78 



BULGARIA. 



into the hands of the Government. He sum- 

 moned the troops on Feb. 26, announced that 

 the regents had resigned, and proposed that 

 Zankoff should be proclaimed regent. A part 

 of the garrison marched away, and prepared 

 under Capt. Krivandoff to resist the revolu- 

 tion, while the others followed their com- 

 mander. Jn the evening an engagement was 

 fought, in which the disloyal troops were suc- 

 cessful. On the following afternoon, after the 

 militia and others of the population had joined 

 the troops who were faithful to the regency, 

 he sallied from the fortress, but was driven 

 back. He then cannonaded the town in order 

 to awe the people, but only exasperated them. 

 On Feb. 29, he marched his force into the 

 town, and while he was away Krivandoff over- 

 powered the guards that were left at the for- 

 tress, and took possession of it. Kristeffmade 

 an attempt to rouse the population against the 

 Government, and, failing in that, left the town 

 to escape the troops who were rapidly ap- 

 proaching from Rustchuk, Varna, and other 

 places. After vainly seeking to gain adherents 

 among the country population, the leader of 

 the revolt returned, bearing a flag of truce, but 

 was shot while riding through the streets. Sev- 

 eral hundred persons were killed during the 

 disturbances. The mutinous soldiers who were 

 not killed fled into Roumauia, and were ar- 

 rested by the authorities of that country and 

 sent to Bucharest. 



During the absence of a great part of the 

 Rustchuk garrison, a revolt was raised in that 

 town. The officers who were implicated were 

 in correspondence with Nabokoff, a Russian 

 subject, who was the author of the revolt at 

 Bourgas, and had since lived as a refugee in 

 Constantinople. Two officers named Cardjeff 

 and PanofF, rode through the city proclaiming 

 the Metropolitan Clement as regent. The bat- 

 talion of engineers stationed there in the night 

 of March 2 attacked the troops of the line who 

 took refuge in the barracks, and were about to 

 surrender, when the militia and townspeople 

 surrounded the mutinous troops. An engage- 

 ment ensued which lasted from early morning 

 till near evening, when the rebels fled and at- 

 tempted to cross the Danube in boats, but were 

 compelled by a heavy fire to leave their boats 

 and take refuge on an island, where they were 

 captured. Major Ouzounuff and Col. Filoff, 

 the leaders of the insurgents, were severely 

 wounded. The participants were punished 

 with exemplary severity. Numbers escaped 

 into Roumania, where they were sent to Sugo- 

 vista. 



After the suppression of the uprising, Kara- 

 veloff, Nikisoroff, Zanoff, and twenty-two 

 other prominent persons were placed under 

 arrest. A court-martial condemned to death 

 sixteen officers and civilians for having been 

 the leaders in the revolt at Rustchuk. Of 

 these nine were shot on March 6, while the 

 sentences of the others were commuted. A 

 captain of engineers named Bolmann, who 



was a Russian subject, was handed over to 

 the German consulate. Another court-martial 

 tried the minor conspirators. The private sol- 

 diers of the mutinous battalion who were new 

 recruits were pardoned, but 120 of them and 

 11 non-commissioned officers were sentenced 

 to imprisonment with hard labor. One of the 

 leaders of the insurrection, an editor named 

 Staveneff, had previously supported the re- 

 gency, and Ouzounoff was formerly a warm 

 adherent of Prince Alexander. Nikisoroff 

 complained that he was maltreated by his jail- 

 ers, in a letter to the French diplomatic repre- 

 sentative. The Bulgarian Government ordered 

 an investigation, and reported that he refused 

 to show any marks of ill-usage. It has, never- 

 theless, been credibly asserted, that he was se- 

 verely flogged by a high military officer, and 

 that many politicians of the Zankoffist party 

 were subjected to the same treatment. The 

 French charge d'affaires at Constantinople 

 joined M. de Nelidoff in protesting to the 

 Grand Vizier against the military executions 

 and the alleged cruel treatment of Karaveloff 

 and other prisoners at Sofia. In a circular to 

 the powers, Russia proposed an inquiry at So- 

 fia, but most of them, including Turkey, de- 

 clined to interfere in the internal affairs of 

 Bulgaria. On March 12, Karaveloff, ZanofF, 

 and Nikisoroff were released on bail. Shumla, 

 Trn, Plevna, Varna, and other places, were 

 placed under martial law. The Bulgarian Gov- 

 ernment complained of the supineness of the 

 Roumanian authorities, in allowing the refu- 

 gees to plan disturbances across the border. 

 After the insurrection had been suppressed, 

 GruefF, Bendereff, and other conspirators, as 

 well as the fugitive insurgents, were arrested, 

 and were subsequently expelled from Rou- 

 irania, while no Bulgarian refugees were al- 

 lowed longer to reside near the frontier. The 

 Bulgarian authorities dismissed many officials, 

 cashiered many officers in the army, while 

 others resigned, and by their rigorous meas- 

 ures produced depression and discontent in the 

 country. The leaders of the Opposition were 

 re-arrested, and on April 3, were again ad- 

 mitted to bail, but were still kept under sur- 

 veillance. Troops were sent to Widdin, Plev- 

 na, Vratza, and Tirnova, to disarm the re- 

 serves, who showed an insurrectionary spirit, 

 but while those of Tirnova submitted, the re- 

 servists of the other districts resisted the or- 

 der, and at Vratza, the troops sided with the 

 mutineers. Refugees in Bucharest attempted 

 to murder Mantoff, the prefect of Rustchuk, 

 and Capt. Andreff, who had presided over the 

 court-martial. The Roumanian Government, 

 after those events, ordered all Bulgarians who 

 were not domiciled or engaged in business, to 

 leave the country. 



Financial Difficulties. The Zaribrod-Vakarel 

 line was to be completed by Sept. 15, 1887, 

 and for that and other purposes the Govern- 

 ment found it necessary to seek a foreign loan. 

 Until the Bulgarian branch of the Turkish 



