When the Turkish bourgeois revolution was in full swing, not only Austria-Hungary was pursuing his ideas. Turkey's neighbor Bulgaria also planned to use this Turkish bourgeois revolution to realize its own plan.
After the last Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and Turkey's defeat, the Principality of Bulgaria was established in the northern Balkan Mountains. Romania and Serbia were also established at this time. In 1885, northern and southern Bulgaria merged to achieve unification.
During this period, the relationship between Bulgaria and Russia was very complicated. At that time, Russia's Balkan policy was formulated by Count Ignatiev. Ignatiev's plan was to gradually support Bulgaria, which had almost the same language and race as Russia.
By turning Bulgaria into a Russian stronghold in the Balkans, it can connect Serbia and Czechoslovakia, threaten the core area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and quickly suppress Constantinople and cut off the throat of the Ottoman Turks.
It can be said that the core of Russia's foreign policy during this period has been adjusted to fully support Bulgaria. When Bulgaria and Romania had a dispute over the ownership of the Dobroga region, Russia even did not hesitate to stand on the side of Bulgaria, thereby integrating the Orthodox Church into the country.
Romania was pushed into the camp of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
But Bulgaria did not reciprocate Russia's enthusiasm. In the eyes of the Bulgarians, although the Russian big brother did pay a huge sacrifice to liberate Bulgaria, after independence Bulgaria was everywhere with Russian advisers and troops interfering in Bulgaria's internal affairs.
It only makes the Bulgarians feel uncomfortable.
The most ironic thing is that the Russian experts who helped Bulgaria formulate a new constitution are all Westerners who are quite dissatisfied in Russia. What these experts designed for Bulgaria is a highly modern constitutional monarchy that cannot be realized in Russia. Some
The Bulgarians who had adopted this political system, in turn, had an ideological sense of superiority over Russia, which was still under absolute dictatorship.
To make matters worse, Alexander, the German king chosen by the Russians for Bulgaria, did not become the puppet the Russians imagined. Alexander quickly mastered the Bulgarian language and converted to Orthodox Christianity. He gradually gained the support of the Bulgarian political elite and became the leader of Bulgarian nationalism.
The spiritual sustenance of the person.
King Alexander's home country, Germany, also used this natural connection to divide and unite Bulgaria's political elites, enabling the realization of an anti-Russian alliance between German politicians and Bulgarian nationalists with King Alexander as the link. Faced with Bulgaria's increasingly powerful
Due to centrifugal tendencies, Russia's approach can be described as simple and crude. While increasing political control and military pressure, it instigated a pro-Russian military officer corps in Bulgaria to launch a coup to overthrow King Alexander.
This brutal and brutal approach aroused great indignation among the Bulgarian government and the opposition. In the end, the 1886 coup ended in failure. Bulgaria expelled all Russian advisers and troops and fell to the German and Austrian side. Russia since the Crimean War
The Balkan front, which had been painstakingly developed since then, came to nothing, and the strait, which was once so close, suddenly became out of reach.
Izvolsky, who was in charge of Balkan affairs after 1886, began to actively exert his personal influence to reshape Russia's position in the Balkans. In addition, the Bulgarians had too many involvements in Russia, and they were slowly
The influence returned, and in 1908 Bulgaria still favored Russia.
"The bourgeois revolution in Turkey is our opportunity now. Bulgaria does not need a nominal suzerainty. Moreover, many of our ethnic groups in Turkey are being bullied and oppressed by them. This is intolerable to us." Bulgarian Foreign Minister Stephen Uros said about himself
’s voice.
Stephen Uros is a supporter of Greater Bulgaria, and now most people in Bulgaria have this plot.
'Greater Bulgaria' is a Bulgarian nationalist idea that aims to restore Bulgaria's largest historical territory. It includes the plains between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains, North and South Dobroga, the Sofia region, Pirot, Vranje,
Northern Thrace, parts of Eastern Thrace, Macedonia and other areas.
"There happens to be an opportunity that we can take advantage of," Prime Minister Alexander Malinov said to the Foreign Minister.
What the Prime Minister was talking about was that on August 2, the Turkish Foreign Minister held a luncheon at his home and did not invite the Bulgarian diplomatic representative in Constantinople. This diplomatic representative with strong self-esteem considered him insulted and dismissed this incident.
The situation was reported to Bulgaria. This made Prime Minister Alexander Malinov feel like a treasure. This was an excellent opportunity.
While the ministers were discussing, Archduke Ferdinand I of Bulgaria was not idle either. He paid a secret visit to Austria-Hungary in Vienna. Due to the support of the "Macedonian-Adrianople Supreme Council" (referred to as the "Supreme Council") in 1903
, the failure of the uprising launched in southwestern Macedonia and eastern Thrace made Archduke Ferdinand feel that he needed the support of other powers to incorporate the above places into his own territory.
The Archduke has set his sights on Austria-Hungary, hoping to get the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If he can get the support of one of the two powers with the greatest influence on the Balkans (Russia will not object), then Archduke Ferdinand’s dream will be very great.
There is a chance it will become a reality.
On August 2, 1903, the "Supreme Council" launched an uprising in southwestern Macedonia and eastern Thrace. The joint rebel army composed of Bulgarians, Wallachians and Greeks captured some cities, but they were attacked by
The desperate resistance of the Turkish and Albanian revolutionaries was soon suppressed again by the Turkish "Bashi-Bazok".
