Many peoples were liberated from Ottoman rule during the Russian-Turkish wars. Under the reign of Alexander II, independence was granted to a number of Balkan principalities, as well as Bulgaria. The point in the strategic confrontation was set in 1878 in the suburbs of Constantinople - San Stefano.
In our article we will talk about the main milestones of the struggle of the Bulgarian people for independence, liberation war 1877-1878, as well as strong ties of brotherhood with the Russian Empire.
Anti-Turkish uprisings
In the 70s of the XIX century, a wave of anti-Turkish uprisings swept through the Balkans. The peoples, who had been dreaming of independence for centuries, moved on to the realization of their plans. In 1875, Bosnia and Herzegovina was on fire. The following year, the liberation war also began in Bulgaria. The uprising was brutally suppressed, but the unrest did not subside. The Western powers understood that the solution of the Ottoman question could not be postponed for a long time.
The empire, which existed due to despotic governance and vassal relations, has long been rotten and bursting at the seams.
The major European powers, including Russia, signed an agreement committing Constantinople to reform and grant broad autonomy to the Balkan states. Only England, pursuing its goals in the region, did not agree to a deal. The powder keg of Europe, as the Balkan Peninsula was deservedly called, exploded in 1876. Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Sultan.
The Russian tsar could not but stand up for the fraternal peoples, mobilization and preparation for war began. At the same time, active work was carried out in the diplomatic direction. They tried to persuade the Sultan to resolve the crisis peacefully. The last attempt to negotiate was made by the European monarchs at a meeting with the Ottoman delegation in London.
However, official Constantinople remained adamant and did not want to make concessions to the Balkan peoples. The next Russian-Turkish war began on April 12, 1877.
Shipka's hold
The Shipka Pass in Bulgaria served as a kind of gate opening the way to the southern part of the country. It was control over this area that played a decisive role in the war with Turkey. In July 1877, Russian troops, who by this time had managed to liberate a significant part of the country, including its capital, launched the main blow in the direction of Shipka.
Our soldiers were actively supported by the Bulgarian militias. The enemy could not resist for a long time and decided to leave the strategic height.
Now the main task was to keep Shipka. Suleiman Pasha sent forces there that outnumbered the Russians dozens of times. Every day, the liberators fought off several enemy attacks. The shelling became more intense every day. The defining date was August 11, 1877. The positions of our troops were engulfed in fire from all sides.
During the day, several powerful attacks by the Circassians, who fought on the side of the Turks, were repulsed. There were attempts to enter from the rear and break through the central section of the pass's defenses. At the cost of numerous sacrifices, the Russians still managed to maintain possession of the height, however, by the evening the positions of the Turks were located at an insignificant distance from our forces. The situation was close to critical.
Reinforcements arrived the next day. The regiment under the command of Major General M.I. Dragomirova occupied the central part of the pass. They also brought provisions and ammunition. In the following days Turkish troops were knocked out from all key positions in the Shipka area. Bloody battles began on the approaches to the pass. A week later, the losses of the joint Russian-Bulgarian troops amounted to about 3.5 thousand people, in turn, the Turks lost 8 thousand soldiers.
In autumn, the active phase of hostilities gave way to positional battles and fortifications on occupied heights. By winter, the weather became a real test: the soldiers died from cold and disease. Nevertheless, this “sitting” made it possible to keep significant forces of the Sultan in this direction, and at the beginning of the next year to make a striking counterattack and reach the Ottoman capital.
Battles for Plevna
One of the most heroic pages in the history of the Russian army was the siege of the Bulgarian city of Plevna, which housed the garrison of Turkish troops. The battles for the fortress were fought from July 1877. The corps of General Schilder-Schuldner attacked the fortified positions of the Turks in the northern direction. The attempt ended in failure, our army lost more than 2 thousand soldiers.
