On March 3, Bulgaria celebrates its National Holiday. On this date in 1878, order in Bulgaria was restored after more than five hundred years under Ottoman rule. This became possible with the signature of the peace treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

The liberation of Bulgaria came as a result of victory of Russia in the Russo-Turkish war declared on April 12, 1877.
During the war 12,000 Bulgarians joined with the Russian army to fight against the forces of the Ottoman Empire. The war had cost about 200,000 lives on the Russian side. The Bulgarian volunteer unit fought side by side with the Russian army and provided supplies to the Russian troops. Turkey summoned a huge army that was very well trained and equipped.

Then the Shipka battles became known to the world. Foreign reporters informed millions of readers about the course of the war. The Turkish troops were taken by surprise and then defeated.
The battle for the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Range was to impact crucially the course of military operations.

On March 3 in San Stefano near Istanbul, Turkey signed a preliminary peace treaty. Under this treaty the Bulgarian ethnic territories in Moesia, Thrace, and Macedonia were liberated. Other European powers, especially England and Austria-Hungary, were unwilling to accept the situation. The prime reward of Russian victory was seriously reduced by the European powers at the Berlin Congress in the summer of 1878. The treaty of San Stefano was annulled. Macedonia and Thrace remained Ottoman provinces. Only Northern Bulgaria and the Sofia region were granted practical freedom and were included in the Principality of Bulgaria.

The actual life of independent Bulgaria started after the Berlin Congress.

Bulgaria’s National Day on March 3 was first recognized in 1880, in honor of a Russian Emperor. In 1888, March 3 had become Bulgaria’s Day of Liberation and it was not declared a National Holiday until 1978.

Since 1990, the date of March 3 is included in the list of Bulgaria’s official holidays.
This day is remembered as Bulgaria’s Independence Day, as people throughout Bulgaria pause for a tribute.

By Daphne Karcheva-Orris

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