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Season 8: The Calm Before the Storm
With its tumultuous politics stabilized and international recognition obtained, Bulgaria builds its strength for conflicts on the horizon.
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Eric D. Halsey
Jul 30, 20231 min read
189 Looking Back on The Calm Before the Storm, Part 2
This episode covers the second half of season 8, roughly from late 1904 until the beginning of the First Balkan War in 1912. In that...
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Eric D. Halsey
Jul 19, 20231 min read
188 Looking Back on The Calm Before the Storm, Part 1
This episode covers the first half of Season 8, roughly from 1895 to 1904. In that time, Ferdinand took firm control of Bulgarian...
109 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Jun 30, 20232 min read
187 The Balkan League
As the Ottomans face war with Italy, another Albanian uprising, the resurgence of violence in Macedonia, and a coup, pressure mounts on...
179 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Jun 26, 20233 min read
186 Return to Resistance
Interethnic violence rocks a Bulgarian city, former members of the MRO decide they've had enough with the Young Turks and reform the...
110 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
May 28, 20232 min read
185 Back to Reality
In the aftermath of Bulgaria's declaration of independence, the new state works to establish its place on the European stage. Meanwhile a...
131 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
May 26, 20232 min read
184 The Death of a Principality and Birth of a Kingdom
In the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution, everyone from the Great Powers to the former right and left-wing factions of the MRO have...
119 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Apr 9, 20231 min read
183 Stamboliiski and the Young Turks
One MRO faction sentences the other to death while the other embraces a revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile the first elections...
162 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Apr 8, 20232 min read
182 Snowballs, Bullets, and Wedding Bells
An assassins bullet rocks Bulgarian politics, Ferdinand and his government attempt to further crack down on political organization, and...
104 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Mar 29, 20232 min read
181 The Final Rupture
A newspaper scandal brings down Prime Minister Petrov, allowing the actual leader of the governing party to finally take charge....
143 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Mar 27, 20232 min read
180 Massacres on Land and at Sea
As the Russo-Japanese War reaches its climax, its conclusion has dramatic implications for Bulgaria and the Balkans. It also triggers a...
101 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Feb 28, 20232 min read
179 The Year of Congresses
As the MRO continues to reckon with its recent bloody failure in Macedonia, Greece and Serbia step into the vacuum to expand their power...
154 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Feb 22, 20232 min read
178 The World Shakes
War breaks out between Japan and Russia, the strongest recorded earthquake to ever hit the Balkans rocks Macedonia, and the fallout of...
105 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Jan 30, 20232 min read
177 The Ilinden Uprising
Uprisings have begun in both Macedonia and Thrace, but whether the MRO can succeed where the Supremecists failed remains to be seen....
151 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Jan 29, 20232 min read
176 The Boatmen of Thessaloniki
In the aftermath of the bloody Gorna Dzumaya Uprising, yet more violence comes to Macedonia in the form of the Boatmen. As terrorist...
152 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Dec 31, 20221 min read
175 The Gorna Dzumaya Uprising
As the Supremacists rush towards a new uprising in Macedonia, the MRO, Ottomans, and Bulgarian government alike all try to stop them....
134 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Dec 30, 20222 min read
174 A Government Without Options
Between the deaths of several major political figures and a shift in electoral politics, the Bulgarian political landscape is shifting....
110 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Nov 29, 20222 min read
173 The Miss Stone Affair
Bulgaria experiences its most free election in decades, the Agrarians finally get what they've been demanding, and the Macedonian...
163 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Nov 28, 20222 min read
172 A Violent Start to a Violent Century
The world's wealthiest Bulgarian dies, triggering a wave of controversy over the fate of his fortune. Meanwhile, violence over the 10%...
107 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Oct 31, 20222 min read
171 The Agrarians Arrive
A series of bad decisions forces the Conservative government of Stoilov to implement harsh new taxes, triggering substantial backlash....
139 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Oct 23, 20223 min read
170 A New Balkan War
Seeing an opportunity, Greece attempts to size Crete from the Ottomans, triggering full scale war. Meanwhile, the Supremecists and MRO...
165 views0 comments
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Eric D. Halsey
Sep 20, 20221 min read
169 The Cusp of a New Era
With Stambolov gone and Ferdinand recognized, Bulgarian politics enters a new age. This episode covers the general situation entering...
150 views0 comments
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