Illustrated History of Bulgaria

Bulgaria made its first steps as an independent state in the distant 681. It is one of the centuries. Its geographical position on the Balkans, the crossing of roads from and to Europe, Africa and Asia, determined the difficult historical destiny of the Bulgarian, state. The hardest ordeal for the Bulgarians was the annihilation of their state by the Ottoman Empire during the 14^th century. For nearly five centuries Bulgaria did not exist, but the Bulgarians manager to preserve their national identity.

During the second half of the 19^th century the Bulgarian state once again appeared on the map of Europe and tried to catch up with the other European countries. The 20^th century brought new hardships because Bulgaria was on the side of the defeated alliances in both World Wars and then become a part of the Eastern Bloc. At the and of the 20^th century the Bulgarians once again had to go through deep changes, caused by the end of the Cold War. Bulgarian citizens and politicians joined efforts and on January the 1^st 2007 Bulgaria become a full member of the European Union.

Foreword
Ancient Thrace

• Ancient Thracians
• The Kingdom of the Odrysae

Medieval Bulgaria

• Proto - Bulgarians (Bulgars)
• Southern Slavs

Pagan Bulgaria

• Formation of the Danube Bulgaria
• Consolidation of the Danube Bulgaria
• Centralisation of the Bulgarian State

Christian Bulgaria

• Bulgarian's Conversion Christianity
• Creation of the Slavonic Alphabet
• Bulgaria's Grandeur during the Reign of the Tsar Simeon
• The Fall of the First Bulgarian Kingdom
• Culture of the First Bulgarian Kingdom

Second Bulgarian Kingdom

• The Bulgarian Lands under Byzantine Dominance
• Recobery of the Bulgarian State
• Tsar Kaloyan Wins Acknowledgement for Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Territorial Expansion out to the Coats of Three Seats
• The State is on the Wane with the Heirs of Tsar Ivan Assen II
• The "Peasant Tsar" Ivailo in Struggle Against the Foreign Invaders
• An Attemps at Reinstating the Lost Positions with the Reign of the Shishmans
• Bulgaria's Fall Under Ottoman Dominance
• Cultural Heritage of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
• The Bogomils: the Bulgarian Hersey

Bulgaria within the borders of the Ottoman Empire

• Establishment of the Ottoman State Sysytem in the Bulgarian Lands
• Episodes of Anti-Ottoman Resistance throughout the Bulgarian Lands
• Cultural Consequences of the Ottoman Dominance

Bulgaria's national revival

• Factors of the Changes
• Birth of the National Idea. Paissiy of Hilendar and Sofroniy of Vratsa
• The Winning of Independence for the Bulgarian Church
• Preparation of the Bulgarian National Revolution
• Russo - Turkish War of Liberation (1877 - 1878)
• Culture of the Bulgarian National Revival

Liberation and Restoration of the Bulgarian State

• Bulgarian People's Liberation and Division
• Laying the Foundations of the New Bulgarian State
• The Constitution of Tarnovo: Organic Law of the Principality of Bulgaria

Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria with Eastern Roumelia

• In Wait of the Eastern Roumelia's New State Organization
• State Organization of Eatsern Roumelia
• Preparation and Implementation of the Unification
• the Armed Defence of the Unification
• The Unification: an Internationally Acknowledged Reality

Bulgaria between two Centuries

• Bulgaria's Crisis of 1886 - 1887
• Stefan Stambolov: the Statesman
• Establishment and Consolidation of Prince Ferdinand's Personal Regime
• Proclamation of Bulgaria's Independence

Struggles for Bulgarian national Liberation keep going on
Pre-war social-economic and cultural development

• The Changing and Developing Economy
• Bulgaria is Changing its Image
• Formation of the National Culture

Years of War

• First Balcan War
• The Inter-Ally War and the First National Catastrophe
• Bulgaria in World I

Bulgaria between the Two World Wars

• The Government of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BANU)
• the Military Coup and the Government of the Democratic Accord
• A Short-time Rebirth of the Parliamentary Democracy
• Bulgaria's Way from Democracy to Authoritarian Regime

Bulgaria in the Period of World War II

• The Dimension of the Bulgarian Neutrality
• In Union with Germany: the Prince of the Unification

Bulgaria's new Position in Postwar Europe

• The New Role of the Soviet Union in Post-war Bulgaria

The "People's Democracy" experiment and the Establishment of the Stalinist Socialism in Bulgaria (1944 - 1953)

• The "People's Democracy": the National Way to Socialism
• Establishment of Stalinism in Bulgaria (1948 - 1953)

Bulgaria under Todor Zhivkov (Mid - 1950s - End of 1980s)

• First Attempts for Changes after Stalin's Death
• The April Detente of Mid-1950s
• Bulgaria from the 1960s through the 1980s
• Main Points of Bulgaria's Foreign Policy

Bulgaria's Transition to Democracy since 1989

• The Change in Power on 10 November 1989
• First Free and Democratic Elections
• The Left Wave Following the Elections of 1994
• A New Beginning in the New Setting
• Annus Mirabilis: Bulgaria's Year of Miracles
• Bulgaria on the Road to NATO and European Union

Time-Sequence of Events
Bulgarian rulers
Bibliography