Reflection on Pleven and Independence Day Weekend

Hello everyone!

Earlier this afternoon we returned home from our short weekend trip to Pleven and we felt it was a good idea to share our thoughts about our experience of the culture and history there. The city itself is not all that large, with only 100,000 people it is the 7th largest city in Bulgaria, and would be considered among some of the smaller cities here on the Balkan. Given that and its placement in Bulgaria, it is among one of the quietest cities that either of us have visited in our trips abroad. Now, a quiet city is not necessarily a problem. We were able to sit and dine at local restaurants, experience beautiful monuments to the Russo-Turkish War, and sit and enjoy the city center without hoards of tourists that are commonplace in the major cities throughout Europe. With that being said, communication became slightly more difficult as fewer of the city residents spoke English than in Sofia. Nevertheless, we made it through and definitely advanced our Bulgarian further this weekend!

As you know, the name of this blog is historynerdsabroad...however, that really hasn't been true as of yet as neither Sam nor I have covered anything history related to this point. That changes now. For those of you who saw the video on Facebook, Friday was Bulgaria's Independence Day. This day marks the beginning of Bulgarian independence from the Ottoman Empire for the first time in nearly 400+years. Unbeknownst to us before this trip, Pleven played a major role in the quest for Bulgarian Independence. In the years, leading up to the war, Bulgaria became a hot spot for uprisings against the Ottomans. However, every revolt was beaten down, with punishment in the last revolt in 1875 being especially harsh. This caught the attention of the Russian Empire, which saw an opportunity to help the Bulgarians, gain land from the Ottomans, and obtain a new political ally in the Balkans. (You can be sure the 2nd and 3rd reasons were the driving forces for the conflict). Regardless of the reasons, in 1877 the Russians went to war with the Ottomans and fought their war through the Balkans slowly liberating Bulgarian territory. One of the major battles, a five month long siege, occurred in Pleven. This battle would eventually be run by the Russians and would allow them to continue their push through Bulgaria and eventually win the war within the next year in 1878.

During our time in Pleven, Sam and I saw many monuments commemorating the events of the Russo-Turkish War, especially those that occurred in/near the city. It was amazing to see the beautiful artwork, monuments, plaques, and buildings dedicated to remembering the war that helped create Bulgaria. Our time in Pleven may have been short, but it certainly was spectacular.

Chris and Sam