The ancient Thraco-Illyrian race which inhabited the district between the
Danube and the Aegean was expelled, or more probably absorbed, by the great
Slavonic immigration which took place at various intervals between the end
of the 3rd century after Christ and the beginning of the 6th. The numerous
tumuli which are found in all parts of the country (see Herodotus v. 8) and
some stone tablets with bas-reliefs remain as monuments of the aboriginal
population; and certain structural peculiarities, which are common to the
Bulgarian and Rumanian languages, may conceivably be traced to the
influence of the primitive Illyrian speech, now probably represented by the
Albanian. The Slavs, an agricultural people, were governed, even in those
remote times, by the democratic local institutions to which they are still
attached; they possessed no national leaders or central organization, and
their only political unit was the _pleme_, or tribe. They were considerably
influenced by contact with Roman civilization. It was reserved for a
foreign race, altogether distinct in origin, religion and customs, to give
unity and coherence to the scattered Slavonic groups, and to weld them into
a compact and powerful state which for some centuries played an important
part in the history of eastern Europe and threatened the existence of the
Byzantine empire.
_The Bulgars._--The Bulgars, a Turanian race akin to the Tatars, Huns,
Avars, Petchenegs and Finns, made their appearance on the banks of the
Pruth in the latter part of the 7th century. They were a horde of wild
horsemen, fierce and barbarous, practising polygamy, and governed
despotically by their _khans_ (chiefs) and _boyars_ or _bolyars_ (nobles).
Their original abode was the tract between the Ural mountains and the
Volga, where the kingdom of Great (or Black) Bolgary existed down to the
13th century. In 679, under their khan Asparukh (or Isperikh), they crossed
the Danube, and, after subjugating the Slavonic population of Moesia,
advanced to the gates of Constantinople and Salonica. The East Roman
emperors were compelled to cede to them the province of Moesia and to pay
them an annual tribute. The invading horde was not numerous, and during the
next two centuries it became gradually merged in the Slavonic population.
Like the Franks in Gaul the Bulgars gave their name and a political
organization to the more civilized race which they conquered, but adopted
its language, customs and local institutions. Not a trace of the Ugrian or
Finnish element is to be found in the Bulgarian speech. This complete
assimilation of a conquering race may be illustrated by many parallels.
_Early Dynasties._--The history of the early Bulgarian dynasties is little
else than a record of continuous conflicts with the Byzantine emperors. The
tribute first imposed on the Greeks by Asparukh was again exacted by Kardam
(791-797) and Krum (802-815), a sovereign noted alike for his cruelty and
his military and political capacity. Under his rule the Bulgarian realm
extended from the Carpathians to the neighbourhood of Adrianople; Serdica
(the present Sofia) was taken, and the valley of the Struma conquered.
Prêslav, the Bulgarian capital, was attacked and burned by the emperor
Nicephorus, but the Greek army on its return was annihilated in one of the
Balkan passes; the emperor was slain, and his skull was converted by Krum
into a goblet. The reign of Boris (852-884) is memorable [v.04 p.0780] for
the introduction of Christianity into Bulgaria. Two monks of Salonica, SS.
Cyril and Methodius, are generally reverenced as the national apostles; the
scene of their labours, however, was among the Slavs of Moravia, and the
Bulgars were evangelized by their disciples. Boris, finding himself
surrounded by Christian states, decided from political motives to abandon
paganism. He was baptized in 864, the emperor Michael III. acting as his
sponsor. It was at this time that the controversies broke out which ended
in the schism between the Churches of the East and West. Boris long wavered
between Constantinople and Rome, but the refusal of the pope to recognize
an autocephalous Bulgarian church determined him to offer his allegiance to
the Greek patriarch. The decision was fraught with momentous consequences
for the future of the race. The nation altered its religion in obedience to
its sovereign, and some of the boyars who resisted the change paid with
their lives for their fidelity to the ancient belief. The independence of
the Bulgarian church was recognized by the patriarchate, a fact much dwelt
upon in recent controversies. The Bulgarian primates subsequently received
the title of patriarch; their see was transferred from Prêslav to Sofia,
Voden and Prespa successively, and finally to Ochrida.
_The First Empire._--The national power reached its zenith under Simeon
(893-927), a monarch distinguished in the arts of war and peace. In his
reign, says Gibbon, "Bulgaria assumed a rank among the civilized powers of
the earth." His dominions extended from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, and
from the borders of Thessaly to the Save and the Carpathians. Having become
the most powerful monarch in eastern Europe, Simeon assumed the style of
"Emperor and Autocrat of all the Bulgars and Greeks" (_tsar i samodrzhetz
vsêm Blgarom i Grkom_), a title which was recognized by Pope Formosus.
