Bulgarian rebirth

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The Bulgarian National Revival ( Bulgarian Българско национално възраждане , or simply Възраждане ) was a period of socio-economic growth and national unification of the Bulgarian people during 500 years of Ottoman rule.

The Ottomans had an independent development of the Bulgarians suppressed. Because of the Ottoman rule in this region there never was a Renaissance , Reformation , Enlightenment or bourgeois revolution . In contrast to the national movements of neighboring peoples, the Bulgarian Revival had to contend with considerable external difficulties. Due to the geographical proximity to Constantinople, the center of power of the Ottoman Empire, the Bulgarians were more exposed to the pressure of Islamization than other Balkan peoples . For a long time, this religious premise also prevented the creation of an economic basis for social advancement. The beginnings of the Bulgarian rebirth lie in Macedonia .

For the course of the Enlightenment movement, however, another situation proved to be particularly important: the dominance of the Greek church and language in the 17th and 18th centuries within the Ottoman Empire. The beginnings of the Bulgarian rebirth are therefore less to be sought in the direct demarcation from Ottomanism, but rather in the conscious distancing from the Greek influence, which was present in all areas of life. The later resulting political struggle for independence was directed against the Ottoman state.

Important impulses came from the emigration centers - from the cities north of the Danube ( Brăila , Bucharest ), from the Bulgarian colonies in the large trading centers ( Odessa , Smyrna , Constantinople ) and the Bulgarian monasteries ( Rila , Zografou and Chilandar ).

The beginning of the period is dated to the publication of the first written Bulgarian history book by Paisi Hilendarski "Istorija Slawjanobolgarska" (" Slavobulgarian History ") and lasted over a century until the liberation and establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1878 as a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 until 1878, which in Bulgaria is also known as the "Russian-Turkish War of Liberation".

definition

Bulgarian historiography uses the term “Bulgarian rebirth” to describe the era of the “national liberation of Bulgaria” , i.e. the national rebirth - the development of a Bulgarian national consciousness of its own.

Rebirth is not understood here in the usual meaning of cultural rebirth - i.e. renaissance - but rather as "Bulgarian Enlightenment ".

features

The Bulgarian Rebirth marks a period of radical changes in all spheres of socio-economic, political and cultural life.

From a social point of view, the structure of the poorly developed civil society in the Bulgarian areas is gradually changing and growing during the period of rebirth.

The changes on the cultural and spiritual level have two tendencies, on the one hand the "New Bulgarian Enlightenment Movement" (новобългарско просветно движение) and on the other hand the striving for an independent church . The aim was to free education and culture from Hellenistic influences, as well as to create a new, separate material and spiritual culture. The fight against Greek church sovereignty played an essential role for national independence .

The profound changes in society eventually led to the formation of the Bulgarian nation. This emerged within its ethnic borders on a common territory on the basis of a uniform script and language . The awareness of a common cultural tradition grew and renewed itself.

The rich literary heritage of authors such as Ivan Vazov and Christo Botev inspired the Bulgarians' struggle for independence and an autonomous church. The April Uprising (1876), suppressed by the Turks, and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) , in which a large number of Bulgarian volunteers took part, which ultimately led to the liberation of Bulgaria, was a significant turning point in the Bulgarians' armed struggle against Ottoman rule .

Periods

The Bulgarian Revival is divided into three periods: the early period, which extends from 1762 to the beginning of the 19th century, the middle period, from the Ottoman reforms in 1820 to the Crimean War, and the late period , which led to the end of Ottoman rule in 1878.

According to another classification, the Bulgarian rebirth went through three main phases:

  1. An intellectual rebirth (1830-1840), the main achievement of which was the establishment of Christian schools .
  2. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church's struggle for independence (1805 to 1860), at the height of which the independent Church and liberation from spiritual dependence on the Greeks were proclaimed (establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870).
  3. The emergence of a revolutionary movement that campaigned both for national liberation and for the solution of the social question.

The first period

The first period covers the end of the 18th century (1762) to the 20s of the 19th century. This period is marked by an accelerating collapse of the Ottoman economic system and the Ottoman military-political order. The Ottoman Empire regressively changed from a world power , which it had been since the 16th century, to a secondary European-Asian "middle power" in the course of the 19th century.

