BULGARIA. 



103 



this regiment during the night silently occu- 

 pied the streets of Sofia, and surrounded the 

 princely palace. A battalion of the Alexander 

 regiment was still encamped in Sofia, but it 

 was surprised and disarmed. The chief of the 

 military academy, the artillery colonel, Zan- 

 koff, and the Metropolitan, with a number of 

 military cadets and officers, gained access to 

 the palace between two and three o'clock in 

 the morning by climbing over a wall. The 

 cadets overpowered the guards and bound them 

 to trees. An adjutant, while hastening for 

 help, was made a prisoner. The leaders burst 

 into the prince's apartments before he was 

 dressed, and with drawn revolvers compelled 

 him to accompany them to the ministry of war. 

 There Zankoff said to him that his continuance 

 on the throne was the ruin of Bulgaria, and that 

 all parties desired his abdication. " Are all par- 

 ties united in that ? " he asked. Zankoff replied 

 "Yes." " And the army also ? " Col. Stojanoff 

 nodded his head. Grueff hastily wrote a few 

 lines and presented the paper to Alexander to 

 sign. Officers aimed their pistols at the prince 

 with the intention of killing him if he refused 

 to abdicate. "I can not read what you have 

 written," he said, and then wrote underneath 

 "God protect Bulgaria! Alexander." The 

 prince was carried in a coach, guarded by a 

 strong escort, to a cloister. "While the leaders 

 passed on to the house of Karaveloff, a salvo 

 of artillery aroused the populace. Karaveloff 

 was informed of what had occurred, and asked 

 to join the movement. On refusing, he was 

 placed in confinement. Money was distributed 

 among the people, and many were found who 

 for ten rubles were willing to shout "Zivio 

 Czar!" and swell the demonstration of Rus- 

 sian sympathizers at the Russian consulate. 



A proclamation was read to the people, who 

 assembled upon the discharge of artillery, an- 

 nouncing the abdication of the prince and the 

 formation of a provisional government, con- 

 sisting of Karaveloff, Zankoff, Clement, and 

 Nikisoroff. Karaveloff refused firmly to join 

 the revolutionists, and was kept under guard. 

 Nikisoroff also refused to figure in the list. It 

 was not till the evening of the 21st that, after 

 repeated attempts, a provisional government 

 was formed, under the presidency of Clement. 

 In order to persuade the people that the revo- 

 lution had oeen accomplished by the co-opera- 

 tion of all political parties, telegrams were sent 

 to every part of the country, calling upon Bul- 

 garian patriots to sustain the provisional gov- 

 ernment, which were signed with the names 

 of public men who had no part in the conspir- 

 acy, and most of whom were opposed to it. 

 The list of members of the provisional govern- 

 ment, containing the names of Karaveloff and 

 Nikisoroff, was published throughout the land, 

 and not recalled, even after the government 

 was constituted without them, and after they 

 themselves were placed in duress for refusing 

 to join in the movement. The revolution was 

 easily accomplished throughout the country 



by the official announcement that the prince 

 had voluntarily abdicated. In Philippopolis 

 the former officials and Russophile adherents 

 of Gavril Pasha set up a revolutionary gov- 

 ernment without opposition. 



Alexander remained during Saturday, the 

 21st, in the cloister. There was a design to 

 murder him, but the Russian consul-general 

 upon hearing of it told the leaders of the con- 

 spiracy that they would be required to answer 

 with their heads for the prince's safety. On 

 Sunday he was placed on his yacht, and taken 

 down the Danube to Reni-Russi in Bessarabia. 

 He arrived there in the afternoon of the 24th, 

 but was not allowed to land until the next day, 

 when permission came from St. Petersburg for 

 him to pass through Russian territory by any 

 route that he chose. On the morning of the 

 26th he left with his brother in a special train 

 for Lemberg. 



The Counter-ReTclution. The first step under- 

 taken by the revolutionary ministry, after se- 

 curing the adherence of some of the local offi- 

 cials, and removing others who were friendly 

 to the prince, was to administer the oath to 

 the army ; but in- that quarter they encount- 

 ered an unexpected resistance. The soldiers 

 and officers received with sorrow and dismay 

 the official announcement from Sofia that Prince 

 Alexander, in the consciousness that his con- 

 tinuance on the throne would work incalcula- 

 ble injury to the country, had solemnly abdi- 

 cated, and that a provisional government had 

 been formed under Karaveloff and Zankoff. 

 The higher officers in different parts of the 

 country consulted with each other, and tested 

 the sentiments of the rank and file. A com- 

 mon feeling of fidelity and devotion to the 

 prince who had fought with them at Slivnitza 

 was found to exist among all, excepting the 

 two regiments that took part in the rebellion. 

 The loyal officers placed themselves in com- 

 munication with Stambuloff, the President of 

 the Sobranje, Radoslavoff, and other politicians 

 of nationalistic views. After learning some of 

 the circumstances of the prince's deposition, 

 the garrisons of Widdin, Tirnova, Shumla, 

 Plevna, Slivnitza, and nearly all the Eastern 

 Roumelian posts revolted, declared their loyal- 

 ty to the prince, and threatened to inarch upon 

 the capital and restore him to the throne. 

 Clement issued a bulletin declaring that all 

 the regiments had taken the oath, but failed to 

 convince the people. The officers of Alexan- 

 der again appeared in uniform, and his adher- 

 ents manifested a joyful expectation of a turn 

 in events. On the 23d the Alexander regi- 

 ment, that had been stationed at Slivnitza, en- 

 tered Sofia. The prime minister was released 

 from captivity. The members of the provis- 

 ional government resigned their powers into 

 the hands of Karaveloff, who formed a new 

 provisional government, with Stambuloff and 

 Nikisoroff for his colleagues. 



The troops in Philippopolis regretfully took 

 the oath of fidelity to the provisional govern- 



