There is one particularly memorable date in the history of the Slavic state of Bulgaria - March 3. It was on this day, in 1878, that the Russian-Turkish war ended, which became a liberation war for the people of Bulgaria. Captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1396, Bulgaria was under the Turkish yoke for many centuries and languished in captivity. But to throw off the Ottoman oppression on their own, they did not have enough strength. Europe did not help either, constantly urging Turkey to guarantee Christians living in the Ottoman Empire the same rights as Muslims. The Turks verbally assured that no one oppresses Christians, but in reality it turned out quite differently. Exhausted by constant oppression, the Bulgarians raised an uprising in 1876, which was brutally suppressed by the Turkish army. As a result of punitive measures, more than 30,000 Bulgarians died, including women, the elderly and children.

The harsh suppression of the April uprising was the last straw - in 1877, Russia began a war with Turkey. Indignant at the killing of civilians The Old World, and especially Great Britain, never entered the war. Bulgarian, Armenian and Georgian militias fought and died on the side of the Russian Empire. Serbian, Romanian and Montenegrin troops took an active part in the hostilities. The victory of the Russian army was swift and unconditional. Most of the territories forcibly annexed to the Ottoman Empire were liberated. Bulgaria became free for the first time in many centuries. Thanks to Russia...

Let me explain the need for another digression into recent history, which I, in the light of recent events, had to give you. Most recently, Bulgarians celebrated the anniversary of liberation from Turkish yoke. The holiday for the country is far from new. I was surprised by the new approach of the Bulgarian leadership to the coverage of the memorable date. The President of Bulgaria, speaking with a festive speech, forgot to say that the country is celebrating the day of liberation from the Turkish yoke and did not mention the main author of this holiday - Russia. Moreover, the Ministerial Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for holding the holiday they forgot to invite guests from Russia, the country of the liberator! Did not mention Russia and its role in the liberation of Bulgaria and the Prime Minister of the country.

The Bulgarian authorities and the political elite paid special attention to the holiday message written by John Kerry and solemnly read out to the Bulgarian people. John Kerry, who, like all Americans, representatives of a great nation, has the right to be stupid, also unfortunately does not know the history of this holiday. Kerry greatly rejuvenated the holiday, saying that he was some 25 years old. In his message, John noted "the progress that Bulgaria has made since independence and the victory of democracy over two decades ago." About the Russian-Turkish war and the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke Kerry did not mention, most likely for the banal reason of ignorance of this part of the story. All this, of course, Kerry wrote on behalf of President Obama. In conclusion, as usual, he hinted at the need to expand cooperation in the field of security and defense. Americans are boring, stupid and predictable...

In 2014, the Bulgarian government already played along with its strategic partner, the United States, by starting to blackmail Russia, which at that moment was pulling another section of the South Stream gas pipeline through the country. Playing with their muscles, the Bulgarian fathers-commanders twice, by their strong-willed decision, suspended the construction of the gas pipeline. The result - on December 1, 2014, Vladimir Putin announced the curtailment of the South Stream project. Not only ordinary Bulgarians and local entrepreneurs were shocked, but also the Bulgarian government itself, which did not expect such treachery from Russia!

At present, with their stupid antics, Bulgarian officials and their overseas patrons have achieved one thing - Bulgarians begin to organize themselves and show their civic position. So, on March 3, 2015, on the day of the celebration of the liberation from the Ottoman yoke, non-governmental actions were held in the country, the main slogan of which was - "Thank you Russia, we remember history!" . On March 3, one of the parties in the Bulgarian parliament, the Ataka political party, organized a National March, which was attended by tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, representatives of public and patriotic organizations and representatives of other left-wing parties. Guests from Russia were invited to the procession. Deputies Anatoly Karpov and Roman Khudyakov were present from the Russian State Duma. Greetings from Sergei Naryshkin and from the leadership of the LDPR party were read out.

This is another of the already numerous examples of rape in world history in which the United States has succeeded so well. Methodically driving into the minds of young Bulgarians lies about the root causes of the celebration of Independence Day, they expect that in a few decades they will forget about the Turkish aggression and the role of Russia in the liberation of Bulgaria. It is by using this technique for more than twenty years they have disfigured the worldview of the inhabitants of Ukraine, thus dividing the once united people into Russians And Ukrainians. What came out of this we have the opportunity to observe with our own eyes - the war in the Donbass is broadcast on all television channels and sometimes amazes with its cruelty and senselessness.

