History Bulgaria

 Historical dates

The first inhabitants of Bulgaria were Thracian.
Then there were Greeks, Romans and Slavs who settled there in the6th and 7th centuries AD.

681: Establishment of the first Bulgarian kingdom.

925 : Emperor Simeon is proclaimed tsar.

1018 : The Byzantine Empire annexes Bulgaria.

1137-1396: Second Bulgarian kingdom. Veliko Tarnovo is the capital of it.

1396: Bulgaria comes under Ottoman domination.

1876 : Nationalist revolt.

1877 : Russian-Turkish war, which is settled by the liberation of the country.

1878 : Berlin Congress. Bulgaria is cut off from Macedonia and eastern Romania.

1919 : Following the two Balkan wars and the First World War, Bulgaria has to give up its ambitions for Macedonia.

1941: Alliance with Germany under Hitler and annexation of Macedonia.

1944 : Soviet troops penetrate into Bulgaria, the monarchy is abolished, and the communists take power.

1947: Creation of the Popular Republic.

1955 : Bulgaria becomes a Warsaw Pact country.

1962 : Todor Zivkov, First secretary of the Communist party, becomes head of State.

1984 : The forced assimilation policy provokes the exodus of 350,000 Turks.

1989: After the fall of the Berlin wall, a palace revolution forces Zivkov to resign.

1990: Beginning of Bulgarian Perestroika. First free elections.

1991 : Formation of first non communist government led by Rilip Dimitrov.

1994 : The economic crisis allows the ex communists (Bulgarian Socialist Party) to return to power.

1996 : Petar Stoïanov is elected president. Formation of a new centre right government determined to liberalize and stabilize the economy.

2001: The head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP, reformed communists), Georgi Purvanov, wins the second round of the presidential election.

2005: Bulgaria signs the treaty for membership of the European Union.

1st January 2007: Bulgaria joins the European Union which now has 27 member countries.