I.

Introduction

Bulgaria, republic in south-eastern Europe, known from 1946 to 1990 as the People’s Republic of Bulgaria and now known as the Republic of Bulgaria. Situated in the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria is bordered on the north by Romania, on the east by the Black Sea, on the south by Turkey and Greece, and on the west by Serbia (part of Serbia and Montenegro) and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Once an independent kingdom, Bulgaria was dominated by the Communist Party from 1946 until 1990, when a multi-party system was adopted. The area of Bulgaria is 110,994 sq km (42,855 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Sofia.

II.

Land and Resources

More than half of Bulgaria is hilly or mountainous; the average elevation is about 480 m (1,575 ft). The Balkan Mountains cross the country from the north-western corner to the Black Sea and form the watershed between the River Danube and the Aegean Sea. The northern side of the Balkan Mountains slopes gradually to form the northern Bulgarian plateau, which ends at the River Danube. The central portion of the southern side of the range is fringed by a series of narrow plains, notably the Thracian Plain. In the southern part of the country are the broad and irregular Rhodope Mountains, which delineate the boundary with Greece. At the western end of these mountains, in south-western Bulgaria, are the Rila Mountains, which culminate in Musala Peak (2,925 m/9,597 ft), the highest point in the Balkans. Several smaller ranges lie along the western boundaries.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The principal river draining Bulgaria is the Danube, which has among its Bulgarian tributaries the Iskŭr (about 370 km/230 mi long) and the Yantra (about 290 km/180 mi long). Other important rivers are the Kamchiya (about 180 km/110 mi long), which empties into the Black Sea, and in the south-west, the Struma and Mesta, which flow south to the Aegean Sea.

B.

Climate

Most of Bulgaria has a continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The climate in general is more severe than in other European areas of the same latitudes, and the average annual temperature range is greater than that of neighbouring countries. Severe droughts, frosts, wind, and hail frequently damage crops. A Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and mild, humid winters, prevails in the valley of the south-western Rhodope Mountains; the northern limit of the climatic zone is the Balkan Mountains.

The average annual temperature is about 12.8° C (55° F). The average rainfall is about 635 mm (25 in) per year, ranging from a low of around 200 mm (8 in) in the north-east, to a high of 1,905 mm (75 in) in the Rila Mountains. The wettest period is early summer in most of the country and autumn or winter in the southern valleys.

C.

Natural Resources

The main resources of Bulgaria are agricultural. The country also has a wealth of metallic and non-metallic minerals, mainly iron ore and coal. Other mineral reserves are small, but some deposits, particularly those of manganese and oil, are valuable.

D.

Plants and Animals

Approximately one third of Bulgaria is forested, and half this area supports tall trees suitable for timber. About 30 per cent of the timber trees are conifers. The Balkan Mountains and their foothills support forests of various trees. Conifers, beech, and oak are found in the timber zone of the Rhodope Mountains and their western extensions. Wild animals are confined to the mountainous south-western portion of the country, where bear, wolf, elk, fox, and wildcat are found.

E.

Soils

Soil types vary considerably. Some tablelands have fertile black and grey soils, high in humus content and well suited for growing grain. The Thracian Plain contains brown, loamy soils that are fertile and adapted to diversified cultivation. Deforestation and inadequate soil-conservation practices have caused gradual deterioration of several fertile areas.

F.

Environmental Concerns

Bulgaria's industrial economy has had a negative impact on the environmental health of the country. Virtually all of the middle and lower reaches of the major rivers are polluted by industrial centres that discharge detergents, heavy metals, nitrates, oils, and raw sewage. Water treatment facilities for industrial and municipal wastes are inadequate or non-existent. Two of the largest industrial cities, Varna and Burgas, are located on the Black Sea coast, and the water pollution generated by these centres has threatened the area's tourist industry. Uncontrolled mining operations and environmentally insensitive practices also contribute to soil contamination. Air pollution, from motor vehicles and industrial emissions, is severe, leading to acid rain and the defoliation of a large portion of Bulgaria's forests. During the early 1990s the European Community (now the European Union (EU)) granted Bulgaria aid money for the improvement of environmental and nuclear safety.

The government has ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to air pollution, Antarctic environmental protocol, Antarctic treaty, biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, law of the sea, nuclear test ban, ozone layer protection, ship pollution, and wetlands.

III.

Population

About 85 per cent of the population is classified as ethnic Bulgarian and about 9 per cent is Turkish, a group that has suffered serious discrimination. Small groups of Armenians, Roma (Gypsies), and Greeks also inhabit the country. The population of Bulgaria became increasingly urbanized after 1945, and by 2005 about 71 per cent of the population was defined as urban.

A.

