It makes no sense to mix events from 145 years ago with those that are happening now
All our failures come from perceiving freedom as sloboda
We should not make harakiri about being restored in a small territory
– Prof. Shivachev, is March 3 the date of the Bulgarian resurrection, the most suitable for our national holiday?
– This is the natural Bulgarian national holiday. March 3 marks the resurrection of the Bulgarian people, the realization of the national dream after nearly 500 years of political and spiritual oppression, the destruction of our original culture.
For generations of Bulgarians, the ideal of San Stefano Bulgaria is our true doctrine of national liberation. March 3 marks the beginning of a series of our achievements after the Liberation – the Union in 1885, the declaration of independence, the victories in the Balkan War.
The holiday is an occasion for national self-esteem.
The holiday is a day to take stock of our historical path, of our national successes – the Unification, Independence, the wars in 1912, as well as our failures – in 1913, 1915, 1918.
– How justified are the torments that we got our freedom for nothing? Would we have been free without the Russian army, without Emperor Alexander II’s decision to go to war with Turkey?
– Bulgarian historians have given a clear and definite answer to this question. The facts disprove the thesis that our freedom was given for free, achieved only thanks to the Russo-Turkish war of liberation.
As long as we have beaten ourselves up, another has freed us. The successes of the Bulgarian revival are indisputable, including the first recognition of the existence of the Bulgarian people within the Ottoman Empire with the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchy in 1870. This was achieved even against the will of Russia, which then defended the unity of Orthodoxy.
As is known, after the Russian loss of the Crimean War 1853-1856 by the Ottoman Empire, England and France, the Bulgarian question was placed in the freezer of the interests of the Great Powers, our liberation was postponed indefinitely. The Bulgarian revolutionaries understand how dangerous this stagnation is for the Bulgarians – both because of the periodic campaigns for assimilation in the Ottoman Empire, and because of the appetites of the already liberated Balkan countries Greece, Serbia, Romania for the conquest of lands with a predominant Bulgarian population – in Niško, Pirot, Aegean Macedonia , Western Thrace, Northern Dobruja.
The April Uprising in 1876 was an expression of incredible idealism – the Bulgarians stood up with cherry balls against the well-prepared thousand-strong army of the Ottoman Empire. But the uprising and the nearly 30,000 victims cause a strong response in the world and at the end of 1876 in Constantinople, the ambassadors of the Great Powers decided to restore the Bulgarian state, which the Ottoman Empire refused to fulfill.
Russia alone can force Turkey to comply with the will of the Great Powers, although it is not ready for war. However, Russia is faced with a dilemma – if it does not declare war on the Ottoman Empire, Russia will lose its decades-built authority as the protector of the Slavs in the Balkans.
Bulgarian historians have proven that even before the start of the war there were agreements that the goal was to restore the Bulgarian state and that Russia would not conquer the Straits. And indeed, the Russian army reached about 20 km from Constantinople, but did not enter it, which is their age-old dream.
In this war, our contribution is significant enough to say that we deserve our freedom. Bulgarians from all over the country participate in the 12 militia companies that fight on the most critical points of the war – the heroism of our ancestors in the defense of Stara Zagora, in the battles of Shipka stunned even the Russian officers. Our squads, led by the famous voivodes Philip Totyu, Panayot Hitov, provide the Russian army with valuable information about every step of the Turkish enemy.
And the Treaty of San Stefano restored the Bulgarian state.
And the future development of Bulgaria is taking a natural course for the 19th century. We should not make harakiri about being restored in a small territory. The same is the case after the liberation of Greece, Serbia, even Germany and Italy.
– Could Bulgaria have freed itself in other, alternative ways?
– Exotic theories are being launched that we had other ways of liberation – for example, to turn the Ottoman Empire into a dualistic Turkish-Bulgarian state following the example of Austria-Hungary, or to liberate ourselves only thanks to our national liberation movement. This cannot happen, because in the 19th century we Bulgarians were 2-2.5 million people compared to the Ottoman Empire with a population of tens of millions, spread across three continents, with an army of 1 million soldiers trained by German generals.
So the path of our liberation was the only possible one. It has saved our country from complete liquidation and division of the territory, for which our neighbors were clamoring.
– Is it our fault that the San Stefano dream of a united Bulgaria was not realized?
– Mistakes of our political class are the reason that after 1878 we have not resolved the issues of our complete unification – the mistakes made in 1913, 1915 have nothing to do with the War of Liberation in 1877-1878. Yes, it’s our fault, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about it. The realization of the San Stefano ideal is a matter of geopolitics, of the interests of the Great Powers, of the other Balkan states.
Let’s not forget that 7 years after the Liberation, Bulgaria doubled its territory after the Unification. As a result of the Balkan War with the London Peace Treaty, Bulgaria achieves 9/10 of our San Stefano ideal. But the First National Disaster, our participation on the wrong side in the First World War, led to the curtailment of these historic achievements of our people and our army.
Stefan Stambolov himself, one of the creators of modern Bulgaria, who received high praise even from the British Queen, says: “With my heart I love Russia for what the Russian people have done. However, the mind of the great politician draws another, European path for Bulgaria. And it is a fact that only 7-8 years after Liberation, our people found their European path, which they have been realizing for more than a century”.
– This year, the commemoration of March 3 almost coincides with the first anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine. How does this modern tragedy involving Moscow change the tone of the holiday?
– There is no logic in mixing events from 145 years ago with events that are happening now and are the result of the Kremlin’s current policy. Let us, at least on this day, shake off mixing and deepening conflicts. Yes, there is currently a war in which two brotherly peoples are fighting. But we must realize our place in the modern world, the European path of our country. We have made the right geostrategic choice, we are part of the EU and NATO communities they have firm position on the conflict in Ukraine. We must support this position.
And we have a saying: when two brothers are fighting, stay away so you don’t end up guilty. On March 3, let’s pay tribute to those who fell for our freedom and pray for Bulgaria to survive.
– How do you assess the calls that were heard once again for dismantling the Monument to the Soviet Army and replacing it with a monument to Khan Asparukh?
– This is another manifestation of the wild populism that is spreading in our country. In civilized Europe these things are solved. No one in the last year of the war in Ukraine – neither in Germany nor in Austria – questions the monuments associated with the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II. In Poland, the case is different – the relations between Poland and Russia have been very complex and conflicted over the centuries.
We need neither pretend to be greater Catholics than the Pope nor bury our heads in the sand. And let’s not forget that the conflict is too close to us, we also have a common border with Russia across the Black Sea.
– Are we free 145 years after Liberation?
– We Bulgarians have never had such freedom to travel around Europe, around the world, to choose where to live, as we have now. The Euro-Atlantic direction of our country is the result of our free choice. Unlike the infamous slips on which Stalin and Churchill put us on one side of the Iron Curtain after the Second World War, without our people having the right to vote. However, this choice also includes great responsibilities.
All our failures in recent decades have come from perceiving freedom as sloboda. We have laws, we don’t follow them – we perceive them as a door in the field.
The heroic epic of our national liberation, of the resurrection of our country is a reason for pride. It’s high time we shake off the Big Brother dependent little people complex to move forward with pride and self-confidence.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Shivachev is one of the most authoritative Bulgarian historians. Long-time director of the Regional History Museum in Plovdiv for three decades before stepping down in early September. Author of valuable studies and historical works in which he presents prominent Bulgarians – “The Donor Kiril Nektariev”, “Hadji Gyoka Pavlov”.