During the latter years of his reign, which were spent in peace, his people
made great progress in civilization, literature nourished, and Prêslav,
according to contemporary chroniclers, rivalled Constantinople in
magnificence. After the death of Simeon the Bulgarian power declined owing
to internal dissensions; the land was distracted by the Bogomil heresy (see
BOGOMILS), and a separate or western empire, including Albania and
Macedonia, was founded at Ochrida by Shishman, a boyar from Trnovo. A
notable event took place in 967, when the Russians, under Sviatoslav, made
their first appearance in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian tsar, Boris II., with the
aid of the emperor John Zimisces, expelled the invaders, but the Greeks
took advantage of their victory to dethrone Boris, and the first Bulgarian
empire thus came to an end after an existence of three centuries. The
empire at Ochrida, however, rose to considerable importance under Samuel,
the son of Shishman (976-1014), who conquered the greater part of the
Peninsula, and ruled from the Danube to the Morea. After a series of
campaigns this redoubtable warrior was defeated at Bêlasitza by the emperor
Basil II., surnamed Bulgaroktonos, who put out the eyes of 15,000 prisoners
taken in the fight, and sent them into the camp of his adversary. The
Bulgarian tsar was so overpowered by the spectacle that he died of grief. A
few years later his dynasty finally disappeared, and for more than a
century and a half (1018-1186) the Bulgarian race remained subject to the
Byzantine emperors.
_The Second Empire._--In 1186, after a general insurrection of Vlachs and
Bulgars under the brothers Ivan and Peter Asên of Trnovo, who claimed
descent from the dynasty of the Shishmanovtzi, the nation recovered its
independence, and Ivan Asên assumed the title of "Tsar of the Bulgars and
Greeks." The seat of the second, or "Bulgaro-Vlach" empire was at Trnovo,
which the Bulgarians regard as the historic capital of their race. Kaloyan,
the third of the Asên monarchs, extended his dominions to Belgrade, Nish
and Skopïe (Uskub); he acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the pope,
and received the royal crown from a papal legate. The greatest of all
Bulgarian rulers was Ivan Asên II. (1218-1241), a man of humane and
enlightened character. After a series of victorious campaigns he
established his sway over Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace, and
governed his wide dominions with justice, wisdom and moderation. In his
time the nation attained a prosperity hitherto unknown: commerce, the arts
and literature flourished; Trnovo, the capital, was enlarged and
embellished; and great numbers of churches and monasteries were founded or
endowed. The dynasty of the Asêns became extinct in 1257, and a period of
decadence began. Two other dynasties, both of Kuman origin, followed--the
Terterovtzi, who ruled at Trnovo, and the Shishmanovtzi, who founded an
independent state at Vidin, but afterwards reigned in the national capital.
Eventually, on the 28th June 1330, a day commemorated with sorrow in
Bulgaria, Tsar Michael Shishman was defeated and slain by the Servians,
under Stephen Urosh III., at the battle of Velbûzhd (Kiustendil). Bulgaria,
though still retaining its native rulers, now became subject to Servia, and
formed part of the short-lived empire of Stephen Dushan (1331-1355). The
Servian hegemony vanished after the death of Dushan, and the Christian
races of the Peninsula, distracted by the quarrels of their petty princes,
fell an easy prey to the advancing might of the Moslem invader.
_The Turkish Conquest._--In 1340 the Turks had begun to ravage the valley
of the Maritza; in 1362 they captured Philippopolis, and in 1382 Sofia. In
1366 Ivan Shishman III., the last Bulgarian tsar, was compelled to declare
himself the vassal of the sultan Murad I., and to send his sister to the
harem of the conqueror. In 1389 the rout of the Servians, Bosnians and
Croats on the famous field of Kossovo decided the fate of the Peninsula.
Shortly afterwards Ivan Shishman was attacked by the Turks; and Trnovo,
after a siege of three months, was captured, sacked and burnt in 1393. The
fate of the last Bulgarian sovereign is unknown: the national legend
represents him as perishing in a battle near Samakov. Vidin, where Ivan's
brother, Strazhimir, had established himself, was taken in 1396, and with
its fall the last remnant of Bulgarian independence disappeared.
The five centuries of Turkish rule (1396-1878) form a dark epoch in
Bulgarian history. The invaders carried fire and sword through the land;
towns, villages and monasteries were sacked and destroyed, and whole
districts were converted into desolate wastes. The inhabitants of the
plains fled to the mountains, where they founded new settlements. Many of
the nobles embraced the creed of Islam, and were liberally rewarded for
their apostasy; others, together with numbers of the priests and people,
took refuge across the Danube. All the regions formerly ruled by the
Bulgarian tsars, including Macedonia and Thrace, were placed under the
administration of a governor-general, styled the beylerbey of Rum-ili,
residing at Sofia; Bulgaria proper was divided into the sanjaks of Sofia,
Nikopolis, Vidin, Silistria and Kiustendil. Only a small proportion of the
people followed the example of the boyars in abandoning Christianity; the
conversion of the isolated communities now represented by the Pomaks took
place at various intervals during the next three centuries. A new kind of
feudal system replaced that of the boyars, and fiefs or _spahiliks_ were
conferred on the Ottoman chiefs and the renegade Bulgarian nobles. The
Christian population was subjected to heavy imposts, the principal being
the _haratch_, or capitation-tax, paid to the imperial treasury, and the
tithe on agricultural produce, which was collected by the feudal lord.