Population Characteristics

Bulgaria has a population of 7,322,858 (2007 estimate). At the 1985 census the population was 8,950,000, and the subsequent decrease is partly attributed to the mass migration of Turks fleeing government persecution in the late 1980s. Population density is about 66 people per sq km (171 people per sq mi).

B.

Political Divisions

Bulgaria is divided into 28 administrative regions, including the capital, Sofia.

C.

Principal Cities

Sofia is the largest city, with a population of 1,194,164 (2002 estimate). Other major cities are Plovdiv, population 340,638 (2001), a centre for light industry; and Varna, 314,539 (2001), the principal seaport.

D.

Religion

For more than 40 years under Communist rule the Bulgarian government discriminated against practising believers, and promoted atheism, to which an estimated 65 per cent of the population subscribed in the early 1980s. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, a branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, was attended by about 27 per cent of the population. The government reforms of the late 1980s loosened religious restrictions, and by the early 1990s more than 80 per cent of the population claimed affiliation to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Other religious groups include Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Jews.

E.

Language

The official language is Bulgarian, a first language for about 85 per cent of the population. Turkish is also spoken, by about 9 per cent of the population as a mother tongue. Other languages spoken as mother tongues include: Balkan Romani (187,900 speakers; an Indo-Iranian language); Gagauz (12,000; a Turkic language, see Altaic Languages); Crimean Turkish (6,000); Macedo Romanian (2,000 to 3,000); and Gheg Albanian (1,000).

F.

Education

All schools in Bulgaria are free and state controlled and were modelled after those in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A major aim of the Bulgarian educational system is to supply technical and skilled workers to meet the demands of heavy, as opposed to service, industry. Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16. In the mid-1990s approximately 1,218,000 pupils attended elementary schools in Bulgaria, and about 213,300 students were enrolled in secondary, vocational, or teacher-training schools.

The country has over 30 institutions of higher learning, including the University of Sofia (1888) and various specialized professional institutes. Total yearly enrolment in 2001–2002 amounted to approximately 228,394 students. In 2002–2003 expenditure on education amounted to some 3.6 per cent of gross national product (GNP).

G.

Culture

In the Middle Ages (especially in the 10th and 11th centuries), Bulgaria was the centre of Slavic culture. Over the centuries Bulgarian culture has been influenced successively by Byzantine, Greek, Russian, and Western cultures. Bulgarian literature is an important cultural force.

Large libraries in Sofia include the Central Library of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the library of the University of Sofia, and the Cyril and Methodius National Library. The Ivan Vazov National Library is located in Plovdiv. In addition, there are many smaller public libraries.

The country has more than 200 museums. In Sofia are botanical and zoological museums and gardens; the National Archaeological Museum, with a collection of ancient coins and finds from many early burial mounds; and the National Ethnographical Museum. Other museums in the country are devoted to history, science, and the revolutionary movement.

The 13th-century frescoes of the Boyana Church near Sofia are outstanding examples of the painting of that period. Bulgarian handicrafts include rich folk embroideries and ornaments. Some of the best sculpture, woodcarving, etchings, and painting are based on traditional culture and native subjects. Outstanding Bulgarian artists include the etcher Peter Morozov, the painter Vladimir Dimitrov, and the sculptors Ivan Lazarov and Christo. The last-named, an avant-garde artist noted for his technique of wrapping objects and landscape features, now lives in the United States.

The chief architectural monuments of Bulgaria are medieval churches and monasteries. The oldest is the circular Church of St George in Sofia, originally a pagan temple. The Rila Monastery, founded in the 10th century, is striking in its mountainous setting. An important monument of the 11th century is Bachkovo Monastery, south of Plovdiv. A major modern structure is the large, ornate Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

Traditional Bulgarian music includes folk songs and choral plain chants in the Greek mode for church services. The chief native musical instruments are the gaida (bagpipe) and the kaval (a wooden flute traditionally used by shepherds). The characteristic folk dances are variations of the hora, a round chain dance, and the ruchenitsa, a lively dance for two couples. Modern Bulgarian orchestral and operatic compositions have occasionally gained recognition in other countries. Among leading composers are Petko Stainov and Pancho Vladigerov.

IV.

