BULGARIA. 



107 



1885, all the lieutenancies and one half of the 

 captaincies were filled by Bulgarians, 420 in 

 number, the remaining captaincies and the 

 higher commands in the line and all the staff 

 appointments being still held by Russian offi- 

 cers, 180 in number. 



In the beginning of September the Bulgarian 

 Government intended to dismiss another batch 

 of Russian officers and replace them with sons 

 of the country. On this point a conflict broke 

 out between the Russian representatives, the 

 agent Kajander and Prince Cantacuzene, the 

 War Minister, and the Bulgarian Government. 

 The Minister of War objected, ostensibly in the 

 interests of the service, and threatened to re- 

 sign. The Bulgarians demanded the comple- 

 tion of the change, not only on grounds of 

 economy and for the sake of seeing their coun- 

 trymen in the higher posts, but in order to pre- 

 vent another Russian pronuneiamiento like that 

 of two years before. Karavelow declared that 

 he would take the portfolio of Military Affairs 

 himself, and intimated that if a military coup 

 d'etat were attempted he would not hesitate to 

 hang half a dozen of the leaders. This conflict 

 and a similar one in Eastern Roumelia were 

 the immediate cause of the Eastern Roumelian 

 revolution. A truce was struck after four new 

 Bulgarian captains were commissioned; but 

 subsequently the programme of the ministry 

 was carried out, and 40 Bulgarians were pro- 

 moted to captaincies. Prince Cantacuzene and 

 most of the Russian officers in the higher posts 

 were ordered home to Russia after the dec- 

 laration of union, leaving the Bulgarian army 

 without staff-officers or commanders. 



The Eastern Roumelian military establish- 

 ment was limited by the organic statute to a 

 standing force of 6 companies. On the war 

 footing, however, the Roumelian army com- 

 prises 12 battalions of infantry, 2 sotnias of 

 horse, and 2 companies of artillery and engi- 

 neers with 4 guns, numbering altogether 10,- 

 800 men. In the militia the province can count 

 on a large and well-trained force that brings 

 up its strength nearly equal to that of Bulgaria. 

 The militia, which numbers 40,000 men, was 

 organized originally under the name of gym- 

 nastic societies. These volunteers were dis- 

 banded by the Turkish authorities, but they 

 were secretly revived and trained and armed 

 so as to form an effective reserve. 



The Bulgarian fleet consisted in 1884 of 3 

 ships of war, 4 steamers armed with guns of 

 small caliber, 1 steam cutter, and 3 transports, 

 and had 12 officers and 205 seamen. 



The Bulgarian Revolution. Since the beginning 

 of 1885 the Balkan lands have been agitated 

 with the expectation of important events. This 

 restlessness was, as usual, connected with the 

 exigencies of Russian state-craft. The danger 

 of a Macedonian insurrection or of a union of 

 the two Bulgarias became imminent whenever 

 an Anglo-Turkish alliance seemed likely, and 

 even Albanian disturbances were not unrelated 

 to that question. In Bulgaria Slav committees 



renewed their activity, which has abated since 

 the current set against Russian tutelage. Tho 

 Russians are credited with a scheme for the 

 formation of a Great Bulgaria, the replace- 

 ment of the Battenberg prince by Prince Wal- 

 demar of Denmark, a dynastic revolution in 

 Servia and the establishment of Peter Kara- 

 georgevich on the throne, and the federation of 

 the Balkan states under the headship of Servia. 

 The people in Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia 

 were assiduously prepared for the long-awaited 

 union. In both the feeling toward Russia was 

 that of gratitude, but of anxiety and suspicion 

 at the same time. Since the beginning of the 

 reactionary era in Russia the Bulgarians dread 

 the idea of Russian annexation. This feeling 

 has much to do with the spread of Austrian 

 influence in the Balkan countries. When Aleko 

 Pasha was Governor- General of Eastern Rou- 

 melia two parties formed themselves, one called 

 the Conservative and attached to Russia, and 

 the other called Liberal. Aleko Pasha identi- 

 fied himself with the latter and curried favor 

 with Austria, going so far as to insult the Rus- 

 sian consul, Kredel, and thus bringing about 

 his own extinction. He refused to comply 

 with the demands of the Czar's Government 

 for the armament of the militia with the Rus- 

 sian rifle, the arm that had been introduced 

 in Bulgaria not without question, and the or- 

 ganization of the force by a Russian general. 

 Sharp reproaches on both sides and a diplo- 

 matic rupture were the result. Gavril Pasha, 

 who was selected by the Russian Government 

 to follow him, dismissed Liberal officials by 

 wholesale to make room for Conservatives, al- 

 though under Aleko Pasha both parties were 

 fairly dealt with in the distribution of offices. 

 These changes were borne with as long as they 

 were confined to the civil service ; but when 

 army officers began to be dismissed for their 

 politics, a Major Nikolaieff and other Liberal 

 officers banded together and worked upon the 

 feelings of the troops. They met by night, and 

 evolved a scheme for a military insurrection, 

 having for its object the union of the two Bul- 

 garias. The hope of a union under Russian 

 auspices was no longer encouraged by the 

 agents of the Czar; but the desire was awak- 

 ened and the people were ripe for the change, 

 which appealed not merely to sentimental and 

 patriotic impulses, but to the material interests 

 of the stolid and practical Bulgarian peasantry. 

 The customs frontier was a hindrance to trade, 

 and the expense of two governments was felt 

 to be a needless burden. Karaveloff, when 

 he knew of the disaffection in the Roumelian 

 army, conceived the project of a Bulgarian 

 union without the help and countenance of 

 Russia. Russia herself could not well repudi- 

 ate a consummation that was the object of the 

 avowed policy of her Government and of the 

 earnest wishes of the Russian people, while 

 the other powers must view more favorably 

 independent Bulgarian action. They vetoed 

 the Russian plan of a Great Bulgaria at the 



