Antiquity and Middle Ages in the Bulgarian lands

In 7th c. AD the mobile cavalry of the proto- Bulgarians, at the head with Khan Asparuh , united in battle alliance with the infantry of the Slav tribes, settled in the lands over Danube River .Thus Bulgaria was founded – one of the first states in Europe in the Middle Ages. Successful wars with the Byzantine Empire, Arabs, Avars and other invaders, enlarged the state borders and turned Bulgaria into one of the states of primary importance in the European south-east. The Bulgarian rulers Khan Krum, Tsar Simeon the Great, Tsar Samuil were wise statesmen and superb military leaders. The battle of Varbishki Pass in 811 , the defeat of the Byzantines at Achelous River in 917, the inimitable strategic idea and realization of the campaign in 986 were a result of the decisive and scale actions of the Bulgarian troops in 9th –11th cc. and striking examples in the military chronicles.

The Thracians were the oldest and most numerous population, having inhabited the Balkan lands since 4th millennium BC. Militant and brave, they wielded to perfection the art of war and were known as superb warriors. Wanted allies of many peoples of the antiquity, they had given the world Orpheus and the great leader of the oppressed slaves- Spartacus. In 5th c. BC the Thracians founded the kingdom of the Odrysai. The mutual contacts of the Thracian material culture with the Greek classics and the epoch of Roman emperors created exceptional masterpieces for the common heritage of the Bulgarian nation.

The Tarnovo uprising in 1185-1187 , at the head with the aristocrats Asen and Peter restored the Bulgarian state and set the beginning of political and military upsurge.New fortifications were built. The Bulgarian troops had at disposal all the kinds of troops, typical for the epoch-light and heavy cavalry, infantry, troops, servicing the siege machines and fleet. Military command applied offensive as basic strategic measure. The borders of the Bulgarian state reached to three seas- the Black sea ,the Aegean and the Adriatic.

In the battle of Adrianople in 1205 Tsar Kaloyan defeated the unconquered till that time armies of the knights-crusaders. After the victory over the Epirus ruler Theodore Comnenus in 1230, the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan –Asen II proudly proclaimed himself “Tsar of the Bulgarians and the Byzantines”.

The armed resistance of the Bulgarian people and other Balkan peoples at the end of 14th c. played a decisive role for withholding the Ottoman invasion in Europe.