Whatever the Americans do, no matter how they try to split the world and set most countries against Russia, we must remember - who does not remember his past, he has no future! I am sincerely grateful to those Bulgarians who, not following the official propaganda on this day, March 3, took to the streets of Sofia and celebrated the "National holiday on March 3, the Day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke, the day of thanksgiving to fraternal Russia." This is an act of people who remember their roots, who will not allow their history to be rewritten and dragged into a new political adventure. In unity, strength and victory!

P.S. To be fair, I would like to add Americans also participated in the Russian-Turkish war, true indirectly. Exactly The Turkish army was armed with the latest American rifles, which in turn brought a lot of trouble to the Russian troops. It is from this weapon produced at US factories, today's ally of Bulgaria, in 1876, local residents who rebelled against the Ottoman yoke were killed ...

Alexey Zotiev

On March 3, 2018, Bulgaria celebrated the 140th anniversary of the liberation from the Ottoman yoke. It was on this day in 1878 that Russia and Turkey signed the Treaty of San Stefano, according to which, after 500 years of foreign rule, Bulgarian statehood was restored. Despite the decisive contribution of Russian troops to the liberation of Bulgaria, over the past century and a half, relations between Moscow and Sofia have not been easy.

Celebration of the Day of Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman yoke Gettyimages.ru © Contributor

Made in San Stefano

March 3rd is the Day of Liberation from the Ottoman Yoke in Bulgaria. This is one of the main national holidays of the country, established in honor of the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. On March 3, 1878, in San Stefano (now Yesilkoy), a suburb of Constantinople, where Russian troops advancing towards the capital of the Ottoman Empire stopped, representatives of Russia and Turkey signed a peace treaty. One of his conditions was the re-establishment of the Bulgarian state.

In addition, Turkey was forced to recognize the independence of Serbia, the United Principality of Moldavia and Wallachia (future Romania) and Montenegro, which were allies of Russia in that war.

As noted in an interview with RT, Associate Professor of the UNN named after. N.I. Lobachevsky Maxim Medovarov, the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 and the San Stefano peace treaty "woke up the Balkans", influencing not only the processes in Bulgaria.

"Both Albanian and Macedonian problems were first identified in San Stefano" , the expert notes.

It was in 1878, Medovarov emphasizes, with the formation of the Albanian League of Prizren that the movement for the creation of an Albanian state began.

Signing of the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878 © Wikimedia Commons

Macedonia, which, according to the San Stefano peace treaty, was supposed to become part of Bulgaria, remained part of Ottoman Turkey following the results of the Berlin Congress that followed this treaty. The result was an increase national movement in a radical form and the creation in 1896 of the Internal Macedonian-Odrinsky revolutionary organization, which began to guerrilla war against the Turks, and after the annexation of Macedonia to Serbia in 1913 - against the Serbs. The most famous victim of the Macedonian militants was the King of Yugoslavia, Alexander I Karageorgievich, who was killed in Marseilles in 1934. The Abwehr and Croatian Ustashe actively helped the Macedonians in organizing this assassination attempt.

According to the results of the Berlin Congress, imposed on Russia by the European powers, Bulgaria itself also suffered, the territory of which, compared with the terms of the San Stefano peace treaty, was reduced by more than two times. However, already in the 1880s, the country in its policy reoriented from the Russian Empire to the states of Europe.

As Medovarov noted, the key role in this process was played by the social base on the basis of which the Bulgarian political elite was created.

"Bulgaria was, in fact, created in San Stefano, and the entire Bulgarian political class was created from the intelligentsia or low-class merchants, there was simply no one else, "- the expert notes. - "All of them were educated either in the West or in Russia among Russian nihilist revolutionaries" .

A striking example is the Prime Minister and Regent of Bulgaria Stefan Stambolov, expelled in 1873 from the Odessa Theological Seminary for his connection with the revolutionaries. It was this former Russian seminarian who most actively fought against Russian influence in the country.

Paradoxically, the Russian Empire itself also contributed to the estrangement of Bulgaria from Russia.

« After San Stefano, the Russian authorities of Bulgaria in 1879 imposed a liberal so-called Tarnovo constitution, which removed from the levers of government Orthodox clergy- that part of the educated population, which could be our support. All power passed into the hands of the revolutionary intellectuals and their parties ", - says Medovarov.

According to him, this constitution played a fatal role in the formation of the pro-Western orientation of the Bulgarian political class. Under the first prince of Bulgaria, Alexander I Battenberg, the Bulgarian politician favored an alliance with Great Britain, and after the accession to the Bulgarian throne of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1897, with Germany and Austria.

The people are silent

« Many Bulgarians accused Russia of not conquering Macedonia and other lands for them, - Medovarov notes another reason for the cooling of the Bulgarian elites towards Russia. - Our country was accused of insufficiently defending Bulgarian interests at the Berlin Congress of 1879 ».

The fact that Russia did not support Bulgaria during the Second Balkan war 1913, when the country was attacked by Serbia, Greece, Romania and Turkey, according to the historian, finally led Bulgaria to the camp of Germany's allies. Later, in two world wars, Sofia tried to regain control over Macedonia, lost after the Second Balkan War. After Soviet troops Bulgaria was liberated and the communist regime was established in the country. Now this is another reason for criticism of Russia by pro-Western liberals.

“Grievances accumulated, but these were grievances from a certain part of the Bulgarian political class,” Medovarov emphasizes, “The people have always been on the side of Russia. The masses have always been pro-Russian, but have no voice in politics.”

This is confirmed, according to the historian, by the fact that the reviews about Russia from the peasants who made up the majority of the population of Bulgaria, as well as the priests, were positive at the end of the 19th century, although the authorities in Sofia were already oriented towards the West. And now, according to a survey by the American sociological center Pew Research Center, conducted in May 2017, 56% of Bulgarians believe that a strong Russia is necessary in order to resist the West.

• Residents of Sofia meet Soviet soldiers, 1944 RIA Novosti

Medovarov recalls that even in 1940 a mass movement began in Bulgaria for a non-aggression pact with Soviet Russia, after the pro-German government came to power.

« Almost half of the country signed up for an alliance with the USSR, but the authorities completely ignored this ", - the expert notes.

As Bulgarian political scientist Plamen Miletkov, chairman of the board of the Eurasian Institute of Geopolitics and Economics, said in an interview with RT, a similar situation is observed to this day.

« Ordinary people - they are with Russia, - the expert notes. - But politicians sometimes say one thing and do another. They fulfill American orders in Bulgaria and the Balkans. You will now see how Bulgaria will work with Macedonia, with Kosovo, with Greece, so that Bulgaria becomes a leader in the Balkans, but this is the wrong course. ».

According to the expert, main goal The Bulgarian policy of drawing Macedonia into the EU and NATO is to create obstacles to plans to conduct the European part of the Turkish Stream through this country to the Balkans. However, this, like Sofia's refusal of the South Stream, is in the interests of not Bulgaria, but the United States.

« Now in Bulgaria there is American propaganda that Russia did not liberate Bulgaria and did nothing, and there was no war at all", - the expert notes.

Hope for change

Bulgaria is celebrating the 140th anniversary of the restoration of statehood, which is being celebrated today, as a member of NATO, the military-political bloc that is now in force. However, for the first time since 2003, the country's leadership invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to celebrate the anniversary of the country's liberation from the Ottoman yoke. This was done by President Rumen Radev, who was elected in November 2016 and advocates forging friendly ties with Russia.

And although the President of the Russian Federation will not come to Bulgaria this year on March 3, as noted by the Russian ambassador to Sofia, Anatoly Makarov, it is quite possible that he will visit this country within a year. At the festive events, Russia will be represented by Makarov himself. The day before, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia also arrived in the country on a special visit.

Although President Radev constantly talks about the need to lift the sanctions that Bulgaria, like other EU countries, has imposed on Russia, the government in whose hands the real power is is in no hurry to raise this issue. In September 2017, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that he could not agree with the thesis that Russia is not an enemy of Bulgaria.

• Bulgarian President Rumen Radev Reuters © Tony Gentile

« How can one say in military doctrine that Russia is not our enemy and still remain a member of NATO? - said the Prime Minister on local television. - It's a contradiction. Our doctrine says that if a war starts, we will fight on the side of NATO».

At the same time, the prime minister emphasized that he was against strengthening in the Black Sea and was in favor of cooperation with Russia in the tourism and energy sectors.

« Boyko Borisov wants to work with Russia, but does what the American ambassador orders ”, Miletkov notes.

According to the expert, the US may have dirt on the Bulgarian leader. In the early 1990s, he headed a security agency that was suspected of having ties to the underworld. A May 9, 2006, CIA cable released by WikiLeaks claimed that Borisov might be involved in the drug trade. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria refutes this information.

• Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Reuters © Yves Herman

However, according to the Bulgarian expert, it is likely that in 2018 there will be a reshuffle in power in Bulgaria. Now Borisov's government is backed by a shaky coalition between his GERB (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria) party and the nationalist United Patriots bloc, which in turn is at odds with Russia.

« I think that at the end of the year, in November-December, the government will change, there will be new elections, and we will work normally with Russia", - says Miletkov.

« For us, the situation is now favorable in the sense that, at least, the people are loyal to us, and these people have shown their abilities by electing an adequate president ", - says Medovarov.

According to the expert, Bulgaria's exit from the influence of the United States is "not only a Balkan issue, but a global one."

