Active 1877-1878 Leaders Collective leadership Originated as Bulgarian Legion Start date 1877 | Ideology Bulgarian nationalism Strength 40,000 Became Bulgarian army Area of operations Bulgaria | |
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Similar Liberation of Bulgaria, Russo‑Turkish War, Serbo‑Bulgarian War, April Uprising, First Balkan War | ||
Opalchentsi (Bulgarian: опълченци) were Bulgarian voluntary army units, who took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The people in these units were called opalchenets-pobornik (опълченец-поборник) meaning "volunteer combatant".
The Bulgarian voluntary army units for the Russo-Turkish War were gathered after the manifesto of Alexander II of Russia, announcing the War. The meeting point of the Bulgarian volunteers in Russia was the city of Samara. The Bulgarian Opalchentsi were given the Samara flag bearing the images of the Holy Mother and Saints Cyril and Methodius (the flag is kept in the National Museum of Military History in Sofia). The Opalchentsi took an active part in the Second and Fourth Battle of Shipka Pass and after the end of the war went on to form Bulgaria's army.
Honours
One of the poems in Ivan Vazov's Epic of the Forgotten, namely "Opalchentsite na Shipka", is dedicated to them. Opalchenie Peak in Vinson Massif, Antarctica is named after the Bulgarian Volunteer Force in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War and the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps in the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars.