Brief History of Bulgaria

The Thracians had developed their civilisation Before Christ, and were joined by the Slavs towards the end of the 5th century.

The Bulgars came down from the steppes of Central Asia and crossed the Danube in the mid-7th century.

This First Bulgarian Empire lasted until 1018, when it fell to the Byzantines.

The Second Bulgarian Kingdom was established in 1185, and Bulgaria entered a Golden Age; in which the kingdom touched three seas.

The Ottoman Turks put a stop to that for almost 500 years, and subjugated the Bulgarians to Islamic rulers.

Sofia became the capital of Bulgaria in 1879, after liberation from the Turks.

Two Balkan wars followed, and then the Bulgarians lost twice on the side of Germany in the World Wars too.

Georgi Dimitrov took power for the Communist party in 1945, and proclaimed Bulgaria a People's Republic.

Bulgaria finally declared itself a democracy in 1989, when Todor Zhivkov was peacefully ousted following the lead of other East European states.

On January 1st, 2007 Bulgaria joined the European Union.