Historic Shipka Pass Battle Recreated 131 Years Later

novinite.com

Hundreds of Bulgarians flocked to the Shipka Pass Saturday to honor the 131 year since the historic battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, which led to the country's liberation, and to see its recreation by volunteers.

The Battle of the Shipka Pass, which is located in the central part of the Balkan Mountain, took place on August 21-23, 1877.

The pass turned out to be of strategic importance for the outcome of the twelfth war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire but it was initially guarded mostly by the regiments of the Bulgarian volunteers, as well as smaller numbers of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Finnish warriors from the Russia's Army.

This force of a total of about 7000 soldiers face an Ottoman Turkish army of almost 40 000 but managed to retain its critically important positions until the arrival of the Russian army of General Radetski.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 ended with the San Stefano Peace Treaty of March 3, 1878, which liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman Turkey.