Economy

Until 1947 Bulgaria was predominantly agricultural, with virtually no heavy industry. In Communist Bulgaria following World War II, all industrial enterprises were nationalized and operated under a series of five-year economic plans, modelled after the Soviet system, with financial aid from the USSR. Heavy industry was the government’s highest priority. Privatization and other market reform measures were begun after 1992. Since the mid-1950s new resorts have been developed along the Black Sea, partly by private individuals, in an attempt to attract foreign visitors. The pace of privatization has been erratic and characterized by delays, inefficiencies, and corruption, and plans have been announced to find buyers for large enterprises still under state control. The enterprises include pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers, the national air carrier, a tourist resort on the Black Sea, the monopoly-holding telecommunications company, and the largest oil-refinery in the region. A radical plan was also unveiled to liquidate the enterprises should they remain unsold after 15 months. In 2004, the country’s GNP was US$21,336 million, equivalent to US$3,450 per head (World Bank figures). In 2003 exports were valued at US$7,540 million although imports amounted to US$10,901 million.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Collectivization of agriculture in Bulgaria was begun in the early 1950s; in the late 1980s most farmland was under the control of the country’s collective and state farms. Private holdings were limited to a small size, but accounted for more than one quarter of total agricultural output. Land reforms in the early 1990s redistributed land that had been collectively farmed during the communist era and fallen into disuse during the period of transition. The policy of returning the land to its pre-collective owners in small areas averaging less than 2.5 hectares, with only a small number receiving proper titles to the land, precluded leasing to professional farmers and the establishment of a market in land. Further reforms are proposed to allow leasing of unlimited areas of land and the participation of foreigners in bidding for leases at auction. The chief crops are wheat, rye, maize, barley, oats, cotton, tobacco, grapes, tomatoes, sugar beet, potatoes, and cabbage. In 2005 some 3.67 million tonnes of wheat, 1,000,000 tonnes of maize, and 62,000 tonnes of tobacco were harvested. In 2005 the livestock population included some 19.1 million poultry, 1.60 million sheep, 0.94 million pigs, and 621,797 cattle.

The principal Bulgarian timber areas are in the vicinity of the Rila, Rhodope, and Balkan mountains. In the early 1990s about 3.5 million cu m (124 million cu ft) of timber were produced each year.

The fishing industry, which began to expand in the 1960s and 1970s, produced a catch of about 10,739 tonnes in 2004 (in 1980 it had been 126,412 tonnes). Canning and processing plants are located at Varna and Burgas, on the Black Sea coast.

B.

Mining

Coal furnishes the bulk of Bulgaria’s mineral production. Total annual coal production was about 27.2 million tonnes in 2003. Oil was discovered in 1951; in 2004 about 365,250 barrels of crude oil were produced. Production of iron ore was about 120,000 tonnes in 2004. Copper, zinc, lead, and natural gas are also commercially exploited.

C.

Manufacturing

In 1939 manufacturing and construction together represented about one quarter of total production; in the mid-1990s the two sectors accounted for more than 35 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), but by 2005 this figure had dropped back to 31.6 per cent. The metalworking and chemical industries, as well as the food processing, tobacco-processing, and machinery-manufacturing enterprises, are among the newer, more productive areas. Textiles are the oldest manufacture of Bulgaria and, except for cotton goods, largely use domestic raw materials. The manufacture of building materials, including cement, brick, and glass, is well developed. Leather goods and leather and rubber footwear are well-established manufactures but are not yet equal to demand. Metallurgical and metalwork industries are largely dependent on imports of raw materials. The ores mined domestically, however, are also domestically refined and fabricated into manufactures. Machine-building and engineering industries are being expanded, especially in the light electrical equipment sector. A famous Bulgarian product is attar of roses, which is used as a base for perfume.

D.

Energy

In 2003 52.06 per cent of Bulgaria’s electricity was generated in thermal plants fired by coal, lignite, and petroleum products. The country’s first nuclear power station was opened at Kozloduy in 1974, and within ten years nuclear facilities accounted for almost one third of electricity output. In December 2002 this plant was decommissioned as part of the deal intended to pave the way for EU membership. In the mid-1990s Bulgaria had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 10.7 million kW, and by 2003 annual electricity production was some 31.75 billion kWh.

E.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Bulgaria is the lev of 100 stotinki (1.51 leva equalled US$1; early 2007). The lev was revalued in July 1999 so that 1,000 old leva equalled one new lev. The Bulgarian National Bank is the bank of issue and handles government funds and nationalized enterprises. All banks were nationalized in 1947 but after the reforms started in 1992, a private banking sector emerged. The crisis in the banking system in 1996 resulted in the collapse of 14 of the country’s 35 banks, including 5 owned by the state. By mid-1997 state ownership accounted for 73 per cent of the banks; foreign and private banks 11 per cent each; with the remaining 5 per cent in the process of bankruptcy or liquidation.

F.

Commerce and Trade

Most Bulgarian foreign trade is with the republics of the former USSR and other Eastern European countries. Russian long-term plans are to build new transit oil pipelines carrying oil from central Asia through Bulgaria and Greece to the Aegean Sea. In the West, Italy and Germany are the main trade partners.

Exports in 2003 were valued at about US$7,540 million. The chief exports were machinery, food products, tobacco, non-ferrous metals, cast iron, leather products, and textiles. Yearly imports in the same period were valued at about US$10,901 million. The principal imports were oil, natural gas, machinery, transport equipment, steel, cellulose, and timber.

G.

