List of wars involving Bulgaria

This article lists the wars, campaigns and battles involving Bulgaria since its establishment around 680.

Bulgarian Victory (and allies)

Bulgarian Defeat (and allies)

Inconclusive

*e.g. result unknown or indecisive/inconclusive, result of internal conflict inside Bulgaria, status quo ante bellum, or a treaty or peace without a clear result.

First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
First Bulgarian-Byzantine War (680–689)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Formation and expansion of the First Bulgarian Empire Khan Asparuh conquered Thrace in 689
Battle of Anchialus (708) (708)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Khan Tervel and deposed Emperor Justinian II conquered Constantinople, placing Justinian back in power Justinian II crowned Tervel with the title Caesar Justinian II turned against Tervel but was defeated by the Bulgarian army
Siege of Constantinople (717–718)	Bulgarian Empire	Umayyad Caliphate	Victory Caesar Tervel annihilated roughly 25,000 Umayyad soldiers, forcing a surrender and retreat.^[1] Tervel was canonized "Savior of Europe" by the Pope^[1]
Bulgarian Invasion of Avaria (804)	Bulgarian Empire	Avar Khaganate	Victory Khan Krum fully subjugated the remainder of the Avar Empire ^[2]
Second Bulgarian-Byzantine War (809–822)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Emperor Krum defeated the massive Byzantine army killing King Nicephorus I
Bulgarian-Frankish War (827–829)	Bulgarian Empire	Frankish Empire	Victory King Omurtag defeated the Frankish fleet at the Drava river ^[3]
First Bulgarian-Serbian War (839–842)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat
Second Bulgarian-Serbian War 853	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat
First Bulgarian-Croatian War (854)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Inconclusive Peace treaty concluded with King Boris I
First Bulgarian-Hungarian War (862–896)	Bulgarian Empire	Hungarian Empire	Victory The Bulgarian army under Boris I obliterated the Magyar army forcing them North ^[4]
Third Bulgarian-Byzantine War (894–896)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Expansion of the Bulgarian Empire
Invasion of the Principality of Serbia by the pretender to the Serbian throne Klonimir backed by the Bulgarian Empire (897-898)	Bulgarian Empire Klonimir	Serbian Principality	Defeat Rebellion supported by Tsar Simeon was defeated,^[5] resulting in the death of Klonimir Truce between the Principality of Serbia and the Bulgarian Empire and the recognition of Petar Gojniković as a rightful ruler of Serbia^[6]
Fourth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (913–927)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Bulgarian Empire nearly conquered Constantinople
Third Bulgarian-Serbian War (917–924)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality Byzantine Empire	Victory Serbia is conquered by Emperor Simeon and Bulgaria for the first time
Second Bulgarian-Croatian War (926)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Defeat
Second Bulgarian-Hungarian War (932–980)	Bulgarian Empire	Hungarian Empire	Inconclusive Bulgaria Forced the migrating Hungarians to settle within the Pannonian Plain^[7]
Liberation of the Principality of Serbia from the Bulgar rule (933-934)^[8]	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat Prince Česlav, with a small group of followers,^[9] takes possession of the Serbian Principality and submits to the overlordship of Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos^[10]^[11]
Bulgarian-Kievan Rus War (967–997)	Bulgarian Empire	Kievan Rus Empire Byzantine Empire	Inconclusive Kievan Rus occupied areas of Northern Bulgaria The Rus are defeated in a three-way war with Byzantium
Fifth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (968–1018)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Defeat Dissolution of the First Bulgarian Empire Kingdom of Duklja became last remaining region left unconquered
Bulgarian invasion of Duklja (997)	Bulgarian Empire	Duklja	Victory The Bulgarian Empire conquers Duklja and installs Jovan Vladimir as their vassal^[12]
Third Bulgarian-Croatian War (997–1000)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Defeat

Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Seventh Bulgarian-Byzantine War (1185–1201)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire resurfaces as a great power in Eastern Europe
Fourth Bulgarian-Serbian War (1202–1203)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Victory The Bulgarian Empire under king Kaloyan pushes Serbia to the west
First Bulgarian–Latin War (1204–1208)	Bulgarian Empire	Latin Empire	Victory Weakening of the Latin Empire and enlargement of the Bulgarian Empire
Battle of Klokotnitsa (1230)	Bulgarian Empire	Empire of Thessalonica	Victory Empire of Thessalonica conquered by Bulgaria Thessaly and Epirus became vassals of the Bulgarian empire Bulgaria emerged as pre-eminent power in Southeastern Europe
Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia (1241)	Bulgarian Empire	Golden Horde	Victory Bulgarian army pushed back Batu Khan's forces
Bulgarian Civil War (1277–1280)	Bulgarian Empire Tsar Constantine Allies: Byzantine Empire Golden Horde	Bulgarian Empire Tsar Ivaylo Allies: Bulgarian rebels	Royal victory Peasant Ivaylo seized the throne, killing the Bulgarian tsar Ivaylo was murdered, George Terter I became emperor of Bulgaria
Fifth Bulgarian-Serbian War (1290–1291)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Kingdom	Defeat Bulgaria lost the Belgrade and Branicevo provinces.
Fourth Bulgarian-Mongol War (1299–1300)	Bulgarian Empire	Golden Horde	Victory Tsar Theodore Svetoslav expelled the Mongols to the east
Ninth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (1304–1305)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Bulgarian Empire conquered most of Thrace
Battle of Velbazhd (1330)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Kingdom	Defeat
Byzantine Civil War (1341–1347)	Byzantine Empire John V Palaiologos Allies: Bulgarian Empire Serbian Empire	Byzantine Empire John VI Kantakouzenos Allies: Serbian Empire Ottoman Empire	Victory Kantakouzenos defeated regents, became emperor Bulgarian Empire gained northern Thrace
First Bulgarian–Ottoman War (1344–1371)	Bulgarian Empire	Ottoman Empire	Defeat Ottoman advance to Sofia halted in 1349 and 1355 Bulgarian phyrric victory over Ottomans at Çamurli field in 1371 Bulgaria held off the Ottoman army until the Bulgarian betrayal of brothers
Second Bulgarian–Ottoman War (1371–1396)	Bulgarian Empire	Ottoman Empire	Defeat Fall of the Bulgarian Empire

Principality of Bulgaria (1876–1908)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)	Russian Empire Principality of Bulgaria Principality of Serbia Romanian United Principalities Principality of Montenegro	Ottoman Empire	Victory Treaty of San Stefano Treaty of Berlin Ottoman Empire suffered severe defeat, losing key holdings in Europe Independence of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro
Bulgarian-Serbian War (1885)	Principality of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Serbia	Victory Serbia unexpectedly attacked former ally Bulgaria Prince Alexander of Battenburg led Bulgaria to victory
Macedonian Struggle (1893–1908)	Principality of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania Ottoman Empire	Draw Four-way war between Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottoman Empire Inconclusive result after Young Turk Revolution Bulgaria gained full independence in 1908

Kingdom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
First Balkan War (1912–1913)	Balkan League Kingdom of Bulgaria Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Montenegro	Ottoman Empire Allies: Austria-Hungary Albanian irregulars	Balkan League victory Ottoman Empire lost most remaining holdings in Europe Bulgaria obtained control over Macedonia, northern Greece, Albania and south Serbia Treaty of London
Second Balkan War (1913)	Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania Kingdom of Montenegro Ottoman Empire	Defeat Dissatisfied with gains from the First Balkan War, Bulgaria attacked former allies Serbia and Greece Attacks repulsed by Greece and Serbia, whose armies enter Bulgaria Romanian and Ottoman intervention forced Bulgaria to ask for armistice Bulgarian territorial cessations in Treaty of Bucharest and Treaty of Constantinople
World War I (1914–1918) (see Bulgaria during World War I)	Central Powers: German Empire Ottoman Empire Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Bulgaria (from 1915)	Allied Powers: United States Britain Kingdom of Italy Russian Empire French Third Republic Occupied by Central Powers: Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania	Allied victory Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine resulted in Bulgarian territorial cessations
Incident at Petrich (1925)	Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece	Bulgarian diplomatic victory Due to a border incident, Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos sent troops into Bulgaria League of Nations brokered ceasefire and Greek withdrawal Greece fined for violating Bulgarian territory Bulgaria paid damages for shooting Greek soldiers^[13]
World War II (1941–1945) (see Bulgaria during World War II)	Allied Powers: Soviet Union United States United Kingdom Kingdom of Italy (1943–45) French Third Republic (1939–40) Free France Kingdom of Romania (1944–45) Kingdom of Bulgaria (1944–45) Kingdom of Greece (1940–45) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1941)	Axis Powers: Nazi Germany Empire of Japan Kingdom of Italy (1939–43) Italian Social Republic (1943–45) Vichy France Independent State of Croatia Kingdom of Romania (1941–44) Kingdom of Bulgaria (1941–44)	Allied victory Bulgarian monarchy abolished and replaced with communist government Southern Dobruja ceded to Bulgaria post-war