This time, the Turkish government was determined to wipe out the Bulgarian population in Thrace and Adrianople because it was too close to the imperial capital. Hundreds of Bulgarian villages were looted and burned, more than 5,000 people were killed, and 70,000 were killed.
Many people were displaced, and more than 30,000 people fled to Bulgaria for refuge.
The troublesome thing is that in addition to the rebel army of the "internal revolutionary organization" and the Turkish armed forces, the surrounding neighboring countries also took advantage of the chaos and sent armed personnel. These troops killed foreign Christians just as well as the Turks.
Serbia's "Chetniks" (ik, "irregulars") attacked Bulgaria's "itadji" (itadji, "volunteers"), and in turn suffered a vendetta from the other side; both sides fought against the Greek "Irregulars"
The Andartes also hunted Albanians and Turks everywhere, and the Turkish authorities sow discord among Christians.
Macedonia's chaotic state provided Russia and Austria with an excuse to intervene. In 1903, they proposed a series of administrative, financial and security reform requirements to the Sultan's court, and asked Turkey to turn Macedonia into an independent autonomous province.
It is divided into five districts and is administered by the great powers. The Skopje District belongs to Austria, Thessaloniki District belongs to Russia, the Serre District belongs to France, the Drama District belongs to the United Kingdom, and the Bitola District belongs to Italy.
The Turkish authorities were greatly shocked by the great powers' demands for Macedonia's autonomy, which was also the reason why the Young Turks revolted in advance.
The events in Turkey shocked the Bulgarian government and Archduke Ferdinand. They originally wanted to annex Macedonia through the uprising of the "internal revolutionary organization". Turkey's implementation of constitutional reforms will undoubtedly make Bulgaria lose this opportunity. After the Young Turk coup, Bulgaria discovered that not only
You cannot wait for the Macedonian fruit to fall off naturally after it is ripe, but you have to pick it quickly.
On the one hand, Bulgaria has made intense preparations for war. On the other hand, Bulgaria has decided to take advantage of the chaotic situation of the abolition of the Turkish Sultan to declare independence and completely get rid of its vassal relationship with Turkey. However, independence means tearing up the Treaty of Berlin, which will give Bulgaria
Bringing danger. Coincidentally, according to the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin, Austria would return Bosnia and Herzegovina to Turkey after the 30-year occupation period (that is, in 1908), and it did not want to do so, so the two countries came to
Together, they decided to tear up the Treaty of Berlin in unison.
This is also the reason why Archduke Ferdinand visited Vienna secretly. Now that the domestic news came, the Archduke accelerated the coordination with Austria-Hungary. The next day, Archduke Ferdinand had secret discussions with Austro-Hungarian Prime Minister Alois.
Ferdinand said straight to the point, "We all need mutual support. I hope we can coordinate the time together and catch the Turks off guard."
"I very much agree with this. Even if the strength is strong, it still requires the minimum price." Seeing that Archduke Ferdinand was more direct, Prime Minister Alois also said it very directly.
"Your Excellency the Prime Minister is very correct. Coordinating the two sides can reduce a lot of unnecessary troubles. Why not do it if it is beneficial to us." Archduke Ferdinand also agreed and said that after a good conversation, the two sides reached an agreement.
Bulgaria became independent first, and Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina two days later. This allowed both parties to reduce external pressure.
After the agreement was reached, Archduke Fednan returned to Sofia and told the Prime Minister and others about the matter. This greatly encouraged the Bulgarian government to discuss preparations for independence.
On September 22, in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, Archduke Fednan formally announced Bulgaria's independence from the Ottoman Empire at the National Assembly. On the same day, he officially declared Bulgaria a kingdom and he would become the new king of the kingdom.
After announcing the news of independence to the people, Archduke Fednan went to Prime Minister Alexander Malinov and told him an idea of his. "I want to crown myself a 'tsar'. This is what I told the early Bulgarians."
Salute to the Ruler."
After listening, the Prime Minister thought for a while and said, "This decision is a good idea. As long as we explain it to Russia, I believe they will not refute us for a title."
After hearing the Prime Minister's analysis, Archduke Fednan said with satisfaction, "According to the agreement with Austria-Hungary, we declared independence on October 5. I would like to pay my respects to the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Tarnovo."
The martyrs of independence declare this."
"This is a wise decision that can make the people of the kingdom burst out with fanatical patriotic enthusiasm." Prime Minister Alexander Malinov admired the king's decision. This can make the people love their king even more, and for Feddy
King Nan is saying that being well-liked will strengthen his position in Bulgaria.
In St. Petersburg, Nicholas II looked at the telegram, which was brought to him by Prime Minister Stolypin. It said that Bulgaria would become an independent kingdom and hoped that the king would be crowned Tsar.
"We should congratulate the news sent by Bulgaria. Now the relationship with Bulgaria must be strengthened. After all, if we don't agree, Austria-Hungary will not let this opportunity pass." Seeing Nicholas II looking at the telegram in silence,
Stolypin quickly explained the impact on Russia.
After all, it is now known that the title of Tsar is unique to Russia. It is strange that there are suddenly many places with the name of Tsar, which can make Nicholas II happy. Soon, a message from Russia congratulating Bulgaria on its independence was sent to Sofia to crown King Ferdinand.
Being a 'Tsar' is also understandable.
On October 5, King Ferdinand was officially crowned ‘Tsar’ at the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Tarnovo and announced the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence.