« If the American grip starts to really weaken around the world, then we will have more opportunities in the Balkans ", - says the political scientist.

After the cancellation of the main article of the Treaty of Paris on the neutralization of the Black Sea, Russia again got the opportunity to provide more active support to the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula in the struggle against the Ottoman yoke.

In 1875 an uprising broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Soon it spread to the territory of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia.

In the summer of 1876, Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Sultan. However, the forces were unequal. The Turkish army brutally suppressed the resistance of the Slavs. Only in Bulgaria, the Turks slaughtered about 30 thousand people.

Serbia was defeated by Turkish troops. The small Montenegrin army took refuge high in the mountains. Without the help of the European powers, and in the first place Russia, the struggle of these peoples was doomed to defeat.

At the first stage of this crisis, the Russian government tried to coordinate its actions with the Western European powers. Wide sections of Russian society demanded that Alexander II take a more decisive position.

Russian Slavic committees of St. Petersburg, Moscow and some other cities were active. The most prominent representatives of the intelligentsia participated in their activities (writer and publicist I.S. Aksakov, literary critic V.V. Stasov, sculptor M.M. Antokolsky, scientists I.I. Mechnikov, D.I. Mendeleev, etc.). The committees were engaged in raising funds for "brothers by blood and faith", sent Russian volunteers to support the rebellious Serbs, Bulgarians and other Balkan peoples, among whom were doctors N.F. Sklifasovsky and S.P. Botkin, writer G.I. Uspensky, artists V.D. Polenov and K.E. Makovsky.

Given the passivity of Western Europe in the Balkan issue and yielding to public pressure, the Russian government in 1876 demanded that the Sultan stop the extermination of the Slavic peoples and make peace with Serbia. However, the Turkish army continued active operations: it crushed the uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina and invaded Bulgaria. In conditions when the Balkan peoples were defeated, and Turkey rejected all proposals for a peaceful settlement, Russia in April 1877 declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The second stage of the Eastern crisis began.

Russia sought to avoid this Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878) because it was poorly prepared. The military reforms that began in the 1960s were not completed. Small arms only 20% corresponded to modern models. The military industry worked poorly, and the army did not have enough shells and other ammunition. Russian military thought was in captivity of the German military doctrine, the father of which was Moltke.

At the same time, there were talented generals M.D. in the Russian army. Skobelev, M.I. Dragomirov, and V. Gurko. The War Department has developed a plan for rapid offensive war, because it understood that protracted operations were beyond the strength of the Russian economy and finances. Russia mobilized and signed an agreement with Romania on the passage of Russian troops through its territory.

The plan of the Russian command provided for the end of the war within a few months, so that Europe would not have time to intervene in the course of events. Since Russia did not have a navy on the Black Sea, it was difficult to pass through the eastern regions of Bulgaria (near the coast). Moreover, in this area there were powerful fortresses Silistria, Shumla, Varna, Ruschuk, which formed a quadrangle, in which the main forces of the Turkish army were located, and advancement in this direction threatened the Russian army with protracted battles. It was decided to bypass these fortresses through the central regions of Bulgaria and go to Constantinople through the Shipka Pass.

By the beginning of June 1877, the Russian army, led by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich (185 thousand people), concentrated on the left bank of the Danube. She was opposed by approximately equal in number of troops under the command of Abdul-Kerim Pasha. The main part of the armed Turks was in the already indicated quadrangle of fortresses. The main forces of the Russian army concentrated somewhat to the west, near Zimnitsa. The main crossing over the Danube was being prepared there. Even further west, along the river, from Nikopol to Vidin, the Romanian troops (45 thousand people) were located.

In terms of combat training, the Russian army was superior to the Turkish one, but in terms of the quality of weapons it was inferior to the Turks. So, the Turkish army was armed with the latest American and British rifles. The Turkish infantry had more cartridges and trench tools (shovels, picks, etc.). Russian soldiers had to save ammo. An infantryman who used up more than 30 rounds of ammunition (more than half of the cartridge bag) during the battle was threatened with punishment.

On December 24, 1877, Turkey, defeated by Russia, turned to the powers with a request for mediation. Only the British government responded and notified St. Petersburg of this appeal. Answer A.M. Gorchakov said: if the Port wants to end the war, then with a request for a truce, it should apply directly to the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. The granting of a truce was conditional on the preliminary acceptance of the provisions of a future peace treaty.

On January 8, 1878, the Port addressed the Russian commander-in-chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (senior), with a request for a truce. The offensive of the Russian troops developed successfully, so the Russian government was in no hurry with the actual start of negotiations.

