Exactly 140 years ago, on March 3, 1878, a peace treaty was signed in San Stefano between the Russian and Ottoman empires, which put an end to the Russian-Turkish war. The result was the appearance on the world map of new independent states - Bulgaria and Montenegro, and international navigation along the Danube was also opened. This date is extremely significant for a number of Balkan states: Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, but the most important anniversary of the signing of the document remains for the Bulgarian society. In this state, March 3 is officially considered Independence Day and is a non-working day.

The Ottoman Empire owned the Bulgarian, Serbian, as well as a number of Montenegrin and Romanian territories since 1382. At the same time, severe restrictions on rights and freedoms were introduced for the Christian part of the population of these lands. Christians were heavily taxed, could not fully manage their property, and did not have the right to personal freedom.

In particular, the Turkish authorities could not hesitate to take Christian children in infancy to work in the Ottoman Empire, while the parents were forbidden to see their sons and daughters later. Moreover, at one time the Turks had the right of the first night to Christian women who wanted to marry other Christians.

To top it off, in most cities in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christians were prohibited from living on certain lands.

This policy led to a series of protests against Turkish rule in the 19th century. At the end of that century, Christian Serb uprisings broke out simultaneously in Bosnia, as well as the April Uprising in Bulgaria in 1875-1876. All these speeches were severely suppressed by Turkey, and the Turks distinguished themselves with particular ruthlessness precisely during the suppression of the April uprising, when, according to documents, out of 30 thousand of the total number of those killed during the dispersal of the rebels, only 10 thousand were somehow involved in hostilities against the Ottoman Empire, the rest were either relatives or acquaintances of the rebels. In addition to killings, Turkish military and irregular formations were marked by massive looting of Bulgarian houses and rape of Bulgarian women. These events were dedicated to the picture of the Russian artist-itinerant "Bulgarian martyrs", written in 1877.

The events in the Balkans at that time caused indignation in the society of different countries of the world. This was facilitated by the articles of the American war correspondent Januariy McGahan, who wrote for a series of reports on the crimes of the Turks against the Bulgarians of both sexes.

A number of prominent politicians and artists of the late 19th century condemned Istanbul's policies. Among them were writers Oscar Wilde, scientist, politician and revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi.

However, Russian society was most outraged by the actions of the authorities of the Ottoman Empire, in which the issues of oppression of the Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula were traditionally perceived painfully.

The uprising in Bosnia and Bulgaria received extensive press coverage. In Russian Orthodox churches and in the editorial offices of newspapers, fundraising began to help the rebels, public organizations helped to accept Bulgarian refugees, in addition, dozens of volunteers went to the Balkans to fight against the Ottomans. For some time, they tried to abandon a direct war with Turkey, since military reform had not yet been completed in Russia, and the economic situation was not very favorable.

In December 1876, Russia, England, France and Turkey held a conference in Istanbul, where the Russian side demanded that the Turks recognize the autonomy of Bulgaria and Bosnia under the protectorate of the world community. The Ottoman Empire defiantly refused this. And in April of the following year, under pressure from public opinion and a number of politicians, Russia declared war on Turkey.

From the very beginning, it was extremely difficult for Russia to develop. With great difficulty, the Russian troops crossed the Danube. In addition, Turkish supporters managed to raise an uprising in Abkhazia, Chechnya and Dagestan. As a result, almost the entire Black Sea coast on the Abkhaz territory was taken by the Turks by the spring of 1877. To suppress these speeches, the Russian authorities were forced to transfer reinforcements from the Far East.

In the Balkans, the fighting was also difficult for the Russian army: the lack of modern weapons and problems with the supply of food and medicine to the army affected. As a result, the Russian troops managed to win the key battle of the war and take the city of Plevna only a few months after it began. Nevertheless, the Russian troops, supported by volunteers from among the Bulgarians, Romanians and Serbs, managed to liberate the entire territory of Bulgaria, part of Bosnia and Romania from Turkish rule. The general's divisions occupied Adrianople (modern Edirne) and came close to Istanbul. The commander-in-chief of the Turkish army, Osman Pasha, was captured by the Russians.

The war found a wide response in Russian society. Many people went to participate in hostilities voluntarily. Among them were famous people, including doctors, Sergei Botkin, writers and.

