On January 4, 1878, Russian forces under General Yosif Gurko liberated Sofia from Ottoman rule. The city was not yet the capital, but its position in the western Bulgarian lands made it a natural political centre of the restored state.
January 4, 1878 — Sofia Is Liberated
After the Liberation, Sofia began to change quickly. Ministries, schools and administrative buildings appeared, and the setting of the future capital took shape around them.
This was not only a change on a map. The new institutions gave the city daily functions: people were educated there, decisions were made there, and the young state was administered there. January 4, 1878, stands at the start of Sofia’s rise as Bulgaria’s political centre.
January 4, 1990 — The Movement for Rights and Freedoms Is Founded
On January 4, 1990, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms was founded in Varna. The party placed minority rights and religious freedom at the centre of its work. Its creation formed part of the political changes that followed the end of communist rule.
The MRF soon became a force in parliamentary life and helped shape Bulgaria’s post-communist political system. Its founding in Varna marked the beginning of a new form of political representation that remained present in parliament after the first years of the transition.
Related reading: Revisit the previous day — January 3; continue to the next day — January 5; and browse Travel.