England tried to intervene in the negotiations, but Austria-Hungary did not support the belligerent position of the British. The Turkish representatives, who arrived in Kazanlak on January 20, 1878, after listening to the terms of peace, rejected most of the Russian demands. Russian troops continued to rapidly approach the Turkish capital. On January 31, 1878, at Adrianople, the Turks signed an armistice agreement, which included Turkey's agreement to the preliminary terms of the peace treaty proposed to it.

Austria-Hungary demanded the transfer of conditions for the future Russian-Turkish world for discussion at an international conference. After some hesitation, England acceded to this demand. The Russian government did not dare to go into conflict with them. England sent her fleet to the Turkish shores. In response to this, Russian troops stopped 12 km from the Turkish capital, in the town of San Stefano. On February 19 (March 3), 1878, a preliminary (preliminary) peace treaty was signed in San Stefano, which ended the Russian-Turkish war. The contract was signed by Russian representatives - Count N.P. Ignatiev, former ambassador to Constantinople, and head of the diplomatic office under the commander-in-chief A.I. Nelidov, and from the Turkish side - the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Port of Savfet Pasha and Sadullah Bey.

The Treaty of San Stefano significantly changed the map of the Balkans. A significant part of the Aegean coast was transferred to Bulgaria. Bulgaria became a principality in nominal vassalage to the sultan, stretching from the Danube and the Black Sea to the Aegean in the south and the Albanian mountains in the west. Turkish troops were deprived of the right to remain within Bulgaria. Within 2 years it was to be occupied by the Russian army. For the patrons of Turkey - British and Austro-Hungarian diplomacy - such a situation seemed unacceptable.

The British government feared that by including Bulgaria in its sphere of influence, Russia would actually become a Mediterranean power. In addition, the new borders of Bulgaria came so close to Constantinople that the straits and the Turkish capital were under constant threat of attack from the Bulgarian bridgehead. In view of this, the San Stefano Treaty met with a negative attitude from England.

Just as little did the San Stefano Treaty meet the interests of Austria-Hungary.

In Reichstadt and in the Budapest Convention of January 15, 1877, it was agreed that there would be no large Slavic state in the Balkans. In order to finally prevent the formation of such a state, the Constantinople Conference (December 1876) divided Bulgaria into two parts along the meridional direction in its project, and Western Bulgaria was to enter the sphere of Austrian influence. The Russians did not adhere to these projects, as they considered Bulgaria as single state, which would cover a significant part of the Balkan Peninsula.

The Treaty of San Stefano also proclaimed the complete sovereignty of Montenegro, Serbia and Romania, the provision of a port on the Adriatic to Montenegro, and Northern Dobruja to the Romanian principality, the return of Southwestern Bessarabia to Russia, the transfer of Kars, Ardagan, Bayazet and Batum. Serbia and Montenegro had some territorial acquisitions.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, reforms were to be carried out in the interests of the Christian population, as well as in Crete, Epirus and Thessaly. Turkey had to pay Russia an indemnity in the amount of 1 billion 410 million rubles. However, most of this amount was covered by territorial concessions from Turkey. The actual payment was 310 million rubles. The question of the straits in San Stefano was not raised by the Russians.

The Treaty of San Stefano, in fact, divided the European and Asian possessions of the Ottoman Empire, which significantly weakened the political and economic power of the Porte and contributed to the further rise of the national liberation struggle of the peoples remaining under its rule. For the lands that gained independence, he opened up opportunities for national, economic and cultural development.

England and Austria-Hungary, with the support of France, demanded the convening of a European congress to discuss the articles of the treaty and, in order to put pressure on Russia, began military preparations. Exhausted by the war, Russia was forced to agree.

The Congress opened on June 13, 1878 in Berlin. It was attended by Russia, England, France, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Italy and Turkey. Representatives of the Balkan states were admitted to Berlin, but were not members of the congress. Bismarck was the chairman of the congress. Each question brought up for discussion provoked heated debate. On the thirteenth of July, the congress ended its work with the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, which changed the Treaty of San Stefano. Russia was deprived of a significant part of the fruits of its victory. But the national interests of the Balkan peoples were also grossly trampled to please the political and strategic considerations of England and Austria-Hungary.

The congress deprived the Bulgarian people of the unity that the Treaty of San Stefano had provided them with, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkish rule was replaced by Austro-Hungarian. An uprising broke out against the new owners, which was brutally suppressed. The "defenders" of Turkey - England and Austria - captured without a shot: the first - Cyprus, the second - Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus, the essence of the Berlin Treaty was reduced to a partial partition of Turkey.

In January 1879, a peace treaty between Russia and Turkey was signed in Constantinople, which established that the articles of the Treaty of San Stefano, repealed or amended in Berlin, were replaced by the terms of the Berlin Treaty. The unamended articles of the Treaty of San Stefano were also finalized.