Among the most cruel forms of oppression was the requisitioning of young
boys between the ages of ten and twelve, who were sent to Constantinople as
recruits for the corps of janissaries. Notwithstanding the horrors which
attended the Ottoman conquest, the condition of the peasantry during the
first three centuries of Turkish government was scarcely worse than it had
been under the tyrannical rule of the boyars. The contemptuous indifference
with which the Turks regarded the Christian _rayas_ was not altogether to
the disadvantage of the subject race. Military service was not exacted from
the Christians, no systematic effort was made to extinguish either their
religion or their language, and within certain limits they were allowed to
retain their ancient local administration and the jurisdiction of their
clergy in regard to inheritances and family affairs. At the time of the
conquest certain towns and villages, known as the _voïnitchki sela_,
obtained important privileges which were not infringed till the 18th
century; on condition of [v.04 p.0781] furnishing contingents to the
Turkish army or grooms for the sultan's horses they obtained exemption from
most of the taxes and complete self-government under their _voïvodi_ or
chiefs. Some of them, such as Koprivshtitza in the Sredna Gora, attained
great prosperity, which has somewhat declined since the establishment of
the principality. While the Ottoman power was at its height the lot of the
subject-races was far less intolerable than during the period of decadence,
which began with the unsuccessful siege of Vienna in 1683. Their rights and
privileges were respected, the law was enforced, commerce prospered, good
roads were constructed, and the great caravans of the Ragusan merchants
traversed the country. Down to the end of the 18th century there appears to
have been only one serious attempt at revolt--that occasioned by the
advance of Prince Sigismund Báthory into Walachia in 1595. A kind of
guerilla warfare was, however, maintained in the mountains by the
_kaiduti_, or outlaws, whose exploits, like those of the Greek _klepkts_,
have been highly idealized in the popular folk-lore. As the power of the
sultans declined anarchy spread through the Peninsula. In the earlier
decades of the 18th century the Bulgarians suffered terribly from the
ravages of the Turkish armies passing through the land during the wars with
Austria. Towards its close their condition became even worse owing to the
horrors perpetrated by the Krjalis, or troops of disbanded soldiers and
desperadoes, who, in defiance of the Turkish authorities, roamed through
the country, supporting themselves by plunder and committing every
conceivable atrocity. After the peace of Belgrade (1737), by which Austria
lost her conquests in the Peninsula, the Servians and Bulgarians began to
look to Russia for deliverance, their hopes being encouraged by the treaty
of Kuchuk Kaïnarji (1774), which foreshadowed the claim of Russia to
protect the Orthodox Christians in the Turkish empire. In 1794 Pasvanoglu,
one of the chiefs of the Krjalis, established himself as an independent
sovereign at Vidin, putting to flight three large Turkish armies which were
despatched against him. This adventurer possessed many remarkable
qualities. He adorned Vidin with handsome buildings, maintained order,
levied taxes and issued a separate coinage. He died in 1807. The memoirs of
Sofronii, bishop of Vratza, present a vivid picture of the condition of
Bulgaria at this time. "My diocese," he writes, "was laid desolate; the
villages disappeared--they had been burnt by the Krjalis and Pasvan's
brigands; the inhabitants were scattered far and wide over Walachia and
other lands."
_The National Revival._--At the beginning of the 19th century the existence
of the Bulgarian race was almost unknown in Europe, even to students of
Slavonic literature. Disheartened by ages of oppression, isolated from
Christendom by their geographical position, and cowed by the proximity of
Constantinople, the Bulgarians took no collective part in the
insurrectionary movement which resulted in the liberation of Servia and
Greece. The Russian invasions of 1810 and 1828 only added to their
sufferings, and great numbers of fugitives took refuge in Bessarabia,
annexed by Russia under the treaty of Bucharest. But the long-dormant
national spirit now began to awake under the influence of a literary
revival. The precursors of the movement were Paisii, a monk of Mount Athos,
who wrote a history of the Bulgarian tsars and saints (1762), and Bishop
Sofronii, whose memoirs have been already mentioned. After 1824 several
works written in modern Bulgarian began to appear, but the most important
step was the foundation, in 1835, of the first Bulgarian school at Gabrovo.
Within ten years at least 53 Bulgarian schools came into existence, and
five Bulgarian printing-presses were at work. The literary movement led the
way to a reaction against the influence and authority of the Greek clergy.