People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)	Warsaw Pact: Soviet Union Poland Bulgaria Hungary Logistics support: East Germany^[a]	Czechoslovakia Supported by: Albania Romania	Warsaw Pact victory Warsaw Pact allies including Bulgaria invaded Czechoslovakia Minimal Czechoslovak armed resistance Czech reformist leaders forced to sign Moscow Protocol, ending the Prague Spring

Republic of Bulgaria (1990–)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Iraq War (2003–2011)	Iraq NATO United States Bulgaria other allies	Baath Loyalists Islamic State of Iraq Al-Qaeda Islamic Army of Iraq Ba'athist Iraq	Coalition victory Part of the Iraqi Insurgency and War on Terror Invasion and occupation of Iraq Defeat of Ba'ath Party government and execution of Saddam Hussein Iraqi insurgency, emergence of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and civil war^[14] Subsequent depletion of Iraqi insurgency,^[15] improvements in public security^[16] Establishment of democratic elections and formation of new Shia led government. U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq War on ISIL Iraqi Civil War
2011 military intervention in Libya	NATO United States Bulgaria (one frigate as part of NATO contribution)^[17] other allies	Libya	NATO victory NTC assumed interim control of Libya. Civil war in Libya

Notes

^ Invasion canceled, troops prepared, part of the executive staff

References

^ ^a ^b War History Online (2016). https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/siege-constantinople-bulgarian-khan-fought-arabs.html
^ Historical Park Bulgaria (2020). https://ipark.bg/en-US/Age/Item/385
^ E Scholar Community Encyclopedia (2020). https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/31200
^ History of Hungary, 955–1196
^ Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Series: Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga Publisher: Srpska književna zadruga Beograd Pages: 156
^ Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.141.
^ History of Hungary, 895–970
^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_%C5%BDivkovi%C4%87 (2008). Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150. Belgrade: The Institute of History, Čigoja štampa. ISBN 978-86-7558-573-2. p.255.
^ Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga. Srpska književna zadruga Beograd. p. 160.
^ Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. (1967) [1949]. Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (2nd revised ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 978-0-88402-021-9.
^ Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.159.
^ Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.
^ Thomopoulos, Elaine (2012). The History of Greece. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 9780313375118.
^ "Sectarian divisions change Baghdad's image". NBC News. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
^ "U.S. says Iraq pullout won't cause dramatic violence". MSNBC. 18 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
^ "UK 'to continue deporting failed Iraqi asylum seekers'". BBC. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
^ "Bulgarian Frigate on Its Way to Libyan Coast". The Sofia Echo. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.

[14] Invasion canceled, troops prepared, part of the executive staff

[warhistoryonline.com-1] War History Online (2016). https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/siege-constantinople-bulgarian-khan-fought-arabs.html

[2] Historical Park Bulgaria (2020). https://ipark.bg/en-US/Age/Item/385

[3] E Scholar Community Encyclopedia (2020). https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/31200

[4] History of Hungary, 955–1196

[5] Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Series: Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga Publisher: Srpska književna zadruga Beograd Pages: 156

[6] Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.141.

[7] History of Hungary, 895–970

[8] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_%C5%BDivkovi%C4%87 (2008). Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150. Belgrade: The Institute of History, Čigoja štampa. ISBN 978-86-7558-573-2. p.255.

[9] Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga. Srpska književna zadruga Beograd. p. 160.

[10] Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. (1967) [1949]. Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (2nd revised ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 978-0-88402-021-9.

[11] Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.159.

[12] Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.

[13] Thomopoulos, Elaine (2012). The History of Greece. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 9780313375118.

[15] "Sectarian divisions change Baghdad's image". NBC News. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2007.

[16] "U.S. says Iraq pullout won't cause dramatic violence". MSNBC. 18 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

[17] "UK 'to continue deporting failed Iraqi asylum seekers'". BBC. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

[18] "Bulgarian Frigate on Its Way to Libyan Coast". The Sofia Echo. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.

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