Radio program for History lessons → ‘Talking history’:

Rich cultural & historical heritage

The territories of Bulgaria have been inhabited since pre-historic times. The oldest

gold treasure in the world was found near the city of Varna and dates back tom the 5-

th millennium B.C.

The Bulgarians- heirs of the Thracians, Slavs and the Great Bulgarians

The Thracian civilization (5th

century B.C.) - the oldest of these territories. The

Slavs came in the 6th century.

The Great Bulgarians (nomads from middle Asia) seized the territories of the

today’s North Bulgaria in the 7th century

The History of Bulgaria in facts:

681 - establishment of the Bulgarian state by Khan Asparuh

864 - the Christianity became an official religion; independence of the church

855 - the brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Slavonic alphabet

866 - the students of Cyril and Methodius found a protection in Bulgaria -

establishment of the Slavonic- Bulgarian alphabet and script

7th

-14th century- First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom-cultural bloom,

economic and political growth (own coins); Bulgaria belonged to the most

influential states in medieval Europe, 3 sea borders

14th

-19th century-Bulgaria is a part of the Ottoman Empire- a standstill of the

political, economic and cultural development of Bulgaria; aggressive policy of

Islamisation against the Bulgarian nation

1878 - liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman slavery by the Russian troops

1878 – 1944 – Bulgaria is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament; a

partition of the country by the congress in Berlin;

08th September 1944 - the Occupation of Bulgaria by the Red Army

1944 -1989 - Bulgaria in the socialistic period - the state and the party are

merged, overpowering of the opposition parties; copying of the Russian

economic model, nationalizing of the industry, expropriation of the land

10th November 1989 - the gentle revolution

Until 1997 - instability, the first economic reforms

1997 - an economic and political stability; establishment of the currency board

2001-2005 - the last king of Bulgaria Simeon the Second became a prime

minister

2006 -2010- Bulgaria became a member of EU in 2007, political stability, but

slow economic development. A new government after the elections in July

2010.