BULGAEIA. 



BULGARIA, a principality of Eastern Eu- 

 rope created by the Treaty of Berlin, signed 

 July 13, 1878, out of a portion of the Chris- 

 tian provinces of Turkey which by rising in 

 rebellion provoked the intercession of Russia 

 and the Turkish War. It lies between Rouma- 

 nia on the north and the autonomous Turkish 

 province of Eastern Roumelia, with Servia on 

 the west, and the Black Sea as its eastern 

 boundary. The estimated area is 24,360 square 

 miles ; the population, according to a census 

 taken January 1, 1881, is 1,995,701. It was re- 

 divided in August, by a decree of the Council 

 of State, into fourteen instead of fifty -six ad- 

 ministrative circuits: Sophia, Tirnova, Shum- 

 la, Varna, Vracan, Kustendje, Russen, Ras- 

 grad, Lorn, Silistria, "Widin, Sevlje, Sistova, and 

 Plevna. The inhabitants are industrious agri- 

 culturists. They are adherents of the Greek 

 Church, and speak the Servian tongue. The 

 reigning sovereign is Prince Alexander Batten- 

 berg, a grand-nephew of the Emperor of Ger- 

 many and cousin-german of the Emperor of 

 Russia, who assumed the government, June 

 28, 1879. The principality pays an annual trib- 

 ute to Turkey. Since its deliverance it has 

 been administered virtually as a Russian de- 

 pendency. 



SUSPENSION OF THE CONSTITUTION. The at- 

 tachment of the people to Russia has waned 

 since their independence. Panslavism, as taught 

 to them by its Russian apostles, signified the 

 revival of ancient Slavic freedom as well as the 

 union of Slavic peoples under one government. 

 The Bulgarians received from the Panslavic 

 founders of the principality a constitution on 

 the Western model, which, if not Slavic, was 

 very liberal. The activity of parties, the rival- 

 ries of politicians, the spread of the extreme 

 theories of Slavic equality forbidden as Nihil- 

 ism in Russia, and the agitation for the Great 

 Bulgaria of the Treaty of San Stefano, to be 

 formed by union with Eastern Roumelia, which 

 would be as inopportune to the Russian Gov- 

 ernment now struggling for the autocratic prin- 

 ciple as distasteful to Austria, led Prince Bat- 

 tenberg, with the sanction of his Russian pro- 

 tector, $0 abolish the Constitution by a coup 

 d'etat (see "Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1881). 

 A Grand National Assembly, convened for the 

 purpose, invested him with autocratic powers 

 for seven years by a vote taken July 13, 1881. 



EVENTS OF THE YEAR. The Conservatives, 

 who had supported the Prince, and the Mod- 

 erates as well as the Radicals, whose ministry 

 he had dismissed, were scandalized at the 

 methods by which he and the Russian military 

 officers had manipulated the elections. The 

 Conservative party were alienated by the ap- 

 pointment of foreigners and men outside of 

 politics in the new Cabinet. A revolutionary 

 agitation was raised, but the people and their 

 intellectual leaders in Bulgaria and Eastern 

 Roumelia were disposed to wait and see if the 

 Prince would introduce the promised economy 

 and reform in the administration, and govern 



better than the politicians, who had pleased the 

 people at !large scarcely better than they had 

 the Prince. When months went by without 

 any developments besides the suppression of 

 newspapers, the imprisonment of statesmen, 

 and the rigorous supervision of the school- 

 teachers, popular dissatisfaction revived and 

 took the form of an organized agitation for the 

 restoration of constitutional government, in 

 which both the political parties joined. Depu- 

 tations and petitions poured in from all parts 

 of the country, until the Prince refused to re- 

 ceive any more, on the pretext that he had been 

 deceived by fraudulent deputations. The Bul- 

 garians, who are simple in their habits and fond 

 of money, were particularly distrustful because 

 there was a heavy deficit instead of a large sur- 

 plus under the new administration, and because 

 the Prince showed a tendency to lavish ex- 

 penditure by commencing a $500,000 palace 

 and assuming airs of royalty. The new offi- 

 cials offended the people by their arrogance 

 and formalism. The taxes, instead of being 

 reduced, were increased by a land-tax, levied 

 in addition to the tithes. The Prince in his 

 perplexities leaned more and more upon the 

 Russian Government. The first ministry, which 

 was suspected of Austrian sympathies, was 

 replaced by creatures of the Russian court. 

 The exploitation of the country, by Russian 

 commercial speculators became one of the 

 causes of popular dissatisfaction. The Prince 

 had great difficulty in getting together the 

 Council of State with which he proposed to re- 

 form the Government. Before it began to work 

 the country had reached the verge of revolution, 

 and talked of deposing the reforming Prince. 

 In May he visited St. Petersburg to take coun- 

 sel with his imperial patron. Martial law 

 was proclaimed throughout the country. The 

 agitation was fostered by the intriguing agent- 

 general of the Russian Government, Hitrovo, 

 who the year before had managed the coup 

 d'etat. This Russian, De Blignieres, was finally 

 recalled. Under the directions of the Russian 

 Foreign Office, Prince Battenberg issued orders 

 for the election of a new National Assembly, 

 not, however, with constitutional powers, but 

 without control over the ministry, and even 

 without freedom of debate. The Council of 

 State, which was formed after searching six 

 months for suitable and willing members, had 

 passed several measures, chief of which were 

 the repartition of the country into administra- 

 tive districts, and the commutation of the tithes 

 into a land-tax. The elections to the fictitious 

 National Assembly took place in the autumn. 

 The militia controlled the balloting, as they 

 did in the plebiscite of the previous year. 

 Care was taken that none of the active oppo- 

 nents of the Prince should appear upon the 

 scene, although an entirely subservient Assem- 

 bly could not be collected, since discontent is 

 universal. Zancoff, one of the Liberal leaders, 

 was cast into prison. 

 POLITICAL SITUATION. The Prince, who is 