The commander of the 13th Narva Hussar Regiment of the Russian Army, the son of the great Russian poet and prose writer, also took part in the hostilities.

Stolen Victory

After a series of military setbacks, Turkey was forced to hastily conclude peace with Russia. It was signed in the western suburb of Istanbul, San Stefano (now known as Yesilkoy). On the Russian side, the agreement was signed by the former Russian ambassador to Turkey, Count and head of the diplomatic office of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Balkans, Alexander Nelidov. From Turkish - Foreign Minister Savfet Pasha and Ambassador to Germany Saadullah Pasha. The document proclaimed the creation of an independent state of Bulgaria, the Principality of Montenegro, a significant increase in the territories of Serbia and Romania. At the same time, Bulgaria received a number of Turkish territories, where Bulgarians lived before the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans: the Bulgarian territory stretched from the Black Sea to Lake Ohrid (modern Macedonia). In addition, Russia received a number of cities in Transcaucasia, and the autonomy of Bosnia and Albania was formed.

However, a number of European powers did not agree with the provisions of the document, primarily Great Britain. The English squadron approached Istanbul, there was a serious threat of war between the United Kingdom and Russia. As a result, a new treaty was concluded in Berlin, called the Berlin Treaty. According to it, Bulgaria was divided into two parts, one proclaimed an independent state with its capital in Sofia, and the second proclaimed autonomy, but as part of the Ottoman Empire. Also, Serbia and Romania had to abandon some of the acquisitions of the San Stefano Treaty, and Russia was forced to return part of the Transcaucasian acquisitions. However, she retained the historically Armenian city of Kars, which was actively populated by Russian settlers.

Also, under the Berlin Agreement, Austria-Hungary received the right to establish a protectorate over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which eventually became one of the reasons for the First World War.

“The liberation war of 1877-78 is considered by a number of historians to be the most just, since after the brutal suppression of the April uprising, it was the all-Slavic rise that became its driving force. This liberation war was started, in fact, by the people, and they won it. And the Treaty of San Stefano fixed the independence of Bulgaria within its historical borders. However, Russia's military victory then turned into a diplomatic defeat for both the Russian Empire and Bulgaria," he argues in an interview with Gazeta.ru. Ru" Bulgarian Ambassador to Russia Boyko Kotsev.

According to him, this was due, among other things, to the fact that the San Stefano peace was developed by some people, primarily Count Ignatiev, and another delegation was sent to Berlin for negotiations, headed by Count Mikhail Gorchakov. “Being at an advanced age and having no information from his ambassadors, some of whom were engaged not so much in state as in personal affairs, he could not protect the interests of Russia, as a result of which she lost a number of achievements of the war. This also affected Bulgaria, which lost some of its historical lands as a result of the Berlin Diktat, as we called it, forever. Nevertheless, we remember those who made their invaluable contribution to the formation of the Bulgarian state, and since then, Count Ignatiev, who developed the draft San Stefano Agreement, has been considered a national hero of Bulgaria,” Kotsev concluded.

Some historians believe that the reason for the signing of the Berlin Agreement by St. Petersburg was Russia's unwillingness to fight England. As a result of the battles of the war of 1877-1878, 15.5 thousand Russian soldiers and officers died, about 3.5 thousand Bulgarian volunteers, in addition, 2.5 thousand militiamen from Serbia and Montenegro were killed.

Bulgarians think differently

Despite the fact that the date of the conclusion of the Treaty of San Stefano is one of the main national holidays in Bulgaria, now there are people in the intellectual and political elite of the country who began to advocate for the removal of references to this event from Bulgarian history textbooks. “In Bulgaria there is a certain stratum of people who are in favor of the broadest cooperation with a number of European countries and with the United States, but they prefer to forget about the role of Russia.

I remember well my conversation with one activist. In front of me, she was indignant that in Bulgaria they dared to put up monuments to Russian soldiers, they, they say, were occupiers and killed the Bulgarians, and did not defend them. And when the Russian Patriarch came to Bulgaria, she was shaking with anger, shouting: “Kakva impudence! Kkva impudence!!!" (What impudence - Bulgarian.). It turns out that the Patriarch had the "impudence" to call Russians and Bulgarians a single people.