The spiritual domination of the Greek patriarchate had tended more
effectually than the temporal power of the Turks to the effacement of
Bulgarian nationality. After the conquest of the Peninsula the Greek
patriarch became the representative at the Sublime Porte of the
_Rûm-millet_, the Roman nation, in which all the Christian nationalities
were comprised. The independent patriarchate of Trnovo was suppressed; that
of Ochrida was subsequently Hellenized. The Phanariot clergy--unscrupulous,
rapacious and corrupt--succeeded in monopolizing the higher ecclesiastical
appointments and filled the parishes with Greek priests, whose schools, in
which Greek was exclusively taught, were the only means of instruction open
to the population. By degrees Greek became the language of the upper
classes in all the Bulgarian towns, the Bulgarian language was written in
Greek characters, and the illiterate peasants, though speaking the
vernacular, called themselves Greeks. The Slavonic liturgy was suppressed
in favour of the Greek, and in many places the old Bulgarian manuscripts,
images, testaments and missals were committed to the flames. The patriots
of the literary movement, recognizing in the patriarchate the most
determined foe to a national revival, directed all their efforts to the
abolition of Greek ecclesiastical ascendancy and the restoration of the
Bulgarian autonomous church. Some of the leaders went so far as to open
negotiations with Rome, and an archbishop of the Uniate Bulgarian church
was nominated by the pope. The struggle was prosecuted with the utmost
tenacity for forty years. Incessant protests and memorials were addressed
to the Porte, and every effort was made to undermine the position of the
Greek bishops, some of whom were compelled to abandon their sees. At the
same time no pains were spared to diffuse education and to stimulate the
national sentiment. Various insurrectionary movements were attempted by the
patriots Rakovski, Panayot Khitoff, Haji Dimitr, Stephen Karaja and others,
but received little support from the mass of the people. The recognition of
Bulgarian nationality was won by the pen, not the sword. The patriarchate
at length found it necessary to offer some concessions, but these appeared
illusory to the Bulgarians, and long and acrimonious discussions followed.
Eventually the Turkish government intervened, and on the 28th of February
1870 a firman was issued establishing the Bulgarian exarchate, with
jurisdiction over fifteen dioceses, including Nish, Pirot and Veles; the
other dioceses in dispute were to be added to these in case two-thirds of
the Christian population so desired. The election of the first exarch was
delayed till February 1872, owing to the opposition of the patriarch, who
immediately afterwards excommunicated the new head of the Bulgarian church
and all his followers. The official recognition now acquired tended to
consolidate the Bulgarian nation and to prepare it for the political
developments which were soon to follow. A great educational activity at
once displayed itself in all the districts subjected to the new
ecclesiastical power.
_The Revolt of 1876._--Under the enlightened administration of Midhat Pasha
(1864-1868) Bulgaria enjoyed comparative prosperity, but that remarkable
man is not remembered with gratitude by the people owing to the severity
with which he repressed insurrectionary movements. In 1861, 12,000 Crimean
Tatars, and in 1864 a still larger number of Circassians from the Caucasus,
were settled by the Turkish government on lands taken without compensation
from the Bulgarian peasants. The Circassians, a lawless race of
mountaineers, proved a veritable scourge to the population in their
neighbourhood. In 1875 the insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina produced
immense excitement throughout the Peninsula. The fanaticism of the Moslems
was aroused, and the Bulgarians, fearing a general massacre of Christians,
endeavoured to anticipate the blow by organizing a general revolt. The
rising, which broke out prematurely at Koprivshtitza and Panagurishté in
May 1876, was mainly confined to the sanjak of Philippopolis. Bands of
bashi-bazouks were let loose throughout the district by the Turkish
authorities, the Pomaks, or Moslem Bulgarians, and the Circassian colonists
were called to arms, and a succession of horrors followed to which a
parallel can scarcely be found in the history of the middle ages. The
principal scenes of massacre were Panagurishté, Perushtitza, Bratzigovo and
Batak; at the last-named town, according to an official British report,
5000 men, women and children were put to the sword by the Pomaks under
Achmet Aga, who was decorated by the sultan for this exploit. Altogether
some 15,000 persons were massacred in the [v.04 p.0782] district of
Philippopolis, and fifty-eight villages and five monasteries were
destroyed. Isolated risings which took place on the northern side of the
Balkans were crushed with similar barbarity. These atrocities, which were
first made known by an English journalist and an American consular
official, were denounced by Gladstone in a celebrated pamphlet which
aroused the indignation of Europe. The great powers remained inactive, but
Servia declared war in the following month, and her army was joined by 2000
Bulgarian volunteers. A conference of the representatives of the powers,
held at Constantinople towards the end of the year, proposed, among other
reforms, the organization of the Bulgarian provinces, including the greater
part of Macedonia, in two vilayets under Christian governors, with popular
representation. These recommendations were practically set aside by the
Porte, and in April 1877 Russia declared war (see RUSSO-TURKISH WARS, and
PLEVNA). In the campaign which followed the Bulgarian volunteer contingent
in the Russian army played an honourable part; it accompanied Gourko's
advance over the Balkans, behaved with great bravery at Stara Zagora, where
it lost heavily, and rendered valuable services in the defence of Shipka.
_Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin._--The victorious advance of the
Russian army to Constantinople was followed by the treaty of San Stefano
(3rd March 1878), which realized almost to the full the national
aspirations of the Bulgarian race. All the provinces of European Turkey in
which the Bulgarian element predominated were now included in an autonomous
principality, which extended from the Black Sea to the Albanian mountains,
and from the Danube to the Aegean, enclosing Ochrida, the ancient capital
of the Shishmans, Dibra and Kastoria, as well as the districts of Vranya
and Pirot, and possessing a Mediterranean port at Kavala. The Dobrudja,
notwithstanding its Bulgarian population, was not included in the new
state, being reserved as compensation to Rumania for the Russian annexation
of Bessarabia; Adrianople, Salonica and the Chalcidian peninsula were left
to Turkey. The area thus delimited constituted three-fifths of the Balkan
Peninsula, with a population of 4,000,000 inhabitants. The great powers,
however, anticipating that this extensive territory would become a Russian
dependency, intervened; and on the 13th of July of the same year was signed
the treaty of Berlin, which in effect divided the "Big Bulgaria" of the
treaty of San Stefano into three portions. The limits of the principality
of Bulgaria, as then defined, and the autonomous province of Eastern
Rumelia, have been already described; the remaining portion, including
almost the whole of Macedonia and part of the vilayet of Adrianople, was
left under Turkish administration. No special organization was provided for
the districts thus abandoned; it was stipulated that laws similar to the
organic law of Crete should be introduced into the various parts of Turkey
in Europe, but this engagement was never carried out by the Porte. Vranya,
Pirot and Nish were given to Servia, and the transference of the Dobrudja
to Rumania was sanctioned. This artificial division of the Bulgarian nation
could scarcely be regarded as possessing elements of permanence. It was
provided that the prince of Bulgaria should be freely elected by the
population, and confirmed by the Sublime Porte with the assent of the
powers, and that, before his election, an assembly of Bulgarian notables,
convoked at Trnovo, should draw up the organic law of the principality. The
drafting of a constitution for Eastern Rumelia was assigned to a European
commission.
_The Constitution of Trnovo._--Pending the completion of their political
organization, Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia were occupied by Russian troops
and administered by Russian officials. The assembly of notables, which met
at Trnovo in 1879, was mainly composed of half-educated peasants, who from
the first displayed an extremely democratic spirit, in which they proceeded
to manipulate the very liberal constitution submitted to them by Prince
Dondukov-Korsakov, the Russian governor-general. The long period of Turkish
domination had effectually obliterated all social distinctions, and the
radical element, which now formed into a party under Tzankoff and
Karaveloff, soon gave evidence of its predominance. Manhood suffrage, a
single chamber, payment of deputies, the absence of property qualification
for candidates, and the prohibition of all titles and distinctions, formed
salient features in the constitution now elaborated. The organic statute of
Eastern Rumelia was largely modelled on the Belgian constitution. The
governor-general, nominated for five years by the sultan with the
approbation of the powers, was assisted by an assembly, partly
representative, partly composed of _ex-officio_ members; a permanent
committee was entrusted with the preparation of legislative measures and
the general supervision of the administration, while a council of six
"directors" fulfilled the duties of a ministry.
_Prince Alexander._--On the 29th of April 1879 the assembly at Trnovo, on
the proposal of Russia, elected as first sovereign of Bulgaria Prince
Alexander of Battenberg, a member of the grand ducal house of Hesse and a
nephew of the tsar Alexander II. Arriving in Bulgaria on the 7th of July,
Prince Alexander, then in his twenty-third year, found all the authority,
military and civil, in Russian hands. The history of the earlier portion of
his reign is marked by two principal features--a strong Bulgarian reaction
against Russian tutelage and a vehement struggle against the autocratic
institutions which the young ruler, under Russian guidance, endeavoured to
inaugurate. Both movements were symptomatic of the determination of a
strong-willed and egoistic race, suddenly liberated from secular
oppression, to enjoy to the full the moral and material privileges of
liberty. In the assembly at Trnovo the popular party had adopted the
watchword "Bulgaria for the Bulgarians," and a considerable anti-Russian
contingent was included in its ranks. Young and inexperienced, Prince
Alexander, at the suggestion of the Russian consul-general, selected his
first ministry from a small group of "Conservative" politicians whose views
were in conflict with those of the parliamentary majority, but he was soon
compelled to form a "Liberal" administration under Tzankoff and Karaveloff.
The Liberals, once in power, initiated a violent campaign against
foreigners in general and the Russians in particular; they passed an alien
law, and ejected foreigners from every lucrative position. The Russians
made a vigorous resistance, and a state of chaos ensued. Eventually the
prince, finding good government impossible, obtained the consent of the
tsar to a change of the constitution, and assumed absolute authority on the
9th of May 1881. The Russian general Ernroth was appointed sole minister,
and charged with the duty of holding elections for the Grand Sobranye, to
which the right of revising the constitution appertained. So successfully
did he discharge his mission that the national representatives, almost
without debate, suspended the constitution and invested the prince with
absolute powers for a term of seven years (July 1881). A period of Russian
government followed under Generals Skobelev and Kaulbars, who were
specially despatched from St Petersburg to enhance the authority of the
prince. Their administration, however, tended to a contrary result, and the
prince, finding himself reduced to impotence, opened negotiations with the
Bulgarian leaders and effected a coalition of all parties on the basis of a
restoration of the constitution. The generals, who had made an unsuccessful
attempt to remove the prince, withdrew; the constitution of Trnovo was
restored by proclamation (19th September 1883), and a coalition ministry
was formed under Tzankoff. Prince Alexander, whose relations with the court
of St Petersburg had become less cordial since the death of his uncle, the
tsar Alexander II., in 1881, now incurred the serious displeasure of
Russia, and the breach was soon widened by the part which he played in
encouraging the national aspirations of the Bulgarians.
