History, issue 1/2025, Volume 33

Dear readers,

Before you is the first issue of the History journal for 2025. We have finished a successful year. In the six issues, which come out every other month of the year, we have published 45 publications, which are now all visible in the worldwide databases where the History journal is indexed: Web of Science (Q3), European Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), EBSCO, etc. Throughout the year among our authors were both established scholars and young researchers from Bulgaria and abroad. In following tradition and in accordance to the aims and scope of the journal, the articles published in 2024 have enriched the categories "From Antiquity to nowadays", "View over the Balkan peninsula", "Civilization boundaries", "Guardians of the memory", "Documentary heritage", "Approaches in teaching".

Besides the scholarly articles, we did not miss to inform our readers about newly published scientific publications of particular contribution, as well as about the more note-worthy scientific forums in the country throughout the year. This variety in the contents of the History journal has ensured a wide circle of readers both in the country and abroad. Proof of this is the fact that in the last two years the journal publications have nearly doubled their citations, which can be ascertained through the scientometric data in Web of Science.

We begin the journal's 33rd year with the desire to affirm and build up what we have achieved so far. We strive to widen our circle of authors even more, to invite as our authors scholars from countries and schools with considerable achievements, yet not widely known among Bulgarian readers today. In following the established high scientific standards, the History journal will continue to act as a bridge between academic science and society when it comes to topics of Bulgarian and Balkan history, archival heritage and contemporary approaches in humanitarian education.

Let us begin!

Prof. Ivan Roussev, DSc., Corr. Member – BAS
Editor-in-Chief of the History journal

Tough Prosperity: Discontent and Opponents of the Grain Boom of 1846 – 1847 in the Ottoman Balkans

Andrea Umberto Gritti
New Europe College | CETOBaC,
École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
Paris (France)

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-1-tou

Abstract. This article seeks to shed light on the opposition sparked by the expansion of grain exports in the Ottoman Balkans during the late 1840s. It addresses key issues in the historiography of institutional and social transformations in the Ottoman Empire during the reform (Tanẓîmât) era. Specifically, it examines the impact of suspending compulsory grain payments to the state and introducing free trade on the population’s food consumption. Drawing on a collection of documents from the Ottoman archives in Istanbul and the Italian diplomatic archives, the article explores how the administration managed emerging supply challenges and the growing opposition among the population to exporters’ activities.

Keywords: Exports; Social conflict; Food consumption; Trade institutions; Ottoman reforms

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The Project for Joint Occupation of Eastern Rumelia

Nadezhda Vasileva
Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology – BAS

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-2-pro

Abstract. A few months prior to the planned withdrawal of the Russian army on the 3^rd of May 1879, and also as the term of the European Commission’s work approached its closure, the Great Powers reached a deadlock in Eastern Rumelia. Despite the inherently liberal nature of the Organic Statute elaborated by the Commission, which aimed to grant comprehensive rights to the inhabitants of the province and to establish autonomy, the implementation of Articles XV and XVI of the Treaty of Berlin ‒ allowing the Ottoman authorities to maintain garrisons on the border and send troops into the province ‒ risked triggering an armed resistance from the Bulgarian population against the introduction of the Ottoman authority. In response, the Russian authorities warned that they would be compelled to return to protect the population if an insurrection broke out. However, the British cabinet declared that any such action would lead to war. To avoid this, Britain and Russia began negotiations for the implementation of a joint occupation of Eastern Rumelia by the European forces.

The project for a joint occupation engaged the diplomatic corps of the Great Powers from December 1878 to April 1879. Given the complex diplomatic challenges posed by the project, skillful maneuvering, the use of threats, and the pursuit of mutually beneficial agreements threatened to reopen the Eastern Question. The purpose of this research is to analyze Britain’s political motives for introducing a foreign occupation of Eastern Rumelia in the context of the strategic interests it sought to secure in the Balkans and to examine Russia’s political attitude and response to this issue.