“They, these Russians, want to occupy Bulgaria again through the church!” she almost shouted. I dared to object that he meant the Slavic brotherhood, and she replied that, they say, it does not matter, ”said Danko Malinovsky, a traveler and Balkanist, who has Russian and Macedonian roots, to Gazeta.Ru.

Some Bulgarian public figures admit that there are people in the country who do not recognize the significance of the San Stefano Treaty in Bulgarian history, but emphasize that they are in the minority.

“There are such people in Bulgaria, about 4% of our society, who are trying to give this event a political and economic flavor, trying to show that at that time Russia had the goal of reaching the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, and the liberation of the Bulgarians was not interested in it,” says “ Gazete.Ru” Chairman of the Bulgarian national movement “Russophiles” Nikolai Malinov. He stressed that the vast majority of Bulgarians have a completely different position on this matter. “Let's not forget that after the liberation of Bulgaria, Russia actually created the Bulgarian fleet and army, created the constitution of our country and laid the foundations of our statehood. Two years after the end of the war of 1877-1878, the Russians left all this to us and simply left without demanding anything in return. And, of course, we have not forgotten it. Today, up to 100,000 people will come to the Shipka Pass, where one of the key battles of that war took place, to commemorate the dead Russian soldiers and officers, as well as the Bulgarian militias. It is expected that the memorial on Shipka will also be visited, ”added Malinov.

On March 3, 2018, Bulgaria celebrated the 140th anniversary of the liberation from the Ottoman yoke. It was on this day in 1878 that Russia and Turkey signed the Treaty of San Stefano, according to which, after 500 years of foreign rule, Bulgarian statehood was restored. Despite the decisive contribution of Russian troops to the liberation of Bulgaria, over the past century and a half, relations between Moscow and Sofia have not been easy.

Celebration of the Day of Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman yoke Gettyimages.ru © Contributor

Made in San Stefano

March 3rd is the Day of Liberation from the Ottoman Yoke in Bulgaria. This is one of the main national holidays of the country, established in honor of the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. On March 3, 1878, in San Stefano (now Yesilkoy), a suburb of Constantinople, where Russian troops advancing towards the capital of the Ottoman Empire stopped, representatives of Russia and Turkey signed a peace treaty. One of his conditions was the re-establishment of the Bulgarian state.

In addition, Turkey was forced to recognize the independence of Serbia, the United Principality of Moldavia and Wallachia (future Romania) and Montenegro, which were allies of Russia in that war.

As noted in an interview with RT, Associate Professor of the UNN named after. N.I. Lobachevsky Maxim Medovarov, the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 and the San Stefano peace treaty "woke up the Balkans", influencing not only the processes in Bulgaria.

"Both Albanian and Macedonian problems were first identified in San Stefano" , the expert notes.

It was in 1878, Medovarov emphasizes, with the formation of the Albanian League of Prizren that the movement for the creation of an Albanian state began.

Signing of the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878 © Wikimedia Commons

Macedonia, which, according to the San Stefano peace treaty, was supposed to become part of Bulgaria, remained part of Ottoman Turkey following the results of the Berlin Congress that followed this treaty. The result was the growth of a national movement in a radical form and the creation in 1896 of the Internal Macedonian-Odrinsky Revolutionary Organization, which began a guerrilla war against the Turks, and after the annexation of Macedonia to Serbia in 1913, against the Serbs. The most famous victim of the Macedonian militants was the King of Yugoslavia, Alexander I Karageorgievich, who was killed in Marseilles in 1934. The Abwehr and Croatian Ustashe actively helped the Macedonians in organizing this assassination attempt.

As a result of the Berlin Congress, imposed on Russia by the European powers, Bulgaria itself also suffered, the territory of which, compared with the terms of the San Stefano peace treaty, was reduced by more than two times. However, already in the 1880s, the country in its policy reoriented from the Russian Empire to the states of Europe.

As Medovarov noted, the key role in this process was played by the social base on the basis of which the Bulgarian political elite was created.

"Bulgaria was, in fact, created in San Stefano, and the entire Bulgarian political class was created from the intelligentsia or lower-class merchants, there was simply no one else, "- the expert notes. - "All of them were educated either in the West or in Russia among Russian nihilist revolutionaries" .

