The struggle of the Bulgarians for national independence under Prince Alexander, ... in 1885. Translated from the German, etc

Preface

. Immediately after the outbreak of the Revolt at Philippopolis I went to Bulgaria, sent by the ' Cologne Gazette,' and there I found an opportunity of watching the political and warlike events on the spot. I arrived without any prejudice, as a calm dispassionate observer, and I could have taken part quite as much for as against the Bulgarians ; in fact, at the moment of my departure the latter seemed the more probable, as the general view that Bulgaria and her Prince had imperilled weighty European interests appeared to me to be only too well justified. But what I heard and saw there left no doubt in my mind that the Bulgarian movement could not be stopped by the means adopted by inter national diplomacy, and that it, moreover, did not harm any real European interests. I was able to satisfy myself that the policy carried on by the agents of Russia had been discreditable and worthy of the severest condemnation, and that is why I go against Russia. I am no Russophobe ; I have defended Russian

PREFACE.

interests often enough, and shall, I dare say, do so again under different circumstances, but to side with Russia in the Bulgarian question is simply a matter of impossibility for any man of independent and honest views, and gifted with a sense of justice. On the other hand, the devotion and perseverance with which the Bulgarians carried on their fight for liberty deserved the fullest recognition and sympathy, whilst the attitude of Prince Alexander, who is a wise statesman, a brave soldier, a remarkable man in every respect, commanded admiration. I would wish to show to more distant circles that this opinion is not based on preconceived notions, but that it has its justification in convincing facts, — for which reason I have written this book. A. vox Huhx. Paris : April 1886. CONTENTS.

Introduction

.

PAGE Bulgaria at the time of the Kusso-Turkish war — The Peace of San Stefano and the Berlin Congress — The political rights and liberties of Bulgaria and Eastern Eoumelia — The Constitution — Dondukoff and the Eastern Roumelian Statute- Relations with Russia and Turkey — Mahomedans and Bulgarians — Unpopularity of the Russian rule — Bulgaria for the Bulgarians — The Great Bulgarian idea, and Russia's attitude towards the same ....... 1

Chapter II. Journey To The Scene Of The Revolution

In Belgrad — ' King of Servia and Macedonia' — To Philippopolis rid Lompalanka and Sofia — Then and now — How did the Eastern Roumelian revolution commence — The revolt at Philippopolis — The pillars of the old government — Gavril Pasha Krestowitch, and Drigalski Pasha . . . .18

Chapter III. Prince Alexander Of Bulgaria, And His Attitude Towards The Revolt

Prince Alexander accepts the government of Eastern Roumelia and places nimsel f at the head of the movement — The Prince's alleged complicity in the revolt — Why he acceded to the CONTENTS TAGK request of the Roumeliots — His journey to Philippopolis — Prince Alexander as a diplomatist— Prince Alexander and the Turks 32

Chapter IV. The Bulgaro-roumelian Military Forces

The strength of the army, and its training — Russian and Bulgarian officers — An army without leaders — The reorganisation and the taking up of a strategic position on the Turkish frontier ........... 44

Chapter V. The Attitude Of The Powers

Russian intrigues in Bulgaria — Animosity of the Conference — England's opposition and her reasons — Impossibility to come to complete agreement — The peace of Europe endangered by a Turkish invasion — The ' Brigand Brigade ' . . .55

Chapter VI. The Feeling In Bulgaria

Prince Alexander's increasing authority — Resolute determination of the Bulgarians to maintain the union — Karaweloff — Tsanoff — Stranski 70

Chapter VII. Sofia And Philippopolis

The difference between the two towns — The Konak at Philippopolis and the Palace at Sofia — Material comforts and social life — The Prince's influence on the development of Sofia .... CONTENTS 9 PAGE 114

Chapter VIII. Servia Appears On The Scene

The hostile intentions of Servia towards Bulgaria grow more and more evident— King Milan refuses to receive a letter from Prince Alexander — The Prince's name is erased from the lists of the Russian army — An abortive measure — The Bulgarian Mahomedans offer their services to the Prince for a war with Servia — Violations of the frontier by Servia — The declaration of war 94

Chapter IX. Before The Storm

The march of the Bulgarian army towards the seat of war — The advantageous position and favourable opinion of the Servian army — Diplomacy once more 104

Chapter X. The Prelude

Servian victories and bulletins — Public opinion — Prince Alexander on the prospects of the war — To Slivnitza ! ,

CHAPTER XL THE BATTLE OF SLIVNITZA.

