КЪМ ЧИТАТЕЛЯ
Уважаеми Читателю,
В 6-те книжки на сп. „История“ през 2025 година представихме на Вашето внимание 55 публикации, от които научните статии са 37 на брой, а останалите текстове представят аналитично новоиздадени научни монографии и научни прояви в страната и чужбина. Постарахме се да разширим профила на авторите – общо 74 изследователи със свои статии в списанието през 2025-а. През годината в „История“ публикуваха както утвърдени, така и млади учени от университети и научни центрове в България, Франция, Румъния, Украйна и Чехия. Чуждите ни автори са от авторитетни академични центрове като EHESS – Париж (Франция), New Europe College – Букурещ (Румъния), AMBIS University – Прага (Чехия), Националния университет „Богдан Хмелницки“ – Киев (Украйна), Националния университет „Тарас Шевченко“ – Киев (Украйна), а нашите български автори са от водещи научни центрове в страната: Института за балканистика с Център по тракология „Проф. Александър Фол“ – БАН, Института за исторически изследвания – БАН, Софийския университет „Св. Климент Охридки“, Стопанската академия „Димитър Ценов“ – Свищов, Университета за национално и световно стопанство – София, Икономическия университет – Варна, Техническия университет – Варна, Института за етнология и фолклористика с Етнографски музей – БАН, Пловдивския университет „Паисий Хилендарски“, Русенския университет „Ангел Кънчев“, Великотърновския университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“, Историческия музей – Омуртаг.
През 2026 г. продължаваме във вече започнатата посока. При утвърдените високи стандарти на научно рецензиране и редактиране ще запознаваме нашите читатели с най-доброто от българската и световната наука по проблемите на историята на Централна и Източна Европа и на Източното Средиземноморие. И още в настоящата първа книжка на списанието те ще имат възможността да се запознаят с приносна статия на автор от Китай, посветена на балканската история. Това е първият наш автор въобще с научна афилиация в тази далечна държава.
Добра новина е, че през тази година ще предоставим на нашите читатели свободен онлайн достъп до публикациите в списанието. Защото те живо се интересуват от тях. Защото те го заслужават. Започваме!
Чл.-кор. проф. д.и.н. Иван Русев
Главен редактор на сп. История”
EDITORIAL
Dear reader,
In the six issues of Istoriya–History journal in 2025, we published 55 publications, of which 37 were scientific articles, while the rest were analytical reviews of newly published scientific monographs and scientific events in Bulgaria and abroad. We endeavoured to expand the profile of the authors—a total of 74 researchers with journal articles in 2025. During the year, Istoriya–History published articles by both established and young scholars from universities and research centres in Bulgaria, France, Romania, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. Our foreign authors come from prestigious academic centres such as École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) – Paris (France), New Europe College – Bucharest (Romania), AMBIS University – Praha (Czech Republic), Khmelnytskyi National University (Ukraine), Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University (Ukraine). Our Bulgarian authors are from leading scientific centres in the country as the Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Institute for Historical Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, “Dimitar A. Tsenov“ Academy of Economics in Svishtov, University of National and World Economy – Sofia, University of Economics – Varna, Technical University of Varna, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies and Ethnographical Muzeum – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, “Paisiy Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv, “Angel Kanchev” University of Ruse, “St. Cyril and St. Methodius” University of Veliko Tarnovo, and History Museum – Omurtag.
In 2026, we will continue in the direction we have already taken. With our established high standards of scientific review and editing, we will introduce our readers to the best of Bulgarian and world science on the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. In the first issue of the journal, readers will have the opportunity to read a contribution on Balkan history by an author from China University. He is our first author ever with an academic affiliation in that distant country.The good news is that this year we will provide our readers with free online access to the journal’s publications. Because they are keenly interested in them. Because they deserve it. Let’s get started!
Ivan Rusev,
Editor–in–Chief
Istoriya-History
The Bottom of the Well: Urban Memory, Imperial Echoes, and the Microgeography of Fear in Prewar Belgrade
Dr. Srđan M. Jovanović, Assoc. Prof.