Since 1393, the year of the fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire with the capture of Veliko Tarnowo by the Ottomans, the autocephalous Bulgarian church was subordinate to the Greek-influenced ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople. The Bulgarian diocese was subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The other Bulgarian church center - Ohrid with the Archdiocese of Ohrid and Bulgaria - existed for a few centuries (until its dissolution in 1767).

During the first period of the Bulgarian Revival, the Constantinople Patriarchate lost its ecumenical effectiveness, which resulted from the dissolution of the relatively independent archbishoprics of Peć (1766) and Ohrid (1767) and from the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870 and through the subsequent schism (1872) was promoted.

Before the liberation of Bulgaria, the first theological school was opened in 1874 in the Peter and Paul Monastery near the city of Lyaskovets . The exarchate also opened a priestly school in Prilep in 1885, which was moved to Ohrid in 1886 . A spiritual school was established in Odrin in 1883, was relocated to Constantinople as a spiritual seminary in 1893 and to Plovdiv in 1915 . In 1895 a spiritual school was opened in Samokow , which was soon moved to Sofia as a spiritual seminary .

The second period

The second period coincides with the reforms in the Ottoman Empire - Tanzimat during the 20s of the 19th century (internal reform efforts in Turkey by Mahmud II ) - up to the Crimean War in 1856.

Two national movements began -

  • for the intellectual education of the Bulgarian people (новобългарска просвета - "New Bulgarian Education / Enlightenment")
  • for ecclesiastical independence from the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, because the servitude of the Bulgarians was twofold: politically they were subordinate to the Turks, religiously they were subordinate to the Greeks.

The second period also saw the national liberation of Greece from the Ottoman Empire ( Greek Revolution ).

Since the Ottoman rule from around 1390, education and literature had been exterminated among the Bulgarians. The educated Bulgarians were murdered or deported to Asia Minor , or fled to neighboring Slavic countries. The cultural exchange with other European countries had also come to a standstill after centuries of Ottoman rule. Only in the Bulgarian monasteries was there a hesitant return to the cultural Bulgarian roots after 1500. Here the Bulgarian national consciousness survived the Ottoman rule. Since the Greek Orthodox Church was the only recognized Orthodox Church in the Ottoman Millet system , it was increasingly abused by the Greeks as a political tool to "Hellenize" Slavic Christians in the Ottoman Empire after Greece gained independence in 1830. Therefore the struggle to push back the Greek influence in the Bulgarian church (for a Bulgarian church of its own) was a main pillar in the national struggle for independence.

The third period

The third period began after the Crimean War in 1856.

The Bulgarians took part in the wars of Austria and Russia against the Ottoman Empire and supported the uprisings of the Serbs , Greeks and Romanians . After the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856, the Bulgarian national liberation movement reached its climax, which was due to the activities of its main organizers - Georgi Rakovsky , Lyuben Karawelow , Vasil Levski and Christo Botew .

This third period was characterized by the interaction of the three "main thrusts" of the Bulgarian Revival:

  • Struggle for information and education (in Bulgarian language),
  • Fight for an independent church,
  • Struggle for national independence.

The complete collapse of the Ottoman Empire (" Sick Man on the Bosporus ") and the international conflicts that were triggered by the Oriental Question ("Eastern Question", "Turkish Question") created favorable conditions for the growth of a strong national Bulgarian movement. During this period the process of formation of the Bulgarian nation was completed and in 1870 Bulgaria was recognized internationally.

The Bulgarian rebirth as a period of transition to capitalist socio - economic relations (transition from natural economy to market economy ), although similar to other European countries, had its specialty because of the leading role of the national liberation struggle .

The Western European countries, preoccupied with their internal problems and with the division of their colonial possessions , began to be interested in the Orient not as a battlefield but as a sphere of economic and commercial interests. During the second half of the 18th century, the crisis in the Ottoman Empire deepened, which was already apparent at the end of the 16th century.

During this period England , France and the Netherlands stepped up their efforts and forced the Ottoman Empire to allow these countries to carry out economic activities on its territory. In the 18th century the Ottoman Empire became more and more involved in European trade. A number of Western European companies developed their activities in the Balkan provinces and thus also in the Bulgarian areas.

The defeats in some wars, the development of international and domestic trade and the development of the goods-money relations in the economy of the Ottoman Empire finally destroyed the traditional fiefdom system ( Tımar ) as the basis of the economy.

