Bulgaria’s Historical Struggles and Expansion

Conflict with Byzantium (679 A.D.)

At this time, Hellenic Byzantium was occupied with battles against the Arabs. In 679, the Byzantine emperor Constantine II waged war against the Old Bulgarians. Unfortunately, Constantine’s army suffered a severe defeat, and he had to sign a peace treaty, acknowledging the Bulgarian khan’s authority and surrendering all the land that makes up present-day Bulgaria.

Fusion of Slavs and Old Bulgarians

The blending of Slavs and Old Bulgarians into a united people called Bulgarians continued. They expanded south into Thrace and Macedonia and west along the Danube basin into Central Europe.

Conflict with Byzantium (811-813 A.D.)

In 811, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I City Tour Istanbul, concerned about the growing power of the Bulgarians, led an army into Bulgaria. The expedition ended in disaster, with the emperor killed and his army defeated. In 813, the new Byzantine emperor, Michael, launched a stronger attack on the Bulgarians. The Byzantines suffered a significant defeat, and surviving soldiers found safety only within the walls of Byzantium. King Krum of Bulgaria then besieged Byzantium, but when Krum fell ill and died, the Bulgarians withdrew after securing a promise of an annual tribute from Byzantium.

The Golden Age

Reign of King Boris I (865 A.D.)

King Boris I, a crucial Bulgarian ruler, accepted the Byzantine form of Christianity as the official Bulgarian religion in 865. However, tensions and conflicts with Byzantium persisted. Byzantium aimed to Hellenize and assimilate the Bulgarians into their culture, using peaceful means like making Greek the language of the church and state. However, two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, developed an alphabet for the Old Bulgarian language, known today as “Cyrillic.” King Boris I supported the spread of Cyrillic, allowing the Old Bulgarian language to compete with Greek in church rituals and ecclesiastical literature. Cyrillic later extended beyond Bulgaria, reaching other Slavic countries such as Serbia and Russia.