Bulgaria

Bulgarians have known oppression from many hands. In the late 14th century, the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria, and the country was part of the Ottoman Empire for the next 500 years. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria came under the influence of another major power, Russia. The People’s Republic of Bulgaria, as the country became known after the Second World War, was ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1946 to 1989. This history has resulted in a significant lack of trust in government, authority and outsiders.