Towards the middle of the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire ceased to be a stable military power and a strictly centralized state. It was badly shaken by economic, social and political problems.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Bulgarian territories went through important economic changes. The Ottoman fief system collapsed - timar system (военно-ленната система; ленно-спахийската система) (fief for senior military civil servants). The feudal people no longer fulfilled their obligations towards the sultan and tried to bring the fiefs left by the sultan into their private property. They wanted to own the land because it was a secure source of income. The new owners created large agricultural production units (large estates) on the appropriated lands. At the same time, the right to private property on the ground was expanded.

With the disappearance of the timar system, the status of farmers changed. They gradually freed themselves from their local masters and began to participate, albeit to a limited extent, in buying and selling the land. The livestock , which was previously operated mainly for their own consumption, experienced a strong upswing and the cattle trade developed rapidly as an independent industry. As a result, economic life in the Bulgarian cities experienced a noticeable upswing. The Bulgarian handicraft began to produce for export. Industrial centers emerged.

During the second half of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century, significant demographic movements began, which led to the Bulgarization of the cities. Many old urban centers have seen a revival. Centers of Bulgarian traders, trading houses and companies emerged in Constantinople (50,000 Bulgarians), Austria , Hungary , Transylvania , Wallachia , Russia and Bessarabia .

The transport and communication routes were greatly expanded (roads, railway lines, ports in Varna , Burgas and on the Danube , telegraph network). Foreign capital increasingly found its way into the Ottoman economy and the Bulgarian territories. The European exchange of goods also gradually included the Bulgarian territories. Foreign trade promoted the expansion of a foreign trade network. Bulgarian products appeared on the large market of the Ottoman Empire and the markets of other European countries.

Towards the end of the 18th century, Bulgaria transformed into an area of ​​intensive trade, accounting for around 20% of the trade in the Ottoman Empire. Associated with this was the profiling of some Bulgarian cities as centers of trade.

In the 19th century, the idea of ​​pan-Slavic unity was consolidated. The idea of ​​establishing Bulgarian statehood was reborn.

With the uprisings of Stara Sagora (1875) and in April 1876 the organized armed struggle began and the violent third period of the Bulgarian Revival in the separation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire took place. The period ended with the establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1878 in the Treaty of San Stefano , as a result of the Russo-Turkish War .

Bulgaria initially received its independence in the Peace of San Stefano in 1878 after the end of the Russo-Turkish War. The territory and independence were shortly afterwards severely curtailed by the great powers in the Berlin Congress . In place of an independent Bulgaria, an autonomous, tributary principality was founded, which corresponded to earlier secret agreements of the Germans, Austrians, French and British, according to which a larger Slavic state in the Balkans should be prevented. The northern and eastern parts were divided into two principalities, Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia . The region of Macedonia, which reached the Aegean Sea, was withdrawn from Bulgaria and placed back under Ottoman administration.

Eastern Rumelia and the Macedonia region initially remained Ottoman provinces. While Macedonia continued to exist as a normal province and was placed under Ottoman administration again, the newly founded province of Eastern Rumelia had an autonomous status, as well as its own parliament, its own courts and its own militia. The governor of Eastern Rumelia continued to be installed by the Sublime Porte, but was supposed to be a Christian.

After the First Constitution of Bulgaria was drawn up in the medieval Bulgarian capital Tarnowo, Alexander I of Battenberg was elected prince because of his close relationship with the Tsar Alexander II .

In 1886, Alexander I had to resign at the urging of Russia because of his unauthorized decision to reunite with Eastern Rumelia. Even if Bulgaria was formally still part of the Ottoman Empire, Austria, as the new supreme power in the Balkans, succeeded Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha ( Ferdinand I ) as his successor. Under him the formal independence of Bulgaria was enforced in 1908 and he was crowned tsar .

Culture in the Bulgarian Revival Period

Cultural and spiritual institutions

The Bulgarian Revival was a relatively short period in Bulgarian history, but it was an extremely dynamic period in Bulgaria's historical development.

The changes in cultural and spiritual life were driven by the establishment of the New Bulgarian Enlightenment Movement (Bulgar. Новобългарското просветно движение) and the pursuit of a Bulgarian church of its own. The aim was the separation of education and culture from Hellenistic influences and the establishment of a separate material and spiritual culture. An essential aspect of this development towards national independence was the struggle against the Greek church power and the establishment of the Bulgarian monastery schools .

