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The Story of

Bulgaria

316 – 2025

Country in southeast Europe

  1. Battle of Nicopolis

    25 September 1396

    The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied Crusader army, assisted by the Venetian navy, at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and leading to the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire. It is often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis, as it was one of the last major Crusades of the Middle Ages, together with the Crusade of Varna in 1443–1444.

  2. Battle of Çamurlu

    5 July 1413

    The Battle of Çamurlu was fought on 5 July 1413 between Musa Çelebi and Mehmed Çelebi, both sons of Bayezid I, as the last conflict of the Ottoman civil war known as the Ottoman Interregnum. The battle decided which son of Bayezid I would finally reunite the Ottoman Empire, with Mehmed Çelebi becoming Mehmed I of the Ottoman Empire.

  3. Battle of Zlatica

    12 December 1443

    The Battle of Zlatitsa was fought on 12 December 1443 between the Ottoman Empire and Serbian and Hungarian troops in the Balkans as part of the larger Crusade of Varna. The battle was fought at Zlatitsa Pass (Bulgarian: Златишки проход) (Turkish: İzladi Derbendi) near the town of Zlatitsa in the Balkan Mountains, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Bulgaria).

  4. Battle of Varna

    10 November 1444

    The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in what is today eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman army under Sultan Murad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated the Crusaders commanded by King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary, John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia.

  5. Battle of Kozludzha

    9 June 1774

    The Battle of Kozludzha (also known as the Battle of Kozludža or the Battle of Kozluca), fought on 20 June (Old Style — June 9) 1774 near the village of Kozludzha (now Suvorovo, Bulgaria), was one of the final and decisive battles of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). The Russians managed to rout the Ottoman army, scoring a major victory.

  6. Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca

    21 July 1774

    The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (Turkish: Küçük Kaynarca Antlaşması; Russian: Кючук-Кайнарджийский мир), formerly often written Kuchuk-Kainarji, was a peace treaty signed on 21 July [O.S. 10 July] 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca (today Kaynardzha, Bulgaria) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 with major concessions to Russia. The concessions to Russia were not merely territorial; not only was the Crimean Khanate (not Crimea proper) effectively ceded to Russia, but Russia also gained the right to construct a Russian Orthodox church in…

  7. Battle of Cape Kaliakra

    11 August 1791

    The Battle of Cape Kaliakra (Kaliakria, Caliacria; Russian: Калиакрийское сражение) was the last naval battle of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). It took place on 11 August 1791 off the coast of Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria, in the Black Sea.

  8. Battle of Kulevicha

    11 June 1829

    The Battle of Kulevicha, also known as the Battle of Kulevcha or Kulewtscha, was fought during the Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829, on 11 June 1829, between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. It ended with a Russian victory achieved by Commander Hans von Diebitsch (Ivan Dibich-Zabalkansky).

  9. Siege of Silistra (1854)

    1854

    The siege of Silistria, or siege of Silistra, was a key engagement in the Crimean War, fought from 11 May to 23 June 1854 between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in present-day Bulgaria. The Russian army, numbering up to 90,000 men with 266 guns, attempted to capture the Danubian fortress of Silistria as part of a broader strategy to outflank Ottoman defences and pre-empt an expected Allied landing at Varna.

  10. Kresna-Razlog uprising

    1870s

    The Kresna–Razlog uprising (Bulgarian: Кресненско-Разложко въстание, romanized: Kresnensko-Razlozhko vastanie), also known as the Kresna uprising (Macedonian: Кресненско востание, romanized: Kresnensko vostanie), was an anti-Ottoman Bulgarian uprising that took place in Ottoman Macedonia, predominantly in the areas of modern Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria in late 1878 and early 1879. It was named by the insurgents as the Macedonian uprising.

  11. April Uprising of 1876

    1876

    The April Uprising (Bulgarian: Априлско въстание, romanized: Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels and non-combatants (see Batak massacre).

  12. Battle of Nikopol

    16 July 1877

    The Battle of Nikopol, or Nicopolis (Turkish: Niğbolu Muharebesi), was one of the early battles of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). As the Russian army crossed the Danube river, they approached the fortified city of Nikopol (Nicopolis).

  13. Battle of Shipka Pass

    17 July 1877 – 9 January 1878

    The Battle of Shipka Pass consisted of four battles that were fought between the Russian Empire, aided by Bulgarian volunteers known as opalchentsi, and the Ottoman Empire for control over the vital Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The final battle is known as the battle of Shipka-Sheynovo or simply the battle of Sheynovo (Russian: Шипко-Шейновское сражение; Bulgarian: Шейновска битка).

  14. Siege of Plevna

    20 July 1877 – 10 December 1877

    The siege of Plevna or Pleven, was a major battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, fought by the joint army of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania against the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian army crossed the Danube at Svishtov, it began advancing towards the centre of modern Bulgaria, with the aim of crossing the Balkan Mountains to Constantinople, avoiding the fortified Turkish fortresses on the Black Sea coast.

  15. Battle of Gorni Dubnik

    24 October 1877

    The Battle of Gorni Dubnik took place during the Russo-Turkish War on 24 October 1877. In an effort to reduce the fortress of Pleven quicker, Russian forces began targeting garrisons along the Ottoman supply and communications route.

  16. Battle of Philippopolis

    17 January 1878

    The Battle of Plovdiv, or Battle of Philippopolis, was one of the final battles of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War. Following the crushing Russian victory at the last battle of Shipka Pass, Russian commander Gen.

  17. Battle of Slivnitsa

    17 November 1885 – 19 November 1885

    The Battle of Slivnitsa (Bulgarian: Битка при Сливница, Serbian: Битка на Сливници) was a battle between the Bulgarian Army and the Royal Serbian Army from 17 to 19 November 1885, in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. The Bulgarian victory solidified the unification between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.

  18. Treaty of Bucharest

    3 March 1886

    The Treaty of Bucharest was signed by Serbia and Bulgaria on 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1886 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and marked the end of the Serbo-Bulgarian War. The treaty contained a single article, stating that peace between the two countries was restored.

  19. Bulgarian Declaration of Independence

    22 September 1908

    The de jure independence of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Независимост на България, romanized: Nezavisimost na Bǎlgariya) from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed on 5 October [O.S. 22 September] 1908 in the old capital of Tarnovo by Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who afterwards took the title "Tsar".

  20. Battle of Kardzhali

    21 October 1912

    The Battle of Kircaali or Battle of Kardzhali was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 21 October 1912, when the Bulgarian Haskovo Detachment defeated the Ottoman Kırcaali Detachment of Yaver Pasha and permanently joined Kardzhali and the Eastern Rhodopes to Bulgaria.