102 



BULGARIA. 



ernment respecting the control of the Bul- 

 garian army was arranged by accepting another 

 Russian officer, Prince Cantacuzene, as Minis- 

 ter of War. After the withdrawal of the Con- 

 servative ministers the division between the 

 Moderate Liberals and the Radicals was ac- 

 centuated by the refusal of the Government to 

 accept the co-operation of the latter, and ad- 

 mit the leader of the latter into the Cabinet. 

 The Russian agent, Jonin, strove to effect in 

 this way the unity of the Liberal party. Zan- 

 koff, who enjoyed great popularity upon enter- 

 ing office as a martyr of liberty, the champion 

 of the Constitution, and the savior of the coun- 

 try from foreign domination, sank in favor with 

 the people through his approval of an early re- 

 vision of the Constitution and through a some- 

 what arbitrary administration, in which some 

 of its provisions were slighted. In his rela- 

 tions with Russian representatives he did not 

 preserve the independence that was expected. 

 By resorting to repressive acts against his op- 

 ponents he incurred positive odium. An alli- 

 ance with the Conservatives was proposed; 

 but in the June elections they lent their votes 

 to the Radicals in the Liberal districts. The 

 Sobranje was called to a preliminary extraor- 

 dinary session for July 9. The Zankoff party 

 was left in a minority, in spite of acts of official 

 violence at the elections, which led to bloody 

 collisions in Vratza and Lucovit. Karaveleff 

 was elected President of the Chamber. The 

 ministers thereupon gave in their resignations 

 to the Prince, who summoned Karaveleff. The 

 Cabinet was formed as follows: President, 

 Minister of Finance, and Minister of Railways, 

 Commerce, and Agriculture, Petko Karaveleff ; 

 Minister of the Interior, Slaveikoff; Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, Ilia Zanoff; Minister of 

 Public Instruction, Karoleff ; Minister of Jus- 

 tice, Radoslavoff. 



The regular session of the Sobranje was 

 opened October 27. The Zankoff party and 

 the Conservatives had formed a coalition in the 

 hope of upsetting the ministry, but found that 

 they could not command enough votes, since 

 the Karaveleif Cabinet were in agreement with 

 the Prince as to proceeding to the construc- 

 tion of the Baribrod-Vacarela Railroad accord- 

 ing to treaty, and other questions. 



Foreign Relations. During the recess a cus- 

 toms league was concluded with Eastern Bou- 

 rn elia, whereby no duties shall be levied on the 

 frontier, except on tobacco and salt. A com- 

 mercial treaty was entered into with Roumania 

 also. The Porte has made many protests to 

 the Bulgarian Government, and, several times 

 complained to the powers, but without effect 

 hitherto, regarding violations of the Berlin 

 Treaty in the treatment of the rights and prop- 

 erty of Turkish subjects. The setting up of 

 civil tribunals to take the place of the muftis, 

 or religious judges, furnished the ground for a 

 fresh remonstrance. A boundary dispute with 

 Roumania with regard to the Dobrudja line . 

 and the possession of the forts at Arab Tabia, 



was not settled by a joint commission, which 

 separated without agreement in June. The 

 sovereigns and their ministers subsequently 

 met and came to an understanding. 



Conflict with Servia. The two rivals for the 

 primacy among the Balkan states became in- 

 volved in the summer in a dispute that, be- 

 fore the friendly understanding between Rus- 

 sia and Austria, might easily have plunged 

 them into a war and endangered the European 

 equilibrium. After the suppression of the in- 

 surrection in the Timok district the leaders 

 who escaped the terrible vengeance of the Ser- 

 vian Government found a sympathetic recep- 

 tion in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian authorities 

 kept a kind of surveillance over them, but al- 

 lowed them to settle at Widdin, close to the 

 frontier. The deposed Metropolitan Michael, 

 who met with demonstrative greetings through- 

 out Bulgaria, was also permitted to establish 

 himself on the border of his old diocese. The 

 complaints of the Servian Government led to 

 the intercession of Russia, whereupon the rev- 

 olutionary leader Pashic was removed to Sofia. 

 After the Servian elections fresh disturbances 

 broke out in the Timok district. The Servians 

 represented that bands of refugees had crossed 

 the border, destroyed a village that had been 

 true to the Government during the insurrec- 

 tion, and committed pillage and murder in 

 other places. The Bulgarian authorities de- 

 nied that escaped revolutionists had entered 

 Servia. 



Zankoff thought it best to take a bold stand 

 in view of the approaching elections. He met 

 the Servian demands for the expulsion of the 

 refugees with a demand that Servia should 

 evacuate one of her frontier posts. This was on 

 a large island in the Timok, opposite the town 

 of Bregovo, and connected with it by a bridge. 

 Three fourths of the island was Turkish terri- 

 tory before the Treaty of Berlin, and was used 

 as a pasture by the townspeople. The Servian 

 portion was divided off by a palisade, guarded 

 by four sentries in a block-house. The Bulga- 

 rian Government now claimed this portion, al- 

 though the peace of Berlin preserved the exist- 

 ing boundary-line. A Bulgarian force drove 

 out the four guards and took possession of the 

 block-house in the beginning of June. On the 

 6th the Servian agent in Sofia presented an 

 ultimatum demanding the restoration of the 

 block-house and the expulsion from Sofia and 

 the border districts of all the refugees andUhe 

 ex-Metropolitan Michael. Bulgaria offered to 

 treat the Servian portion of the Timok Island 

 as neutral, but the compromise was not accept- 

 able. After the lapse of three days, as an- 

 nounced in the ultimatum, the Servian agent 

 quitted Sofia. A day after, Bulgaria called her 

 representative away from Belgrade. Servian 

 troops were dispatched to the frontier. A 

 martial fever pervaded Servia. The Bulgarians 

 took little interest in the diplomatic quarrel ; 

 but the hostile mien of their neighbors began 

 to infect them with a warlike spirit. 



