480 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Erdelyi 



CROATIAN MEN IN NATIVE COSTUME: THE SKIRTS ARE IN REALITY VERY BAGGY 



TROUSERS (SEE NEXT PAGE) 



The Serbs and Croats belong to the same branch of the Slav race. The chief difference 

 between them is religious and, to a less extent, linguistic. Their literary language is the same, 

 save that the Croats employ the Latin alphabet, while the Serbs use a modified form of the 

 Cyrillic or Russian (see Jugo-Slavia, page 485). 



on which the early kingdom of Greater Bul- 

 garia arose in the fifth century. From the 

 Volga their Khan led some of their wild horse- 

 men in 679. They crossed the Danube and 

 subdued the Slavs on its south bank. Few in 

 number, they gradually merged with the Slavic 

 inhabitants. When Christianized in the ninth 

 century by the Greek missionaries, Saint Cyril 

 and Saint Methodius, the fusion became com- 

 plete. 



The name Bulgarian remained, but in lan- 

 guage, institutions, and customs the entire peo- 

 ple was Slavic. The Bulgarians are rightly 

 reckoned a Slavic people. 



They subjugated all the northern part of the 

 peninsula from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. 

 Later their kingdom broke into two parts, both 

 to be overthrown by the Byzantine emperors. 

 Successful rebellion enabled them to found a 

 second more powerful empire, over which their 

 greatest Tsar, Asen II, reigned wisely and well. 



Then came decline. The Bulgarians paid 

 tribute to the Serbian king, Dushan. The Otto- 

 man Turks forced the last Bulgarian king to 

 become a vassal of the Sultan and to yield his 

 sister to the harem. There followed five 

 centuries of indescribable Turkish domination. 

 Many Bulgarians became Moslems, they and 



