14 ATLASES
History of Bulgaria in maps
Bulgaria as it appears in 14 interactive history atlases, from 264 BC to 2015: Thracia, Bulgaria — Byzantine, then reborn, the Second Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
WW2 is free — every chapter. No sign-up.
What was Bulgaria before it was Bulgaria? The sections below follow this land through every era covered by the Maps of History atlases: who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed. Each line links to the dated map. Modern borders serve as an approximation, as each atlas says on the map itself.
Thracia (mod. Bulgaria) · Ancient Rome
Thracia was a tribal kingdom, then a Roman client, and became a province in AD 46. Its position placed it on the road from the Danube through Adrianople toward Constantinople. Goths defeated and killed an emperor on Thracian ground in 378 (Ch. 10). The route remained central to the defense of the eastern capital.
| 264 BC | Hellenistic kingdoms — the opening position |
| Roman clients & allies | |
| Roman territory |
ANCIENT ROME: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Norse and Aztecs
| Other peoples and states — the opening position |
NORSE AND AZTECS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria — Byzantine, then reborn · Crusades
Bulgaria was Byzantine in 1095, but in 1185 it threw off Constantinople’s rule and became an empire again. The new Latin Empire soon discovered how vulnerable it was in the Balkans. In 1205, one year after Constantinople was sacked, the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan crushed the Latins at Adrianople and captured their emperor.
| Byzantium (and Latin Constantinople 1204–61) — the opening position |
CRUSADES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
The Second Bulgarian Empire · Mongol Empire
| Other settled powers (Jin China, Christendom, Delhi) — the opening position | |
| Tributaries & vassals |
MONGOL EMPIRE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Industrial Revolution
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Age of Revolutions
| Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Meiji Japan and post-Soviet Russia
Bulgaria was Moscow’s most loyal ally under Todor Zhivkov, who ruled for 35 years. His 1980s campaign to force the Turkish minority to adopt Slavic names drove more than 300,000 people to flee to Turkey in 1989. Zhivkov’s own party removed him on 10 November 1989, the day after the Berlin Wall opened. Multiparty elections followed in 1990.
| Soviet-bloc states — the opening position | |
| Independent neighbours |
MEIJI JAPAN AND POST-SOVIET RUSSIA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · WWI
Bulgaria entered on the Central Powers’ side in 1915 to gain Macedonia (Ch. 6), sealing Serbia’s fate. Its forces held the Salonika front for three years on starvation rations, until defeat at Dobro Pole in September 1918 broke them (Ch. 12). Bulgaria became the first Central Power to leave the war, starting the collapse. The peace at Neuilly took its Aegean coast, completing its second national catastrophe in five years.
Bulgaria · Stalin’s Soviet Union
Bulgaria was Germany’s ally, but it was not at war with the Soviet Union until Moscow declared war on 5 September 1944. Three days later the Red Army invaded. The communist-led Fatherland Front took power; the monarchy was abolished in 1946 and opposition leader Nikola Petkov hanged in 1947. The new state was led until his death in 1949 by Georgi Dimitrov, a veteran communist and former head of the Communist International.
| Nazi Germany & its allies — the opening position | |
| Nazi Germany & its allies | |
| Satellites & communist allies |
STALIN’S SOVIET UNION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Road to WW2
| Neutral & unaligned — the opening position | |
| Aggressor clients & partners |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · WW2
Bulgaria was an Axis ally, though it never declared war on the USSR. It saved its own Jewish citizens from deportation while assisting deportations from occupied territories. Both parts of that record matter. Bulgaria changed sides as the Red Army arrived in September 1944.
| Axis allies & puppets — the opening position | |
| Axis allies & puppets | |
| Soviet Union |
Bulgaria · Cold War
| Soviet-aligned states — the opening position | |
| In upheaval / changing sides | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| In upheaval / changing sides | |
| Non-aligned & neutral |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
| Right won in law — the opening position | |
| Partial or unequal; treaty signed only; transition | |
| No reform yet / outside this story | |
| Right won in law |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Bulgaria · Refugee crises
| Soviet-occupied or communist — the opening position |
REFUGEE CRISES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Related
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Get a printable atlas study guide of your choice free. I’ll send you a few short letters, then one when a new atlas opens. That’s all. — Paul
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME