Portal:Bulgarian Empire/Selected article/12

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The Battle of Anchialus (Bulgarian: битка при Ахелой) took place on August 20, 917, on the Black Sea coast near the Bulgarian fortress Tuthom, which is now the town of Pomorie, between Bulgarian and Byzantine Empire forces.

The result of the battle was a decisive Bulgarian victory which not only secured the previous successes of Simeon I but made him de facto a ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula excluding the well-protected Byzantine capital Constantinople and Pelopones. The battle of Anchialus in considered to be one of the largest battles in the Middle Ages and one of the greatest military successes of Bulgaria. Among the most significant consequences was the official recognition of the Imperial title of the Bulgarian monarchs, a humiliation the Byzantines never experienced to any other country.

The battle of Anchialus was one of the most important battles for Bulgaria. It secured the Imperial title of the Bulgarian rulers of centuries which was an enormous humiliation for the Byzantine Empire whose rulers claimed to have been God's only representatives on Earth. The battle also secured the survival of the Bulgarian nation as the main objective of the 110,000 enemy army was to thoroughly eliminate its dangerous northern neighbour.