First day — Second day — Third day 124

Chapter XII. After The Victory

A glimpse of sunshine — The Bulgarian headquarters — The ' Konak ' — Servian prisoners of war and deserters — A ' Prussian ' patrol— The reinforcements — The defence of Widdin — Popoff at Trn and Panitza in Servia CONTENTS

Chapter XIII. The Power Op Success

TAGE Revulsion of public opinion in Europe — Russia — Germany — A shower of congratulatory telegrams— The feeling in Bulgaria Bulgarian patriotism — The Turks 177

CHAPTER XI

V. FROM SLIVNITZA TO ZARIBROD. Taking up the offensive — Attack on the Dragoman Pass — A diplomatic interlude — The heights of Dragoman taken — The Servians evacuate the Pass — Advance on Zaribrod and fight near the town — The Prince's entry 184

Chapter XV. At Zaribrod

The Bulgarian headquarters under Servian fire — Servian flags of truce — The proposed armistice declined — A height stormed — A brave Servian — The positions at Zaribrod .... 201

Chapter XVI. From Zaribrod To Pirot

Crossing the frontier — An unexecuted cavalry attack— Prince Alexander and his staff surprised by shell fire — The capture of Pirot deferred to November 27 — The citadel of Pirot blown up — Deficient night quarters — The battle of Pirot — Its occupation — The Servian army dispersed j . . . 212

Chapter XVII. In Pirot

The truth about the sacking of Pirot — Turned out — Arrival of Count Khevenhuller— The enforced truce and the feeling in the Bulgarian army — Conditions in Servia .... CONTESTS 11 TAGE

Chapter XVIII. The Eastern Policy Of Atjstro-hungary

Austria's attitude before and after the war — Count Khevenhiiller's activity in Servia — His part in the declaration of war — His interference at Pirot — He arbitrarily exceeds his instructions — The peace of Europe endangered — What Austria should and could have clone 247

Chapter XIX. The Truce

Insincerity of the Servians during the negotiations — Breach of the truce by an attack on Widdin — Lame excuses — Reappearance of the Powers and Turkey — The International Military Commission 257

Chapter XX. The International Military Commission

Unfavourable prospects — ' Considerant les avantages remportes par l'armee bulgare ' the Commission yields to the Servian demands — Despondency in the Bulgarian army — General Kaulbars and the Prince's order of the day — Two million pigs . . ......... 268

Chapter XXI

prince Alexander's triumphal entry-. Enthusiastic reception by the populace — Presence of the diplomatic corps — A brigade unexpectedly takes part in the entry — The Prince's thanks for the care of the wounded — New tasks .......... . CONTENTS TAGE 282 292 CHAPTER XXIB. THE CAUSE OF THE BULGARIAN VICTORIES. Different views taken of them — The Prince's personal merit and the proper choice of his lieutenants —General devotion of the people to the national cause ......

Chapter XXIII

Bulgaria's future. Events up to the conclusion of the peace with Servia and the work of the European Conference — Prince Alexander as the bearer of the Bulgarian national idea — Comparison of the development of the country without the Prince and under Russian tutelage with its future as a free State under Prince Alexander — In the one case decline of the country and creation of a new Nihilistic centre ; in the other, prosperous, peaceful progress of the young Bulgarian State . THE STRUGGLE OP THE BULGARIANS TOR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE UNDER PRINCE ALEXANDER.

Chapter I. Introduction

.

Bulgaria at the time of the Russo-Turkish war — The Peace of San Stefano and the Berlin Congress — The political rights and liberties of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia — The Constitution — Dondukoff and the Eastern Roumelian Statute — Relations with Russia and Turkey — Mahomedans and Bulgarians — Unpopularity of the Russian rule — Bulgaria for the Bulgarians — The Great Bulgarian idea, and Russia's attitude towards the same. The most substantial result of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 was the creation of two new States, of which the one, the Principality of Bulgaria, although remain ing nominally under Turkish suzerainty, became in reality quite an independent State — at least with respect to Turkey — whilst the other, the autonomous province of Eastern Roumelia, although retaining a closer con nection with Turkey, also, as a matter of fact, did not pay the slightest attention to the Sultan's commands.

When the Berlin Congress upset the Treaty of San B I Stefano and put up in its place the dual State of Bul garia and Eastern Roumelia — a special name had to be invented for the latter — no one with any knowledge of the situation could entertain the slightest doubt that an experiment was being made the result of which might, to say the least of it, be doubtful. On the one side the Congress, with that aversion to radical solutions which is the special characteristic of such diplomatic assemblies, had failed to satisfy the Russian and Bulgarian desires for the unification of the people. By that action it had created a situation which carried with it the germs of future complications, and which can only be desig nated as an incomplete piece of patchwork. On the other side it had given a nation an almost entire political independence, although that nation occupied a very low place in the scale of development, and apparently could offer no guarantees that it would govern itself in future in a befitting manner.