The main sources used in the preparation of this study are documents from The National Archive, the Private Archive of Lord Salisbury and published documents from the Russian archives.

Keywords: Eastern Rumelia, Balkans, Treaty of Berlin, Joint occupation, Britain, Russia

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Josеph Emiger – Unknown Pseudonym of Ivan Drasov

Denis Ivanov
Institute for Historical Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Sofia, Bulgaria)

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-3-jos

Abstract. The State Archives – Varna, fund 690 K (Ivan Drasov) preserves three letters from the summer of 1875, written by the Viennese Bulgarian Yanko Kovachev to an addressee in the city of Prague named Joseph Emiger. From the content of the letters, we learn that Joseph Emiger sent Yanko Kovachev various materials intended for publication in the Bulgarian magazine “Letostruy or Home Calendar”. Several circumstances give us reason to assume that Joseph Emiger is a pseudonym used by Ivan Drasov. 1) There is currently no information about a person of Czech origin named Joseph Emiger, who collaborated with the editorial staff of the magazine “Letostruy”. 2) Correspondence using pseudonyms was a frequent practice for Ivan Drasov throughout the entire period of his public activity before the Liberation of Bulgaria. 3) After the Liberation, Drasov himself claims to have collaborated with the magazine “Letostruy”, using the pseudonym “J. E.”.

Keywords: Joseph Emiger, Yanko Kovachev, Ivan Drasov, pseudonym, “Letostruy”

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A Vision for the Formation of Digital Competences in the Training of History and Geography Teachers

Maya Vasileva, Katya Misheva
Sofia University

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-5-dig

Abstract. What digital competencies are required by secondary school education, and what is the response of higher education in the context of history and geography teacher training? A number of arguments can be put forward, justifying the relevance of such questions at the current stage. In view of this, the article presents a scientific justification and a comparative analysis of the vision for the formation of digital competences, on the example of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with teachers preparing future teachers in both subjects. The scope of the sample of teachers covers over 70% of the disciplines, distributed by types: pedagogical, psychological, methodical, ICT-based disciplines and teaching practices. The collected data from the conducted interviews are summarized according to thematic directions: development of general digital competencies, development of digital pedagogical competencies, pedagogical approach, training practices, limitations related to educators’ practice, and main conclusions.

Keywords: digital competencies, history education, geography education, history teacher training, geography teacher training

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The Peace Corps Programs in Bulgaria (1991 – 2013): Goals and Implementation

Simona Samuilova
Institute for Historical Studies -
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria)

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-4-pro

Abstract. The purpose of this article is to examine the activities of the Peace Corps in Bulgaria as an instrument of US “soft power”. It is based on research and analysis of documents from the archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, annual reports and evaluations of the effectiveness of the volunteer organization during the period of its activity in the country (1991-2013). Using a chronological and thematic approach, the objectives of the organization are outlined. They combine a complex balance between the commitment and voluntary two-year service of thousands of Americans to promote „peace” and „understanding” among nations and the organization’s strategic goals of supporting US foreign policy interests in Central and Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War. In Bulgaria, these are to promote economic reforms in the transition from a planned to a market economy (economic), to increase American influence (geostrategic), to promote democracy and to strengthen the pro-Western orientation of the younger generations (political).

Keywords: Peace Corps; soft power; public diplomacy; USA; Bulgaria

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A Remarkable Monograph by a Bulgarian Byzantinist

Vassil Gyuzelev
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria),
Sofia University

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-6-mon

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The Topic of Barriers to Economic Development in Historical Perspective, Presented at a Scientific Conference and in an Authoritative Scientific Publication

Emilia Vacheva
Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics (Svishtov, Bulgaria)

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-1-7-bar

TO THE ARTICLE

Свързани статии:

History, issue 2/2025, Volume 33 History, issue 3/2025, Volume 33 History, issue 4/2025, Volume 33