The Battle for Shipka

History is told not only by books, but also by geographical places — cities and towns, whole regions and places so tiny you won’t find them on any map. Certain places are invisible to the eye, but nonetheless have secured a place in world history because of the great events that took place there. Shipka, a pass in Bulgaria’s Stara-Planina mountains, is such a place.

Located at 185 meters above sea level, Shipka is now little more than a dot on the highway between the cities of Kazanlyk and Gabrovo. But near Shipka, like a smaller mountain peak, stands the so-called Monument to Freedom, built in honor of the military cooperation between the Russians and Bulgarians in 1877-1878, when Russia helped free Bulgaria from Turkish occupation.

These days, the Russian army has something of a bad reputation and those people — especially foreigners — who rush to praise Russian military leadership are few and far between. The Bulgarians, however, still remember the Russian army — if not the Soviet army — with gratitude. For both Russians and Bulgarians, Shipka serves as a symbol of the bravery and friendship of their troops 120 years ago.

The Russo-Turkish War began in June 1877. After the Ottomans, who at that time controlled the Balkan peninsula, brutally suppressed a Bulgarian uprising, Russia declared war on Turkey. In so doing, the Russian Emperor Alexander II was not only striving to strengthen Russian influence in the area, but also responding to the rise of Pan-Slavism, an ideology espousing unity among Slavic peoples. Besides the battle at Shipka, the highlights of the war included the siege and capture of Plevna and Kars by Russian troops in 1877, the Russian army’s winter crossing of the Balkan Range and the capture of Adrianopol in 1878. The war ended in a decisive victory for Russia, and the Treaty of San Stefano was concluded on February 12, 1878, officially ending the war. Under the terms of the treaty, Russia gained territory in the Caucuses, and a large, autonomous Bulgaria was created.

Unfortunately for Russia and Bulgaria, what was gained in the fighting was later lost in diplomacy. Russia’s ally, Austria-Hungary, along with Great Britain, pressured Alexander II to reconsider the terms of the peace. The Treaty of San Stefano never went into effect. Under new terms brokered at the Congress of Berlin, the map of the Balkans was again redrawn and Bulgaria was divided into three parts, one of which remained under Turkish rule.

But, in spite of the war’s bitter aftermath, the bravery of Russian and Bulgarian troops and the military strategy of 34-year-old General Mikhail Skobelev — the “White General” as his soldiers called him — were memorable. In July 1877, after 12 hours of fighting, Skobelev and his soldiers managed to defeat the Turkish forces, who outnumbered them eight-to-one, near the town of Plevna.

And then came Shipka. On July 19, 1877, after a bitter fight, Russian soldiers took this strategically crucial pass, which secured the shortest route from Bulgaria to Istanbul. Then, on August 9th, the troops dug in and prepared for a bloody defense against the superior numbers of their opponents. In the end, they were successful, but the casualties on both sides were enormous.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event, Shipka’s Monument to Freedom was constructed between 1928 and 1930  by the Bulgarian architect A. Donkov and the Russian sculptor A. Andreev. This August, Russians and Bulgarians are preparing to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Shipka’s defense, while next February, Bulgaria will celebrate the end of the war.

According to Kir Lemzenko, secretary of Bulgaria’s Union of Friends, historical readings, round tables, scientific conferences and thematic evenings are now taking place throughout Bulgaria, particularly in Starozagor, the town closest to Shipka, in preparation for the February event.

For the 120th anniversary of Shipka, a week of documentary and memoir literature dedicated to Shipka and the Russo-Turkish War in general will also be held in Starozagor. Historians, literary scholars, students, teachers and pupils of Bulgarian middle schools will take part in these events. Along with history and military strategy, they will also doubtlessly talk about heroism and the ability of nations to pull together in difficult times.

In Brief

Two of the twelve major Russian Orthodox festivals fall during the month of August. The first — the Transfiguration of Christ on August 19th — is more commonly referred to as the Second Savior, as two more days consecrating Jesus Christ are also celebrated in August. The so-called First Savior, in honor of the holy cross, falls on August 14, while on the 29th, Orthodox Russians celebrate the Third Savior, commemorating the transportation of Christ’s image from Edessa to Constantinople. The second major church festival of the month is the Assumption of the Holy Virgin on August 28.