One can readily under stand this by picturing to one's self what the condition of North and South Bulgaria was when they were separated from Turkey by the sword of Russia and the dictum of the Powers. Up to then, these two Turkish provinces were as good as unknown in more distant circles, and were no less capable of ' being discovered ' than many a country in the ' Dark Continent ' is at the present day. No doubt a good deal had been written about them ; I would only recall that excellent book by Field-Marshal von Moltke ; but still, Bulgaria had not CH I CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 3 yet found its way into the minds and sympathies of the great public. This was suddenly changed when the Russo-Turkish war placed that country in the front rank of European interest, and when journalism, so completely transformed as compared with former times, poured its news from Bulgaria into Europe through a hundred channels.

At that time I also, as a correspon dent of the ' Cologne Gazette,' found my way into Bulgaria in the wake of the Russians, and spent nearly ten months there, partly occupied in following the pro gress of the military operations, partly in studying the country and its people. Not because my natural inclination makes me start with Adam and Eve, and conduct the reader through a formidable array of historical dates which would easily be found in other places, but because it is essential as a foundation for the narrative of the later development of Bulgaria, I would wish to add here a short description of the conditions as I found them at that time during my wanderings in Bulgaria. My first impression was, that on closer inspection this ' cruelly oppressed and enslaved ' people were living in a state of opulence and prosperity which showed no traces either of slavery or of cruel oppression.

I was by no means the only one who made this discovery, which came upon all Russian officers and soldiers with irresistible force, and which the latter often commented upon in a curious manner. They had started upon their crusade — for it was a crusade, a war b of Christendom against Islamism — with the object of defending their persecuted co-religionists, their com patriots so cruelly despoiled of their property, against those very Turks for whom Mr. Gladstone later on coined the adjective 'unspeakable.' For their sakes they had talked themselves into a kind of religious and national enthusiasm, and how often did I now hear the words, ' Why, the Bulgarians are much better off than we are, and our peasants would be only too glad to ex change with them ! ' And indeed such an exchange would have been no bad bargain for the Russian peasants.

The longer I stayed in the country, the more evidence I found of the fact that it was not only well-to-do in all its districts, but wealthy, very wealthy indeed in some, although this wealth, so far from being displayed with ostentation, was carefully hidden from view. No where, I repeat it emphatically, nowhere did I find actual destitution, and as far as material advantages were con cerned, the Russians might well have abstained from their liberation. In the same way, I never obtained authentic proof that the Turks had persecuted the Christian religion in Bulgaria ; I never came across any Christian churches that had been demolished, and the Bulgarian priests were apparently quite as well cared for as those in other countries. An irrefutable proof of the wealth of the country is to be found in the fact that Bulgaria provided sustenance out of its own means for POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONDITION CH r 5 the entire Russian army through six whole months, for the amount of supplies sent across the Danube by the Russian commissariat was small, and even that was for the most part useless.

The accounts of the religious persecutions are refuted in the most unquestionable manner by the single fact that, after many centuries of Turkish rule, the Christian religion not only existed, but was able to exercise all its rites in the fullest way. Or does anybody doubt that the Turks, a hundred years ago, had the power to exterminate Christianity if they had so willed ? One may well say that the decline of Turkey was caused by her religious toleration, and that this best and noblest of attributes has been but poorly requited, as indeed one seldom sees the old moral of the story-books, about rewarding the good and punishing the wicked, applied in history. I have said that Bulgaria is a rich country, but this should be qualified to some extent, inasmuch as the wealth of Bulgaria exclusively consisted, and still con sists to this day, in agriculture.

Her industries, apart from a few home industries, are hardly developed at all, and her commerce was still very backward, being more over chiefly in the hands of non-Bulgarians, principally Greeks and Jews. This absence of commercial and industrial activity was the cause that, with the exception of a few towns on the Danube, mostly of inter national character, no prominent centres were formed, without which it will never be possible to advance. The want of proper means of communication, the Turkish misrule affecting Christians and Mahomedans alike, in the course of centuries paralysed the peasant in his agricultural pursuits, and prevented him from striving to ameliorate his condition, which at any rate was supportable as far as material comforts went. A single great Turk had tried with a strong hand to rouse the people from their lethargy, and to incite them to begin a vigorous modern life.

