Bulgarian-Byzantine War (981-1018)

The Byzantines under Basil II invaded Bulgaria but were defeated by the Bulgars under Czar Samuel in battle near Sredets (Sofia).

Basil then returned to Constantinople to deal with internal matters and because his brother had no interest in affairs of state, from 985 Basil was sole emperor. Samuel’s forces invaded Thessaly in eastern Greece in 896 to take Larissa and Dyrrhachium, Samuel, who took advantages of internal discord in The Byzantine Empire at that time, began to extend control over eastern Bulgaria and beyond.

Bulgaria gained independence under the Czar Samuel, from 987, onward and Ochrid, in Macedonia, became capital of a new Bulgarian state.

The emperor continued campaigning against the Bulgarian in 993. Basil’s Byzantine troops stopped the Bulgarian march, winning a tough campaign at Ochrida, the Bulgarian capital and at Spercheios in 996.

By 1001 Basil had seized forts around Sredets, cutting off Samuel form Bulgarian territory along the Danube. Basil then drove the Bulgars from Thrace and Macedonia and in 17 invaded Bulgaria itself. Basil’s army overwhelmed Samuel’s army at Balathista in 1014 and about 15, 000 Bulgarian soldiers were captured.

In 1018 the first Bulgarian kingdom ceased to exist, for it was transformed into a Byzantine prince ruled by an imperial governor. It preserved its internal autonomy to a certain extent.
Bulgarian-Byzantine War (981-1018)