Bulgaria Country History

YEAR

EVENT

3500 BC	Region first inhabited by Thraco-Illyrians.
AD c. 500	Slavic peoples migrated into present-day Bulgaria and absorbed or drove out original inhabitants.
c. 680	Bulgars gained control of the region between the Balkans and the Danube, and the first Bulgarian state was formed.
700-900	Bulgars assimilated into the majority Slavic population.
893	First Bulgarian empire flourished under Simeon.
1018	Invaded and incorporated into Byzantine Empire.
1185	Regained independence and second Bulgarian empire formed.
1360	Invaded by the Ottoman Turks.
1396	Became part of the Ottoman Empire.
1876	Unsuccessful Bulgarian revolt against the Turks led to the massacre of over 15,000 people.
1877-1878	Russo-Turkish War-Turkey defeated and Bulgaria gained part-independence.
1885	Eastern Rumelia revolted against Turkey and was united with Bulgaria.
1908	Ferdinand declared Bulgaria an independent kingdom.
1912-1913	Balkan Wars.
1915	Entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers.
1918	Forced to agree on an armistice with the Allies.
1919	Treaty of Neuilly signed November 27.
1925	Invaded by Greece, which is soon defeated.
1941	Joined the Axis powers in World War II.
1944	Communists seized power and severed the country's ties with Germany. Signed an armistice with UK, US, and the USSR. Forced to evacuate Yugoslav Macedonia and territories taken from Greece.
1946	A plebiscite abolished the monarchy and formed a people's republic that was ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party.
1947	Adopted new constitution modelled on that of the USSR.
1948-1988	Remained firmly allied to the Soviet Union. Oppression of Bulgarian Turks.
1989	Head of State Todor Zhivkov ousted from power and replaced by Petar Mladenov. Civil rights of Bulgarian Turks restored and multi-party system instituted.
1990	Communists won first free parliamentary elections since World War II.
1991	The major opposition party won elections held in October and formed Bulgaria's first non-communist government since 1946. New democratic constitution instituted.
1992	Former leader Zhivkov found guilty of corruption while in office and sentenced to imprisonment.
1994	Bulgarian Socialist Party won general election and Zhan Videnov became prime minister.
1996	Petar Stoyanov won presidential election and Videnov resigned as premier in December.
1997	Stoyanov inaugurated as president. Ivan Kostov elected prime minister in May.
1999	Bulgaria supported NATO's air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis. In December Bulgaria invited to apply for European Union membership.
2000	Bulgarian stretch of the River Danube contaminated by a cyanide spill in Romania.
2001	Bulgaria to participate in Blackseafor, a naval force on the Black Sea. In June's parliamentary elections the former king Simeon II's party, National Movement Simeon II, was victorious. Simeon became prime minister. In November's presidential election the Socialist Party leader, Georgi Parvanov, became president.
2002	Bulgaria was formally invited to join NATO in November.
2004	In April, Bulgaria was formally admitted to NATO.
2005	Bulgaria signed EU accession treaty; pending approval the country is set to join the organization in 2007. Sergey Stanishev became the prime minister of a coalition government.