Bulgaria sits at the threshold of Europe.
A country which is defined by Thracian influence,
Roman influence, native Bulgarian identity,
Ottoman rule, communism, and a recent membership
of the European Union.
Bulgaria has long stood as Europe’s last
outpost to the east.
This is geographically true of countries like
Romania and Greece as well, but for Bulgaria
the notion of a “clash of civilisations”
has defined the region for literally thousands
of years.Even today, Bulgaria shares a border
with Turkey, and anti-Turkish sentiment is
explicit in Bulgarian politics.
Bulgaria’s current leader does like Turkish
immigration because he doesn’t feel as if
Turkish people are properly European or properly
Bulgarian.
The notion of what it means to be from a country
has shaped the history of many countries,
and Bulgaria is no different.
What makes Bulgaria unique, however, is the
way it has acted not just as border for itself
but also for idea of Europe and Christianity
for hundreds and hundreds of years.If that
sounds like too simple an explanation of Bulgaria’s
history to you, don’t worry.
That is precisely what this series is for.
The aim is to complicate this Europe vs. Turkey
narrative of Bulgarian history with the suggestion
that history is never black and white.
More often than not, it’s pretty damned
grey.In this series, we’ll talk about the
series of conflicts and occupations which
have come to define Bulgaria, but we’ll
also talk about the hows and the whys of these
conflicts and attempt to tell as many sides
of the story as possible.
We’ll also try to step away from the so-called
“Great Man” narrative of history by also
focusing on the culture, the rituals, and
even the wine of Bulgaria.I’m not Bulgarian,
but I am European.
As such, there will be an unavoidable bias
to my side of the story.
I’m also an eager traveller, writer, and
photographer, so this too may affect the way
I tell this story.
However, if you’ll let me, I’d love to
tell the story anyway.So welcome to Bulgarian
history, and welcome to Bulgaria.
It’s a ex-communist country where capitalism
is in full swing.
It’s an ex-Ottoman ruled country with only
a handful of mosques to its name.
It’s a country where it’s 34 degrees Celsius
in the summer and -20 degrees Celsius in the
winter.
It’s a country of extremes, where a shot
of rakii is standard accompaniment to one
of the countries many famous salads at the
start of a meal.It’s a country concerned
about its history — and how this defines
what it means to be Bulgarian — but also
a country concerned about its future.
Their membership with the EU is recent, the
population is decreasing, and the economic
outlook is mixed.
I can’t tell you what will happen to Bulgaria,
but I can try my hardest to explain what has
happened.
In the next video we’ll jump back about
10,000 years to the start of this story.
For now, however, this is what Bulgaria looks
like in 2017.
Thanks for watching.