• Turkey rejected the London Protocol of the Six European Powers, signed on March 31 (19), 1877.

SOFIA, 3 March. /TASS/. Bulgaria solemnly celebrated on Saturday the 140th anniversary of the country's liberation from the Ottoman yoke in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The culmination of the holiday was a solemn military ritual and fireworks, which took place in the center of Sofia on the People's Assembly Square near the monument to the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II. According to a TASS correspondent from the scene, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Speaker of the Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva, Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria and a church delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, leaders of political parties and public associations, heads of diplomatic missions and hundreds of citizens.

"140 years ago, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed and the dream of our revivalists came true that all Bulgarians could live in one free state. But this agreement lived only a few months. It was buried by the Berlin Congress. And the romantic aspirations of Europe in the 19th century died in dramatic 20th century,” recalled Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

"However, the memory of the spring of 1878 will always inspire Bulgaria, as will the memory of the daring people who, at the cost of their lives, returned the Bulgarian question to the sphere of European interests," he continued.

The head of state recalled the manifesto of the liberator Tsar Alexander II, who declared war on the Ottoman Empire "in the name of justice and self-respect."

Dostoevsky wrote that the people of Russia themselves, led by the tsar, rose up for this war.<...>And these deep feelings are not subject to selfish political interpretations. Many soldiers of different nationalities died in this war, for all of them Bulgaria became the last home, and we honor them as our heroes. 140 years later, we must remember our history," Radev said.

"Our Bulgarian historical energy is not nostalgia for past greatness, but the awareness of the cost of freedom as our debt to the martyrs who paid for the ideal of a pure and holy republic," the president concluded.

Holiday on Shipka

The memory of the heroes was honored on Saturday at the top of Shipka, where a solemn event dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria was held at the foot of the Freedom Monument.

To bow to the liberators, President Radev, Patriarch Neophyte and Patriarch Kirill, official guests and tens of thousands of Bulgarians climbed to the top, most of whom made many kilometers on foot.

"140 years separate us from Shipka's epic, but the images of the warrior-liberators do not fade in the people's memory. Each subsequent generation of Orthodox Christians with lively attention and genuine interest rediscover the history of the liberation war. The reason for this is the unique sacrificial nature of this war for the freedom of the oppressed brothers," Patriarch Kirill said in front of the participants of the holiday. "Thousands of soldiers and officers of the Russian army gave their lives for the salvation of people connected with them by the common Orthodox faith," he recalled.

The Patriarch performed a memorial service at the foot of the monument to the choral singing of the Moscow Synodal Choir. And wreaths and flowers lay down at the Freedom Monument.

History of Victory

Russia decided to defend Bulgaria and start a war with the Turks after they brutally suppressed the April uprising of 1876, and the Constantinople Conference of the Great Powers, which proposed a draft peaceful solution Eastern question(passed from December 23, 1876 to January 20, 1877), ended without results.

In April 1877, Russia declared war on Turkey. Russian troops succeeded in successfully crossing the Danube, capturing the Shipka Pass and, after a five-month siege, forced the surrender of Osman Pasha's army in Plevna. This was followed by the defeat of the Turkish troops covering Constantinople (Istanbul). The losses of the Russian army in this military campaign, according to various sources, ranged from 20 to 35 thousand people.

The Treaty of San Stefano was signed by the Russian ambassador in Constantinople, Count Nikolai Ignatiev, and his fellow diplomat Alexander Nelidov, on the one hand, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Savfet Pasha, and the ambassador to Germany, Saadullah Bey, on the other. This document maximally took into account the interests of Bulgaria. The country became the largest state in the Balkans, its total area was more than 170 thousand square kilometers.

The main drawback of this treaty was the fact that it was subject to approval by Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Representatives of these powers considered that Bulgaria received more than it deserved, and the country's borders were cut.

Nevertheless, the main thing was done - Bulgaria, a country with a population of 4.8 million people, received the status of an independent state, and the date of March 3 became the Day of Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman yoke. Celebrations dedicated to this holiday were held on Saturday in all Bulgarian cities.

Exactly 140 years ago, on March 3, 1878, a peace treaty was signed in San Stefano between the Russian and Ottoman empires, which put an end to Russian-Turkish war. The result was the appearance on the world map of new independent states - Bulgaria and Montenegro, and international navigation along the Danube was also opened. This date is extremely significant for a number of Balkan states: Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, but the most important anniversary of the signing of the document remains for the Bulgarian society. In this state, March 3 is officially considered Independence Day and is a non-working day.