_Union with Eastern Rumelia._--In Eastern Rumelia, where the Bulgarian
population never ceased to protest against the division of the race,
political life had developed on the same lines as in the principality.
Among the politicians two parties had come into existence--the
Conservatives or self-styled "Unionists," and the Radicals, derisively
called by their opponents [v.04 p.0783] "Kazioni" or treasury-seekers; both
were equally desirous of bringing about the union with the principality.
Neither party, however, while in power would risk the sweets of office by
embarking in a hazardous adventure. It was reserved for the Kazioni, under
their famous leader Zakharia Stoyánoff, who in early life had been a
shepherd, to realize the national programme. In 1885 the Unionists were in
office, and their opponents lost no time in organizing a conspiracy for the
overthrow of the governor-general, Krstovitch Pasha. Their designs were
facilitated by the circumstance that Turkey had abstained from sending
troops into the province. Having previously assured themselves of Prince
Alexander's acquiescence, they seized the governor-general and proclaimed
the union with Bulgaria (18th September). The revolution took place without
bloodshed, and a few days later Prince Alexander entered Philippopolis amid
immense enthusiasm. His position now became precarious. The powers were
scandalized at the infraction of the Berlin Treaty; Great Britain alone
showed sympathy, while Russia denounced the union and urged the Porte to
reconquer the revolted province--both powers thus reversing their
respective attitudes at the congress of Berlin.
_War with Servia._--The Turkish troops were massed at the frontier, and
Servia, hoping to profit by the difficulties of her neighbour, suddenly
declared war (14th November). At the moment of danger the Russian officers,
who filled all the higher posts in the Bulgarian army, were withdrawn by
order of the tsar. In these critical circumstances Prince Alexander
displayed considerable ability and resource, and the nation gave evidence
of hitherto unsuspected qualities. Contrary to general expectation, the
Bulgarian army, imperfectly equipped and led by subaltern officers,
successfully resisted the Servian invasion. After brilliant victories at
Slivnitza (19th November) and Tsaribrod, Prince Alexander crossed the
frontier and captured Pirot (27th November), but his farther progress was
arrested by the intervention of Austria (see SERVO-BULGARIAN WAR). The
treaty of Bucharest followed (3rd of March 1886), declaring, in a single
clause, the restoration of peace. Servia, notwithstanding her aggression,
escaped a war indemnity, but the union with Eastern Rumelia was practically
secured. By the convention of Top-Khané (5th April) Prince Alexander was
recognized by the sultan as governor-general of eastern Rumelia; a personal
union only was sanctioned, but in effect the organic statute disappeared
and the countries were administratively united. These military and
diplomatic successes, which invested the prince with the attributes of a
national hero, quickened the decision of Russia to effect his removal. An
instrument was found in the discontent of several of his officers, who
considered themselves slighted in the distribution of rewards, and a
conspiracy was formed in which Tzankoff, Karaveloff (the prime minister),
Archbishop Clement, and other prominent persons were implicated. On the
night of the 21st of August the prince was seized in his palace by several
officers and compelled, under menace of death, to sign his abdication; he
was then hurried to the Danube at Rakhovo and transported to Russian soil
at Reni. This violent act met with instant disapproval on the part of the
great majority of the nation. Stamboloff, the president of the assembly,
and Colonel Mutkuroff, commandant of the troops at Philippopolis, initiated
a counter-revolution; the provisional government set up by the conspirators
immediately fell, and a few days later the prince, who had been liberated
by the Russian authorities, returned to the country amid every
demonstration of popular sympathy and affection. His arrival forestalled
that of a Russian imperial commissioner, who had been appointed to proceed
to Bulgaria. He now committed the error of addressing a telegram to the
tsar in which he offered to resign his crown into the hands of Russia. This
unfortunate step, by which he ignored the suzerainty of Turkey, and
represented Bulgaria as a Russian dependency, exposed him to a stern
rebuff, and fatally compromised his position. The national leaders, after
obtaining a promise from the Russian representative at Sofia that Russia
would abstain from interference in the internal affairs of the country,
consented to his departure; on the 8th of September he announced his
abdication, and on the following day he left Bulgaria.
_The Regency._--A regency was now formed, in which the prominent figure was
Stamboloff, the most remarkable man whom modern Bulgaria has produced. A
series of attempts to throw the country into anarchy were firmly dealt
with, and the Grand Sobranye was summoned to elect a new prince. The
candidature of the prince of Mingrelia was now set up by Russia, and
General Kaulbars was despatched to Bulgaria to make known to the people the
wishes of the tsar. He vainly endeavoured to postpone the convocation of
the Grand Sobranye in order to gain time for the restoration of Russian
influence, and proceeded on an electoral tour through the country. The
failure of his mission was followed by the withdrawal of the Russian
representatives from Bulgaria. The Grand Sobranye, which assembled at
Trnovo, offered the crown to Prince Valdemar of Denmark, brother-in-law of
the tsar, but the honour was declined, and an anxious period ensued, during
which a deputation visited the principal capitals of Europe with the
twofold object of winning sympathy for the cause of Bulgarian independence
and discovering a suitable candidate for the throne.
