An emblematic march traditionally sounds in Bulgaria on Unification Day. The Bulgarian volunteers who fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1878-1878 sang this song. Later, the tune inspired the soldiers at the battlefields during the Balkan Wars.

“Bulgarians, the whole world is watching. Into a winning battle let’s gloriously go! March, march with our general, let’s fly into battle and crush the enemy! Forward”, read part of the song’s lyrics.

Nikola Zhivkov, a famous educator, publicist, author of textbooks and creator of the first kindergarten in Bulgaria, wrote the lyrics of the song when he was among the Bulgarian volunteers of the Serbian-Turkish war that broke out in 1876. After the Unification of Bulgaria in 1885, Shumi Maritsa (Maritsa Rushes) became the official anthem of Bulgaria. It was a national anthem from 1886 until 1947. The lyrics of the song underwent a major revision by poet Ivan Vazov in 1912.

When the Hungarian Revolution of 1948 was suppressed, a large group of Hungarians, including Lajos Kossuth, settled in Shumen. Musician Mihai Shafran, the founder of the first Bulgarian orchestra, was among them. One of the popular melodies performed by this orchestra was used for the making of the music of Shumi Maritsa.

The popular version of the anthem is a remake of the famous Bulgarian composer Aleksandar Tanev. 

Wrongly considered one of the symbols of the monarchic rule, the anthem was temporarily banned in the past.

After the political changes in 1989, Shumi Maritsa was included in the list of this country’s patriotic marches again and has been sounding on all national holidays.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov