From war to peace: Serbia and Bulgaria after the war of 1330

Author(s):  D.A. Koryakov, no, no, N.I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod – National Research University, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

Issue:  Volume 46, № 4

Rubric:  Topical issues of world history

Annotation:  This study is devoted to the analysis of relations between Serbia and Bulgaria after the Battle of Velbazhd, which occurred in 1330. In this battle Bulgaria suffered a crushing defeat. At the same time, there was the possibility of uniting the two states, as reported by the sources. Some scientists touched upon this problem, but all came to the conclusion that it was impossible to unite the two states in 1330. The author of this article critically evaluates the arguments proposed earlier and concludes that the unification of the two states after the Battle of Velbazhd was possible in the military plan. The remnants of the Bulgarian army and the reluctance of Bulgarian boyars to see the Serbian king on the throne was not an obstacle to the unification of states. The war with Byzantium also could not be a hindrance to this. In administrative terms, the unification was real, because the internal structure of Serbia and Bulgaria was similar. Moreover, such a formal unification for a short time occurred and lasted from the reception by Stefan Dečansky of the Bulgarian ambassadors in the place of Izvori prior to the accession of Ivan Stefan. However, due to various factors, the preservation of such a state had to be abandoned.

Keywords:  Serbia, Bulgaria, relations, Stefan Dečanski, Ivan Stefan, the Battle of Velbazhd.

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DOI:  10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4-634-640

Reference to article:  Koryakov D.A. 2019. From war to peace: Serbia and Bulgaria after the war of 1330. Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. History. Political Science, 46(4): 634–640 (in Russian). DOI 10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4-634-640