Period
Description
SEVENTH CENTURY
ca. 630
First federation of Bulgar tribes formed.
681
Byzantine Empire recognizes first Bulgarian state.
NINTH CENTURY
811
First Bulgarian Empire defeats Byzantine Empire, begins
expanding.
870
Tsar Boris I accepts Christianity (Eastern Rite Orthodox) for
Bulgaria.
893-927
Reign of Tsar Simeon, first golden age; maximum size of First
Bulgarian Empire.
TENTH CENTURY
924
Simeon defeated by Byzantines; first empire begins decline.
ELEVENTH CENTURY
1014
Byzantines inflict major military loss on Tsar Samuil.
1018
Bulgaria becomes part of Byzantine Empire.
TWELFTH CENTURY
1185
Asen and Peter lead revolt against Byzantine Empire,
reestablishing Bulgarian state with capital at Turnovo.
THIRTEENTH CENTURY
1202
Tsar Kaloian makes peace with Byzantine Empire, achieves full
independence, and begins Second Bulgarian Empire.
1204
Treaty with Rome recognizes pope and consolidates western
border of Bulgarian Empire.
1218-1241
Reign of Ivan Asen II, second golden age of Bulgaria and
period of territorial expansion
1241
Tatar raids and feudal factionalism begin, causing social and
political disorder.
1277
Peasant revolt; "swineherd tsar" Ivailo takes power.
ca. 1300
Tatar raids end.
FOURTEENTH CENTURY
1323-1370
Under Mikhail Shishman and Ivan Aleksandur, territorial and
commercial expansion resumes.
1385
Sofia captured by Ottoman Empire.
1389
Turks defeat Serbs at Kosovo Polje, exposing remaining
Bulgarian territory to Ottoman occupation.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY
1453
Constantinople falls to Ottoman Empire, ending Byzantine
Empire.
SIXTEENTH CENTURY
ca. 1600
Ottoman Empire reaches peak of its power and territorial
control.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
1688
Suppression of Bulgarian revolt against Ottomans at Chiprovets
ends Catholic influence in Bulgaria.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1741
Hristofor Zhefarovich completes his Stematografia,
seminal work on Bulgarian cultural history.
1762
Paisi of Hilendar writes a history of the Bulgarian people,
using vernacular Bulgarian.
NINETEENTH CENTURY
1804
Serbia is the first Slavic land to take arms against Ottoman
Empire.
1806
Sofronii Vrachanski publishes first book printed in Bulgaria.
1815
Bulgarian volunteers join Serbian independence fighters.
ca. 1820
End of kurdzhaliistvo, anarchic period
precipitated by breakdown of Ottoman authority in Bulgarian
territory.
1835
Neofit Rilski opens first school teaching in Bulgarian, using
Petur Beron's secular education system.
1840
First girls' school teaching in Bulgarian opens.
1844
First periodical printed in Bulgaria.
1856
First chitalishte (public reading room) opens.
1860
Bishop Ilarion Makariopolski declares Bulgarian diocese of
Constantinople independent of Greek Orthodox patriarchate.
1862
Georgi Rakovski forms first armed group for Bulgarian
independence.
1870
Bulgarian Orthodox Church declared a separate exarchate by
Ottoman Empire.
1875
September Uprising, first general Bulgarian revolt against
Ottoman rule, crushed.
1876
April Uprising spurs massacres of Bulgarians by Ottomans and
European conference on autonomy for Christian subjects of
Ottoman Empire.
1878
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 ends in Treaty of San Stefano,
creating an autonomous Bulgaria stretching from Aegean Sea to
Danube.
1878
In Treaty of Berlin, Western Europe forces revision of Treaty
of Berlin, returning area south of Balkan Mountains to Ottoman
Empire; a smaller Bulgaria retains autonomy within the empire.
1879
Turnovo constitution written as foundation of Bulgarian state;
Alexander of Battenburg elected prince of Bulgarian
constitutional monarchy.
1886
Alexander deposed by army officers.
1887
Stefan Stambolov begins seven years as prime minister,
accelerating economic development; Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-
Gotha accepts Bulgarian throne.
1891
Social Democratic Party, later Bulgarian Communist Party,
founded.
1899
Bulgarian Agrarian Union founded to represent peasant
interests.
TWENTIETH CENTURY
1903
Suppression of Ilinden-Preobrazhensko Uprising sends large
numbers of Macedonian refugees into Bulgaria and inflames
Macedonian issue.
1908
Ferdinand declares Bulgaria fully independent of Ottoman
Empire and himself tsar.
1912
First Balkan War pushes Ottoman Empire completely out of
Europe; Bulgaria regains Thrace.
1913
In Second Balkan War, Bulgaria loses territory to Serbia and
Greece; Bulgarian nationalism on the rise.
1915-18
Bulgaria fights in World War I on side of Central Powers;
decisive defeat at Dobro Pole (1918) forces Ferdinand to
abdicate in favor of his son Boris III.
1919
Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine awards Thrace to Greece,
Macedonian territory to Yugoslavia, Southern Dobruja to
Romainia, sets Bulgarian reparations, and limits Bulgarian
army.
1919
Under Prime Minister Aleksandur Stamboliiski, agrarians become
dominant political party; socialist parties also profit from
postwar social unrest.
1923
After four years of drastic economic reform and suppression of
opposition, Stamboliiski assassinated by Macedonian
extremists.
1923-1931
Coalition Tsankov and Liapchev governments suppress
extremists; social tensions rise with world economic crisis of
1929.
1934
In Balkan Entente, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia
reaffirm existing Balkan borders; Bulgaria refuses
participation, is isolated.
1934
Right-wing coup by Zveno coalition begins dictatorship,
abolishes political parties; Macedonian terrorism ends.
1935
Boris III deposes Zveno and declares royal dictatorship that
remains in effect until 1943.
1941
Bulgaria signs Tripartite Pact, allying it with Nazi Germany
in World War II; Bulgaria refrains from action against Soviet
Union for duration of war.
1943
Boris III dies, leaving three-man regency to rule for his
underage son Simeon II.
1943-44
Allied air raids damage Sofia heavily; activity of antiwar
factions in Bulgaria increases.
1944
As Bulgarian government seeks peace with Allies, Red Army
invades; temporary Bulgarian government overthrown by
communist-led coalition.
1946
Georgi Dimitrov of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) becomes
prime minister of the new Republic of Bulgarian.
1947
Dimitrov constitution goes into effect; remaining opposition
parties to BCP silenced; state confiscation of private
industry completed.
1948-49
Muslim, Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic religious
organizations restrained or banned.
1949
Joseph V. Stalin chooses Vulko Chervenkov to succeed Dimitrov;
period of Stalinist cult of personality, purges of Bulgarian
BCP, and strict cultural and political orthodoxy begins.
1950
Large-scale collectivization of agriculture begins, continuing
through 1958.
1953
Death of Stalin begins loosening of Chervenkov's control,
easing of party discipline.
1956
Todor Zhivkov becomes first secretary of BCP.
1957-58
After Soviet invasion of Hungary, Bulgaria cracks down on
nonconformism to party line in culture and politics.
1962
Nikita S. Khrushchev annoints Todor Zhivkov as successor to
Chervenkov; Zhivkov becomes prime minister and is unchallenged
leader for the next twenty-seven years.
1968
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia tightens government control
in Bulgaria.
1971
New constitution specifies role of BCP in Bulgarian society
and politics.
1978
Dissident Georgi Markov assassinated in London.
1981
Economic restructuring in New Economic Model brings temporary
economic upswing, no long-term improvement.
1981
Under direction of Liudmila Zhivkova, Bulgaria celebrates its
1,300th anniversary.
1984
First program of assimilation of ethnic Turkish minority
begins.
1987-88
Dissident groups begin to form around environmental and human
rights issues.
1989
Summer Second Turkish assimilation program brings massive
Turkish emigration, increased dissident activity, and
international criticism.
1989
Fall Massive antigovernment demonstrations trigger party
dismissal of Zhivkov. 1990 Three BCP-dominated governments are
formed and dissolved; round table discussions between BCP and
opposition parties begin to formulate reform legislation.
1990
June First multiparty national election since World War II
gives majority in National Assembly to Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP; formerly BCP) with large opposition block to Union
of Democratic Forces (UDF), which has refused participation in
government.
1990
July Tent-city demonstrations begin in Sofia, continue through
summer.
1990
August UDF leader Zheliu Zhelev chosen president.
1990
September Zhelev meets with French and American leaders,
receives pledges of economic support.
1990
November-December General strike forces resignation of
government of Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov; interim coalition
government formed under Dimitur Popov.
1991
January Initial phase of economic reform, including price
decontrol on some commodities, goes into effect.
1991
Spring Arable Land Law begins redistribution of land to
private farmers.
1991
July New constitution approved by National Assembly; national
elections set for October.
Data as of June 1992