“Connecting the Liberation only with the war and San Stefano is an old mythologeme, which later became a political doctrine. My definition of the Liberation is that it means not just the rejection of foreign power, but also the creation of a new, modern Bulgarian state. Therefore, the Liberation, if we have to put a chronology, goes with the year 1879, not 1878, no matter how much some people may not like it.” This is how Prof. Petko Stefanov Petkov PhD began the presentation of his book “The Roads to Liberation” in Razgrad.
The meeting with him at the Ethnographic Museum was at the invitation of the Regional History Museum, led by the head of the Department of “New and Recent History” at RHM- Razgrad, Prof. Rositsa Angelova PhD. Also in the hall were students from the FLHS “Exarch Joseph” with their teachers of history, philosophy and civic education.
Prof. Angelova introduced Prof. Petkov as a long-time lecturer at the Veliko Tarnovo University “St. Cyril and Methodius”, author of monographs, studies and articles, textbooks and teaching aids on the modern history of Bulgaria. A favorite of television, a scientist who entered Bulgarian historical science a long time ago.
“But Prof. Petkov is also an author who knows how to “burn” some people in terms of how we, Bulgarians, should tell history and what kind of reading we should give it. This reading that we like and want – be it for March 3, May 24, February 19 or as historians we should rely on historical facts and tell ourselves where the battles were: on Mount Shipka or on Mount Sveti Nikola? Should we continue in this national romanticism, living in dreams that could not have happened to us in the 19th century, nor did they happen in the 20th, and will not happen in the 21st century. We must really read history carefully, rely on historical facts in order to move forward”, said Prof. Angelova at the beginning of the meeting.
Prof. Petkov specifically noted that due to the violation of professionalism in history for a very long time and its subordination to an ideological scheme, interesting things have happened with official holidays over the years, with other significant dates in our history, and with famous places in the country. And he recalled that we have had a national holiday only since 1990, and until then – only official holidays. The author of the book “Roads to Liberation” is convinced that if the “party elbows are retracted” in just 10 years, Bulgarians will show which holiday they honor with their hearts, and not with ideological suggestions, which should be the national all-Bulgarian day – March 3 or May 24.
In the book, Prof. Petkov also defended his thesis that, again for ideological reasons, there are two peaks of Shipka, that it is time for the peak of Saint Nicholas to return its name. According to the author, with non-recognition of facts, arithmetic error and stubbornness, the Day of the Death of Vasil Levski is still officially celebrated on February 19, not February 18.
The collection “Roads to Liberation” includes selected studies and articles from 2009 to 2020 by Prof. Petkov, presents his scientific research and achievements over the last decade, and is a natural continuation of the two previously published collections: “History as Polyphony” (2005) and “A Hundred and More Years Ago” (2009).
You can see more photos on the Facebook page of the Regional History Museum:
https://www.facebook.com/regionalhistorymuseumrazgrad/
