Bravery day

In Bulgaria, the May holidays are even fatter than in Russia: they begin in April (28) and only today (May 6) is the last official state holiday. I have to go to work tomorrow. Not for me.

8 and 9 will also celebrate the victory, but without an official weekend, but on May 24 they do not work again, and this is Friday ... well, you understand - in May the Bulgarians have no time to work. Yes, and it hurt like something 😊

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Today in Bulgaria is a big public holiday and therefore (on Monday) everyone has a day off. This is the day of St. George, in Bulgarian Gergyovden and officially "Denyat for brave and Bulgarian Army."

This is a professional holiday of military personnel and the military order "For Bravery". On this day, a parade is usually held on the square "Alexander Battenberg" in front of the former royal palace, and now a museum.

It was he - the first prince of Bulgaria A. Battenberg established a military order "For Bravery", like the Russian "St. George" and the feast itself in January 1880.

The parade is accompanied by a national anthem.

On this day, the National Historical Museum and the National Military Historical Museum in Sofia, as well as the Aviation Museum in Plovdiv, organize an open door and everyone can watch all the expositions for free.

About the date of the holiday

This holiday was celebrated on April 23 - the day of St. George the Victorious, but after 1916, due to the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church decided to postpone the holiday to May 6.

Originally celebrated very modestly. The ceremony included a memorial service in the garrisons, congratulations and a dinner for the gentlemen of the Order for Bravery, as well as small military parades mainly in Sofia.

For a long time, parallel to the Day of Bravery, Victory Day existed, the so-called “Malak Gergovden” on November 27, when the Bulgarian army won a decisive victory in the battles of Slivnitsa during the Serbian-Bulgarian war in 1885. However, the Neuisky Treaty signed in 1919 made this celebration meaningless, and in the 20s of the 20th century, two holidays were united into one and began to celebrate the Day of Bravery and Victory on May 6.

In 1931, the "Day of courage and victory" was declared a military holiday of the troops.

The most memorable parade was held on May 6, 1937 in Sofia, when Tsar Boris III, with special solemnity, presented new battle banners to the Sofia regiments. Old, charred and tattered, surrendered to the Pantheon of Bulgarian glory. The new ones were consecrated by the Sofia Metropolitan Stephen, and after that the king scored a gilded nail with a monogram of his monogram with a gilded hammer. He personally handed the battle flag to each regiment commander.

The established tradition of parades on Georgiev’s Day was canceled on May 2, 1947 by a decision of the Ministerial Council chaired by Georgi Dimitrov.

First, for the holiday of the Bulgarian army determined the date of September 9. Now this day is considered a communist military coup. And after 1953, the day of the Bulgarian army was postponed to September 23 - the date of the announcement of the September Uprising of 1923.

Also, the Bulgarian army celebrated May 9 - as "Victory Day of the Bulgarian People's Army and the USSR Armed Forces over Nazi Germany in 1945."

Separately, it was solemnly celebrated on March 6 - “The Day of the Beginning of the Drava Operation of 1945 of the First Bulgarian Army against the Nazi Forces during the Second World War”. This continued until 1989.

In 1981, a huge military parade was held with the army and military equipment of the Bulgarian People's Army to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the creation of the Bulgarian state. Todor Zhivkov, Dobri Djurov and all the party bosses of the BKP and BZNS were present at the parade - they were standing in the mausoleum of Georgi Dimitrov, which was subsequently blown up.

According to the Bulgarian military historians: "For 45 years, Bulgarian commanders were in the shadow of the Soviet marshals."

After 1990, the Seventh Great National Assembly moved the celebration of the troops to the date August 23 - the day of the decisive battles at Shipka in 1877.

In 1993, the decision of the Ministerial Council returned the day of the celebration - May 6th.

Now the day of the Bravery and the Bulgarian army is celebrated as follows:

•  At 9 am, they serve a memorial service in front of the eternal flame at the "Unknown Soldier".
•   At 10, the military parade begins at Prince Alexander I Square. The parade opens the Mi-17 helicopter with a waving Bulgarian flag. But not this year - all Mi-17s are broken.
•   In the museum of military equipment open day.

Since 2012, the word "gentlemen" was withdrawn from the official address to the military: "gentlemen officer", "gentlemen of the guard". Now the commander-in-chief addresses simply “officers,” “guards.”

Interestingly, this word was removed only from parades. "Madam" and "master" is a normal appeal to strangers on the streets of Bulgaria. Instead of “a man, a woman, a girl, or a young man.” We have. And the teachers at the school are generally referred to as Ms. Ivanova, and not like Marya Ivanovna. And this is a modern, not outdated message.

Bulgarian army

The modern army in Bulgaria consists of ground forces, navy and military aviation. The Ministry of Defense is called the "Ministry of Selection".

On March 29, 2004, Bulgaria joined NATO and the Bulgarian army suffered strong reductions.

The call to the Bulgarian army was canceled in 2007 by a government decision.

According to statistics from 2014, the Bulgarian army has 27,000 people, of which the Air Force has 6,750, and the Navy 3,510.

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