_Prince Ferdinand._--On the 7th of July 1887, the Grand Sobranye
unanimously elected Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a grandson,
maternally, of King Louis Philippe. The new prince, who was twenty-six
years of age, was at this time a lieutenant in the Austrian army.
Undeterred by the difficulties of the international situation and the
distracted condition of the country, he accepted the crown, and took over
the government on the 14th of August at Trnovo. His arrival, which was
welcomed with enthusiasm, put an end to a long and critical interregnum,
but the dangers which menaced Bulgarian independence were far from
disappearing. Russia declared the newly-elected sovereign a usurper; the
other powers, in deference to her susceptibilities, declined to recognize
him, and the grand vizier informed him that his presence in Bulgaria was
illegal. Numerous efforts were made by the partisans of Russia to disturb
internal tranquillity, and Stamboloff, who became prime minister on the 1st
of September, found it necessary to govern with a strong hand. A raid led
by the Russian captain Nabokov was repulsed; brigandage, maintained for
political purposes, was exterminated; the bishops of the Holy Synod, who,
at the instigation of Clement, refused to pay homage to the prince, were
forcibly removed from Sofia; a military conspiracy organized by Major
Panitza was crushed, and its leader executed. An attempt to murder the
energetic prime minister resulted in the death of his colleague, Beltcheff,
and shortly afterwards Dr Vlkovitch, the Bulgarian representative at
Constantinople, was assassinated. While contending with unscrupulous
enemies at home, Stamboloff pursued a successful policy abroad. Excellent
relations were established with Turkey and Rumania, valuable concessions
were twice extracted from the Porte in regard to the Bulgarian episcopate
in Macedonia, and loans were concluded with foreign financiers on
comparatively favourable terms. His overbearing character, however,
increased the number of his opponents, and alienated the goodwill of the
prince.
In the spring of 1893 Prince Ferdinand married Princess Marie-Louise of
Bourbon-Parma, whose family insisted on the condition that the issue of the
marriage should be brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. In view of the
importance of establishing a dynasty, Stamboloff resolved on the unpopular
course of altering the clause of the constitution which required that the
heir to the throne should belong to the Orthodox Church, and the Grand
Sobranye, which was convoked at Trnovo in the summer, gave effect to this
decision. The death of Prince Alexander, which took place in the autumn,
and the birth of an heir, tended to strengthen the position of Prince
Ferdinand, who now assumed a less compliant attitude towards the prime
minister. In 1894 Stamboloff resigned office; a ministry was formed under
Dr Stoïloff, and Prince Ferdinand inaugurated a policy of conciliation
towards Russia with a view to obtaining his recognition by the powers. A
Russophil [v.04 p.0784] reaction followed, large numbers of political
refugees returned to Bulgaria, and Stamboloff, exposed to the vengeance of
his enemies, was assassinated in the streets of Sofia (15th July 1895).
The prince's plans were favoured by the death of the tsar Alexander III. in
November 1894, and the reconciliation was practically effected by the
conversion of his eldest son, Prince Boris, to the Orthodox faith (14th
February 1896). The powers having signified their assent, he was nominated
by the sultan prince of Bulgaria and governor-general of Eastern Rumelia
(14th March). Russian influence now became predominant in Bulgaria, but the
cabinet of St Petersburg wisely abstained from interfering in the internal
affairs of the principality. In February 1896 Russia proposed the
reconciliation of the Greek and Bulgarian churches and the removal of the
exarch to Sofia. The project, which involved a renunciation of the exarch's
jurisdiction in Macedonia, excited strong opposition in Bulgaria, and was
eventually dropped. The death of Princess Marie-Louise (30th January 1899),
caused universal regret in the country. In the same month the Stoïloff
government, which had weakly tampered with the Macedonian movement (see
MACEDONIA) and had thrown the finances into disorder, resigned, and a
ministry under Grekoff succeeded, which endeavoured to mend the economic
situation by means of a foreign loan. The loan, however, fell through, and
in October a new government was formed under Ivanchoff and Radoslavoff.
This, in its turn, was replaced by a _cabinet d'affaires_ under General
Petroff (January 1901).
In the following March Karaveloff for the third time became prime minister.
