So as we all know, after World War 1 the Ottoman Sultanate came close to being abolished by Turkish nationalists who wanted to end the Empire, end the Caliphate and replace them with a secular republic. But with the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the quashing of the Turkish National Movement the Sultanate (barely) pulled through. And when the Ottomans joined World War 2 on the side of the Allies and used the war as an opportunity to reclaim some of their lost lands people could actually call them an “Empire” without snickering or being sarcastic.
One of the areas “liberated”/reoccupied by the Ottomans was southern Bulgaria, which was reorganized as Eastern Rumelia after the Soviets had taken northern Bulgaria and turned it into a communist state. Although at first talks were held to reunite Bulgaria and turn it into a neutral state they quickly ended after the Communists won the Greek Civil War and thus Eastern Rumelia became the last Western-aligned country on the eastern part of the European mainland. Throughout the Cold War both Communist Bulgaria and Ottoman Bulgaria proclaimed themselves to be the “true” Bulgaria and promised to “free” their counterparts from “foreign occupiers”. Much like the hostility & rivalry between North and South Korea or the Dhofar People Republic and Oman Sultinate (a.k.a. “South Oman” and “North Oman” respectively) the antagonistic relationship between the two Bulgarias survives to the present day, long after the Cold War ended.
So here is the question: what if Bulgaria is never divided? How would it impact the views of Turks/Muslins in Eastern Europe? How about Western Europe? Would there still be the Cold War narrative of Islam and Western Christianity standing in opposition to Orthodoxy and Secular Communism or would it be butterflied away? What about the Jewish State?
And do you think the Bulgarias will ever reunite in our lifetime?
One of the areas “liberated”/reoccupied by the Ottomans was southern Bulgaria, which was reorganized as Eastern Rumelia after the Soviets had taken northern Bulgaria and turned it into a communist state. Although at first talks were held to reunite Bulgaria and turn it into a neutral state they quickly ended after the Communists won the Greek Civil War and thus Eastern Rumelia became the last Western-aligned country on the eastern part of the European mainland. Throughout the Cold War both Communist Bulgaria and Ottoman Bulgaria proclaimed themselves to be the “true” Bulgaria and promised to “free” their counterparts from “foreign occupiers”. Much like the hostility & rivalry between North and South Korea or the Dhofar People Republic and Oman Sultinate (a.k.a. “South Oman” and “North Oman” respectively) the antagonistic relationship between the two Bulgarias survives to the present day, long after the Cold War ended.
So here is the question: what if Bulgaria is never divided? How would it impact the views of Turks/Muslins in Eastern Europe? How about Western Europe? Would there still be the Cold War narrative of Islam and Western Christianity standing in opposition to Orthodoxy and Secular Communism or would it be butterflied away? What about the Jewish State?
And do you think the Bulgarias will ever reunite in our lifetime?
