Advancing to the outskirts of Constantinople, the Russians dictated the Treaty of San Stefano, which called for a large independent Bulgaria within the territory of the exarchate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, stretching from the Danube River to the Aegean Sea and from the Vardar and Morava valleys to the Black Sea. The boundaries stated in the treaty, signed on February 19 (March 3), 1878, represented the fulfillment of Bulgaria’s territorial aspirations and remained for generations the national ideal of the people. But the creation of a large Bulgaria, perceived as an outpost of Russian influence in the Balkans, was intolerable to Austria-Hungary and Britain, and they forced a revision of the Treaty of San Stefano a few months later at the Congress of Berlin.

The Treaty of Berlin, signed July 1 (July 13), 1878, created a much smaller Bulgarian principality, autonomous but under the sovereignty of the Sublime Porte, in the territory between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains and the region of Sofia, which soon became the capital. To the south the treaty created the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia, subject to the sultan but with a Christian governor. Macedonia was returned entirely to the Ottoman Empire. The treaty also stipulated that Bulgaria would elect an assembly of notables to meet at Tŭrnovo to prepare a constitution and to choose a prince who would be confirmed by the powers.

The liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule also functioned as a land reform, for Russian occupation authorities and subsequent Bulgarian governments confiscated the Turkish estates and sold them in small parcels to the peasantry. Bulgaria began its independence as a nation of smallholders with one of the most egalitarian land distributions in Europe.

Political divisions under Alexander of Battenberg

The democratic character of the constitution was at variance with the views of Bulgaria’s first prince, Alexander I of Battenberg (of both Austrian and Russian ancestry), and with those of the Russian advisers who played a large role in his court. The prince first formed a Conservative ministry, but he was forced by popular agitation to form a Liberal government under Tsankov. Tsankov’s government undertook the construction of judicial and state apparatuses and put an end to the depredations of brigands who had remained active in the mountains after the war.

In Prince Alexander’s estimation, however, the Liberals showed insufficient respect for the institution of monarchy. Moreover, Russia was concerned that the Liberals were starting to follow the same pro-Western tendencies as the Conservatives. As a result, Alexander dismissed the Liberal government in favour of a pro-Russian one led by Gen. Casimir Erenroth, a Finn in Russian service who had earlier been charged with setting up the Bulgarian army. Erenroth used rigged elections to select the Grand National Assembly, which agreed in 1881 to suspend the constitution and invest the prince with absolute power for seven years.

A period of dictatorship followed under the Russian generals Leonid N. Sobolev and Alexander V. Kaulbars. Prince Alexander, however, soon found his Russian allies harder to deal with than their Liberal predecessors. The popular sentiment against the Russian generals was growing too. In September 1883 Alexander compromised with his opponents, dismissed the Russians, restored the constitution, and accepted a Conservative-Liberal coalition government, but the coalition was soon supplanted by an entirely Liberal government under Petko Karavelov.

Meanwhile, popular sentiment for unification with Bulgaria had been growing in Eastern Rumelia, and the restoration of the constitution provided the Eastern Rumelians with the stimulus to prepare for a seizure of power in Plovdiv. In September 1885, with the prior approval of Prince Alexander, they staged a bloodless coup d’état and declared the unification of the two states. Turkey did not resist, but Russia, incensed by such independence of action in its diplomatic sphere of influence, refused to approve, and Tsar Alexander III ordered the withdrawal of all Russian officers and advisers from the Bulgarian army.

In these circumstances, King Milan of Serbia, stating that the balance of power in the Balkans was endangered by Bulgarian unification, suddenly declared war. The Serbs advanced as far as Slivnitsa, where they were met and defeated by the untrained Bulgarian army under Prince Alexander’s command. Bulgarian forces pursued the Serbs across the frontier but were stopped by the threat of Austrian intervention. Peace and the status quo were restored by the Treaty of Bucharest (February 19 [March 3], 1886) and the convention of Tophane (March 24 [April 5], 1886). Prince Alexander was appointed governor-general of Eastern Rumelia, and the Eastern Rumelian administrative and military forces were merged with those of Bulgaria.

Prince Alexander had little time to enjoy the fruits of his popular triumph. On August 9 (August 21), 1886, a group of Russophile conspirators and military officers whom Alexander had passed over for promotion seized the prince in his palace, forced him to sign a statement of abdication, transported him out of the country, and handed him over to the Russians at the Danube port of Reni. The conspiracy was countered, however, by Stefan Stambolov, president of the National Assembly, and by Lieut. Col. Sava Mutkurov, commander of the Plovdiv garrison, who took control of Sofia and recalled the prince. Alexander was not detained by the Russians, but he declared he would not remain in Bulgaria without Russian approval. When the tsar refused to give it, Alexander abdicated on August 26 (September 7), appointing a regency composed of Stambolov, Mutkurov, and Petko Karavelov.

The regency was successful in preserving order but had great difficulty in finding a new prince, for few wished to assume the throne in the face of Russian hostility. A willing candidate was at last found in the person of 26-year-old Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a grandson of Louis-Philippe of France, who was then serving as an officer in the Austrian army. Ferdinand was elected prince by the Grand National Assembly in July 1887.

Prince Ferdinand’s rule

Because Russia declared Ferdinand a usurper, Europe withheld recognition, the bishops of the Holy Synod would not pay him homage, and conspiracies flourished. However, Stambolov, as prime minister from 1887 to 1894, ruthlessly suppressed all opposition. Recognized as one of Europe’s strongmen, he stabilized Bulgaria’s international position, but his methods, which amounted to a virtual dictatorship, alienated much of the population. In 1894 Ferdinand unexpectedly made use of his constitutional right to dismiss Stambolov and replaced him with a government headed by a Conservative, Konstantin Stoilov. A year later the former prime minister was murdered in the street in Sofia.

The change of course in Sofia and the death of Tsar Alexander III facilitated a reconciliation between Bulgaria and Russia. Ferdinand gained international recognition as prince, and in 1896 Tsar Nicholas II became the godfather of Ferdinand’s first son when he was baptized into the Orthodox faith.