Labour

In 1990 sweeping changes occurred in the labour movement in Bulgaria. In February the Central Council of Trade Unions declared its independence from the Communist Party and changed its name to the Executive Committee of Independent Trade Unions. In March the National Assembly legalized strikes and the once-underground labour organization Podkrepa held its founding congress.

H.

Transport

Bulgaria is largely dependent on railways for transport, with about 4,163 km (2,587 mi) of track in use as of 2005. The country is also served by about 102,016 km (63,390 mi) of roads. A major event in the development of transport in Bulgaria was the opening of the Ruse-Giurgiu road-and-rail bridge over the River Danube in 1954; it is the chief bridge of its type connecting Bulgaria and Romania. In the mid-1990s there was a ratio of 4.7 people per vehicle.

The River Danube is a major artery of commerce. Of the dozen Danube ports, Ruse, Svishtov, Lom, and Vidin have the greatest importance. Much of the Bulgarian freight and passenger traffic uses the Danube and the Black Sea. The port of Burgas on the Black Sea, one of the few profitable state-owned industries, is expected to become the main transit point to service the increased traffic resulting from the Caspian oil industry and the developing economies of central Asia, and there are plans to develop new quays and terminals over the next 18 years.

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, the national airline, serves the major cities of the country, including Vrazhdebna International Airport at Sofia.

I.

Communications

In the mid-1990s about 2.9 million telephones were in operation in Bulgaria, and some 5 million radios were in use in 1997. Television started on an experimental basis in 1954 and was officially inaugurated in 1959. By the mid-1990s more than 20 television stations were in operation, and it was estimated that in 2000 3.7 million television sets were in use.

Until recently, all Bulgarian periodicals were published either by the government or by government-approved organizations, and reflected government policy. In 1999 52 dailies were being published. The leading dailies early in 1992 were Workers’ Cause, formerly the official organ of the Communist Party, and Democracy, both published in Sofia.

V.

Government

From 1946 to 1990, Bulgaria had a Communist form of government with only one legal political party, the Bulgarian Communist Party. Early in 1990, however, the Bulgarian constitution was amended to allow a multi-party system, and in July 1991 a new constitution was approved.

A.

Executive and Legislature

The government is led by the president of the republic, who is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of five years. The legislature is a unicameral body called the National Assembly, which consists of 240 members elected by popular vote, by proportional representation, for four-year terms. The Assembly elects the Council of Ministers, which is the highest administrative body in the Bulgarian government. The prime minister is the chair of the Council of Ministers.

B.

Judiciary

The constitution enacted in 1991 provides for an independent judiciary and for the establishment of a constitutional court, consisting of 12 members elected or appointed for a term of 9 years. The Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Court of Cassation sit in Sofia. The Supreme Judicial Council consists of 25 members: the chief prosecutor, heads of both supreme courts, 11 members elected by the judiciary, and 11 members elected by the National Assembly. Other tribunals in Bulgaria include provincial courts, regional courts, and military courts.

C.

Political Parties

During 1990 and 1991, the period of Communist domination ended and Bulgaria became a multi-party state. More than 60 political parties contested the parliamentary elections of October 1991 and over 35 at the June 2001 elections.

Prior to 1990, the Communist Party exercised political power through its mass organization, the Fatherland Front. The Front was formed in 1943 as a coalition of Communists, Socialists, and other factions. Membership of the Front totalled about 4.4 million in the late 1980s; the Communist Party at that time had some 930,000 members. The Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union, a remnant of what had formerly been the largest political party in Bulgaria, was a subordinate part of the Fatherland Front until 1990, when its former political rights were restored.

At the 2005 general election the leading parties, with the number of seats gained in parentheses, were as follows: Coalition for Bulgaria (82); National Movement Simeon II (53); Movement for Rights and Freedoms (34); Union Attack (21); and the United Democratic Forces (20), a coalition of 7 parties.

D.

Local Government

All regions, municipalities, and communes are administered by popularly elected people’s councils. Council members are elected to terms of two and a half years. The councils are responsible for all economic, cultural, and social problems within the area and supervise all government-owned enterprises.

E.

Health and Welfare

In 2007 average life expectancy at birth was 69 years for men and 76.4 years for women. Matters of health and medicine in Bulgaria are under the overall control of the ministry of public health. Health services are provided free to all, although doctors are permitted part-time private practice. In the mid-1990s Bulgarians were served by more than 29,300 doctors and 5,400 dentists.

A programme providing pensions, recreational facilities, and welfare benefits was established in 1958. Funds are contributed by employers, and payments are provided for in the national budget. The state provides monthly allowances to parents with children under the age of 16. In 2007 the infant mortality rate was 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, and in 2004 there was 1 doctor for every 295 people. Expenditure on health care in 2001 amounted to 9.64 per cent of total government spending.

F.

