Today Bulgaria commemorates the saints Cyril and Methodius and celebrates the creation of the Bulgarian alphabet - the so-called Cyrillic, written down c. 890-900 in Preslav, capital of the First Bulgarian empire in the so-called Preslav school of scripture. Bulgarian prince Boris I invited the disciples of St. Cyril & St. Methodius to Bulgaria following their expulsion from Great Moravia in 885. They brought with them the Glagolic alphabet and lay the foundations of a separate Bulgarian language, which helped Bulgarian culture

Bulgarian rebel leader and later emperor Ivaylo during a skirmish with a Tatar raiding party, 1277. Art by Miroslav Yotov. Ivaylo was the only person of peasant/common origin to hold an imperial title outside of Byzantium for the entire history of Medieval Europe. A leader of a peasans' revolt thet ignited in 1277, Ivaylo fought off a number of Tatar raids in Dobrodzha, defeated Byzantine forces invading Bulgaria and annihilated the royal army of tsar Konstantin Tikh, killing the monarch personally. In 1278 he married empress Maria

Simeon, king of the Bulgars, leading his troops into a counter attack against Byzantine forces at the battle of Acheloi (Acheleos) - 20.VIII.917. The battle was probably the largest military engagement of the X century with more than 45 000 men involved in total. After he struck a hard bargain with the Byzantines in 913, Simeon had the pretense to be an emperor, equal to the basileus in Constantinople. Peace was maintained until 916, when the new Byz government under empress Zoya decided to beat the Bulgars into submission, forging

Bulgar warriors preparing to ambush the Byzantine forces on the night of 25th July, 811. After being defeated by the Byzantines two weeks earlier, Bulgar ruler Krum reassembles his forces in the Hemus mountain to cut off emperor Nicephoros' supply lines. Bulgar forces are small After the defeat of the main army in mid July, Krum is left with no more than 8000 men (and women, according to Byzantine sources), most of whom are mercenaries from the Avars and Slavs. He knows a new pitched battle with the 'romaioi' will end badly and decides stealth & cunning

Bulgarian horsemen taking down Arabs in a pitched battle, 717/18 AD. During the Arab campaign against Constantinople (717/18), the Bulgars defeated the Arabs forces in three consecutive open battles. Furthermore, Bulgar raiding parties troubled Arab logistics throughout winter. According to Michael the Syrian, Arabs had to send units of no less than 2000 men for foraging outside their camp. Less risked being ambushed and slaughtered by the Bulgars. "The Arabs were afraid from the sea, the Bulgars and the Romans in the city" - Michael notes.

The trouble with Russia is that the old cliche "Russia doesn't start wars - it ends them" is in fact true to some extent. Russia has had over the centuries a certain reluctance to fight offensive wars, especially against peer-level enemies. She is also fearful of isolation 🧵/1 The last few wars Russia fought as the attacking side, ended badly for her. The war against Poland in 1920 is a typical example, very similar to what we are seeing now. The voice of Tukhachevsky has always been a lone one in Russian strategic thinking. The Northern empire /2

Joseph Nasi - a Portuguese born Jew, who gained prominence in the Ottoman empire in the second half of XVI century. He was born in Lisabon in 1524. His father Antonio Micas was a doctor and a lecturer in the university of Lisabon. He ran from the Inquisition in 1546. As a man with many links and friends in Europe, Nasi quickly rose to prominence, supporting Selim II for the throne. He was able to tap into the Ottoman trading system but also influenced the imperial foreign policy. He was a monopolist in wine trade to Moldavia and wax export to