The second attack was led by generals Kridener and Shakhovskoy, the number of troops exceeded 30 thousand people. During fierce battles, they managed to capture two redoubts, but by the evening the Turks had nullified all the military achievements of the Russian troops. In September, the city was already attacked from three sides, the strengthened troops could already oppose the Ottoman general with about 100 thousand people. The Turks resisted fiercely.
It was possible to put the squeeze on an uncompromising opponent only at the end of November. The Ottomans made a sortie in order to take out the wounded and stock up on food and ammunition. The first line of the Russians managed to break through, but in the subsequent battle it was not in favor of the Turks. In the end, the city was occupied, and almost 40 thousand soldiers of the Turkish Pasha were captured. The city resisted for 143 days, and it cost the Russian army incredible efforts to capture it. After this victory, the strategic advantage passed to Russia, the outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion.
Peace treaty and aftermath of the war
The historical document was signed near Constantinople in the town of San Stefano. This happened on February 19, 1878. The effective part of the peace treaty confirmed the right of Serbia and Montenegro to full independence. Bulgaria received full autonomy, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part Russian Empire a part of Bessarabia was returning, a number of fortresses in the Caucasus were crossing. The Turks were obliged to pay a huge indemnity.
The strengthening of Russia's position did not suit the major European powers. Diplomatic pressure on Petersburg followed, which could have escalated into a full-fledged war. The Russian army was not able to conduct the second campaign in a row, especially against the troops of the formed coalition. I had to agree to a revision of the terms of the peace treaty.
There was a discussion in Berlin about a new world order. As a result, the balance of power in the region has changed somewhat. The territory of one of Russia's main allies in the war - Bulgaria - was significantly reduced, the British occupied the island of Cyprus, and Austria-Hungary received the right to occupy the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia retained almost all territorial acquisitions.
The victory of Russian weapons in the war of 1877-1878 once again allowed the Empire to secure the status of one of the leading world powers. This success also allowed Russia to rehabilitate itself after the failed Crimean War and expand its influence in southeastern Europe. The fraternal peoples of Bulgaria and the Balkan principalities were able to throw off the shackles of a centuries-old Turkish yoke.
On March 3, Bulgaria celebrates a national holiday - the Day of the Country's Liberation from the Ottoman yoke!
134 years ago - March 3 (February 19, old style) 1878 - Russia and Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of San Stefano at the end of the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878), which laid the foundation for the formation of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom in 1908.
Traditionally, the main center commemorative events every year becomes the peak of Shipka, located in Central Bulgaria, which is part of the Balkan Mountains. It was at this peak of 1523 meters in August 1877 that one of the most important battles of the Russian-Turkish war took place. at the cost of seizing a strategic position. During this battle, more than three thousand Russian soldiers and officers were killed.
On Shipka on Stoletov Peak, where the Freedom Monument is located, a solemn memorial ceremony was held, wreaths and flowers were laid, and the main ceremonial events were held in Sofia at the monument to the Unknown Soldier.
On this day, solemn events are held throughout Bulgaria, in which they pay tribute to the memory and gratitude to the Russian soldiers and Bulgarian volunteers who died for the freedom of Bulgaria.
Prayers of gratitude to Russian soldiers rush to Heaven everywhere!
In the memorial church of the Nativity of Christ, which is part of the memorial complex, a memorial service was held in memory of the Russian and Bulgarian soldiers.
Genka Bogdanova and all the Bulgarian people from Olga Borisova
Dear Genka and all the Bulgarian people!
I sincerely congratulate everyone on this great holiday! Nothing is forgotten and no one is forgotten! I live next to a street called Stara Zagora. I often walk along snow-covered alleys under majestic fir trees. I walk and rejoice that I also came into contact with Bulgaria, that I translate Bulgarian poets and write about our common history. These days for everyone Samara schools there are events dedicated to those distant events. I am also invited, where I talk about the Samara banner, read my trilogy, and also read poems by Bulgarian poets. Children listen with pleasure and are interested in it. One of our museums has a copy of the banner made in Bulgaria . We protect our common memory! And our friendship is proof of that. Blessed BULGARIA! Free and independent!