Art, architecture, literature

After the Ottoman conquest, Bulgarian art was practiced almost exclusively in the remote monasteries. From the 15th to the 18th century the art of the Athos monasteries was decisive.

With the beginning of the rebirth period at the end of Ottoman rule, new art schools sprang up across the country. During this period wood carving developed as a specific Bulgarian art. The most famous art schools, however, were the Debar Art School , the Tschiprovtsi Art School and the Samokov Art School . The first was known for its wood carvings and iconostasis . From the third lot of painters including the now in the list of emerged who carried out the painting of many monasteries and churches, World Heritage of UNESCO taken Rila monastery .

In architecture , the characteristic formed rebirth architectural style (bulg. Възрожденска архитектура), which was widespread in Bulgaria inhabited areas and neighboring areas and even today in cities like Tryavna , Koprivshtitsa , Veliko Tarnovo , Berat , Gjirokastra or Ohrid is seen . The following currents can be recorded in its development and influence: Bulgarian Neo-Byzantine architecture , Bulgarian Baroque , Bulgarian Neo-Gothic , Bulgarian Neo-Renaissance and Bulgarian Neoclassicism . The most famous builder of this time was Kolju Fitscheto .

The artist Jules Pascin , who was born in Vidin in 1885 , was important for modern times . His real name was Julius Pinkas. Since he spent a long time in France , where he also died in 1930, he is referred to as a Bulgarian-French painter and graphic artist.

The rich literary heritage of authors such as Ivan Vazov and Christo Botev inspired the Bulgarians' struggle for independence and an autonomous church.

National Revival Holidays

  • November 1st is celebrated in Bulgaria as "National Awakening Day" (Bulgar. Ден на народните будители);
  • March 3rd is celebrated as a national holiday and as the "day of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke" (Bulgarian Ден на Освобождението на България от османско иго).

Activists of Rebirth

("Rebirth" - Bulgarian Възрожденец, also "awakening" - Bulgarian Будители - spiritual guide and teacher)

Revolutionaries of rebirth

literature

  • Sigrun Comati: Bulgarian regional studies . Helmut Buske Verlag, Hamburg, 2003, ISBN 3-87548-327-8 .
  • RJ Crampton: A short history of modern Bulgaria , 1987
  • RJ Crampton: Bulgaria , Oxford University Press, 2007
  • Hans-Dieter Döpmann : Church in Bulgaria from the beginning to the present . Biblion Verlag, Munich, 2006, ISBN 3-932331-90-7 .
  • Hering, Gunnar: The Conflict of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Bulgarian Exarchate with the Porte 1890. (1988)
  • Hans-Joachim Härtel, Roland Schönfeld: Bulgaria: from the Middle Ages to the present. , from the series: Eastern and Southeastern Europe. History of the countries and peoples, ISBN 3-7917-1540-2 , Verlag Friedrich Pustet Regensburg, 1998
  • Edgar Hösch : History of the Balkan countries , 4th edition, Verlag Beck, Munich, 2002, ISBN 3-406-49019-0 , pp. 152–3
  • Constantin Jireček : History of the Bulgarians , Georg Olm Verlag, 1977 (Orig .: F. Tempsky Verlag, Prague, 1876)
  • Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Bulgaria. Architectural fragments, Verlag Anton Pustet, ISBN 978-3-7025-0573-8
  • Ilija Todew: Към друго минало или пренебрегвани аспекти на българското национално Възраждане . ИК "ДБ Мария", 2001 (German translation of the Bulgarian book title: Ilija Todew: To another past, or the disregarded aspects of the Bulgarian national rebirth . Publisher: Maria)
  • Nikolaj Gentschew: Българско възраждане. Sofia 2008, online version (bulg.)

Web links

Other Bulgarian sources:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edgar Hösch: History of the Balkan Countries, p. 152
  2. ^ Nina Janich, Albrecht Greule: Language cultures in Europe: an international handbook , Gunter Narr Verlag, 2002, p. 29
  3. ^ Frithjof Rodi: Dilthey year book for philosophy and history of the humanities. 10 (1996), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 246.
  4. ↑ a b Döpmann, 2006, p. 55 - p. 70.
  5. ↑ Bulgaria celebrates the People's Enlightenment Day ( Memento from November 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )