Bulgaria celebrates Independence Day

On 22nd of September, 2023, Bulgaria marks 115 years since the proclamation of independence.

On this date in 1908, Bulgaria rejected the political vassal dependency on the Ottoman Empire.

The independence of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed on 22 September by Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria.

In 1878, when liberated from Ottoman rule, Bulgaria was granted autonomy as the Principality of Bulgaria. Thirty years later, the independence of Bulgaria was formally proclaimed at the Holy Forty Martyrs Church in the old capital, Veliko Turnovo. As a result, Bulgaria's status was promoted to that of a kingdom. Ferdinand adopted the title of Tsar (King).

Bulgaria's declaration of independence was followed by Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following day.

Bulgaria responded to the Ottoman Empire’s threats of war with military mobilization but at the same time declared readiness for peaceful settlement. With the joint violation of the Treaty of Berlin, both by Sofia and Vienna, and because the Great Powers were not ready for a large-scale war, the efforts were focused on diplomatic recognition of Bulgaria’s independence.

The independence of Bulgaria was internationally recognised by the Great Powers in the spring of 1909.

Bulgaria's Liberation from five centuries of Ottoman domination came on 3rd of March, 1878 after the Russo-Turkish War, but recognition of its independence was a long process.

For 30 years, from the liberation in 1878 until the proclamation of independence, Bulgaria was still technically under the suzerainty of the Sublime Porte and a tributary vassal state to the Ottoman Empire.

The independence day is marked with a solemn ceremony, which as part of the tradition is held on the night of 22nd of September in Veliko Turnovo, which Tsar Ferdinand I and the then Prime Minister Alexander Malinov chose as the site for the proclamation of independence.