Bulgaria through the years

I have never given much thought to the historic importance of this small Balkans nation. It is so rich in a finely woven tapestry of history.

Slavic tribes were living here in the 6th millennium BC and assimilated with the Thracien culture which had roots in 4th century BCE. The Thracien were known to be formidable warriors.

Evidence of their status and standards can be seen in the gold and pottery items discovered in tombs in Bulgaria dating from 4th C BC.

The Thracians did try to form a state – the Odrysian Kingdom which was located mostly in today’s Bulgaria and which lasted nearly five centuries until it was conquered by the Roman Empire in 46 AD. The whole region then became the province of Thrace under the Romans.

Bulgars established the first Bulgarian state in 681. Bulgars and Slavs unified to become Bulgarians.

The early Cyrillic script was developed in Bulgaria in the 9th century. The name “Cyrillic” often confuses people who are not familiar with the script’s history, because it does not identify the country of origin – Bulgaria (in contrast to the “Greek alphabet”). Among the general public, it is often called “the Russian alphabet”, because Russian is the most popular and influential alphabet based on the script.

The history of Ottoman Empire in Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, from the conquest in the late 14th century, to the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878.

After World War II, Bulgaria became a Communist state, with Todor Zhivkhov serving as General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party for a period of 35 years. The era came to an end among uprisings and collapse of the Communist system in Eastern Europe.

It seems that Bulgaria has been raped and abused over many decades, but now seems on an upward trajectory.

Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007. The EU has provided funding and resources for significant infrastructure improvement.