OLGA BORISOVA
Samara banner.
"Let us raise the banner of battle,
The whole country will be free!..."
Dobri Chintulov*
1.
The night has descended. Lamp light.
Here with a prayer on your lips
(The days are slipping by)
Delicate silk in holy hands.
Craftsmen embroider:
Letters burn with gold
A banner of stripes is sewn together -
Different colors in a row:
Red, white in the center, blue,
Cross embroidered in the middle
And in the gray evening blue
Brightly the face of the saint shines.
Nights, days - all embroider
Before the holy image
Add thread to thread
Bright gold silk.
Two saints of the Slavic
Someone's hand embroidered
Against the hordes of those Ottoman
There was a cover over the head.
Mother with tender love
In a gilded cross
Virgin diligently
The face is embroidered on canvas.
Here the cloth is ready -
Ribbons in gentle hands
The word is embroidered by Christ:
"May God arise..."
in the lines.
2.
And the people of Samara gave
Brothers this gift is holy,
And solemnly handed
Banner to lead to the right fight.
The banner in battles developed
And in bayonet attacks,
Over the ridge hovered victoriously
In those glorious past centuries.
3.
And in Sofia the symbol of brotherhood
Keep the people carefully
Like a relic of unity
He reveres the Russian flag.
BATTLE FOR STAR - ZAGORU
The wide field turns red
From fez Turkish soldiers.
Evening over the city. It's getting dark.
And the crimson sunset hangs.
Five thousand fighters cover
Your city, what's behind,
And a small detachment appears,
And the battle rushes into the hot.
And the slopes are shrouded in smoke,
The guns blaze with fire;
And screams, and gnashing, and groans,
From the flashes it is light, as if during the day.
But the Samara banner is menacing
Floats over the bloody slash,
It blazes like a flame
He leads his people to freedom.
But falls, struck by a bullet,
One standard-bearer, another,
And in battle, the hero is born again,
The team leads.
The brothers rallied at the banner:
Bulgarian and Russian soldier
And they went in a formidable army,
Through the smoke and fire of cannonades.
HERE THE MONUMENT WILL STAND
The bloody battle has not subsided yet
With a stubborn Ottoman under Stara Zagora,
And the city is burning instead of prayer,
I listened to how his battle rumbles at the walls -
The gray-haired general suddenly said wearily,
That the monument will stand to the heroes;
This southern land has become a holy land,
Where the brothers rallied and went to win.
And a bronze lion in silence over the area
Frozen, guarding the soldier's rest:
Bulgarian fallen, Russian friend -
May the feat of the past be glorious for centuries!
May God rest in peace strangle on the padnalite for freedom in Bulgaria Russian war!
Rest, Lord, the souls of those who died for the freedom of Bulgaria!
Cost. Vladikov.
(In the picture with the militia, Stoil Vladikov is holding a weapon from 1878)
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. March 3, 1878 in the suburbs of Constantinople San Stefano (now Yesilkoy), where they stopped advancing to the capital of the Ottoman Empire Russian troops, 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, Russo-Turkish War 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 an increase national movement in a radical form and the creation in 1896 of the Internal Macedonian-Odrinsky revolutionary organization, which began to 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.
According to the results 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 Soviet troops Bulgaria was liberated and the 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 priests, were still in late XIX centuries were positive, 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 in 1940 a mass movement for 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, said in an interview with RT Eurasian Institute geopolitics and economics, 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 links with 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 of his GERB (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria) party with 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.
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 V Western countries and even more so in Russia it 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 very high mountain 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.
See this "boot" inscribed in Arabic script? Second half of the 14th century. Soon almost all of Europe will be under this boot. This is an autograph of a person who can easily be called a barbarian, vandal, monster, but hardly a rogue or an illiterate nomad. Regrettably for the peoples enslaved by this conqueror, Orhan is considered the second of the three founders of the Ottoman Empire, under him a small Turkic tribe finally turned into a strong state with a modern army.