Defence

The Bulgarian armed forces in 2004 totalled approximately 51,000 service personnel, including up to 49,000 conscripts serving a nine-month term. The army had about 1,786 tanks and 25,000 troops in 2001. Air force personnel numbered 13,100 in that year. The navy had a force of 4,370 and maintained three major bases on the Black Sea. Paramilitary forces, including border guards and security police, numbered about 34,000. In 2003, Bulgaria spent US$471 million (2.4 per cent of GDP) on defence.

G.

International Organizations

Bulgaria is a member of the following organizations: Council of Europe (CE); Central European Initiative (CEI); Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact (BSECP); European Union (as of January 2007); Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); the Partnership for Peace (PFP); the World Trade Organization (WTO); the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); and the United Nations (UN).

VI.

History

The region now called Bulgaria was once part of the Roman Empire and comprised parts of the provinces of Thrace and Moesia. It was inhabited by the Thraco-Illyrians. Beginning in the 6th century ad Slavic peoples migrated into the region and either absorbed or drove out the original inhabitants. During the latter part of the 7th century Bulgars (people of Turkic stock) migrated from their domain on the east side of the Black Sea, crossed the lower reaches of the Danube, and subjugated Lower Moesia, then a province of the Byzantine Empire. Imperial armies failed repeatedly to dislodge the invaders during the 8th century. Fewer in number than the Slavic population of Lower Moesia, the Bulgars gradually became Slavicized during this period. By the end of the century they had annexed considerable additional territory and laid the foundations for a strong state under Khan Krum, who reigned from 803 to 814. The Krum armies inflicted a devastating defeat on an invading Byzantine force in 811 and, assuming the offensive, nearly succeeded in 813 in taking Constantinople. Bulgarian-Byzantine relations were thereafter relatively peaceful and continued to be so during the first half of the 9th century. The immediate successors of Krum enlarged their dominions, mainly in the region of Serbia and Macedonia. In 860, however, during the reign (852-889) of Boris I, Bulgaria suffered a severe military setback at the hands of the Serbs. Four years later Boris, responding to pressure from the Byzantine emperor Michael III, made Christianity the official religion of the khanate. Boris accepted the primacy of the papacy in 866, but in 870, following the refusal of Pope Adrian II to make Bulgaria an archbishopric, he shifted his allegiance to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

A.

First Bulgarian Empire

In the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Bulgaria became the strongest nation of Eastern Europe during the reign of Boris’s son Simeon. A brilliant administrator and military leader, Simeon introduced Byzantine culture into his realm, encouraged education, obtained new territories, defeated the Magyars (Hungarians), and conducted a series of successful wars against the Byzantine Empire. In 925 Simeon proclaimed himself Emperor of the Greeks and Bulgars. He conquered Serbia in 926 and became the most powerful monarch in contemporary Eastern Europe. Simeon’s reign was marked by great cultural advances led by the followers of St Cyril and his brother St Methodius, the “apostles of the Slavs” (see Cyril (827-869) and Methodius (c. 826-884), SS). During this period Old Church Slavonic, the first written Slavic language, and the Cyrillic alphabet were adopted.

Weakened by domestic strife and successive Magyar raids, Bulgarian power declined steadily during the following half-century. In 969 invading Russians seized the capital and captured the royal family. The Byzantine emperor John I Tzimisces, alarmed over the Russian advance into south-eastern Europe, intervened (970) in the Russo-Bulgarian conflict. The Russians were compelled to withdraw from Bulgaria in 972, and the eastern part of the country was annexed to the Byzantine Empire. Samuel, the son of a Bulgarian provincial governor, became ruler of western Bulgaria in 976. Samuel’s armies were annihilated in 1014 by the Byzantine emperor Basil II, who incorporated the short-lived state into his empire in 1018.

B.

Second Empire and Turkish Rule

Led by the nobles Ivan Asen and Peter Asen, the Bulgarians revolted against Byzantine rule in 1185 and established a second empire. It consisted initially of the region between the Balkan Mountains and the Danube; by the early 13th century it included extensive neighbouring territories, notably sections of Serbia and all of western Macedonia. In 1204, following the Latin occupation of Constantinople, Ivan and Peter’s brother, Kaloyan (reigned 1197-1207) temporarily broke with the Eastern Orthodox Church and accepted the primacy of the pope (renouncing it again in 1234). Ivan Asen II (reigned 1218-1241), the fifth ruler of the Asen dynasty, added western Thrace, the remainder of Macedonia, and part of Albania to the empire in 1230.