A striking example is the Prime Minister and Regent of Bulgaria Stefan Stambolov, expelled in 1873 from the Odessa Theological Seminary for his connection with the revolutionaries. It was this former Russian seminarian who most actively fought against Russian influence in the country.

Paradoxically, the Russian Empire itself also contributed to the estrangement of Bulgaria from Russia.

« After San Stefano, the Russian authorities of Bulgaria in 1879 imposed the liberal so-called Tyrnovo Constitution, which removed the Orthodox clergy from the levers of government - that part of the educated population that could be our support. All power passed into the hands of the revolutionary intellectuals and their parties ", - says Medovarov.

According to him, this constitution played a fatal role in the formation of the pro-Western orientation of the Bulgarian political class. Under the first prince of Bulgaria, Alexander I Battenberg, the Bulgarian politician favored an alliance with Great Britain, and after the accession to the Bulgarian throne of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1897, with Germany and Austria.

The people are silent

« Many Bulgarians accused Russia of not conquering Macedonia and other lands for them, - Medovarov notes another reason for the cooling of the Bulgarian elites towards Russia. - Our country was accused of insufficiently defending Bulgarian interests at the Berlin Congress of 1879 ».

The fact that Russia did not support Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War of 1913, when Serbia, Greece, Romania and Turkey attacked the country, according to the historian, finally led Bulgaria to the camp of Germany's allies. Later, in two world wars, Sofia tried to regain control over Macedonia, lost after the Second Balkan War. After the Soviet troops liberated Bulgaria, a communist regime was established in the country. Now this is another reason for criticism of Russia by pro-Western liberals.

“Grievances accumulated, but these were grievances from a certain part of the Bulgarian political class,” Medovarov emphasizes, “The people have always been on the side of Russia. The masses have always been pro-Russian, but have no voice in politics.”

This is confirmed, according to the historian, by the fact that the reviews about Russia from the peasants who made up the majority of the population of Bulgaria, as well as the priests, were positive at the end of the 19th century, although the authorities in Sofia were already oriented towards the West. And now, according to a survey by the American sociological center Pew Research Center, conducted in May 2017, 56% of Bulgarians believe that a strong Russia is necessary in order to resist the West.

• Residents of Sofia meet Soviet soldiers, 1944 RIA Novosti

Medovarov recalls that even in 1940 a mass movement began in Bulgaria to conclude a non-aggression pact with Soviet Russia, after the pro-German government came to power.

« Almost half of the country signed up for an alliance with the USSR, but the authorities completely ignored this ", - the expert notes.

As Bulgarian political scientist Plamen Miletkov, chairman of the board of the Eurasian Institute of Geopolitics and Economics, said in an interview with RT, a similar situation is observed to this day.

« Ordinary people - they are with Russia, - the expert notes. - But politicians sometimes say one thing and do another. They fulfill American orders in Bulgaria and the Balkans. You will now see how Bulgaria will work with Macedonia, with Kosovo, with Greece, so that Bulgaria becomes a leader in the Balkans, but this is the wrong course. ».

According to the expert, the main goal of the Bulgarian policy of drawing Macedonia into the EU and NATO is to create obstacles to plans to conduct the European part of the Turkish Stream through this country to the Balkans. However, this, like Sofia's refusal of the South Stream, is in the interests of not Bulgaria, but the United States.

« Now in Bulgaria there is American propaganda that Russia did not liberate Bulgaria and did nothing, and there was no war at all", - the expert notes.

Hope for change

Bulgaria is celebrating the 140th anniversary of the restoration of statehood, which is being celebrated today, as a member of NATO, the military-political bloc that is now in force. However, for the first time since 2003, the country's leadership invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to celebrate the anniversary of the country's liberation from the Ottoman yoke. This was done by President Rumen Radev, who was elected in November 2016 and advocates forging friendly ties with Russia.

And although the President of the Russian Federation will not come to Bulgaria this year on March 3, as noted by the Russian ambassador to Sofia, Anatoly Makarov, it is quite possible that he will visit this country within a year. At the festive events, Russia will be represented by Makarov himself. The day before, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' also arrived in the country on a special visit.

