Outstanding Facts in Bulgaria
2002: November 21
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), at its Prague summit meeting, is issuing an official invitation for Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania to become new members of this international, political alliance and military. (19 years ago)
1944: September 9
In Bulgaria, the communists, with the support of the Soviet army, dethroned King Simeon and carried out a coup, establishing a dictatorship. (77 years ago)
1913: June 29
After a year of war with the Ottoman Empire, the members of the victorious Balkan League, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria, fight for the division of the conquered territories, which leads to the Second Balkan War. , when on this night, Bulgaria attacks Serbian and Greek forces in Macedonia. (108 years ago)
1444: November 10
The Battle of Varna takes place, east of present-day Bulgaria, with the Turkish victory over the ill-equipped Hungarian army that has been waiting for the promised aid that never arrived, marking the last serious and organized effort by Christianity to save Eastern Europe. , including Constantinople, from the threat of Islam. The Hungarian crusader troops, led by local national leaders such as Ladislaus of Hungary and the Magyar General John Hunyadi, set out to descend the Bulgarian coast, liberate Constantinople, and cleanse the Balkan peninsula of Turks. They have the approval of the Pope, through his delegate, Cardinal Cesarini. But Sultan Murat II comes swiftly and with a force made up of some 120,000 troops compared to approximately 30,000 Christians. In Christian defeat, the king of Hungary and the papal delegate are killed. The Republics of Genoa and Venice that, fearful of losing their "franchises" regarding the trade routes to the East, did not commit themselves to the adventure of the unfortunate Crusade, will regret it as the years go by because the Ottoman sultans will end up pushing and confining them. progressively in the western Mediterranean, taking from their hands the commercial strongholds and emporiums of Crimea, Crete and the Greek islands. (577 years ago)
1396: September 25
In Bulgaria takes place the Battle of Nicopolis, in which the Ottomans, commanded by Sultan Bayezid I, defeat the crusaders led by Sigismund of Hungary. Bulgaria will be annexed to the Ottoman Empire until it regains its independence in 1908. Bayezid will establish himself as a great leader and Christendom will never again gather any crusade to liberate the holy places. The fight has definitely moved to Europe. (625 years ago)
1014: July 29
At the Battle of Kleidion, near the current Bulgarian town of Klyuch and after almost 50 years of fighting between the Bulgarian Emperor Samuel and the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, the Byzantines inflict a severe and decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army. The savage treatment of the 15,000 prisoners, who are blinded, will result in the death of Emperor Samuel of Bulgaria. Although this battle will not end with the First Bulgarian Empire, it will diminish its ability to resist the Byzantine advances and will be considered the decisive encounter in the war against Byzantium. (1007 years ago)
986: August 17th
After an unsuccessful siege of the city of Sofia (Bulgaria), the Byzantine army of Basil II on his return to Thrace is surrounded by the Bulgarian forces under Samuel's command in the mountains of Sredna Gora, in a pass known as La Trajan's Gate. A ruthless battle begins as a result of which the Byzantine army is practically annihilated and Basil II barely fled. After this great defeat, Basilio II will have to face a rebellion of the nobility in Asia Minor, led by General Bardas Focas, for 3 years. In 1014 Basil II will defeat the army of Samuel and exact a terrible revenge on the prisoners, leaving them blind with a hot iron. Basilio will remain in power until his death in 1025. (1035 years ago)
Reported deaths in Bulgaria
1994: August 14th
In Zurich, Switzerland, the British nationalized Bulgarian writer Elías Canetti, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981 for his study of mass movements and especially the brutality of German National Socialism in particular and dictatorships in general, dies. He wrote the essay "Mass and Power". (27 years ago)
