August 26 sits at two turning points in Bulgaria’s history, one on a mountain pass and one on the throne: the failed Ottoman push at Shipka in 1877 and the final abdication of Prince Alexander of Battenberg in 1886.
August 26, 1877 — Suleiman Pasha Abandons Shipka
After days of relentless assaults failed to break the Bulgarian and Russian defenders, Ottoman forces under Suleiman Pasha gave up their attempt to force the Shipka Pass. The crossing had been held against overwhelming odds.
It stayed in Bulgarian and Russian hands for the rest of the war, denying the Ottoman army a direct route into liberated northern Bulgaria and shaping the campaigns that unfolded that winter and the following spring.
August 26, 1886 — Prince Alexander Abdicates for Good
A chaotic fortnight had seen Prince Alexander of Battenberg deposed in a coup, briefly restored by a counter-coup, and then unable to win Russia’s backing for his return. He announced his final abdication from the Bulgarian throne.
Power passed to a regency headed by Stefan Stambolov, who spent the following months searching for a new prince amid a deepening rift with Russia — a search that ended the next year with the election of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Keep exploring the calendar: tomorrow brings August 27. For more, wander through our Bulgaria From Above series.