The Ottoman Empire owned the Bulgarian, Serbian, as well as a number of Montenegrin and Romanian territories since 1382. At the same time, severe restrictions on rights and freedoms were introduced for the Christian part of the population of these lands. Christians were heavily taxed, could not fully manage their property, and did not have the right to personal freedom.

In particular, the Turkish authorities did not hesitate to take Christian children in infancy to work in the Ottoman Empire, while the parents were forbidden to see their sons and daughters later. Moreover, at one time the Turks had the right of the first night to Christian women who wanted to marry other Christians.

To top it off, in most cities in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christians were prohibited from living on certain lands.

This policy led to a series of protests against Turkish rule in the 19th century. At the end of that century, Christian Serb uprisings broke out simultaneously in Bosnia, as well as the April Uprising in Bulgaria in 1875-1876. All these speeches were severely suppressed by Turkey, and the Turks distinguished themselves with particular ruthlessness precisely during the suppression of the April uprising, when, according to documents, out of 30 thousand of the total number of those killed during the dispersal of the rebels, only 10 thousand were somehow involved in hostilities against the Ottoman Empire, the rest were either relatives or acquaintances of the rebels. In addition to killings, Turkish military and irregular formations were marked by massive robberies of Bulgarian houses and rape of Bulgarian women. These events were dedicated to the picture of the Russian artist-wanderer "Bulgarian martyrs", written in 1877.

The events in the Balkans at that time caused indignation in the society of different countries of the world. This was facilitated by the articles of the American war correspondent Januariy McGahan, who wrote for a series of reports on the crimes of the Turks against the Bulgarians of both sexes.

A number of prominent politicians and artists late XIX century condemned the policy of Istanbul. Among them were writers Oscar Wilde, scientist, politician and revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi.

However, Russian society was most outraged by the actions of the authorities of the Ottoman Empire, in which the issues of oppression of the Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula were traditionally perceived painfully.

The uprising in Bosnia and Bulgaria received extensive press coverage. In Russian Orthodox churches and in the editorial offices of newspapers, fundraising began to help the rebels, public organizations helped to accept Bulgarian refugees, in addition, dozens of volunteers went to the Balkans to fight against the Ottomans. For some time, they tried to abandon a direct war with Turkey, since the military reform had not yet been completed in Russia, and the economic situation was not too favorable.

In December 1876, Russia, England, France and Turkey held a conference in Istanbul, where the Russian side demanded that the Turks recognize the autonomy of Bulgaria and Bosnia under the protectorate of the world community. The Ottoman Empire defiantly refused this. And in April of the following year, under pressure from public opinion and a number of politicians, Russia declared war on Turkey.

From the very beginning, it was extremely difficult for Russia to develop. With great difficulty, the Russian troops crossed the Danube. In addition, Turkish supporters managed to raise an uprising in Abkhazia, Chechnya and Dagestan. As a result, almost the entire Black Sea coast on the Abkhaz territory was taken by the Turks by the spring of 1877. To suppress these speeches Russian authorities were forced to transfer reinforcements from the Far East.

In the Balkans, the fighting was also difficult for the Russian army: the lack of modern weapons and problems with the supply of food and medicine to the army affected. As a result, the Russian troops managed to win the key battle of the war and take the city of Plevna only a few months after it began. Nevertheless, the Russian troops, supported by volunteers from among the Bulgarians, Romanians and Serbs, managed to liberate the entire territory of Bulgaria, part of Bosnia and Romania from Turkish rule. The general's divisions occupied Adrianople (modern Edirne) and came close to Istanbul. The commander-in-chief of the Turkish army, Osman Pasha, was captured by the Russians.

The war found a wide response in Russian society. Many people went to participate in hostilities voluntarily. Among them were famous people, including doctors, Sergei Botkin, writers and.

The commander of the 13th Narva Hussar Regiment of the Russian Army, the son of the great Russian poet and prose writer, also took part in the hostilities.

Stolen Victory

After a series of military setbacks, Turkey was forced to hastily conclude peace with Russia. It was signed in the western suburb of Istanbul, San Stefano (now known as Yesilkoy). On the Russian side, the agreement was signed by the former Russian ambassador to Turkey, Count and head of the diplomatic office of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Balkans, Alexander Nelidov. From Turkish - Foreign Minister Savfet Pasha and Ambassador to Germany Saadullah Pasha. The document proclaimed the creation of an independent state of Bulgaria, the Principality of Montenegro, a significant increase in the territories of Serbia and Romania. At the same time, Bulgaria received a number of Turkish territories, where Bulgarians lived before the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans: the Bulgarian territory stretched from the Black Sea to Lake Ohrid (modern Macedonia). In addition, Russia received a number of cities in Transcaucasia, and the autonomy of Bosnia and Albania was formed.

