Dear Botevists,
134 years ago, on today’s historic date for the Bulgarian people, September 6, our ancestors succeeded in fulfilling the national ideal of a united Bulgaria, uniting a significant part of the original Bulgarian territories. It is no coincidence that the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia took place in Plovdiv.
In our town, which has always been a cradle for the brightest minds and the bravest hearts since the Renaissance, in 1885 a deed was carried out, the significance of which remains in history as one of the greatest in the annals of post-Revolutionary Bulgaria.
The decisions of the Berlin Congress of 1878, dividing our homeland into the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, marked the beginning of the resistance of all Bulgarians who wanted our country to be whole and strong.
On September 6, 1885, the detachments of Danail Nikolaev and Chardafon the Great entered Plovdiv, where they arrested Gavriil Krastevich, at that time governor-general of Eastern Rumelia, and established a provisional government led by Georgi Stransky. It was also the proclamation of the annexation of Eastern Rumelia to the Principality of Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Prince Alexander Battenberg with a manifesto confirms the Unification of Bulgaria, appointing as his plenipotentiary in southern Bulgaria the head of the provisional government – Georgi Stransky.
Despite the surprise of the Great Powers, the act of courage and determination of the Bulgarians received its international recognition. This happened six months later, when on March 24, 1886, the agreement prepared by Ilia Tsanov was confirmed by the Tophana Act.
The treaty signed between the United Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire enabled the Bulgarians to become united in self-government and lifestyle, and the only thing that remained to be decided in time was the abolition of the formal appointment of the Bulgarian prince by the Sultan as the ruler of Eastern Rumelia, which happened on September 22, 1908, when the Independence of Bulgaria was declared!
PFC “Botev” Plovdiv congratulates all Bulgarians with the Unification Day and the City of Plovdiv!
Long live Bulgaria!
* Photo: the painting “The Announcement of the Unification” by the artist Atanas Zhekov