Feudal strife and involvement in foreign wars caused gradual disintegration of the empire after the death of Ivan Asen II. The Bulgarian armies were decisively defeated by the Serbs in 1330, and for the next quarter-century the second empire was little more than a dependency of Serbia. Shortly after 1360 the Ottoman Turks began to ravage the Maritsa Valley, completing the subjugation of Bulgaria in 1396. During the next five centuries the political and cultural existence of Bulgaria was almost obliterated. After a century of terrorism and persecution, Turkish administration improved, and the economic condition of the remaining Bulgarians rose to a level higher than it had been under the kingdom, although unsuccessful revolts against Turkish rule occurred from time to time.

With the revival of a Bulgarian literature glorifying the history of the country, in the latter half of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century, Bulgarian nationalism became a powerful movement. In 1876 the Bulgarians revolted against the Turks, but were quelled; in reprisal, the Turks massacred some 15,000 Bulgarian men, women, and children. In 1877, prompted by the desire to expand towards the Mediterranean Sea and by Pan-Slavic sentiment, Russia declared war on Turkey. As a result of the Russo-Turkish War, in which Turkey was defeated, a part of Bulgaria became an autonomous principality; another part, Eastern Rumelia, was made an autonomous Turkish province.

C.

Modern Bulgaria

Elected by a Bulgarian assembly in 1879, the first prince of the new Bulgaria was a German, Alexander of Battenberg, also a prince and a nephew of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Eastern Rumelia revolted against Turkey in 1885 and was united with Bulgaria. Russia, however, considered the action inopportune and withdrew all officers who had been detailed to train the Bulgarian army. Thereupon, Serbia declared war on Bulgaria but was quickly defeated. In 1886 a group of Russian and Bulgarian conspirators abducted Prince Alexander and established a Russian-dominated government. Within a few days the government was overthrown by the Bulgarian statesman Stepan Stambolov, but the Russians compelled Prince Alexander to abdicate. The new ruler, chosen in 1887, was Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Taking advantage of a revolution in Turkey, in 1908 Ferdinand declared Bulgaria independent and assumed the title of King Ferdinand I; he reigned from 1908 to 1918.

C.1.

Balkan Wars and World War I

In the First Balkan War (1912-1913) (see Balkan Wars), Bulgaria, allied with Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, defeated Turkey. Division of the reconquered Balkan territories, however, resulted in the Second Balkan War, which Bulgaria lost to Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, and Romania; as a consequence, Bulgaria lost considerable territory. Bulgaria entered World War I in 1915 on the side of the Central Powers, but was forced to agree on an armistice with the Allies in September 1918. Tsar Ferdinand abdicated in October and was succeeded by his son, Boris III. By the Treaty of Neuilly on November 27, 1919, Bulgaria lost most of what it had gained in the Balkan Wars and all of its conquests from World War I. It was also required to abandon conscription, reduce armaments, and pay large reparations.

D.

Inter-war Period and World War II

The Agrarian Party government under Aleksandr Stambolisky, who became premier in 1919, attempted to improve the condition of the large peasant class and maintain friendly relations with the other Balkan countries. Stambolisky’s dictatorial regime, unpopular with the army and the urban middle class, was overthrown by a coup d’état in 1923; he himself was captured and killed while seeking to escape. Internal dissension continued under the new government, which represented all political parties except the Agrarians, Communists, and Liberals. Bulgaria and Greece again came into conflict in 1925, and the Greek army invaded Bulgaria. The Council of the League of Nations brought the conflict to an end and penalized Greece. In 1934, Tsar Boris staged a coup of his own and established a royal dictatorship. In September 1940, Germany compelled Romania to cede southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. In March 1941, under German pressure, Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, agreeing to immediate occupation by German forces. Bulgaria declared war on Greece and Yugoslavia in April, shortly afterwards occupying all of Yugoslav Macedonia, Grecian Thrace, eastern Greek Macedonia, and the Greek districts of Florina and Kastoría. Bulgaria signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in November and the following month declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. Although allied with Nazi Germany (see National Socialism), Tsar Boris and his government resisted German demands for the persecution of Bulgarian Jews, most of whom survived the Holocaust.

When the tide of war turned against the Germans in 1943, Hitler attempted to force Bulgaria to declare war on the USSR. In August 1943, after returning from a meeting with the German dictator, Tsar Boris died under mysterious circumstances and was succeeded by his six-year-old son, Simeon II, and a pro-German government under Dobri Bozhilov. An anti-German resistance movement organized by the Communists and the Agrarians opposed the Bozhilov regime, which fell in May 1944. The succeeding government severed its ties with Germany, but it was too late. The USSR formally declared war on Bulgaria on September 5. No fighting occurred, and the Bulgarian government subsequently asked the USSR for an armistice; Bulgaria, moreover, declared war on Germany on September 7. The armistice was agreed to by the USSR on September 9, and under the protection of Soviet forces a government subservient to the USSR was immediately established. The armistice, signed by the USSR, the United States, and the United Kingdom in October 1944, provided for the control of Bulgaria, until the signing of final peace treaties, by the Allied Control Commission under the chairmanship of the Soviet representative, who was also the commander of the Soviet occupation forces. The armistice provided also that the Bulgarians evacuate Yugoslav Macedonia and territories they had taken from Greece.