Although President Radev constantly talks about the need to lift the sanctions that Bulgaria, like other EU countries, has imposed on Russia, the government in whose hands the real power is is in no hurry to raise this issue. In September 2017, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that he could not agree with the thesis that Russia is not an enemy of Bulgaria.

• Bulgarian President Rumen Radev Reuters © Tony Gentile

« How can one say in military doctrine that Russia is not our enemy and still remain a member of NATO? - said the Prime Minister on local television. - It's a contradiction. Our doctrine says that if a war starts, we will fight on the side of NATO».

At the same time, the prime minister emphasized that he was against strengthening in the Black Sea and was in favor of cooperation with Russia in the tourism and energy sectors.

« Boyko Borisov wants to work with Russia, but does what the American ambassador orders ”, Miletkov notes.

According to the expert, the US may have dirt on the Bulgarian leader. In the early 1990s, he headed a security agency that was suspected of having ties to the underworld. A May 9, 2006, CIA cable released by WikiLeaks claimed that Borisov might be involved in the drug trade. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria refutes this information.

• Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Reuters © Yves Herman

However, according to the Bulgarian expert, it is likely that in 2018 there will be a reshuffle in power in Bulgaria. Now Borisov's government is backed by a shaky coalition between his GERB (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria) party and the nationalist United Patriots bloc, which in turn is at odds with Russia.

« I think that at the end of the year, in November-December, the government will change, there will be new elections, and we will work normally with Russia", - says Miletkov.

« For us, the situation is now favorable in the sense that, at least, the people are loyal to us, and this people has shown its abilities by electing an adequate president ", - says Medovarov.

According to the expert, Bulgaria's exit from the influence of the United States is "not only a Balkan issue, but a global one."

« If the American grip starts to really weaken around the world, then we will have more opportunities in the Balkans ", - says the political scientist.

Hello dear readers!

March 3 is a great day, a national holiday in Bulgaria. It is dedicated to the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke.

For five centuries Bulgaria did not exist as a state, it was from the 14th to the 19th century. It was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Attempts to break out of slavery always led to failures, bloody massacres of the rebels, and the death of people. Other Slavs also suffered from Turkish slavery.

Russia entered the war with Turkey in 1877, in support of the Slavic peoples.

The war lasted one year and in 1878 joint efforts allowed the Russian army to win, defeating the troops of Turkey.

90% of Russian soldiers from the total number of troops participated in the war for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke. Together with the Russians, the Bulgarian militia, formed in Russia, Serbs, Montenegrins, Romanians, Finns fought in the war.

At the end of the war, a peace treaty was signed between Russia And Ottoman Empire. According to which the independence of Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro was recognized. The treaty was signed on March 3, 1878. This date is considered in Bulgaria as the day of liberation from the Ottoman yoke.

The five-hundred-year-old Turkish yoke has come to an end. Bulgaria became an independent, independent state with its own coat of arms and flag.

In the summer of 1878, the treaty was revised at the insistence of England and Austria-Hungary. The borders of Bulgaria were reduced and millions of Bulgarians remained outside their country: all of Macedonia, Serbia. The Treaty of San Stefano was completely distorted, all the clauses that were beneficial for Russia were canceled.

More than 400 monuments to Russian soldiers have been erected in Bulgaria. In Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, in front of the parliament building there is a majestic monument to Alexander II, the liberator king who defeated the Ottoman Empire.
In the cities and villages of Bulgaria, streets are named after the Tsar-Liberator.

In Varna, the day of liberation was celebrated on the square in front of the Cathedral. The ranks of the guard of honor of the naval forces and infantry lined up on the square. The anthem of the Bulgarian Republic was played.

Mayor of the City of Varna Ivan Portnih

The guard of honor with a solemn march with the national flag passed by the podium, which was attended by the leadership of the Varna region, the city of Varna,
Consul General of Russia in Varna,

members of the city's community.

The brass band of the naval forces was present.

The host of the rally said that this day will live in the minds of the Bulgarians as long as the Bulgarian state exists, as long as the Bulgarian people live.