College of History, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-1-bot
Abstract. This article offers a microhistorical reading of Vladislav Maevsky’s 1913 travel sketch of Belgrade, focusing on his descent into the Roman well at Kalemegdan Fortress. By analyzing this episode as an affective and symbolic site, the study reveals how subterranean spaces serve as repositories of imperial memory, historical anxiety, and national identity. Drawing on methodologies from urban history and memory studies, the article situates the well as a metaphor for Serbia’s layered temporalities and contested sovereignties on the eve of the First World War. It further interprets Maevsky’s encounters with museums, monuments, and civic spaces as part of a broader urban effort to stage national identity through selective remembrance. This essay demonstrates how even minor urban forms such as wells, portraits, or stairwells can function as dense sites of historical meaning and advocates for further microhistorical approaches to the urban landscapes of the Balkans and Eastern Europe.[1]
Keywords: microhistory, urban memory, Serbian nationalism, subterranean architecture, imperial borderlands
“Serb-Albanian reconciliation in the context of the EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and the problem of missing persons: an assessment”
Prof. Dr Yorgos Christidis
University of Macedonia, Greece
Prof. Dr. Rumyana Marinova-Christidi
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-2-ser
Abstract. This article examines the prospects for Serb–Albanian reconciliation in the context of the EU-facilitated Belgrade–Pristina Dialogue and focuses in particular on the unresolved issue of missing persons from the Kosovo conflict (1998–2000). While the Dialogue, launched under EU mediation in 2010, has produced a number of technical and political agreements aimed at normalizing relations, its contribution to genuine reconciliation remains limited. More than two decades after the end of the conflict and seventeen years after Kosovo’s declaration of independence, progress in addressing the legacy of war crimes, ensuring justice for victims, and clarifying the fate of missing persons has been insufficient. Drawing on theoretical approaches to reconciliation and transitional justice, the article argues that sustainable normalization cannot be achieved solely through diplomatic arrangements or de facto recognition formulas. Instead, reconciliation requires truth-seeking, accountability, acknowledgment of suffering, and meaningful engagement with victims’ families. Although recent agreements, including the 2023 Declaration on Missing Persons, have revived expectations, persistent political mistrust and divergent narratives continue to obstruct implementation. The study concludes that without tangible progress on justice and the resolution of missing persons cases, the normalization process will remain fragile and reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia incomplete.
Keywords: Serbia–Kosovo relations, EU-mediated Dialogue, reconciliation, missing persons, transitional justice, Western Balkans.
Проектозаконът за гражданския брак от 1936 г. и реакцията на Светия синод на Българската православна църква
Д-р Атанас Ваташки
Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-3-law
Abstract. This article investigates the 1936 initiative of Justice Minister Dimitar Peshev to introduce civil marriage in the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In contrast to similar reforms in other European countries, Peshev’s legislative initiative was not driven by anti-religious or anti-clerical motives. Nonetheless, it was categorically rejected by the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The study aims to shed light on the proposed reform of Bulgarian family law, the arguments presented both in its support and opposition, and the reasoning behind the Synod’s position. It also examines how these issues were intertwined with the complex relationship between state authority and the official religion in the Kingdom of Bulgaria—Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The research draws primarily on archival materials preserved in the Central State Archives, including minutes of the Holy Synod’s meetings, documents from state institutions, and personal archival collections of individuals closely involved in the debate.
Keywords: civil marriage, church marriage, King Boris III, Dimitar Peshev, Holy Synod
Франсоа Гизо и Адолф Тиер – конфликт на интереси, външнополитическа стратегия и подход по Османо-египетската криза (1839–1841)
Джулия Кръстева
Софийски университет „ Св. Климент Охридски“
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-4-fra
Abstract. French diplomacy during the July Monarchy (1830 – 1848) was put to the test, as a result of the approach and strategy used in regulating the second escalation of the Ottoman-Egyptian conflict (1839 – 1841). French strategic interests in the Mediterranean basin were decisive in favour of the claims made by the Egyptian governor Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769 – 1849) for hereditary investiture, in addition to Egypt and the Ottoman province of Syria, which he occupied in 1831. The policy of Paris was carried out by the two main political players, François Guizot (1787 – 1874) and Adolphe Thiers (1797 – 1877), who applied two different approaches to regulating the crisis in the Orient.