Several noteworthy anniversaries take place in August. On August 27, 185 years ago, Natalia Goncharova (1812-1863), wife of the great poet Alexander Pushkin, was born, while August 17th marks the 80th anniversary of the birth of Prince Vladimir Kirillovich (1917-1992), the head of the Romanov house abroad. And, speaking of royalty, on August 1, 185 years ago Emperor Alexander I banned secret societies and Masonic lodges in Russia. According to the ban, civil and military officials had to sign a document to the effect that they did not and would not belong to such organizations.

August’s civil calendar is full of examples of cultural figures who suffered at the hands of the state. August 15th marks 210 years since the birth of Russian composer Alexander Alyabyev (1787-1851), who was exiled to Siberia for 18 years after being falsely accused of murder. For the average Russian, Alyabyev is best known as the author of the popular romance Solovei (Nightingale). But he was also a significant composer who made a great contribution to Russian instrumental music, enriching and developing the tradition of Russian romansy, or traditional romantic songs. He wrote a large number of musical and dramatic works, cantatas, choral pieces, symphonic overtures, chamber ensembles and piano pieces, as well as more than 150 romansy and folk songs. His operas include “A Moonlit Night, or the House Spirits,” “The Tempest,” based on the Shakespeare play, and “Prisoner in the Caucuses.”

After the rise of the Bolsheviks in 1917, many a writer and intellectual also found themselves exiled — or worse. At the end of August 1922, 160 representatives of Russian culture branded as “especially active counter-revolutionary elements” were sent to Siberia or abroad. Among them were the world-class scholars, writers and philosophers Nikolai Berdyaev, Semyon Frank, Pitirim Sorokin, Nikolai Lossky and Sergei Bulgakov.

Yet another Russian cultural figure who knew the bitterness of exile was writer Vasily Aksyonov, born 65 years ago on August 20. Aksyonov became the mouthpiece of the generation now known as the shestidesyatniki (generation of the 60s). The themes of his early tales, such as “Colleagues” and “The Steel Bird,” — the human condition in Russia in the Stalin and post-Stalin era — were echoed and further developed in his later novels “The Burn,” “Say Cheese” and “The Island of Crimea.”

It was only natural that Aksyonov should write about the chaos and terror of the Stalin years, as they so dramatically affected his own life. His father, a Party official, was killed in the torture chamber, while his mother, Evgeniya Ginzburg, spent 20 years in the gulag. She wrote of her experiences in the well-known memoirs Krutoy Marshrut (“Into the Whirlwind”), which her famous son later adapted to the stage. Vasily Aksyonov himself was forced to emigrate. He now lives in America, where he teaches, and travels widely. Two volumes of his travel notes, “In Search of Melancholy Baby” and “Around the Clock – Nonstop,” plus a fiction trilogy centering around World War II have been published. By the way, Aksyonov’s play Krutoy Marshrut is now being performed at Moscow’s Sovremennik Theater.

August 19th marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of Aksyonov’s contemporary, Alexander Vampilov (1932-1972), a playwright who achieved popularity both in his homeland and abroad. Vampilov was fated to make a dizzying ascent — from “young people’s” stories and sketches to such serious works as the plays “The Elder Son,” “Last Summer in Chulimsk” and “The Duck Hunt.” The secret of this ascent lay not only in Vampilov’s talent, but also in the timeliness of his themes. During the outbreak of collectivism, he wrote about the individual and the importance of the individual personality.

On a more cheerful note, the bibliographer, ethnographer and scholar Ivan Sakharov (1807—1863) was born 190 years ago on August 23. A true Renaissance man, Sakharov stood out for the multifaceted nature of his work. He collected traditional Russian fairy tales and their literary reworkings in the book “Russian Fairy Tales.” He studied the problems of icon painting and wrote “Research on Russian Icon Painting,” then published his research in yet another area in “A Manuscript of Russian Engraving.” As if this were not enough, he was also one of the founders of the bibliography of local lore, history and economy. He researched and created a list of writers born and living in the Tula province.

The list of Sakharov’s achievements goes on and on. His other fundamental work was the three-volume “Tales of the Russian People about the Family Life of Their Ancestors.” And all this fails to take into account his books on age-old Russian trades such as wax-making and leather-curing. But the most amazing thing about Ivan Sakharov was that he, having graduated first from the Tula Spiritual Seminary and then from the medical faculty of Moscow University, lived his whole life as an unassuming doctor in the postal department. His scientific investigations were in no way connected with his profession.