102 



BULGARIA. 



declared that it would not conclude peace un- 

 til the Roumelian question had been settled 

 satisfactorily to Servia. In the beginning of 

 January commissioners were appointed to con- 

 duct the peace negotiations. The Bulgarian 

 Government appointed M. Geshoff, and the ap- 

 pointment was ratified by the Porte. M. Mi- 

 jatovics, the Servian minister in London, was 

 named by his Government. Vienna was pro- 

 posed as the place for holding the sittings of 

 the peace conference, but, when Prince Alex- 

 ander objected, King Milan, on Jan. 11, sug- 

 gested Bucharest, and the proposal was satis- 

 factory to the Bulgarian prince. 



Treaty of Peace with Servia. Bulgarian and 

 Servian representatives met in Bucharest, to 

 conclude terms of peace. On Feb. 2 they 

 agreed upon the order in which the points at 

 issue should be taken up, and the day follow- 

 ing began negotiations. An identical com- 

 munication of the representatives of the pow- 

 ers in Constantinople recommended that in the 

 peace negotiations all thoughts of a war indem- 

 nity for Bulgaria should be given up, that the 

 Berlin Treaty should be respected, that the 

 Eastern Roumelian question should be exclud- 

 ed from the negotiations as a purely internal 

 matter, and that the diplomatic representatives 

 of the powers in Bucharest should be kept in- 

 formed of the progress of the treaty. Servia 

 hesitated to agree to terms of peace up to the 

 last minute, and continued her armaments and 

 her warlike attitude. The Turkish threat that 

 the recommencement of hostilities against Bul- 

 garia would be regarded by the Porte as a dec- 

 laration of war finally brought her to terms. 



The peace negotiations were prolonged until 

 the very day when the armistice expired, March 

 1. The Turkish minister to Belgrade then pro- 

 posed a treaty to consist of a single article : 

 "Peace is re-established between Servia and 

 Bulgaria from the day of the signing of the 

 present treaty. Ratifications will be exchanged 

 at Bucharest within fourteen days, and if pos- 

 sible sooner." The Servian minister, Garasha- 

 nin, agreed to this proposal, and the powers 

 were notified. 



Geshoff, the Bulgarian, and Madjid Pasha, 

 the Turkish plenipotentiary, received instruc- 

 tions to sign the treaty, which was duly exe- 

 cuted on March 3. Servia still refused to enter 

 into a treaty of friendship with Bulgaria, or to 

 resume diplomatic intercourse. 



Session of the National Assembly. The Sobranje 

 was opened on June 14. In the speech from 

 the throne the prince expressed his delight 

 that the union of North and South Bulgaria 

 was an accomplished fact. He had taken a 

 decisive step to render the union more com- 

 plete than a mere personal union, in calling to- 

 gether a common National Assembly. Urged 

 by Russia, the Porte called Alexander to ac- 

 count. He explained that, eirce he had to 

 submit the decisions of the conference of am- 

 bassadors at Constantinople to the representa- 

 tives of both Bulgarias, he had summoned them 



to meet together as a matter of expediency. 

 While the Turco-Bulgarian commission to re- 

 vise the Eastern Roumelian statute had never 

 yet begun its labors, Prince Alexander was 

 indefatigable in assimilating the internal organ- 

 izations of the two states. A branch of the 

 Bulgarian National Bank was established in 

 Philippopolis. The judicial system in Roume- 

 lia was reformed; there were twenty-seven 

 courts constituted in the single districts, six 

 courts in the chief towns of the departments, 

 and a court of appeals in Philippopolis. The 

 Bulgarian code of law was established in East- 

 ern Roumelia. The Bulgarian Government did 

 everything to stand on a good footing with the 

 Porte. The National Assembly in Sofia voted 

 a credit to pay the arrears in the land-rents of 

 Eastern Roumelia. All other financial ques- 

 tions were to be arranged with delegates from 

 Constantinople. The negotiations for the re- 

 vision of the organic statute of Eastern Roume- 

 lia were begun, and for some time carried on 

 with perfect concord between the Turkish and 

 Bulgarian Governments. Delegates were ap- 

 pointed on both sides to delimitate the districts 

 in the Rhodope mountains, inhabited prepon- 

 derantly by Mohammedans, which, according 

 to a decision of the conference of ambassadors, 

 should revert to Turkey. The Turkish Govern- 

 ment afterward, yielding to Russian influences, 

 raised objections to the political and adminis- 

 trative unification of the two Bulgarias, and 

 broke off negotiations. 



Dethronement of Alexander. In the night of 

 Aug. 20 a detachment of soldiers and a band 

 of officers took possession of the palace of the 

 prince and seized his person and that of the 

 prime minister. The following day the lead- 

 ers of the pro-Russian party, who had organ- 

 ized the conspiracy, announced his abdication, 

 and formed a provisional government. 



The chief conspirators were the ex-Minister 

 Zankoffand Major Grueff, the commandant of 

 the military academy, with whom were asso- 

 ciated the Metropolitan, Clement, and Col. 

 Stojanoff. Officers were induced to join in the 

 plot by promises that they would receive com- 

 missions in the Russian army corresponding 

 with their Bulgarian rank. Money was fur- 

 nished from Russia in abundance to carry out 

 the state-stroke. By a trick the troops were 

 removed from Sofia before the attempt. The 

 Minister of War was beguiled by fictitious re- 

 ports announcing extraordinary military prep- 

 arations, which were telegraphed from Servia 

 with such frequency that the Porte demanded 

 explanations from King Milan's Government. 

 Minister Nikisoroff, convinced that the intelli- 

 gence was genuine, proposed to the Prince to 

 forward troops to the frontier. The two regi- 

 ments garrisoned at Sofia were accordingly 

 sent to Slivnitza. An artillery regiment sta- 

 tioned at Dubnitza, near the capital, had, by 

 the aid of plentiful bribes, been won over by 

 the conspirators. Instead of marching to the 

 Servian frontier, as it had been ordered to do, 



