Two events separated by a decade define July 11 in Bulgaria’s history: a hard-won military victory that helped shape the outcome of the Second Balkan War, and the quiet founding of an institution that would underpin the country’s agricultural economy for a century to come.
July 11, 1913 — Victory at Kalimantsi
After seven grueling days of fighting near the village of Kalimantsi in Macedonia, Bulgaria’s Fourth Army broke through Serbian lines during the Second Balkan War. The win came despite serious conditions in the Bulgarian ranks: exhaustion, food shortages, and a cholera outbreak had significantly weakened the troops, making the result all the more notable.
The victory helped stabilize the front against Serbia and freed up forces to redirect attention toward the Greek advance further south — a critical shift in a war that was already turning against Bulgaria on multiple fronts.
July 11, 1923 — Bulgaria Trains Its First Veterinarians
Sofia University held the inaugural meeting of the Faculty Council of its newly established Veterinary Faculty, laying the institutional groundwork for organized veterinary medicine in Bulgaria. The council consisted of three founding professors who took on responsibility for training the country’s first generation of veterinary specialists.
For a nation whose economy still depended heavily on livestock and agriculture, the faculty’s creation was far more than an academic milestone — it was a practical investment in the health of the rural economy that Bulgaria relied on.
More entries from this series: July 10 | July 12 | July 13. Browse our Bulgaria From Above photo series or discover the best of Bulgaria.