If someone today doubts that Bulgaria did not give a worthy rebuff to the occupier, they are greatly mistaken. This figure was highly educated, well-read, intelligent and, as befits a traditionally far-sighted, cunning politician of the eastern temper - a wise villain. That's who conquered Bulgaria. It is not possible to accuse the then Bulgarian rulers and people of negligence and weakness, in such a balance of power and historical unfavorable circumstances, to accuse them of frivolously falling under the yoke. History does not have a subjunctive mood, so what happened, happened.
Here is a rough timeline of events
Sultan Orhan (1324 - 1359) became the ruler of the entire northwestern part of Anatolia: from the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles to the Black Sea and the Bosporus. He managed to gain a foothold in continental Europe. In 1352, the Turks crossed the Dardanelles and took the fortress of Tsimpe, and in 1354 captured the entire Gallipoli Peninsula. In 1359, the Ottomans made an unsuccessful attempt to storm Constantinople.
In 1359, the son of Orkhan, Murad I (1359–1389), came to power in the Ottoman state, who, having strengthened his dominance in Asia Minor, set about conquering Europe.
In 1362, the Turks defeated the Byzantines on the outskirts of Andrianople and captured the city. Murad I moved the capital of the resulting Ottoman state to Andrianopol in 1365, renaming it Edirne.
In 1362, the wealthy Bulgarian city of Plovdiv (Philippopolis) came under the rule of the Turks, and two years later the Bulgarian Tsar Shishman was forced to recognize himself as a tributary of the Sultan and give his sister to his harem. After these victories, a stream of Turkic immigrants poured from Asia to Europe.
Byzantium turned into a city-state cut off from the outside world without any dependent territories, besides having lost its former sources of income and food. In 1373, the Byzantine emperor John V recognized himself as a vassal of Murad I. The emperor was forced to sign a humiliating treaty with the Turks, according to which he refused to make up for the losses suffered in Thrace and to assist the Serbs and Bulgarians in resisting the Ottoman conquest, he was also obliged to provide the Ottomans support in the fight against their rivals in Asia Minor.
Continuing their expansion in the Balkans, the Turks attacked Serbia in 1382 and took the fortress of Tsatelitsa, in 1385 they conquered the Bulgarian city of Serdika (Sofia).
In 1389, the Turkish army under the command of Murad I and his son Bayezid defeated a coalition of Serbian and Bosnian rulers in the Battle of Kosovo. Before the battle on the Kosovo field, Murad I was mortally wounded by the Serbian prince and soon died, power in the Ottoman state passed to his son Bayazid I (1389-1402). After the victory over the Serbian army, many Serbian military leaders were killed in Kosovo in front of the dying Murad I.
In 1393, the Ottomans captured Macedonia, then the Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo. In 1395, Bulgaria was completely conquered by the Ottomans and became part of the Ottoman state. Bulgaria became a transit interest for the Ottomans. Next in line was Constantinople, the citadel Byzantine Empire. That's the whole story of how Bulgaria fell under the Turkish-Ottoman yoke. The yoke that existed before the liberation of Bulgaria by the Russian Tsar Alexander II.
JANUARY 5 - LIBERATION OF THE CAPITAL OF BULGARIA FROM THE TURKS
Notice, by chance, on the eve of Easter?
At the end of November 1877, the victory of the Russian army in the battle of Plevna marked the beginning of the liberation of Bulgaria. A month later, in the brutal winter of 1878, Russian troops under the command of General Iosif Vladimirovich Gurko made a difficult transition through the snow-covered Balkan Mountains. Later, historians compared this campaign of the Russian army with the campaigns of Hannibal and Suvorov, while some added that it was easier for Hannibal, because he did not have artillery.