His efforts to improve the financial situation, which now became alarming,
proved abortive, and in January 1902 a Tzankovist cabinet was formed under
Daneff, who succeeded in obtaining a foreign loan. Russian influence now
became predominant, and in the autumn the grand-duke Nicholas, General
Ignatiev, and a great number of Russian officers were present at the
consecration of a Russian church and monastery in the Shipka pass. But the
appointment of Mgr. Firmilian, a Servian prelate, to the important see of
Uskub at the instance of Russia, the suspected designs of that power on the
ports of Varna and Burgas, and her unsympathetic attitude in regard to the
Macedonian Question, tended to diminish her popularity and that of the
government. A cabinet crisis was brought about in May 1903, by the efforts
of the Russian party to obtain control of the army, and the Stambolovists
returned to power under General Petroff. A violent recrudescence of the
Macedonian agitation took place in the autumn of 1902; at the suggestion of
Russia the leaders were imprisoned, but the movement nevertheless gained
force, and in August 1903 a revolt broke out in the vilayet of Monastir,
subsequently spreading to the districts of northern Macedonia and
Adrianople (see MACEDONIA). The barbarities committed by the Turks in
repressing the insurrection caused great exasperation in the principality;
the reserves were partially mobilized, and the country was brought to the
brink of war. In pursuance of the policy of Stamboloff, the Petroff
government endeavoured to inaugurate friendly relations with Turkey, and a
Turco-Bulgarian convention was signed (8th April 1904) which, however,
proved of little practical value.
The outrages committed by numerous Greek bands in Macedonia led to
reprisals on the Greek population in Bulgaria in the summer of 1906, and
the town of Anchialo was partially destroyed. On the 6th of November in
that year Petroff resigned, and Petkoff, the leader of the Stambolovist
party, formed a ministry. The prime minister, a statesman of undoubted
patriotism but of overbearing character, was assassinated on the 11th of
March 1907 by a youth who had been dismissed from a post in one of the
agricultural banks, and the cabinet was reconstituted under Gudeff, a
member of the same party.
_Declaration of Independence._--During the thirty years of its existence
the principality had made rapid and striking progress. Its inhabitants,
among whom a strong sense of nationality had grown up, were naturally
anxious to escape from the restrictions imposed by the treaty of Berlin.
That Servia should be an independent state, while Bulgaria, with its
greater economic and military resources, remained tributary to the Sultan,
was an anomaly which all classes resented; and although the Ottoman
suzerainty was little more than a constitutional fiction, and the tribute
imposed in 1878 was never paid, the Bulgarians were almost unanimous in
their desire to end a system which made their country the vassal of a
Moslem state notorious for its maladministration and corruption. This
desire was strengthened by the favourable reception accorded to Prince
Ferdinand when he visited Vienna in February 1908, and by the so-called
"Geshoff incident," _i.e._ the exclusion of M. Geshoff, the Bulgarian
agent, from a dinner given by Tewfik Pasha, the Ottoman minister for
foreign affairs, to the ministers of all the sovereign states represented
at Constantinople (12th of September 1908). This was interpreted as an
insult to the Bulgarian nation, and as the explanation offered by the grand
vizier was unsatisfactory, M. Geshoff was recalled to Sofia. At this time
the bloodless revolution in Turkey seemed likely to bring about a
fundamental change in the settled policy of Bulgaria. For many years past
Bulgarians had hoped that their own orderly and progressive government,
which had contrasted so strongly with the evils of Turkish rule, would
entitle them to consideration, and perhaps to an accession of territory,
when the time arrived for a definite settlement of the Macedonian Question.
Now, however, the reforms introduced or foreshadowed by the Young Turkish
party threatened to deprive Bulgaria of any pretext for future
intervention; there was nothing to be gained by further acquiescence in the
conditions laid down at Berlin. An opportunity for effective action
occurred within a fortnight of M. Geshoff's recall, when a strike broke out
on those sections of the Eastern Rumelian railways which were owned by
Turkey and leased to the Oriental Railways Company. The Bulgarians alleged
that during the strike Turkish troops were able to travel on the lines
which were closed to all other traffic, and that this fact constituted a
danger to their own autonomy. The government therefore seized the railway,
in defiance of European opinion, and in spite of the protests of the
suzerain power and the Oriental Railways Company. The bulk of the Turkish
army was then in Asia, and the new régime was not yet firmly established,
while the Bulgarian government were probably aware that Russia would not
intervene, and that Austria-Hungary intended to annex Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and thus incidentally to divert attention from their own
violation of the treaty of Berlin. On the 5th of October Prince Ferdinand
publicly proclaimed Bulgaria, united since the 6th of September 1885
(_i.e._ including Eastern Rumelia), an independent kingdom. This
declaration was read aloud by the king in the church of the Forty Martyrs
at Trnovo, the ancient capital of the Bulgarian tsars. The Porte
immediately protested to the powers, but agreed to accept an indemnity. In
February 1909 the Russian government proposed to advance to Bulgaria the
difference between the £4,800,000 claimed by Turkey and the £1,520,000
which Bulgaria undertook to pay. A preliminary Russo-Turkish protocol was
signed on the 16th of March, and in April, after the final agreement had
been concluded, the independence of Bulgaria was recognized by the powers.
Of the indemnity, £1,680,000 was paid on account of the Eastern Rumelian
railways; the allocation of this sum between Turkey and the Oriental
railways was submitted to arbitration. (See TURKEY: _History_.)