The program of the celebration included the laying of wreaths and flowers at the monument to Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev,

at the memorial monument to Ukrainian soldiers, at the monument to Russian soldiers-liberators in the city marine park.

Facebook

Twitter

VK

Odnoklassniki

Telegram

Story

140 years ago Bulgaria freed itself from the Ottoman yoke

March 3, 2018 marks 140 years since the happy moment when fraternal Bulgaria was freed from the Ottoman yoke, which had tormented its population for 500 years. On that memorable day, the Russian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev, signed the peace treaty between Russia and Turkey in San Stefano (a suburb of Constantinople, now it bears the Turkish name Yesilkey).

Bulgaria fell into a long dependence on the Ottoman Empire in 1396, when the last king of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (Shishman dynasty) Ivan Sratsimir died. His heir Konstantin II Asen, who was in vassal dependence on the Turks, undertakes an unsuccessful uprising against them, and after his death, Bulgaria finally falls under the rule of the Ottomans and endures all humiliation and oppression, including the “blood tax” imposed by the Ottomans on Orthodox subjects (every tenth the child is given into personal slavery to the victors).

Count Ignatiev did everything in his power, and even more, to liberate Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke. First, he achieved church independence for its Orthodox people, then recognition of independence within the Ottoman Empire, and, finally, he developed and signed the San Stefano peace treaty. Under this agreement, the country, at the expense of Turkey defeated by the Russian troops, received the borders in which it historically existed in its tsarist period.

But this was not lucky enough to come true, the Western powers intervened (most of all Austria-Hungary and England) and “protected” the Ottomans against the Russians and Bulgarians. Formally, Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman yoke in June 1878, already under another treaty - the Berlin Treaty, with national borders halved. Ignatiev, “sick with Bulgarian fever,” was not allowed to attend the congress in Germany, and the star of his diplomatic career went down. But the love for Bulgaria in the heart of a Russian aristocrat will never disappear. Upon his return, he will create a Slavic charitable society and take care of Bulgarian students in Russia.

It is difficult to imagine a date that could bring closer the historical memory of the Russian and Bulgarian peoples. “This holiday is one of those historical events,” said Bulgarian Ambassador to Russia Boyko Kotsev, “which closely connected the Bulgarian and Russian peoples. Bulgarian militias and Russians fought shoulder to shoulder in this war. This is the most expensive holiday for every Bulgarian. Then the Bulgarian people survived in the struggle for independence at the cost of a hard national liberation struggle.

There are examples in our history that we can be proud of. The feat of our people is that for all the years when Bulgaria was under the Ottoman yoke, it did not lose its national identity, Orthodox faith and language.” A solemn reception was given at the embassy in Moscow in honor of the anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke.

In Bulgaria, this day is a national holiday and a non-working day. On March 3, a thanksgiving prayer service is served in Sofia, the capital of the country, then wreaths are laid to the immediate leader of the troops, General Joseph Gurko, Tsar Alexander II the Liberator and the memorial - a monument of freedom on Shipka, created with donations from the Bulgarian people in 1934.

Bulgaria , History

Add E Vesti to your favorite sources

Post navigation

Latest section news

Spanish scientists suggest that in the north of Colombia (in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region) they found a coveted city, known in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world as ...




Sad news spread around the world - the outstanding Hispanist, historian Santos Julia died. The scientist devoted his whole life to his beloved homeland - Spain. Central to its…




In connection with the exhumation of General Franco and the transfer of his grave to another place, the Spanish public is again interested in topics from 80 years ago. According to opinion polls, only...




The University of the Basque Country once again strikes our minds with an “explosive theory” that overturns a long-established concept of human development. This was written by The Conversation magazine.




On October 19, 2019, the head of the Egyptian High Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, at a press conference at the Temple of Hatshepsut, announced the discovery of the largest sarcophagus found in…

In early March, Bulgaria celebrates the liberation from the Ottoman yoke. For almost five centuries, the Christian country was under the yoke of Muslim laws and paid tribute to the Ottoman Empire not only in gold and food, but also in live goods. Every fifth boy from the family climbed into the barracks and was brought up as a Janissary. Temples and churches were no longer built, monasteries were preserved only in remote mountainous regions. The policy of Islamization, actively pursued by the Porte in the territory of the Bulgarian Principality and other Balkan countries, led to the establishment of Christianity as the main enemy of the invaders. Many Orthodox died, refusing to change the faith of their ancestors. In those days, to accept Islam meant treason to the Motherland.

