... Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, and in many parts of Austria-Hungary and THE BALKANS A HISTORY OF BULGARIA—SERBIA—GREECE—RUMANIA—TURKEY THE BALKANS A HISTORY OF BULGARIA—SERBIA—GREECE—RUMANIA—TURKEY ... antiquity of their own and to claim as early a date as possible for the authentic appearance of their ancestors on the kaleidoscopic stage of the Balkan theatre. They are also unwilling to admit that ... Greeks against the Avars, and was actually baptized in Constantinople. The power of the Bulgars grew as that of the Avars declined, but at the death of Kubrat, in 638, his realm was divided amongst...