During bloody battles with the Turkish units of Shukri Pasha, Russian troops liberated Sofia. On January 4, Kuban Cossacks from hundreds of Yasaul Tishchenko threw down the Turkish banner from the council. On January 5, all of Sofia was occupied, and the Turkish troops remaining there hastily retreated to the south. As historians write, Russian troops were greeted by the local population on the outskirts of the city with music and flowers. Prince Alexander Dondukov-Korsukov reported to Emperor Alexander II: "The genuine feelings of the Bulgarians towards Russia, the Russian troops are touching."
And General Gurko noted in the order for the troops: “The capture of Sofia ended the brilliant period of the current war - the transition through the Balkans, in which you don’t know what to be more surprised at: whether your courage, heroism in battles with the enemy or endurance and patience with which you endured difficult hardships in the fight against mountains, cold and deep snow ... Years will pass, and our descendants, who will visit these harsh mountains, will solemnly and proudly say: Russian army, which resurrected the glory of the Suvorov and Rumyantsev miracle heroes.
Then the townspeople decided that this January day would become an annual national holiday. Over the years, the decision was forgotten, but in 2005 the Sofia City Hall decided to revive the old tradition in connection with the 125th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke.
Ottoman yoke
The Ottoman yoke lasted almost five hundred years. As a result of the successful Russian-Turkish wars and the uprising of the Bulgarian people, this dominion was overthrown in 1878. A yoke a yoke, but still the country did not freeze, lived, developed, but of course not as much as a sovereign state lives and develops.
However, was there, in fact, a yoke, or was it a natural movement of history? From the point of view of faith, perhaps, it was precisely the yoke, however, even under the Turks, monasteries existed in Bulgaria. Of course, they did not dominate culturally, but the rulers of Istanbul did not completely prohibit Christianity, although Christians were still oppressed. For example, every fifth male child in a Bulgarian family became a soldier and became a Janissary.
Also, Ottoman rule put an end to the development of Christian temple architecture. Few churches were built, and the few temples erected in the country during this period were small and unimpressive. On the other hand, luxurious mosques were built throughout the country, mostly in the traditional Ottoman style, characteristic feature which is a large dome over the prayer hall and an elegant pointed minaret. In parallel, there was a campaign of rejection of fertile lands in favor of Turkish colonists and the Islamization of the population.
On the other hand, Bulgaria, as the “rear” of the Ottoman Empire, lived quite calmly. Despite the religious and economic pressure, Slavs, Greeks and Armenians coexisted quite harmoniously there. Over time, the Turks associated themselves less and less with the Turks, and more and more with the Ottomans. As, however, and national minorities. More or less, some kind of comparative stability in occupied Bulgaria reigned in the 17th-18th centuries.
During the period of Ottoman rule, Bulgarian cities acquired "eastern" features: in addition to mosques, Turkish baths and shopping arcades appeared in them. Ottoman architecture also influenced the appearance of residential buildings. So, thanks to her, an attic, an open veranda and a “minder” wooden elevation - a bench on the veranda, so characteristic of Bulgarian residential buildings, appeared.
Since ancient times, Bulgaria and Russia have been linked by a common Slavic origins, a single religion and script, as well as many other factors. And it is not surprising that the eyes of the Bulgarians, who for centuries dreamed of liberation from Turkish domination, were turned to fraternal Orthodox Russia. Moreover, the Sultan established a political balance with the West, and there were constant frictions only with Russia. In addition, the Ottoman Empire was noticeably weakening, and in 1810 Russian troops appeared in Bulgaria for the first time. In 1828-1829 they went further and stayed longer. The era of five centuries of shame of slavery was ending.
Here are three historical figures these events:
Invader and liberator with his wife. Maria Alexandrovna is the wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander II. “Emperor Alexander II was a sensitive person, he knew and loved the Bulgarians, was interested in their past and present. But he was afraid of the Crimean syndrome, - said prof. Todev. Prince Gorchakov, Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, had great influence in determining Russian policy. He was for a peaceful solution, for conferences, for actions within the framework of the "European concert". But the queen, for example, was categorically “for” waging war”!!! First ladies are sometimes more decisive and far-sighted than their spouses. Can it be more correct to mention the Tsar-liberator and the Queen-liberator? That will be more honest!
Shipka
Wars in the history of mankind were, are and will be. War is like a book. There is a title, a prologue, a narrative, and an epilogue. But there are pages in these books, without which the essence of war, this bloodshed, becomes somehow irrational, lacking for understanding. These pages are about the climax of the war. All wars have their own pages about the main, decisive battle. There is such a page in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. This is the battle at the Shipka Pass.
The Thracians inhabited this place since ancient times. Many archaeological remains (tombs, weapons, armor, coins) of that period have been found in the vicinity of the cities of Shipka and Kazanlak. In the 1st century BC e. the city was conquered by the Romans. When the Turks captured Bulgaria in 1396, they created a garrison in the city of Shipka to guard and control the Shipka Pass. In the vicinity of Shipka and Sheinovo, some of the bloodiest battles were fought in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 (the defense of Shipka in the war for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke). The Freedom Monument on Mount Shipka (Stoletov Peak) is dedicated to the memory of the fallen. This is how a locality, existing for millennia, by the will of history, suddenly becomes not a locality, but a symbol of courage, spirit, determination. Unfortunately, such glory comes to the area only after it has absorbed a sea of blood. reasonable person. But as they say - "in war, as in war."
P.S.
Bulgaria is a small picturesque Balkan state with a population of under eight million and a tragic history. Bulgarians still dream of the ancient Bulgarian kingdom, which once reigned supreme over the Balkan Peninsula. Then there were almost two centuries of Byzantine slavery and five centuries of Turkish yoke. Bulgaria as a state disappeared from the world map for seven hundred years. Russia saved the Orthodox brothers from Muslim slavery at the cost of the lives of almost two hundred thousand of its soldiers. The Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 is carved in gold letters in history. “There is only one state to which the Bulgarians are indebted for all time, and that is Russia,” says the famous Bulgarian journalist and former ambassador Bulgaria in the Balkans Velizar Enchev. This is now an unpopular opinion among our political elite, which does not want to admit that we should thank Russia for the rest of our lives for freeing us from the Turks. We were the last in the Balkans to gain freedom. If not Russian imperial army, we would now be like Kurds and would not even have the right to speak mother tongue. We have seen only goodness from you and we owe you for the grave of life.
“It was the most emotional war in the history of Europe,” says Andrey Pantev, professor of history at Sofia University. - The most honest war, romantic and noble. Russia did not gain anything good from our liberation. The Russians boarded their ships and left for home. All the Balkan countries, after being liberated from Turkish slavery, with the help of Russia, turned AGAINST Russia towards the West. It looks like a parable about a beautiful princess who was saved from a dragon by one knight and kissed by another. At the end of the 19th century, there was even an opinion in Russia: why the hell should we quarrel with the West because of these ungrateful Slavs?
Bulgaria has always suffered from the "sunflower syndrome", always looking for a strong patron and often making mistakes. In two world wars, Bulgaria took the side of Germany against Russia. “For the entire twentieth century, we were declared aggressors three times,” says historian Andrei Pantev. - First in 1913 (the so-called Inter-Allied Balkan War), then in 1919 and in 1945. First world war Bulgaria somehow fought against three states that participated in the liberation war against the Turks: Russia, Romania and Serbia. This is a big mistake. What seems pragmatic at the current political moment often turns out to be simply disgusting in the court of history.
Despite past disagreements, Bulgaria is our closest cousin country. The tree of our friendship has repeatedly borne bitter fruit, but we have a common script, a common religion and culture, and a common Slavic blood. And blood, as you know, is not water. Due to deep reasons, classical memories and heroic legends, the Bulgarians will forever remain our brothers - the last brothers in Eastern Europe.
