaria).
September 22nd 1908- King Ferdinand I proclaimed Bulgaria's full independence from Turkish rule.

New Bulgarian History:

After restoring the national independence in 1878 Bulgaria was a constitutional monarchy with a democratic government and a quickly developing economy. The processes of successful growth were stopped as a result of the wars against Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey and Romania at the same time and of 1918 (wars against the allied forces).
1923 and 1934- Democratically elected governments were changed via coups d'Etat that brought to power authoritarian regimes.
1941- Bulgaria entered World War II on the side of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. Bulgaria was the only ally of Hitler Germany, which did not allow the killings of its Jewish citizens. It was thanks to King Boris III and to the Bulgarian governments that no hostilities were waged on this country's territory.
1944- After World War II, in result to the Yalta agreements between the Great Powers, Bulgaria become in the field of influence of the Soviet Union.
1953-1989-Years of the communist regime of Todor Zhivkov who headed both the party and the state.
November 10th 1989- Under the pressure of domestic and international circumstances Todor Zhivkov was forced to resign. Bulgaria once again takes the road of the development of democracy.
1989- December 7th: The Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) was formed by the unification of 13 opposition organizations.
1990. June 10-17: First free parliamentary elections were held.
1991- July 12th: A new democratic Constitution was adopted.
1991- October 13th: First free local authority's elections.
1992- First free presidential elections. Zhelyu Zhelev was elected for head of the state.
1996- November 3rd: Petar Stoyanov, candidate of the UDF, was elected with a vast majority for President of the Republic of Bulgaria.
1997- April 19th: The Parliamentary elections were won by the Democratic Forces Union (DFU). A government was headed by Ivan Kostov, Prime-Minister. Bulgaria started on the road of genuine democratic reforms.
2001- June: The Parliamentary elections were won by the National Movement Simeon II.

2004: Bulgaria become a member of NATO

2007- January: Bulgaria become a member of The European Union