HAPPY BULGARIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY-MARCH 3!

On March 3rd, 1878, in the small town of San Stefano near Istanbul, Russia and Turkey put an end to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 by signing a treaty, which established an independent Bulgarian principality and in effect ended 500 years of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria. Shipka is a historical mountain peak in central Bulgaria. Three days Bulgarian volunteers, known as Opalchentsi, and the Russian army fought against the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), that led to the liberation of Bulgaria



Excerpt from a powerful poem by the prominent Bulgarian author Ivan Vazov:O Shipka!

For three days our youthful battalions
The p have defended.
The high mountain valleys re-echo the battle's tumultuous roar.
The onslaught's ferocious! Again the dense hordes
Along the ravine for the twelfth time are crawling
Where warm blood is flowing and bodies are sprawling.
A hail of fresh bullets and tree trunks and boulders;
Spattered with blood, our battalions boldly
Retaliate, every man in his own way
Striving to be in the front of the fray,
Each, like a hero, death bravely defying,
Determined to leave one more enemy dying.
A last effort's needed: the moment is grave.
And then does Stoletov, our general brave,
Roar words of great courage: "Young volunteer fighters,
Now crown Bulgaria with laurels of triumph!
The Tsar has entrusted the p, the whole war,
Himself even, unto these muscles, of yours!
"Thus heartened, our proud and heroic battalions
Courageously meet the next thrust of the rallying
They're all to a man ready gladly to die
On the ridge which the whole of the world can descry,
To die here like heroes triumphant, victorious .
"The whole of Bulgaria is watching us now!"
And today, every time there's a storm in the mountain,
The summit recall this grim day and, recounting
The story, its echoing glory relays
From valley to valley, from age unto age!