Modern Bulgarian History: Liberation and the 20th Century
From Liberation to the Third Bulgarian State
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 ended Ottoman rule; the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878) created a large Bulgaria, but the Congress of Berlin (June–July 1878) split the territory into the Principality of Bulgaria, the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia, and Macedonia and Thrace left under Ottoman rule. The Tarnovo Constitution (1879) established a parliamentary monarchy. Alexander of Battenberg was the first prince; the Unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia was proclaimed on 6 September 1885 and defended in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became prince in 1887 and proclaimed independence in 1908, taking the title tsar.
Wars and their aftermath
Bulgaria fought in the Balkan Wars (1912–13) alongside the Balkan League and ended the Second Balkan War against former allies, losing territory under the Treaty of Bucharest (1913). In the First World War it joined the Central Powers; the Treaty of Neuilly (1919) imposed territorial losses and reparations. The interwar period saw the agrarian government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski and his assassination after the 1923 coup, and the 1923 and 1925 terrorist episodes. In the Second World War Bulgaria joined the Axis in 1941 but did not send troops to the Eastern Front; the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews is associated with broad public and church pressure, and the Soviet army entered in September 1944. A communist-led Fatherland Front took power, the monarchy was abolished by referendum in 1946, and a people's republic was proclaimed.
The communist period and 1989
The People's Republic was dominated by Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989), including the forced assimilation campaign against Turks in the 1980s. Zhivkov resigned on 10 November 1989, opening the transition to democracy and the 1991 Constitution.
Traps and rule of thumb
Traps: treating San Stefano as the final settlement (Berlin revised it); mixing up 1885 (Unification) with 1908 (Independence); and dating Neuilly to the Second Balkan War instead of WWI. Rule of thumb: pair each treaty with its war - San Stefano and Berlin with 1877–78, Bucharest with 1913, Neuilly with 1919.