Soviet pressure in the Bulgarian election engaged the attention of the United Kingdom and the United States in the autumn of 1945. National elections originally scheduled for August were postponed because of US protests concerning the nature of Soviet political manoeuvres within Bulgaria. The opposition parties boycotted the elections held on November 18, and a single list of candidates from the Communist-dominated Fatherland Front won 85 per cent of the vote.

E.

Communist Regime

By a plebiscite in September 1946, the Bulgarians ousted Tsar Simeon and ended the monarchy; a week later Bulgaria was proclaimed a people’s republic. The constitution drawn up by the Fatherland Front, which won an overwhelming victory in the elections to the National Assembly, held in October, provided for freedom of the press, assembly, and speech. The National Assembly, which gained full control of state affairs, then elected the premier and also the president. The first president was Vasil Kolarov, a Communist Party leader. Georgi Dimitrov, a former key figure in the Communist International, was elected premier in November 1946.

In February 1947, the peace treaty formally ending Bulgarian participation in World War II was signed in Paris. It provided for reparations to be paid to Greece in the amount of US$45 million and to Yugoslavia in the amount of US$25 million; severe limitation of military strength, with partial demilitarization along the Greek frontier; and the retention of southern Dobruja. (The borders with Greece were returned to their status as of 1941.) In December 1947 the National Assembly adopted a new constitution modelled on that of the USSR; this document replaced the presidency with the presidium, an executive committee. That September, Nikola Dimitrov Petkov, leader of the Agrarian Party, had been executed after being convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government.

Under pressure from the USSR, Bulgaria renounced its treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia after the Soviet-Yugoslavian rift in 1948; relations with the country and its successor states have since continued to fluctuate, as have those with neighbouring Greece and Turkey. Diplomatic ties with the West have frequently been marred by Bulgarian accusations of Western espionage activities.

During most of the Communist period, under the leadership of Todor Zhivkov—Secretary of the Communist Party from 1954, the country’s premier from 1962 to 1971, and Head of State from 1971 to late 1989—Bulgaria was one of the most restrictive societies among the former Soviet satellites. In 1953 the government decreed that all people who left the country without permission were subject to the death penalty and their families to internment in concentration camps. Zhivkov also decreed that the country’s population of 800,000 Turks “Bulgarize” their names. As a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) and the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria long remained among the USSR’s most dependable allies. During the 1970s the country received substantial financial aid from the USSR, which was used for industrialization.

During the mid-1980s the Zhivkov government launched a campaign to assimilate members of Bulgaria’s Turkish minority by forcing them to take Slavic names, prohibiting them from speaking Turkish in public, and subjecting them to other forms of harassment; during 1989 alone, more than 300,000 Bulgarian Turks crossed the border into Turkey to escape persecution. Late in 1989, Zhivkov was ousted from power and expelled from the Communist Party; replacing him as general secretary was the foreign minister, Petar T. Mladenov. Under Mladenov’s leadership, Bulgaria restored the civil rights of Bulgarian Turks and began to institute a multi-party system. In June 1990 the Communists, running as the Bulgarian Socialist Party, won the nation’s first free parliamentary elections since World War II. Mladenov, who had become president in April, resigned in July, and with Communist support the opposition leader, Zhelyu Zhelev, was chosen to succeed him. Under a new constitution providing for direct presidential voting, Zhelev won re-election in January 1992. In September, after an 18-month-long trial, Zhivkov was found guilty of corruption while in office and sentenced to prison.

F.

Fragile Transition

After the 1991 elections, Bulgaria began to restructure its economy and enacted a plan to return land seized by the Communist Party to the original owners. The parliament also passed laws allowing foreign investment. However, with the collapse of COMECON, the trade association of the former USSR, Bulgaria lost many of its traditional markets and its economy suffered. Since then, Bulgaria has lagged behind the rest of Eastern Europe in economic reform because of a series of weak governments. Private businesses are often run by the old Communist elite. In 1995 unemployment stood at 20 per cent, and inflation topped 120 per cent. A general election held in December 1994 gave the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) an outright parliamentary majority, under the leadership of 35-year-old Zhan Videnov. At the same time, the lev dropped considerably in value, prompting a sharp rise in interest rates.

The distribution of vouchers to be used in the first phase of privatization was approved by the government in August 1995, and the list of state enterprises to be privatized was issued in October. In late March 1996 a Russian offer to join an economic union of former Soviet republics resulted in heated controversy; the Videnov government denied allegations of secret talks and claimed a desire to be part of a united Europe. The collapse of the national currency in May triggered a serious financial crisis, and hastened government legislation to reform the banking system. Exiled King Simeon II returned to Bulgaria in late May, fuelling rumours of his interest in a potential presidential candidacy. Interest rates were tripled in September by the central bank in an attempt to avert another financial crisis.

