September 22 – Independence Day in Bulgaria

nPostednon September 22, 2015

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nYounknow how sometimes colonies – like the 13 American colonies –nwill declare independence, but then have to fight a war to make otherncountries (especially the colonizing power) accept theirnindependence?

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nWell,nfor Bulgaria, the opposite happened:

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nBulgarianwas pretty much independent of the Ottoman Empire since 1878. Therenwas a little bit of lip service given by the Bulgarian government tonthe Ottoman mucky-mucks, but really, the Bulgarians were rulingnthemselves.

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nThisnis called de facto independence. De facto is Latin forn“in fact, in reality.”

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nButnlegally, on paper, Bulgaria still seemed to be part of the OttomannEmpire. The Latin phrase for “in law” is de jure. n

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Inn1908, Bulgaria wanted to take over all the regions inhabited bynBulgarians but ruled by someone else, and unify all under the name ofn“Bulgaria.” And to do that, Bulgaria had to be de jurenindependent as well as de facto independent. n

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nSonon this date in 1908, Bulgaria proclaimed its independence!

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nAndnwhen I say “on this date”…

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nActually,nif you or I would have been alive way back in 1908, our calendarsnwould not have read “September 22” on the day that Bulgarianannounced its independence! Instead, our calendar would have saidn“October 5.”

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nWaynback I the mid-1700s, the American colonies and Great Britain joinednthe growing number of countries using the Gregorian calendar, rathernthan the Julian calendar. But other countries still clung to the O.S.n(Old Style) calendar. That makes writing history really complicated –ndifferent nations were using different calendars that didn’t matchnday or even, at times, month. So whenever historians consultnresources, they have to figure out if dates given are Old Style ornNew Style.

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n(Bulgariandidn’t convert to the Gregorian calendar until 1916.)

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nChecknout some of the things that make Bulgaria special:

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nFieldsn of sunflowers are starting to fade and fall now, now that it’s son close to fall (like, um…tomorrow!), but they are gorgeous in laten summer!

nTheren can be ordinary, modern, suburban scenes like this…but then youn realize that these folks are waiting for shepherds to bring backn their goats and sheep from pasture. So…that’ not what happens inn the suburb I live in, in So. Cal.!

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n These natural bridges are called “The Marvelous Bridges.” I guess youn can easily see why!
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nThe Rila Mountains are fairly close to Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia. And there are some lovely lakes in the Rila Mountains.

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This cirque (glacier-formed hollow) holds seven lakes.n They are called the Seven Rila Lakes. But, you know, in Bulgarian.

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nBelogradchik looks amazing! This is a medieval fortress among the famous Belogradchik Rocks.
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nEven though I’ve already written a bit about Buzludzha in an earlier post, I had to include it here, as well – it’s that amazing. Click through to see more photos!

nAlsonon this date: