List of wars involving Bulgaria

Last updated January 15, 2026

This article lists the wars, campaigns and battles involving Bulgaria since its establishment around 680.

First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
First Bulgarian-Byzantine War (680–689)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Khan Asparuh conquered Thrace The First Bulgarian Empire formed and expanded
Battle of Anchialus (708) (708)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Emperor Justinian II turned against Tervel but was defeated by the Bulgarian army Justinian II was executed
Siege of Constantinople (717–718)	Bulgarian Empire	Umayyad Caliphate	Victory Caesar Tervel annihilated roughly 25,000 Umayyad soldiers, forcing a surrender and retreat.^[1] Tervel was canonized "Savior of Europe" by the Pope ^[1]
Bulgarian Invasion of Avaria (804)	Bulgarian Empire	Avar Khaganate	Victory Khan Krum fully subjugated the remainder of the Avar Empire^[2]
Second Bulgarian-Byzantine War (809–822)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory Emperor Krum defeated the massive Byzantine army, killing King Nicephorus I
Bulgarian-Frankish War (827–829)	Bulgarian Empire	Frankish Empire	Victory King Omurtag defeated the Frankish fleet at the Drava river
First Bulgarian-Serbian War (839–842)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat
Second Bulgarian-Serbian War 853	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat
First Bulgarian-Croatian War (854)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Inconclusive Peace treaty concluded with King Boris I
First Bulgarian-Hungarian War (862–896)	Bulgarian Empire	Hungarian Empire	Victory The Bulgarian army under Boris I obliterated the Magyar army, forcing them north^[3]
Third Bulgarian-Byzantine War (894–896)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory The Bulgarian Empire expanded
Invasion of the Principality of Serbia by the pretender to the Serbian throne Klonimir backed by the Bulgarian Empire (897–898)	Bulgarian Empire Klonimir	Serbian Principality	Defeat Rebellion supported by Tsar Simeon I was defeated,^[4] resulting in the death of Klonimir Serbian-Bulgarian alliance was created Petar Gojniković was recognized as a rightful ruler of Serbia^[5]
Fourth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (913–927)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory The Bulgarian Empire nearly conquered Constantinople
Third Bulgarian-Serbian War (917–924)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality Byzantine Empire	Victory Emperor Simeon I and Bulgaria conquer Serbia
Second Bulgarian-Croatian War (926)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Defeat
Second Bulgarian-Hungarian War (932–980)	Bulgarian Empire	Hungarian Empire	Inconclusive Bulgaria forced the migrating Hungarians to settle within the Pannonian Plain ^[6]
Liberation of the Principality of Serbia from the Bulgar rule (933–934)^[7]	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Defeat Prince Česlav, with a small group of followers,^[8] took possession of the Serbian Principality and submitted to Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos ^[9]^[10]
Bulgarian-Kievan Rus War (967–997)	Bulgarian Empire	Kievan Rus Empire Byzantine Empire	Inconclusive Kievan Rus occupied areas of Northern Bulgaria The Rus were defeated in a three-way war with Byzantium
Fifth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (968–1018)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Defeat The First Bulgarian Empire dissolved Kingdom of Duklja became last remaining region left unconquered
Bulgarian invasion of Duklja (997)	Bulgarian Empire	Duklja	Victory The Bulgarian Empire conquered Duklja and installed Jovan Vladimir as their vassal^[11]
Third Bulgarian-Croatian War (997–1000)	Bulgarian Empire	Croatian Kingdom	Defeat

Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Seventh Bulgarian-Byzantine War (1185–1201)	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory The Bulgarian Empire resurfaced as a great power in Eastern Europe ^{[ citation needed ]}
Fourth Bulgarian-Serbian War (1202–1203)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Principality	Victory The Bulgarian Empire under King Kaloyan pushed Serbia to the west
First Bulgarian–Latin War (1204–1208)	Bulgarian Empire	Latin Empire	Victory The Latin Empire weakened, while the Bulgarian Empire enlarged
Battle of Klokotnitsa (1230)	Bulgarian Empire	Empire of Thessalonica	Victory Bulgaria conquered the Empire of Thessalonica Thessaly and Epirus became vassals of the Bulgarian Empire Bulgaria emerged as a preeminent power in Southeast Europe
Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia (1241)	Bulgarian Empire	Golden Horde	Victory The Bulgarian army pushed back Batu Khan's forces
Bulgarian Civil War (1277–1280)	Bulgarian Empire Tsar Constantine Allies: Byzantine Empire Golden Horde	Bulgarian Empire Tsar Ivaylo Allies: Bulgarian rebels	Royal victory Rebellion leader Ivaylo was murdered George Terter I became emperor of Bulgaria
Fifth Bulgarian-Serbian War (1290–1291)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Kingdom	Defeat Bulgaria lost the Belgrade and Branicevo provinces.
Fourth Bulgarian-Mongol War (1299–1300)^{[ citation needed ]}	Bulgarian Empire	Golden Horde	Victory Tsar Theodore Svetoslav expelled the Mongols to the east
Ninth Bulgarian-Byzantine War (1304–1305)^{[ citation needed ]}	Bulgarian Empire	Byzantine Empire	Victory The Bulgarian Empire conquered most of Thrace
Battle of Velbazhd (1330)	Bulgarian Empire	Serbian Kingdom	Defeat
Byzantine Civil War (1341–1347)	Byzantine Empire John V Palaiologos Allies: Bulgarian Empire Serbian Empire	Byzantine Empire John VI Kantakouzenos Allies: Serbian Empire Ottoman Empire	Victory Kantakouzenos defeated regents and became emperor The Bulgarian Empire gained northern Thrace
First Bulgarian–Ottoman War (1344–1371)	Bulgarian Empire	Ottoman Empire	Defeat Bulgaria held off the Ottoman army until the Bulgarian betrayal of brothers^{[ clarification needed ]}
Second Bulgarian–Ottoman War (1371–1396)	Bulgarian Empire	Ottoman Empire	Defeat The Bulgarian Empire fell

Principality of Bulgaria (1878–1908)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Bulgarian-Serbian War (1885)	Principality of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Serbia	Victory
Macedonian Struggle (1893–1908)	Principality of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania Ottoman Empire	Draw Inconclusive result after Young Turk Revolution Bulgaria gained full independence in 1908

Kingdom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
First Balkan War (1912–1913)	Balkan League Kingdom of Bulgaria Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Montenegro	Ottoman Empire Allies: Austria-Hungary Albanian irregulars	Balkan League victory The Ottoman Empire lost most remaining holdings in Europe Bulgaria obtained control over Macedonia, northern Greece, Albania and southern Serbia Treaty of London was signed
Second Balkan War (1913)	Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania Kingdom of Montenegro Ottoman Empire	Defeat Romanian and Ottoman intervention forced Bulgaria to ask for an armistice Treaty of Bucharest and Treaty of Constantinople resulted in Bulgarian territorial cessions
World War I (1914–1918) (see Bulgaria during World War I)	Central Powers: German Empire Ottoman Empire Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Bulgaria (from 1915)	Allied Powers: United States Britain Kingdom of Italy Russian Empire French Third Republic Occupied by Central Powers: Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Romania	Allied victory Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine resulted in Bulgarian territorial cessions
Incident at Petrich (1925)	Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Greece	Bulgarian diplomatic victory League of Nations brokered a ceasefire and Greek withdrawal Greece fined for violating Bulgarian territory Bulgaria paid damages for shooting Greek soldiers^[12]
World War II (1941–1945) (see Bulgaria during World War II)	Allied Powers: Soviet Union United States United Kingdom Kingdom of Italy (1943–45) French Third Republic (1939–40) Free France Kingdom of Romania (1944–45) Kingdom of Bulgaria (1944–45) Kingdom of Greece (1940–45) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1941)	Axis Powers: Nazi Germany Empire of Japan Kingdom of Italy (1939–43) Italian Social Republic (1943–45) Vichy France Independent State of Croatia Kingdom of Romania (1941–44) Kingdom of Bulgaria (1941–44)	Allied victory The Bulgarian monarchy was abolished and replaced with a communist government Southern Dobruja ceded to Bulgaria

People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)	Warsaw Pact: Soviet Union Poland Bulgaria Hungary Logistics support: East Germany ^[a]	Czechoslovakia Supported by: Albania Romania	Warsaw Pact victory Czech reformist leaders were forced to sign Moscow Protocol, ending the Prague Spring

Republic of Bulgaria (1990–)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Iraq War (2003–2011)	Iraq NATO United States Bulgaria ^{[ citation needed ]} other allies	Baath Loyalists Islamic State of Iraq Al-Qaeda Islamic Army of Iraq Ba'athist Iraq	Coalition victory The Ba'ath Party government was defeated and Saddam Hussein executed Iraqi insurgency depleted^[13] and public security improved^[14] Democratic elections were established and a new Shia-led government was formed War between Iraq and the Islamic State broke out
2011 military intervention in Libya	NATO United States Bulgaria (one frigate as part of NATO contribution)^[15] other allies	Libya	NATO victory NTC assumed interim control of Libya Civil war broke out in Libya

Notes

↑ Invasion canceled, troops prepared, part of the executive staff

References

1 2 War History Online (2016). https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/siege-constantinople-bulgarian-khan-fought-arabs.html
↑ Historical Park Bulgaria (2020). https://ipark.bg/en-US/Age/Item/385
↑ History of Hungary, 955–1196
↑ Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371) . Series: Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga Publisher: Srpska književna zadruga Beograd Pages: 156
↑ Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.141.
↑ History of Hungary, 895–970
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_%C5%BDivkovi%C4%87 (2008). Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150. Belgrade: The Institute of History, Čigoja štampa. ISBN 978-86-7558-573-2. p.255.
↑ Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371) . Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga. Srpska književna zadruga Beograd. p. 160.
↑ Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. (1967) [1949]. Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (2nd revised ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 978-0-88402-021-9.
↑ Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.159.
↑ Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.
↑ Thomopoulos, Elaine (2012). The History of Greece. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 9780313375118.
↑ "U.S. says Iraq pullout won't cause dramatic violence". MSNBC. 18 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
↑ "UK 'to continue deporting failed Iraqi asylum seekers'". BBC. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
↑ "Bulgarian Frigate on Its Way to Libyan Coast". The Sofia Echo . 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.

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[13] Invasion canceled, troops prepared, part of the executive staff

[warhistoryonline.com-1] 1 2 War History Online (2016). https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/siege-constantinople-bulgarian-khan-fought-arabs.html

[2] Historical Park Bulgaria (2020). https://ipark.bg/en-US/Age/Item/385

[3] History of Hungary, 955–1196

[4] Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371) . Series: Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga Publisher: Srpska književna zadruga Beograd Pages: 156

[5] Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.141.

[6] History of Hungary, 895–970

[7] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_%C5%BDivkovi%C4%87 (2008). Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150. Belgrade: The Institute of History, Čigoja štampa. ISBN 978-86-7558-573-2. p.255.

[8] Srejović, Dragoslav. Mirković, Miroslava. et al.(1981). Istorija srpskog naroda - Prva knjiga: Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371) . Istorija srpskog naroda u šest knjiga. Srpska književna zadruga Beograd. p. 160.

[9] Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. (1967) [1949]. Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (2nd revised ed.). Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 978-0-88402-021-9.

[10] Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983]. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081497. p.159.

[11] Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.

[12] Thomopoulos, Elaine (2012). The History of Greece. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 9780313375118.

[14] "U.S. says Iraq pullout won't cause dramatic violence". MSNBC. 18 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

[15] "UK 'to continue deporting failed Iraqi asylum seekers'". BBC. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

[16] "Bulgarian Frigate on Its Way to Libyan Coast". The Sofia Echo . 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.

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