page_title: Bulgaria–United States relations
section_title: American isolationism and tentative diplomacy
hierarchical_section_title: Bulgaria–United States relations / American isolationism and tentative diplomacy
caption_attribution_description: Theodore Roosevelt (1904) English: President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front. Deutsch: Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von 1901 bis 1909, Friedensnobelpreisträger des Jahres 1906.
context_page_description: Bulgarian-American relations, first formally established in 1903, have moved from missionary activity and American support for Bulgarian independence in the late 19th century to the growth of trade and commerce in the early 20th century, to reluctant hostility during World War I and open war and bombardment in World War II, to ideological confrontation during the Cold War, to partnership with the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and growing political, military and economic ties in the beginning of the 21st century.
  According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 32% of Bulgarians approve of U.S. leadership, with 16% disapproving and 52% uncertain.
context_section_description: America and Bulgaria had little diplomatic contact in the nineteenth century, but it did have commercial and cultural contact. Bulgaria had a modest participation in the 1893 Chicago Exposition.  The Bulgarian writer Aleko Konstantinov visited the exposition and wrote a book, To Chicago and Back, in which he presented America as a technological leader and a land of opportunity.  The book made a strong impression on the imagination of many Bulgarian intellectuals, and shaped their image of America.
  In 1887, the Russian Government, which suspected Prince Alexander of liberal tendencies, organized a coup in Bulgaria.  Alexander went into exile, and the Bulgarian government chose a German prince, Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as their new ruler.
  The United States made a tentative attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Bulgaria in 1901, but the diplomat named by Washington was rejected by the Bulgarian Government, since he was based in Istanbul rather than in the principality.
  Finally, on September 19, 1903, John B. Jackson, U.S. Special Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece, Romania and Serbia, presented his diplomatic credentials and his accreditation letter from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to Prince Ferdinand. At his Palace in Sofia, Prince Ferdinand gave a toast to President Roosevelt in English, and a band played American music, but the U.S. still did not fully recognize Bulgaria as an independent nation, since it was still by treaty a principality under Ottoman sovereignty.
  In 1908, when the Great Powers were distracted by the annexation of Bosnia by Austria-Hungary, Prince Ferdinand declared that Bulgaria was a fully independent state, and proclaimed himself King. Shortly afterward, President William Howard Taft offered full diplomatic recognition to Bulgaria.
  In 1912 and 1913, Bulgaria fought two wars to try regain territories it felt were rightfully Bulgarian from its neighbors. In the First Balkan War (1912), Bulgaria allied itself with Serbia, Greece and Montenegro, and successfully took Thrace and Macedonia from Turkey. However, in the Second Balkan War (1913) Bulgaria quarreled with its former allies and went to war, eventually fighting against Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Ottoman Turkey and Romania. Bulgaria lost most of Thrace to Greece and Turkey; the city of Silistra and province of Southern Dobrudzha to Romania, and most of Macedonia to Serbia.  During both wars, the United States remained neutral.
caption: President Theodore Roosevelt
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