How did Bulgaria’s liberation from Ottoman rule lead to land reform?

Following Bulgaria’s liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878, the transition functioned as a significant land reform.12

During the period of Ottoman administration, Bulgarian lands had been organized into fiefs and later into hereditary estates known as çiftliks, which were often held by Turkish masters. Upon the establishment of the new Bulgarian state, both the Russian occupation authorities and subsequent Bulgarian governments confiscated these Turkish estates.3412

These lands were then sold in small parcels directly to the local peasantry. This process transformed Bulgaria into a nation of smallholders, resulting in one of the most egalitarian land distributions in Europe at the time of its independence. This early post-liberation reform should be distinguished from later land reforms, such as those introduced by the Agrarian Union government between 1920 and 1923, which targeted remaining large estates and absentee ownership.125