Editing Bulgaria (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Bulgaria}}

=== Prehistory and Antiquity ===
{{Further|Prehistoric Europe|Old Europe (archaeology)|Neolithic Europe|Chalcolithic Europe|Bronze Age Europe|Iron Age Europe|Odrysian kingdom|Thracians|Greek colonisation|Slavs}}
[[File:Sofia - Odrysian Wreath from Golyamata Mogila.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Thracian golden wreath exhibited in the National Historical Museum|Odrysian golden [[wreath]] in the [[National Historical Museum (Bulgaria)|National History Museum]]]]

[[Neanderthal]] remains dating to around 150,000 years ago, or the [[Middle Paleolithic]], are some of the earliest traces of human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tillier |first1=Anne-Marie |last2=Sirakov |first2=Nikolay |last3=Guadelli |first3=Aleta |last4=Fernandez |first4=Philippe |last5=Sirakova |first5=Svoboda |title=Evidence of Neanderthals in the Balkans: The infant radius from Kozarnika Cave (Bulgaria) |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=111 |date=October 2017 |issue=111 |pages=54–62 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.06.002 |pmid=28874274 |bibcode=2017JHumE.111...54T |issn=0047-2484}}</ref> Remains from ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' found there are dated {{Circa|47,000 [[years BP]]}}. This result represents the earliest arrival of modern humans in Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Fewlass, H, Talamo, S, Wacker, S, et. al |title=A 14C chronology for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition at Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=4 |date=2020 |issue=6 |pages=794–801 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1136-3 |pmid=32393865 |bibcode=2020NatEE...4..794F |hdl=11585/770560 |s2cid=218593433 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Hublin, J, Sirakov, N, Aldeias, V, et. al |title=Initial Upper Palaeolithic ''Homo sapiens'' from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria |journal=Nature |volume=581 |pages=299–302 |date=2020 |issue=7808 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2259-z |pmid=32433609 |bibcode=2020Natur.581..299H |hdl=11585/770553 |s2cid=218592678 |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/81524/1/Hublin%20et%20al%20_authors%20accepted.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/81524/1/Hublin%20et%20al%20_authors%20accepted.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Karanovo culture]] arose {{Circa|6,500 BC}} and was one of several [[Neolithic]] societies in the region that thrived on [[agriculture]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gimbutas |first=Marija A. |title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC Myths, Legends and Cult Images |publisher=University of California Press |pages=29–32 |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-520-01995-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA29 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221949/https://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA29 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Copper Age]] [[Varna culture]] (fifth millennium BC) is credited with inventing [[Goldsmith|gold metallurgy]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/371376 |title=Development of metallurgy in Eurasia |journal=Antiquity |volume=83 |issue=322 |last1=Roberts |first1=Benjamin W. |last2=Thornton |first2=Christopher P. |year=2009 |publisher=Department of Prehistory and Europe, [[British Museum]] |page=1015 |access-date=28 July 2018 |quote=In contrast, the earliest exploitation and working of gold occurs in the Balkans during the mid-fifth millennium BC, several centuries after the earliest known copper smelting. This is demonstrated most spectacularly in the various objects adorning the burials at Varna, Bulgaria (Renfrew 1986; Highamet al. 2007). In contrast, the earliest gold objects found in Southwest Asia date only to the beginning of the fourth millennium BC as at Nahal Qanah in Israel (Golden 2009), suggesting that gold exploitation may have been a Southeast European invention, albeit a short-lived one. |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00099312 |s2cid=163062746 |archive-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115181121/https://www.academia.edu/371376 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=de Laet |first=Sigfried J. |title=History of Humanity: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century BC |publisher=UNESCO / Routledge |page=99 |year=1996 |isbn=978-92-3-102811-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnY0KYbJC6wC&pg=PA99 |quote=The first major gold-working centre was situated at the mouth of the Danube, on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221950/https://books.google.com/books?id=BnY0KYbJC6wC&pg=PA99 |url-status=live }}</ref> The associated [[Varna Necropolis]] treasure contains the oldest golden jewellery in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grande |first=Lance |title=Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=292 |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA292 |quote=The oldest known gold jewelry in the world is from an archaeological site in Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria, and is over 6,000 years old (radiocarbon dated between 4,600 BC and 4,200 BC). |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221951/https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA292 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Anthony |editor-first=David W. |editor-last2=Chi |editor-first2=Jennifer |title=The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC |publisher=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |pages=39, 201 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-691-14388-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC&pg=PA39 |quote=grave 43 at the Varna cemetery, the richest single grave from Old Europe, dated about 4600–4500 BC. |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221951/https://books.google.com/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC&pg=PA39 |url-status=live }}</ref> The treasure has been valuable for understanding social hierarchy and stratification in the earliest European societies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/harsova/en/dobro3.htm |title=The Gumelnita Culture |publisher=Government of France |access-date=4 December 2011 |quote=The Necropolis at Varna is an important site in understanding this culture. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013045509/http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/harsova/en/dobro3.htm |archive-date=13 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CENTCOM" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Schoenberger |first=Erica |title=Nature, Choice and Social Power |publisher=Routledge |page=81 |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-415-83386-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TO5TBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |quote=The graves at Varna range from poor to richly endowed, suggesting a rather high degree of social differentiation. Their discovery has led to a re-evaluation of the form of social organization characteristic of the Varna culture and of the onset of social stratification in Neolithic cultures. |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221951/https://books.google.com/books?id=TO5TBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Thracians]], one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern [[Bulgarians]], appeared on the [[Balkan Peninsula]] some time before the 12th century BC.{{Sfn|Crampton|1987|page=1}}<ref name="EBBulgars">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bulgar |title=Bulgar |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=26 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626201549/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bulgar |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=John |last2=Edwards |first2=I.E.S. |last3=Sollberger |first3=E. |title=The Cambridge Ancient History – part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC |volume=3 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=53 |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-521-22496-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA53 |quote=Yet we cannot identify the Thracians at that remote period, because we do not know for certain whether the Thracian and Illyrian tribes had separated by then. It is safer to speak of Proto-Thracians from whom there developed in the Iron Age |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221952/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA53 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Thracians excelled in [[metallurgy]] and gave the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] the [[Orpheus|Orphean]] and [[Dionysus|Dionysian]] cults, but remained tribal and stateless.<ref name="EBBalkans">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans#ref476014 |title=Balkans |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John B. |last=Allcock |access-date=16 August 2018 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517055138/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans#ref476014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] conquered parts of present-day Bulgaria (in particular eastern Bulgaria) in the 6th century BC and retained control over the region until [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|479 BC]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kidner |first1=Frank |title=Making Europe: The Story of the West |publisher=Cengage Learning |page=57 |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-111-84131-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_E_CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221952/https://books.google.com/books?id=1_E_CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Roisman|2011|pages=135–138, 343–345}} The invasion became a catalyst for Thracian unity, and the bulk of their tribes united under king [[Teres I|Teres]] to form the [[Odrysian kingdom]] in the 470s BC.<ref name="EBBalkans" />{{sfn|Roisman|2011|pages=135–138, 343–345}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Nagle |first=D. Brendan |title=Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=230 |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-997845-8 |quote=However, one of the Thracian tribes, the Odrysians, succeeded in unifying the Thracians and creating a powerful state}}</ref> It was weakened and vassalised by [[Philip II of Macedon]] in 341 BC,<ref>{{cite book |last=Ashley |first=James R. |title=The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359–323 B.C |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |pages=139–140 |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7864-1918-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC&pg=PA139 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221952/https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC&pg=PA139 |url-status=live }}</ref> attacked [[Tylis|by Celts]] in the 3rd century,<ref>{{cite book |last=O Hogain |first=Daithi |title=The Celts: A History |date=2002 |publisher=The Boydell Press |pages=69–71 |isbn=978-0-85115-923-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yd1huHoXJwC&pg=PA69 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221953/https://books.google.com/books?id=-yd1huHoXJwC&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref> and finally [[Thracia|became a province]] of the [[Roman Empire]] in AD 45.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Gagarin |editor1-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome |volume=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=55 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-517072-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC&pg=PA55 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221952/https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC&pg=PA55 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the end of the 1st century AD, Roman governance was established over the entire Balkan Peninsula and [[Christianity]] began spreading in the region around the 4th century.<ref name="EBBalkans" /> The [[Gothic Bible]]—the first [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]] book—was created by [[Goths|Gothic]] bishop [[Ulfilas]] in what is today northern Bulgaria around 381.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ulfilas |title=Ulfilas |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=18 August 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818185035/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ulfilas |url-status=live }}</ref> The region came under [[Byzantine]] control after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]] in 476. The Byzantines were engaged in prolonged warfare against Persia and could not defend their Balkan territories from barbarian incursions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-beginnings-of-modern-Bulgaria |title=The Beginnings of Modern Bulgaria |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-date=17 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917200352/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-beginnings-of-modern-Bulgaria |url-status=live }}</ref> This enabled the [[Early Slavs|Slavs]] to enter the Balkan Peninsula as marauders, primarily through an area between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains known as [[Moesia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singleton |first1=Fred |last2=Fred |first2=Singleton |title=A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=13–14 |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-521-27485-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTLSZ3ucaZMC&pg=PA13 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221953/https://books.google.com/books?id=qTLSZ3ucaZMC&pg=PA13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Gradually, the interior of the peninsula became a country of the [[Sclaveni|South Slavs]], who lived under a [[democracy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fouracre |first1=Paul |last2=McKitterick |first2=Rosamond |last3=Reuter |first3=Timothy |last4=Abulafia |first4=David |last5=Luscombe |first5=David Edward |last6=Allmand |first6=C.T. |last7=Riley-Smith |first7=Jonathan |last8=Jones |first8=Michael |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 1, c. 500 – c. 700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=524 |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-36291-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C&pg=PA524 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221953/https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C&pg=PA524 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Curta |first1=Florin |title=The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700 |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-42888-0 |pages=311–334 |url=https://www.limesromanus.org/sites/all/files/The%20Making%20of%20the%20Slavs.pdf |access-date=20 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326235159/http://www.limesromanus.org/sites/all/files/The%20Making%20of%20the%20Slavs.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2016 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> The Slavs assimilated the partially [[Hellenistic period#Balkans|Hellenised]], [[Thraco-Romans|Romanised]], and [[Thracian Goths|Gothicised]] Thracians in the rural areas.{{Sfn|MacDermott|1998|page=19}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Detrez |first=Raymond |title=Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=5 |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-4179-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Parry |editor1-first=Ken |title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=48 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4443-3361-9 |quote=The conquest of the Balkans and the rise of the Bulgarian Empire was not a disaster for the indigenous population and its material and spiritual culture. The settlers and the local Romanised or semi-Romanised Thraco-Illyrian Christians influenced each other's way of life and socio-economic organization, as well as each other's cultures, language and religious outlook.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolfram |first1=Herwig |title=History of the Goths |publisher=University of California Press |page=8 |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-520-06983-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC&pg=PA8 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221953/https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC&pg=PA8 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== First Bulgarian Empire ===
{{Main|First Bulgarian Empire}}
[[File:Car Simeon Bulharsky - Alfons Mucha.jpg|thumb|alt=a painting depicting Bulgarian Emperor Simeon I|Emperor [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I]]: The Morning Star of Slavonic Literature, ''[[The Slav Epic]] cycle by [[Alfons Mucha]]''|left]]Not long after the Slavic incursion, [[Moesia]] was once again invaded, this time by the [[Bulgars]] under [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Asparukh]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Zlatarski |first=Vasil |title=Istorija 1A – b1 – 1 |script-title=bg:История на Първото българско Царство. I. Епоха на хуно–българското надмощие (679–852) |trans-title=History of the First Bulgarian Empire. Period of Hunnic-Bulgarian domination (679–852) |publisher=Marin Drinov Publishing House |language=bg |page=188 |year=1938 |isbn=978-9544302986 |url=http://macedonia.kroraina.com/vz1a/vz1a_b1_1.html |access-date=23 May 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512222714/http://macedonia.kroraina.com/vz1a/vz1a_b1_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Their horde was a remnant of [[Old Great Bulgaria]], an extinct tribal confederacy situated north of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and southern Russia. Asparukh attacked Byzantine territories in Moesia and conquered the Slavic tribes there in 680.<ref name="EBBulgars" /> A peace treaty with the [[Byzantine Empire]] was signed in 681, marking the foundation of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]]. The minority Bulgars formed a close-knit ruling caste.<ref name="fine">{{cite book |last1=Fine |first1=John Van Antwerp |title=The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century |publisher=University of Michigan Press |pages=68–70 |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-472-08149-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C&pg=PR4 |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221954/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C&pg=PR4 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Succeeding rulers strengthened the Bulgarian state throughout the 8th and 9th centuries. [[Krum]] introduced a written code of law<ref>{{cite book |last=Vlasto |first=Alexis P. |title=The Entry of the Slavs Into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=157 |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-521-07459-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpVOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA157 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221956/https://books.google.com/books?id=fpVOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA157 |url-status=live }}</ref> and checked a major Byzantine incursion at the [[Battle of Pliska]], in which Byzantine emperor [[Nicephorus I]] was killed.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Krum |title=Krum |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512222652/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Krum |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] abolished paganism in favour of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] in 864. The [[Christianization of Bulgaria|conversion]] was followed by a Byzantine recognition of the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgarian church]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-first-Bulgarian-empire#ref42725 |title=The Spread of Christianity |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=24 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724173142/http://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-first-Bulgarian-empire#ref42725 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the adoption of the [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic alphabet]], developed in the capital, [[Preslav]].{{Sfn|Crampton|2007|pages=12–13}} The common language, religion and script strengthened central authority and gradually fused the Slavs and Bulgars into a unified people speaking a single [[Slavic languages|Slavic language]].<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-first-Bulgarian-empire#ref42726 |title=Reign of Simeon I |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=28 July 2018 |quote=Bulgaria's conversion had a political dimension, for it contributed both to the growth of central authority and to the merging of Bulgars and Slavs into a unified Bulgarian people. |archive-date=24 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724173142/http://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-first-Bulgarian-empire#ref42726 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Crampton|2007|pages=12–13}} A [[Golden Age of Bulgaria|golden age]] began during the 34-year rule of [[Simeon the Great]], who oversaw the largest territorial expansion of the state.{{Sfn|The First Golden Age}} The literature produced in Old Bulgarian soon spread north from Bulgaria and became the [[lingua franca]] of the Balkans and Eastern Europe.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |last=Lunt |first=Horace G. |date=January 1987 |title=On the relationship of old Church Slavonic to the written language of early Rus |journal=Russian Linguistics |volume=11 |pages=133–162 |doi=10.1007/BF00242073 |s2cid=166319427 |number=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schenker |first=Alexander |title=The Dawn of Slavic |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |pages=185–186, 189–190}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lunt |first=Horace |url=https://archive.org/details/oldchurchslavoni00lunt |title=Old Church Slavonic Grammar |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |year=2001 |isbn=9783110162844 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oldchurchslavoni00lunt/page/n19 3]–4 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wien |first=Lysaght |title=Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian)-Middle Greek-Modern English dictionary |publisher=Verlag Bruder Hollinek |year=1983}}</ref><ref name="fortson">Benjamin W. Fortson. ''Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction'', p.&nbsp;374.</ref> The political, cultural, and spiritual power of the Bulgarian Empire during the [[Krum's dynasty]] turned Bulgaria into one of the [[List of medieval great powers|three superpowers]] in Europe at that time, alongside the Byzantine Empire and the [[Carolingian Empire]] of the [[Franks]], which would later become the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ziemann |first=Daniel |url=https://hgsoe.ios-regensburg.de/fileadmin/doc/texte/Band1/Ziemann_Das_Erste_Bulgarische_Reich.pdf |title=Eine frühmittelalterliche Großmacht zwischen Byzanz und Abendland. (German: An early medieval great power between Byzantium and the Occident) |publisher=Published by the Institute for East and Southeast European Studies of the Leibniz Association, Regensburg 2016 |edition=Online handbook on the history of South-East Europe. Volume I Rule and politics in Southeastern Europe until 1800. |location=}}</ref>[[File:Preslav_fortress_7.jpg|thumb|A column remaining from the Throne Hall at Preslav|left]]After Simeon's death, Bulgaria was weakened by wars with [[Magyars]] and [[Pechenegs]] and the spread of [[Bogomilism]].<ref name="EB" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Browning |first=Robert |title=Byzantium and Bulgaria |year=1975 |publisher=Temple Smith |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byzantiumbulgari0000brow/page/194 194–195] |isbn=978-0-520-02670-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/byzantiumbulgari0000brow/page/194}}</ref> Simeon's successor [[Peter I of Bulgaria|Peter I]] negotiated a favourable [[Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 927|peace treaty]]. The Byzantines agreed to recognize him as Emperor of Bulgaria and the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] as an independent Patriarchate, as well as to pay an annual tribute.<ref>{{harvnb|Angelov et al|1981|p=370}}</ref><ref name="fine161">{{harvnb|Fine|1991|p=161}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Whittow|1996|p=292}}</ref> The peace was reinforced with a marriage between Peter and Romanos's granddaughter [[Irene Lekapene]].<ref name="fine161" /><ref>{{harvnb|Bozhilov|Gyuzelev|1999|p=274}}</ref> This agreement ushered in a period of 40 years of peaceful relations between the two powers. During the first years of his reign, Peter I faced revolts by two of his three brothers, John in 928 and [[Mihail of Bulgaria|Michael]] in 930, but both were quelled.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|1991|p=162}}</ref> During most of the reign of Emperor Peter I, the empire enjoyed a period of political consolidation, economic expansion, and cultural activity.<ref name="stephenson25">{{harvnb|Stephenson|2004|p=25}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Whittow|1996|pp=292–293}}</ref>

[[Veliki Preslav|Preslav]] was seized by the Byzantine army in 971 after consecutive [[Kievan Rus'|Rus']] and Byzantine invasions.<ref name="EB" /> The empire briefly recovered from the attacks under [[Samuel of Bulgaria|Samuil]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-tsar-of-western-Bulgaria |title=Samuel |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-date=29 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129220046/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9065243/Samuel |url-status=live }}</ref> but this ended when Byzantine emperor [[Basil II]] defeated the Bulgarian army at [[battle of Kleidion|Klyuch]] in 1014. Samuil died shortly after the battle,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Scylitzae |editor-first=Ioannis |title=Synopsis Historiarum |series=Corpus Fontium Byzantiae Historiae, vol. 5 |publisher=De Gruyter |page=457 |year=1973 |isbn=978-3-11-002285-8}}</ref> and by 1018 the Byzantines [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|had conquered the First Bulgarian Empire]].{{Sfn|Crampton|1987|page=4}} After the conquest, Basil II prevented revolts by retaining the rule of local nobility, integrating them in [[Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy]], and relieving their lands of the obligation to pay taxes in gold, allowing [[tax in kind]] instead.<ref name="Averil" /><ref name="Ostrog">{{cite book |last=Ostrogorsky |first=Georgije |title=History of the Byzantine State |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/311 311] |year=1969 |isbn=978-0-8135-1198-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/311}}</ref> The [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgarian Patriarchate]] was reduced to an [[Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid (ancient)|archbishopric]], but retained its [[autocephaly|autocephalous status]] and its [[diocese]]s.<ref name="Ostrog" /><ref name="Averil">{{cite book |last=Cameron |first=Averil |title=The Byzantines |url=https://archive.org/details/byzantinesthepeo00came |url-access=limited |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |page=[https://archive.org/details/byzantinesthepeo00came/page/n186 170] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4051-9833-2}}</ref>

=== Second Bulgarian Empire ===
{{Main|Second Bulgarian Empire}}

[[File:Bulgaria-Iván_Asen2-es.svg|alt=A map of the Bulgarian Empire in the mid 13th century|right|thumb|A map showing the greatest territorial extension of the Second Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218–1241)]]
[[File:Tsarevets-Panorama.jpg|alt=A medieval fortress|right|thumb|Panoramic view of [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovo]], the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire]]

Byzantine domestic policies changed after Basil's death and a series of unsuccessful rebellions broke out, [[Bulgarian uprising against the Byzantine Empire (1040–1041)|the largest]] being led by [[Peter Delyan]]. The empire's authority declined after a catastrophic military [[Battle of Manzikert|defeat at Manzikert]] against [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] invaders, and was further disturbed by the [[Crusades]]. This prevented Byzantine attempts at [[Hellenisation]] and created fertile ground for further revolt. In 1185, [[Asen dynasty]] nobles [[Ivan Asen I]] and [[Peter IV of Bulgaria|Peter IV]] organised a [[Uprising of Asen and Peter|major uprising]] and succeeded in re-establishing the Bulgarian state.<ref>Dimitrov, Philip, Bell, John D., Carter, Francis William, Danforth, Loring. "Bulgaria". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', 3 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria. Accessed 5 April 2025</ref> Ivan Asen and Peter laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian Empire with its capital at [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovo]].<ref name="EBSecondEmpire">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire |title=Bulgaria – Second Bulgarian Empire |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=27 July 2018 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512223818/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Ivan Asen I". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-Asen-I. Accessed 5 April 2025</ref>

[[Kaloyan]], the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominion to [[Belgrade]] and [[Ohrid]]. He acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of [[the pope]] and received a royal crown from a [[papal legate]].<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |last=Bourchier |first=James |author-link=James David Bourchier |wstitle=Bulgaria/History |display=History of Bulgaria |volume=4 |pages=779–784}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bulgaria - The Second Golden Age |url=https://countrystudies.us/bulgaria/7.htm |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> The empire reached its zenith under [[Ivan Asen II]] (1218–1241), when its borders expanded as far as the coast of [[Albania]], Serbia and [[Epirus]], while commerce and culture flourished.<ref name=EB1911 /><ref name="EBSecondEmpire" /> Ivan Asen's rule was also marked by a shift away from Rome in religious matters.{{Sfn|Crampton|1987|page=6}}

The Asen dynasty became extinct in 1257. Internal conflicts and incessant Byzantine and Hungarian attacks followed, enabling the [[Golden Horde|Mongols]] to [[Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia|establish suzerainty]] over the weakened Bulgarian state.<ref name=EB1911 />{{Sfn|Crampton|1987|page=6}} In 1277, swineherd [[Ivaylo of Bulgaria|Ivaylo]] led a [[Uprising of Ivaylo|great peasant revolt]] that expelled the Mongols from Bulgaria and briefly made him emperor.<ref name="Martin 2017">{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Michael |title=City of the Sun: Development and Popular Resistance in the Pre-Modern West |publisher=Algora Publishing |page=344 |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-62894-279-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gN8lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA344 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221956/https://books.google.com/books?id=gN8lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA344 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="EBSecondEmpire" /> He was overthrown in 1280 by [[boyars|the feudal landlords]],<ref name="Martin 2017" /> whose factional conflicts caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to disintegrate into small feudal dominions by the 14th century.<ref name="EBSecondEmpire" /> These fragmented [[rump state]]s—two tsardoms at [[Tsardom of Vidin|Vidin]] and [[Second Bulgarian Empire#Ivan Alexander and fall of Bulgaria|Tarnovo]] and the [[Despotate of Dobruja|Despotate of Dobrudzha]]—became easy prey for a new threat arriving from the Southeast: the [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref name=EB1911 /> In the 14th century, Bulgaria entered a period of cultural revival, sometimes called the "[[Second Golden Age of Bulgaria|Second Golden Age]]" of the empire.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kǎnev |first=Petǎr |year=2002 |title=Religion in Bulgaria after 1989 |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=B7ABEB3F-8650-4798-8CC2-649B6E6C24F2 |url-status=dead |journal=South-East Europe Review |issue=1 |page=81 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729232906/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5 |archive-date=29 July 2012 |access-date=18 February 2007}}</ref> Bulgarian architecture, arts, and literature spread beyond the borders of Bulgaria into [[Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)|Serbia]], [[Wallachia]], [[Moldavia]], and the [[Rus' Principalities]] and affected Slavic culture.<ref name="f436">{{harvnb|Fine|1987|p=436}}</ref><ref name="k337">{{harvnb|Kazhdan|1991|p=337}}</ref>

=== Ottoman rule ===
{{Main|Ottoman Bulgaria}}
[[File:Battle of Nicopolis.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 marked the end of medieval Bulgarian statehood.]]

The Ottomans were employed as mercenaries by the Byzantines in the 1340s, but later became invaders in their own right.<ref name="Ottoman rule" /> Sultan [[Murad I]] took [[Adrianople]] from the Byzantines in 1362; [[Sofia]] fell in 1382, followed by [[Shumen]] in 1388.<ref name="Ottoman rule" /> The Ottomans completed their conquest of Bulgarian lands in 1393 when Tarnovo was sacked after a three-month siege and the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] which brought about the fall of the [[Tsardom of Vidin|Vidin Tsardom]] in 1396. [[Sozopol]] was the last Bulgarian settlement to fall, in 1453.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/132804/ |first=Maria |last=Guineva |title=Old Town Sozopol – Bulgaria's 'Rescued' Miracle and Its Modern Day Saviors |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=10 October 2011 |access-date=16 November 2018 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318173915/https://www.novinite.com/articles/132804/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Bulgarian nobility was subsequently eliminated and the peasantry was [[Serfdom|enserfed]] to Ottoman masters,<ref name="Ottoman rule">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire#ref42728 |title=Bulgaria – Ottoman rule |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=21 December 2011 |quote=The Bulgarian nobility was destroyed—its members either perished, fled, or accepted Islam and Turkicization—and the peasantry was enserfed to Turkish masters. |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512223818/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire#ref42728 |url-status=live }}</ref> while much of the educated clergy fled to other countries.<ref name="Jireček">{{cite book |last=Jireček |first=K.J. |author-link=Konstantin Josef Jireček |title=Geschichte der Bulgaren |trans-title=History of the Bulgarians |publisher=Nachdr. d. Ausg. Prag |page=88 |year=1876 |language=de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBhThVLpc4MC&pg=PA88 |isbn=978-3-487-06408-6 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221956/https://books.google.com/books?id=VBhThVLpc4MC&pg=PA88 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bulgarians were subjected to heavy taxes (including [[Devshirme]], or ''blood tax''), their culture was suppressed,<ref name="Jireček" /> and they experienced partial [[Islamisation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Minkov |first=Anton |title=Conversion to Islam in the Balkans: Kisve Bahası – Petitions and Ottoman Social Life, 1670–1730 |publisher=Brill |page=193 |year=2004 |isbn=978-9004135765 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQsB_AghBKkC&pg=PA193 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221958/https://books.google.com/books?id=zQsB_AghBKkC&pg=PA193 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ottoman authorities established a religious administrative community called the [[Rum Millet]], which governed all Orthodox Christians regardless of their ethnicity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Detrez |first=Raymond |title=Europe and the Historical Legacies in the Balkans |publisher=Peter Lang Publishers |page=36 |year=2008 |isbn=978-9052013749 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htMUx8qlWCMC&pg=PA36 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115221958/https://books.google.com/books?id=htMUx8qlWCMC&pg=PA36 |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of the local population then gradually lost its distinct national consciousness, identifying only by its faith.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fishman |first=Joshua A. |title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: Disciplinary and Regional Perspectives |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=276 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-537492-6 |url={{Google books|7oAUeUVtc58C |page=276 |plainurl=yes}} |quote=There were almost no remnants of a Bulgarian ethnic identity; the population defined itself as Christians, according to the Ottoman system of millets, that is, communities of religious beliefs. The first attempts to define a Bulgarian ethnicity started at the beginning of the 19th century. |access-date=30 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Roudometof |first1=Victor |last2=Robertson |first2=Roland |title=Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |pages=68–71 |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-313-31949-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9p_m7oXQ00C&pg=PA68 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222514/https://books.google.com/books?id=I9p_m7oXQ00C&pg=PA68 |url-status=live }}</ref> The clergy remaining in some isolated monasteries kept their ethnic identity alive, enabling its survival in remote rural areas,{{Sfn|Crampton|1987|page=8}} and in the militant [[Catholic Church in Bulgaria|Catholic community]] in the northwest of the country.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carvalho |first=Joaquim |title=Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence |publisher=Edizioni Plus |page=261 |year=2007 |isbn=978-8884924643 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jR98-Ata0CkC&pg=PA261 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222537/https://books.google.com/books?id=jR98-Ata0CkC&pg=PA261 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As Ottoman power began to wane, [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Austria]] and Russia saw Bulgarian Christians as potential allies. The [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrians]] first backed an [[First Tarnovo Uprising|uprising in Tarnovo in 1598]], then [[Second Tarnovo Uprising|a second one in 1686]], the [[Chiprovtsi Uprising]] in 1688 and finally [[Karposh's rebellion]] in 1689.<ref name="Decline">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire#ref42731 |title=Bulgaria – Ottoman administration |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=John D. |last=Bell |access-date=20 October 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512223818/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire#ref42731 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Russian Empire]] also asserted itself as a protector of Christians in Ottoman lands with the [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]] in 1774.<ref name="Decline" />

[[File:The defeat of Shipka Peak, Bulgarian War of Independence.JPG|thumb|alt=The Defence of the Eagle's Nest, painting by Alexey Popov from 1893, depicting the Defence of Shipka Pass|The Russo-Bulgarian defence of Shipka Pass in 1877]]

The Western European [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] in the 18th century influenced the initiation of a [[national awakening of Bulgaria]].<ref name="Ottoman rule" /> It restored national consciousness and provided an ideological basis for the liberation struggle, resulting in the [[April Uprising of 1876]]. Up to 30,000 Bulgarians were killed as Ottoman authorities put down the rebellion. The massacres prompted the [[Great Powers#History|Great Powers]] to take action.{{Sfn|The Final Move to Independence}} They convened the [[Constantinople Conference]] in 1876, but their decisions were rejected by the Ottomans. This allowed the Russian Empire to seek a military solution without risking confrontation with other Great Powers, as had happened in the [[Crimean War]].{{Sfn|The Final Move to Independence}} In 1877, [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russia declared war]] on the Ottomans and defeated them with the help of [[Opalchentsi|Bulgarian rebels]], particularly during the crucial [[Battle of Shipka Pass]] which secured Russian control over the main road to [[Constantinople]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=125840 |title=Reminiscence from Days of Liberation |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=3 March 2011 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=16 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616084709/http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=125840 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Shipka-Pass |title=Shipka Pass |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=18 August 2018 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510021603/https://www.britannica.com/place/Shipka-Pass |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Third Bulgarian state ===
{{Main|History of Bulgaria (1878–1946)|People's Republic of Bulgaria|History of Bulgaria since 1989}}
[[File:Bulgaria-SanStefano -(1878)-byTodorBozhinov.png|upright=1.2|left|alt=Map of Bulgaria according to the Treaty of San Stefano|thumb|Borders of Bulgaria according to the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano]]

The [[Treaty of San Stefano]] was signed on 3 March 1878 by [[Russian Empire|Russia]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. It was to set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality spanning [[Moesia]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and [[Thrace]], roughly on the territories of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]],{{Sfn|San Stefano, Berlin and Independence}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Blamires |first=Cyprian |title=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=107 |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-57607-940-9 |url={{Google books|jR98-nvD2rZSVau4C |page=107 |plainurl=yes}} |quote=The "Greater Bulgaria" re-established in March 1878 on the lines of the medieval Bulgarian empire after liberation from Turkish rule did not last long.}}{{dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and this day is now [[Public holidays in Bulgaria|a public holiday]] called [[Liberation Day (Bulgaria)|National Liberation Day]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bnr.bg/en/post/100803129/on-march-3-bulgaria-celebrates-national-liberation-day |title=On March 3 Bulgaria celebrates National Liberation Day |date=3 March 2017 |website=Radio Bulgaria |access-date=24 February 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021235416/http://bnr.bg/en/post/100803129/on-march-3-bulgaria-celebrates-national-liberation-day |url-status=live }}</ref> The other [[Great Powers#History|Great Powers]] immediately rejected the treaty out of fear that such a large country in the [[Balkans]] might threaten their interests. It was superseded by the [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Treaty of Berlin]], signed on 13 July. It provided for a much smaller state, the [[Principality of Bulgaria]], only comprising Moesia and the region of [[Sofia]], and leaving large populations of ethnic Bulgarians outside the new country.{{Sfn|San Stefano, Berlin and Independence}}<ref name=BBCProfile>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1061402.stm |title=Timeline: Bulgaria – A chronology of key events |work=BBC News |date=6 May 2010 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=7 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307084019/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1061402.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> This significantly contributed to Bulgaria's militaristic foreign affairs approach during the first half of the 20th century.{{Sfn|Historical Setting}}

The Bulgarian principality won [[Serbo-Bulgarian War|a war against Serbia]] and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of [[Eastern Rumelia]] in 1885, proclaiming itself an independent state on 5 October 1908.{{Sfn|Crampton|2007|page=174}} In the years following independence, Bulgaria increasingly militarised and was often referred to as "the Balkan [[Prussia]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Pinon |first=Rene |title=L'Europe et la Jeune Turquie: Les Aspects Nouveaux de la Question d'Orient |trans-title=Europe and Young Turkey: The new aspects of the Eastern Question |publisher=Perrin et cie |page=411 |year=1913 |isbn=978-1-144-41381-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xL9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA411 |quote=On a dit souvent de la Bulgarie qu'elle est la Prusse des Balkans |language=fr |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222516/https://books.google.com/books?id=xL9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA411 |url-status=live }}</ref> It became involved in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918—two [[Balkan Wars]] and [[World War I]]. After a disastrous defeat in the [[Second Balkan War]], Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the [[Central Powers]] in World War I. Despite fielding more than a quarter of its population in a 1,200,000-strong army<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C |last2=Wood |first2=Laura |title=The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=173 |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8153-0399-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHI3PCjDtsUC&pg=PA173 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222516/https://books.google.com/books?id=EHI3PCjDtsUC&pg=PA173 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |title=Aggregate and Per Capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000: Continental, Regional and National Data with Changing Boundaries |last1=Broadberry |first1=Stephen |last2=Klein |first2=Alexander |date=8 February 2008 |publisher=[[Centre for Economic Policy Research]] |page=18 |access-date=24 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622094503/http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2012}}</ref> and achieving several decisive victories at [[Battle of Doiran (1917)|Doiran]] and [[Battle of Monastir (1917)|Monastir]], the country capitulated in 1918. The war resulted in significant territorial losses and a total of 87,500 soldiers killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html |title=WWI Casualty and Death Tables |publisher=PBS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003230916/https://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html |archive-date=3 October 2016 |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> More than 253,000 refugees from the lost territories [[Immigration|immigrated]] to Bulgaria from 1912 to 1929,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mintchev |first1=Veselin |title=External Migration in Bulgaria |journal=South-East Europe Review |date=October 1999 |issue=3/99 |page=124 |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=473FBAEF-623D-4ADA-903A-17241B78BDDB |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012418/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=473FBAEF-623D-4ADA-903A-17241B78BDDB |archive-date=17 January 2013 |access-date=6 August 2018}}</ref> placing additional strain on the already ruined national economy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chenoweth |first=Erica |title=Rethinking Violence: States and Non-State Actors in Conflict |publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |page=129 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-262-01420-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyD_AmGnu34C&pg=PA129 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=JyD_AmGnu34C&pg=PA129 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between 19 October 1925 and 29 October 1925, the [[Incident at Petrich]], nicknamed "the War of the Stray Dog" occurred, which was a minor armed conflict. Greece invaded Bulgaria, after the killing of a Greek captain and sentry by Bulgarian soldiers. The conflict was settled by the [[League of Nations]], and resulted in a Bulgarian diplomatic victory. The League ordered a ceasefire, Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria and Greece to pay £45,000 to Bulgaria.

[[File:BASA-3K-7-342-28-Boris III of Bulgaria.jpeg|thumb|upright|alt=A portrait of Tsar Boris III|Tsar Boris III]]
The resulting political unrest led to the establishment of a royal [[authoritarianism|authoritarian dictatorship]] by Tsar [[Boris III of Bulgaria|Boris III]] (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of [[Axis powers|the Axis]] but declined to participate in [[Operation Barbarossa]] and [[Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews|saved its Jewish population]] from deportation to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].{{Sfn|Bulgaria in World War II: The Passive Alliance}} The sudden death of Boris III in mid-1943 pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Germany, and the communist guerrilla movement gained momentum. The government of [[Bogdan Filov]] subsequently failed to achieve peace with the Allies. Bulgaria did not comply with Soviet demands to expel German forces from its territory, resulting in a declaration of war and an invasion by the USSR in September 1944.{{Sfn|Wartime Crisis}} The communist-dominated [[Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)|Fatherland Front]] took power, ended participation in the Axis and joined the Allied side until the war ended.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K. |title=Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=238–240 |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-932663-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8d2409V9tEC&pg=PA238 |quote=When Bulgaria switched sides in September |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=R8d2409V9tEC&pg=PA238 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgaria suffered little war damage and the Soviet Union demanded no reparations. But all wartime territorial gains, with the notable exception of [[Treaty of Craiova|Southern Dobrudzha]], were lost.{{Sfn|The Soviet Occupation}}

[[File:Georgi Dimitrov.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Georgi Dimitrov]], leader of the [[Bulgarian Communist Party]] from 1946 to 1949]]
The [[1944 Bulgarian coup d'état|left-wing coup d'état]] of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of the monarchy and [[People's Court (Bulgaria)|the executions]] of some 1,000–3,000 dissidents, war criminals, and members of the former royal elite.<ref>{{cite book |last=Valentino |first=Benjamin A. |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/finalsolutionsma00vale |url-access=limited |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/finalsolutionsma00vale/page/91 91]–151 |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8014-3965-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stankova |first=Marietta |title=Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy, 1943–1949 |publisher=Anthem Press |page=99 |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-78308-430-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7G2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=y7G2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Neuburger |first=Mary C. |title=Balkan Smoke: Tobacco and the Making of Modern Bulgaria |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=162 |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8014-5084-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7JDJzogCHMC&pg=PA162 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=E7JDJzogCHMC&pg=PA162 |url-status=live }}</ref> But it was not until 1946 that a [[One-party state|one-party]] [[people's republic]] was instituted following a referendum.{{Sfn|Crampton|2005|page=271}} It fell into the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of [[Georgi Dimitrov]] (1946–1949), who established a repressive, rapidly industrialising [[Stalinist]] state.{{Sfn|The Soviet Occupation}} By the mid-1950s, standards of living rose significantly and political repression eased.{{Sfn|Domestic Policy and Its Results|ps=Quote: "real wages increased 75 percent, consumption of meat, fruit, and vegetables increased markedly, medical facilities and doctors became available to more of the population"}}{{Sfn|After Stalin}} The Soviet-style [[planned economy]] saw some experimental market-oriented policies emerging under [[Todor Zhivkov]] (1954–1989).{{Sfn|The Economy}} Compared to wartime levels, national [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] increased five-fold and per capita GDP quadrupled by the 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |title=Aggregate and per capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000 |author1=Stephen Broadberry |author2=Alexander Klein |date=27 October 2011 |access-date=12 July 2013 |pages=23, 27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530083710/http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> although severe debt spikes took place in 1960, 1977 and 1980.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vachkov |first1=Daniel |last2=Ivanov |first2=Martin |title=Българският външен дълг 1944–1989: Банкрутът на комунистическата икономика |trans-title=Bulgarian Foreign Debt 1944–1989 |publisher=Siela |pages=103, 153, 191 |year=2008 |isbn=978-9542803072}}</ref> Zhivkov's daughter [[Lyudmila Zhivkova|Lyudmila]] bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage, culture and arts worldwide.{{Sfn|The Political Atmosphere in the 1970s}} Facing declining birth rates among the ethnic Bulgarian majority, Zhivkov's government in 1984 forced the minority ethnic [[Bulgarian Turks|Turks]] to adopt Slavic names in an attempt to erase their identity and assimilate them.{{Sfn|Bulgaria in the 1980s}} These policies resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 ethnic Turks to Turkey.<ref>{{cite news |first=Celestine |last=Bohlen |title=Vote Gives Key Role to Ethnic Turks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/17/world/bulgaria-vote-gives-key-role-to-ethnic-turks.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 October 1991 |access-date=20 December 2011 |quote=in 1980s&nbsp;... the Communist leader, Todor Zhivkov, began a campaign of cultural assimilation that forced ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names, closed their mosques and prayer houses and suppressed any attempts at protest. One result was the mass exodus of more than 300,000 ethnic Turks to neighboring [[Turkey]] in 1989 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511235325/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/17/world/bulgaria-vote-gives-key-role-to-ethnic-turks.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-muslims/cracks-show-in-bulgarias-muslim-ethnic-model-idUSTRE55001C20090601 |title=Cracks show in Bulgaria's Muslim ethnic model |work=Reuters |first=Anna |last=Mudeva |date=31 May 2009 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019002528/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-muslims/cracks-show-in-bulgarias-muslim-ethnic-model-idUSTRE55001C20090601 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Communist Party was forced to give up its political monopoly on 10 November 1989 under the influence of the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. Zhivkov resigned and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]].{{Sfn|Government and Politics}} The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Communist Party, now rebranded as the [[Bulgarian Socialist Party]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=117822 |title=Bulgarian Politicians Discuss First Democratic Elections 20y After |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=5 July 2010 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=10 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210115345/http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=117822 |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Constitution of Bulgaria|new constitution]] that provided for a relatively weak elected president and for a prime minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parliament.bg/en/const/ |title=National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria – Constitution |website=www.parliament.bg |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526070900/https://www.parliament.bg/en/const |url-status=live }}</ref> The new system initially failed to improve living standards or create economic growth—the average quality of life and economic performance remained lower than under communism well into the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Vasil |last=Prodanov |script-title=bg:Разрушителният български преход |trans-title=The destructive Bulgarian transition |url=http://bg.mondediplo.com/article181.html |newspaper=[[Le Monde diplomatique]] |language=bg |date=1 October 2007 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=6 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206224143/http://bg.mondediplo.com/article181.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After 2001, economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly,{{Sfn|Library of Congress|2006|page=16}} and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR05_complete.pdf |title=Human Development Index Report |publisher=United Nations |year=2005 |page=224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310193948/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR05_complete.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2011 |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> It became a member of [[NATO]] in 2004<ref name="nato" /> and participated in the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]]. After several years of reforms, it joined the [[European Union]] and the [[European Single Market|single market]] in 2007, despite EU concerns over government corruption.<ref name="Ind" /> Bulgaria hosted the 2018 [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union]] at the [[National Palace of Culture]] in [[Sofia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1627764 |title=Bulgaria Absolutely Ready to Take Over EU Presidency, Minister Says |publisher=Bulgarian Telegraph Agency |date=2 August 2017 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721103133/http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1627764 |url-status=live }}</ref>