The model of behaviour, defending the categorical pro-Egyptian position, was implemented by François Guizot, charged with a diplomatic mission in London (from 23 February 1840 to 29 October 1840) according to the instructions of the Foreign Minister Adolphe Thiers (from 1 March 1840 to 29 October 1840). The differences between the two approaches were evident in the conclusion of the secret treaty of 15 July 1840 between Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, which excluded France and dealt a blow to its dignity. Thiers’ belligerent approach was replaced by the more peaceful one, implemented by Guizot and promoting Franco-English partnership.
The article examines the differences in the opinions of the two statesmen in the 1840s, which gave rise to a conflict of interests and a lack of a shared political goal, but in the 1850s a compromise between Thiers’ pro-Napoleonic worldview and the Franco-English alliance supported by Guizot was achieved.
Keywords: Eastern Question, French Foreign Policy, Muhammad Ali Pasha, Adolphe Thiers, François Guizot
Дигитални инструменти за развиване на компетенции в часовете по история (V – VII клас) в българските училища зад граница
Доц. д-р Юлия Симеонова
Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-5-dig
Abstract. The present report is part of a developed intellectual product – “Methodical guide for teachers”, which is the result of the project activity “Digital Schoolbag – My Bulgaria”: an interactive school aid for teaching the Bulgarian language abroad. It offers models of interactive worksheets on history and civilizations (grades V – VII), intended for Bulgarian schools abroad.1 Created on the LearningApps.org website, the e-exercises are developed in accordance with the curriculum and serve as a tool for developing students’ competencies.
Keywords: curriculum, interactive exercises, competencies, e-resources, history and civilizations, digital tools, Bulgarian Sunday schools
Десета годишна научна конференция и том 10 на „Известия на Центъра за стопанско-исторически изследвания“ на тема: „Войни, революции, несигурност“
Гл. ас. д-р Росица Златинска
Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-6-ten
На 26 и 27 септември 2025 г. в Университета за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС) се проведе Десетата юбилейна конференция на Центъра за стопанско-исторически изследвания (ЦСИИ) на тема: „Войни, революции, несигурност“ (Roussev 2025). Съорганизатор на събитието бе Общоикономическият факултет на УНСС. Представените доклади и дискусиите в рамките на конференцията създадоха творческа академична среда за обмен на идеи, мнения и оценки, като допринесоха за обогатяване на постигнатото в предходните инициативи на Центъра (Roussev 2022; Vacheva 2023; Roussev 2023; Vacheva 2024; Roussev 2024; Vacheva 2025)…
Нов библиографски справочник по повод 180-годишнината от построяването на храм „Въведение Богородично“в Горна Джумая и 130-годишнината от създаването на Неврокопската епархия
Д-р Кристиян Ковачев
Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология „Проф. Александър Фол“
Българска академия на науките
https://doi.org/10.53656/his2026-1-7-new
През 2024 г. културните, обществените и академичните институции в Югозападна България тържествено отбелязват с редица инициативи 180-годишнината от построяването на храм „Въведение Богородично“ в Горна Джумая (дн. Благоевград) и 130-годишнината от издаването на берата за създаване на Неврокопската митрополия. Сред научните събития във връзка с честванията бяха научна конференция „130 години от създаването на Неврокопската епархия към Българската екзархия (1894 – 2024)“, фотодокументална изложба „130 години от създаването на Неврокопската света митрополия“, дигитална документална изложба на Държавен архив – Благоевград, изложба „180 години православен храм „Свето Въведение Богородично“ в Благоевград“, както и кръгла маса за историята на горноджумайския храм…