Ottoman policy in the Balkans

The tightening of policy towards Christian countries and the increase in taxes led to mass uprisings among the local population. But the more weakened the Brilliant Porte, the more bloodily pacified the popular unrest and riots. The uprisings in 1875-1876 in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria were suppressed with such cruelty that even Western countries, willingly providing military support to the Ottomans in the fight against Russia (Crimean War), tried to force Porto to equalize the rights of Christians with the Muslim population. However, this did not bring any result, all the signed decrees remained only on paper, and in fact the Orthodox residents remained as disenfranchised as they were.

Preparation and entry of Russia into the war of 1876-1878

After such anti-Christian persecutions, public opinion in Western countries, and even more so in Russia, was completely on the side of the Balkan Slavs. Alexander II and the government decided to start a war with Turkey in order to protect our Slavic brothers. Of course, the state expected that the liberated countries would strengthen our influence in the international arena and allow us to resist the Western coalition of states. The military reform carried out made it possible to hope for revenge after the defeat in the Crimean War.

The company had to be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible so that the West would not come to its senses and defect to the side of the Porte. At this stage, Russia was supported in the international arena by Prussia, and the enemy, as usual, was Great Britain. By refusing to follow the recommendations of their Western partners, the Porte was unable at that time to receive support from the Western coalition. This fatal mistake of the Ottoman Empire made it possible for Russia to start and carry out a military campaign to liberate the Balkan peoples from the Muslim yoke.

Liberation of the Balkans

The course of the offensive of the Russian troops was accompanied by examples of the heroic behavior of soldiers and officers. Some of his contemporaries compared the passage through the Balkans with Suvorov's campaign through the Alps. The crossing of the Danube, the defense of Shipka, the capture of Plevna and the crossing of the Balkans are inscribed in bloody letters in the history of Russia and the Balkan peoples.

And when the complete victory was already close and our troops approached Erzurum, where the remnants of the Turkish army were hiding, the Western partners woke up and imposed peace on us under the terms of the San Stefanov Treaty, where Turkey paid Russia a large indemnity in gold, recognized some territorial claims and gave independence Bulgaria, Romania and Montenegro. To secure this peace and stop the Russian soldiers from marching on Constantinople, the Western powers flooded the Mediterranean with their warships.

The Russian-Turkish war of 1876-1878 gave independence to the Balkan peoples, sacrificing almost two hundred thousand Russian soldiers. Some Bulgarian historians call it the most honest and noble war, if such words are appropriate in relation to the war. After the liberation, the Balkan countries rushed under the wing to the more developed countries of Europe, and Russia got only part of Bessarabia, although under the terms of the San Stefano Treaty, territorial acquisitions were more extensive. But the Western coalition, extremely dissatisfied with the victory of such a strong enemy, convened the treacherous Berlin Congress, where many achievements of the San Stefano Treaty were canceled. But that is another story.

celebration

"Bulgarian, kneel
in front of the Holy Grave
here lies the Russian Warrior,
who gave his life for our freedom"

The day of the conclusion of the Treaty of San Stefano is considered the day of the liberation of Bulgaria. This big national holiday is marked as a red day of the calendar. Holidays in Bulgaria are celebrated on a grand scale: mass processions are held on this day, politicians congratulate residents, events are opened that acquaint residents with the history of the country.

A prayer service is served in memory of the dead Russian soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish slavery. A solemn memorial service is held in the church of St. Alexander Nevsky, built in the 19th century. Throughout the country there are more than 400 monuments to Russian soldiers, to which flowers and wreaths are laid on this day.

On March 3, wreaths are solemnly laid at the Freedom Monument, erected in honor of the Russian soldiers who defended Shipka. This memorial was erected on the highest mountain of the Shipka Pass, where a handful of Russian soldiers and Bulgarian partisans held for a month many times superior enemy forces under constant artillery fire, so as not to let Turkish troops into Northern Bulgaria. This mountain was named Stoletova in honor of the Russian general who led the defense.