The fatal shooting of former prime minister Lukanov in October aroused speculation as to the involvement of organized crime. In the second round of presidential elections held in November, Petar Stoyanov, the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) candidate, emerged as the clear victor. A fresh financial crisis arose in mid-November, when thousands of depositors besieged the State Savings Bank, and in December Videnov resigned from the position of prime minister. In January 1997 Stoyanov was inaugurated as president and the stand-off between the majority BSP and UDF continued. The political crisis eased in February when the BSP agreed to relinquish its mandate, allowing the president to appoint an interim Cabinet and call a general election in April. The IMF gave approval in principle to a US$148 million loan in March to support economic recovery and the currency control board system that was to be established as a condition of the loan. In the April general election the centre-right UDF won a decisive victory, nominating its chairman Ivan Kostov as the new prime minister; he was formally elected by the National Assembly in May. It was announced in June that the lev was to be pegged to the Deutschmark, and the way paved for the operation of the currency control board in July; both measures aimed at increasing financial stability.

President Stoyanov hosted a summit meeting attended by the presidents of Romania and Turkey, during which they issued a joint declaration supporting the accession to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Bulgaria and Romania, and promising closer cooperation in the fight against organized crime in the region. The National Assembly approved a restitution law in November, providing for the return of property confiscated by previous communist governments to its former owners. During a visit in December by Mesut Yilmaz, prime minister of Turkey, agreements were signed concerning cultural affairs, law enforcement, and customs. Stoyanov vetoed reform of the judicial system in October 1998, on the grounds that reform would give the National Assembly too much control over the judiciary. The former king, Simeon, unsuccessfully attempted, in December, to reclaim his estates confiscated five decades earlier.

In November 1999, Bulgaria announced the closure of four Soviet-built nuclear reactors in return for talks on European Union (EU) membership. In the same month, US president Bill Clinton, on a trip to Sofia to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of Communism, encouraged Bulgaria’s bid for NATO membership in return for the country’s support for NATO's 1999 air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis.

On the final day of the EU summit in Helsinki, Finland, in December, Bulgaria was among seven countries invited to become candidates for membership. The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, told Bulgaria that the EU would support the country's bid to join the organization by offering increased financial aid to the value of nearly US$2 billion over six years. Prodi praised Bulgaria's progress in reworking its legislation to conform to EU norms.

Throughout 2000, political life in Bulgaria was marked by a further, and sometimes controversial, diversification of parties and groupings. Ethnic parties and organizations continued to proliferate. In January, two Turkish parties merged, and in February the Ilinden United Macedonian Organization was banned by the Constitutional Court. A new party, the Georgi Ganchev Bloc, was established in March.

Developments in early 2001 were directly influenced by parliamentary elections planned for June. In early April, the former king of Bulgaria announced that he would stand in the election as leader of a new party, the National Movement Simeon II. Internationally, Bulgaria supported the FYROM government in its offensive against Albanian rebels in March 2001 and promoted efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Bulgaria became a signatory, in April, of an agreement setting up an international naval force, named Blackseafor, of countries bordering the Black Sea. The agreements, signed also by Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, and Turkey, envisaged using the new force for environmental and humanitarian purposes.

G.

The Return of Simeon II

In June’s parliamentary elections the former Simeon II achieved a landslide victory, and in July he was sworn in as prime minister, as Simeon of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He swiftly appointed a 16-member coalition Cabinet and reiterated his election pledge to improve Bulgaria’s standards of living, which included raising the minimum wage and dealing with corruption. Simeon also pledged to continue the momentum towards EU and NATO membership. In a closely fought presidential election in November 2001 that went to a second round of voting, Georgi Parvanov, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, beat the incumbent Petar Stoyanov. Parvanov was sworn in and took office in January 2002.

In November 2002 NATO invited Bulgaria to join the organization. At the Copenhagen summit in December that year the EU announced that Bulgaria was not included in the list of countries invited to join in 2004; however, the republic remained on course for membership. In April 2004 Bulgaria formally joined NATO. Bulgaria held a general election in June 2005. The initial results showed victory for the Bulgarian Socialist Party-led Coalition of Bulgaria, which secured 82 of the 240 seats over the ruling National Movement Simeon II, which gained 53. President Parvanov asked the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Sergei Stanishev, to form a government. However, political infighting ensued before a coalition government was finally established with Stanishev as prime minister. In October 2006, Parvanov won a second term as president by beating the controversial nationalist candidate Volen Siderov who remained opposed to the country joining the EU. Bulgaria, along with near-neighbour Romania, finally joined the EU in January 2007.