Here are some interesting facts about this significant day:
Steamship "Radecki" and Hristo Boteva uprising
In 1876, the Bulgarian national hero Hristo Botev captured the Austro-Hungarian steamship "Radetsky" on the Danube. He used his ego to transport a detachment of rebels to the Bulgarian coast in order to support the uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Although the uprising was suppressed, Boteva's act became a symbol of the struggle for freedom. Today "Radetsky" is a museum exhibit in Bulgaria.
April uprising of 1876
One of the most important moments of the struggle for independence - the April Uprising of 1876. Bulgarians, noticing the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, raised a popular revolt against the invaders. However, the uprising was brutally suppressed - thousands of Bulgarians were killed, and many towns and villages were destroyed. Nevertheless, the uprising caused a wide resonance in Europe, which led to the intervention of international forces.
Russo-Turkish War and San Stefano Peace Treaty
The events of 1876 became one of the causes of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The conflict ended with the victory of Russia and the signing of the San Stefano Peace Treaty on March 3, 1878. According to this agreement, Bulgaria received autonomy, and its borders included most of the ethnic Bulgarian lands.
Ceremonies on top of Shipka
Decisive battles of the Russo-Turkish war took place on top of Shipka in the Balkan forests. Until now, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony and historical reconstructions are held here every year.
The end of the war did not mean the liberation of all of Bulgaria
The final decisions about the future of Bulgaria were taken at the Berlin Congress of the Great Powers in June-July 1878. The results of this international agreement largely reflected compromises reached even before the war. In fact, only the Principality of Bulgaria (territories of present-day Northern Bulgaria and the area around Sofia) gained independence, but it formally remained a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Southern Bulgaria with its center in Plovdiv was left as an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire. Other Bulgarian lands remained subject to the Sultan: Pirin Macedonia, the Rhodope Mountains, Strandzha, as well as Vardar Macedonia and White Sea Thrace, where at that time the majority of the population was Bulgarians.
The formation of Bulgaria in its current borders was the result of a long struggle that lasted almost 40 years. An important step was the adoption of the first democratic Constitution in 1879, which became the basis for the development of Bulgaria as a European democratic state.