However, a number of European powers did not agree with the provisions of the document, primarily Great Britain. The English squadron approached Istanbul, there was a serious threat of war between the United Kingdom and Russia. As a result, a new treaty was concluded in Berlin, called the Berlin Treaty. According to it, Bulgaria was divided into two parts, one proclaimed an independent state with its capital in Sofia, and the second proclaimed autonomy, but as part of the Ottoman Empire. Also, Serbia and Romania had to abandon some of the acquisitions of the San Stefano Treaty, and Russia was forced to return part of the Transcaucasian acquisitions. However, she retained the historically Armenian city of Kars, which was actively populated by Russian settlers.

Also, under the Berlin Agreement, Austria-Hungary received the right to establish a protectorate over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which eventually became one of the reasons for the First World War.

“The liberation war of 1877-78 is considered by a number of historians to be the most just, since after the brutal suppression of the April uprising, it was the all-Slavic rise that became its driving force. This liberation war was started, in fact, by the people, and they won it. And the Treaty of San Stefano fixed the independence of Bulgaria within its historical borders. However, Russia's military victory then turned into a diplomatic defeat and Russian Empire, and Bulgaria,” he argues in an interview with Gazeta. Ru" Bulgarian Ambassador to Russia Boyko Kotsev.

According to him, this was due, among other things, to the fact that the San Stefano Peace was developed by some people, primarily Count Ignatiev, and another delegation was sent to Berlin for negotiations, headed by Count Mikhail Gorchakov. “Being at an advanced age and not having information from his ambassadors, some of whom were engaged not so much in state as in personal affairs, he could not protect the interests of Russia, as a result of which she lost a number of achievements of the war. This also affected Bulgaria, which lost some of its historical lands as a result of the Berlin Diktat, as we called it, forever. Nevertheless, we remember those who made their invaluable contribution to the formation of the Bulgarian state, and since then, Count Ignatiev, who developed the draft San Stefano Agreement, has been considered a national hero of Bulgaria,” Kotsev concluded.

Some historians believe that the reason for the signing of the Berlin Agreement by St. Petersburg was the unwillingness of Russia to fight with England. As a result of the battles of the war of 1877-1878, 15.5 thousand Russian soldiers and officers died, about 3.5 thousand Bulgarian volunteers, in addition, 2.5 thousand militiamen from Serbia and Montenegro were killed.

Bulgarians think differently

Despite the fact that the date of the conclusion of the Treaty of San Stefano is one of the main national holidays in Bulgaria, now there are people in the intellectual and political elite of the country who began to advocate for the removal of references to this event from Bulgarian history textbooks. “There is a certain stratum of people in Bulgaria who are in favor of the broadest cooperation with a number of European countries and with the United States, but they prefer to forget about the role of Russia.

I remember well my conversation with one activist. In front of me, she was indignant that in Bulgaria they dared to put up monuments to Russian soldiers, they, they say, were occupiers and killed the Bulgarians, and did not defend them. And when the Russian Patriarch came to Bulgaria, she was shaking with anger, shouting: “Kakva impudence! Kkva impudence!!!" (What impudence - Bulgarian.). It turns out that the Patriarch had the “impudence” to call Russians and Bulgarians a single people.

“They, these Russians, want to occupy Bulgaria again through the church!” she almost shouted. I dared to object that he meant the Slavic brotherhood, and she replied that, they say, it doesn’t matter, ”said Danko Malinovsky, a traveler and Balkanist, who has Russian and Macedonian roots, to Gazeta.Ru.

Some Bulgarian public figures acknowledge that there are people in the country who do not recognize the significance of the Treaty of San Stefano in Bulgarian history, but emphasize that they are in the minority.

“There are such people in Bulgaria, this is about 4% of our society, who are trying to give this event a political and economic flavor, trying to show that at that time Russia had the goal of reaching the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, and the liberation of the Bulgarians was not interested in it,” says “ Gazete.Ru” Chairman of the Bulgarian national movement “Russophiles” Nikolai Malinov. He stressed that the vast majority of Bulgarians have a completely different position on this matter. “Let's not forget that after the liberation of Bulgaria, Russia actually created the Bulgarian fleet and army, created the constitution of our country and laid the foundations of our statehood. Two years after the end of the war of 1877-1878, the Russians left all this to us and simply left without demanding anything in return. And, of course, we have not forgotten it. Today, up to 100,000 people will come to the Shipka Pass, where one of the key battles of that war took place, to commemorate the dead Russian soldiers and officers, as well as the Bulgarian militias. It is expected that the memorial on Shipka will also be visited, ”added Malinov.