Whatever Bulgaria then possessed in the shape of public institutions and means of communication she owed entirely to Midhat Pasha, and who can tell how far this powerful and advanced mind would have brought the country if he had been permitted to remain at its head for a score of years ? As it was, Bulgaria was nothing but a State for the most part composed of quite uneducated peasants, and in which only very few intelligent and cultured men were to be found, so few, in fact, that one could easily have counted them on one's fingers. It was with a perfect right that the question was raised, how this country, left to its own resources, would be able to govern itself? and the answer, that the Russians would no doubt see to that, was not calculated to give universal satisfaction. Prosperous, frugal, pi'etty industrious, and decidedly uneducated — as such they seemed well suited to form a Russian province, but as to constituting a Bulgarian State ! . . .

In addition to this, the sympathy of civilised Europe MASSACRE OF THE TURKS 7 CH I had been alienated from the Bulgarians on account of the unspeakable ferocity and cruelty which they showed in the persecution and massacre of the unfortunate Turks, who, from the day the Russian troops marched in, found themselves at the mercy of their pitiless tor mentors. Later on in this book I shall so often have cause to speak well of the Bulgarians, that I thereby acquire a right to stigmatise their infamous conduct of that time as it deserves. Above 100,000 unfortunate people, men, women, and children, were slaughtered by them, not only from a feeling of national and religious hatred, but very often for the purpose of common spolia tion. It was a terrible stain on the escutcheon of that nation, and it is fortunate for them that the latest events make it possible, if not to forget the past, at least to draw a veil over it.

If the powers at the Berlin Congress did not give, relatively speaking, much thought to the future deve lopment of things in Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, probably the main reason was, that they thought Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia were destined in the course of time to become Russian provinces or depen dencies. They had altered the treaty of San Stefano, as far as Bulgaria was concerned, in the letter, and had there fore all the less compunction in allowing it to be carried out in the spirit. Russia had intended to turn the liberated countries' into a half-way house and advanced post for her march to Constantinople. She was now left to settle down in comfort in that advanced position, and to form a van for her army, waiting for more propitious times. Thus Europe had not stopped the progress of Russia, but merely retarded it ; in fact, it had even given her a better basis of operations for the resumption of her ambitious plans.

If, later on, much came about in a different way, it is not the merit of Europe. Let us glance back rapidly at the development of the Bulgarian twin-States. In Bulgaria there first ruled, as Governor- General, Prince Dondukoff- Korsakoff, who was at great pains to organise a purely Russian administration, and to prepare everything in a manner that the newly elected young ruler, Prince Alexander of Battenberg, should find a groundwork and guide for his future con duct. The most curious of Prince Dondukoff 's creations was the Bulgarian constitution, which is one of the most liberal in all Europe, and which secured to the country not only a constitutional, but an almost purely parliamentary government. There is considerable un certainty as to what were the reasons that induced Prince Dondukoff to give to Bulgaria, a perfectly new born State, a constitution such as many of the old States in Europe are not yet ripe for, and for which the Russians are evidently considered by their Government to be totally unripe.

Did Dondukoff foresee the probability of future differences between Russia and the -Prince of Bulgaria, and did he then count upon playing off the DONDUKOFF'S CONSTITUTION 9 CH I Parliament against the Prince, or, in the other case, the Prince against the Parliament ? One thing is certain, that Dondukoff was not by any means convinced either of the necessity or of the durability of his con stitution, for when a Bulgarian once pointed out to him that by this constitution a young nation had been given too far-reaching rights, he laughingly exclaimed, ' Comme vous etes naif, man cher ! les constitutions, cest comme les jolies femmes, elles ne demandent qu'a, etre violees ! ' And so, Prince Alexander of Battenberg, the constitutional Prince, Alexander I., ' by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation,' made his entry into Bulgaria as a Russian protege, full of good cheer, prepared for many an unpleasantness, but certainly not dreaming of the crown of thorns which the government of Bulgaria would become during six long years.

While Prince Dondukoff was organising Bulgaria in this manner, the representatives of the Powers at Philip popolis prepared an ' Organic Statute,' which may be looked upon as the constitution for Eastern Roumelia. Here also care was taken to have a representation of the people, endowed with extraordinary rights, which was quite capable of embittering the existence of the Turkish Governor-General, if he should by any chance ever recall the fact that he was one of the Sultan's officials. However, one is bound in justice to them to admit that neither of the two governors, Aleko Pasha Vogorides and Gavril Pasha Krestowitch, ever did recall this fact, but that they concentrated their thoughts on maintaining themselves as long as possible in their richly and regularly paid posts. Over them and the National Assembly there hovered, as a guiding-spirit, the Czar's representative, the Russian Consul-General at Philippopolis, until the influence of Russia was de stroyed by her own creatures.

It will be possible to consider the development of both countries, Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, during the following interval of six years, simultaneously, for though the Berlin Congress had separated them externally, they maintained the closest connection internally, and every event that occurred in the one country produced a reaction in the other. One can say that in the first years the Russian influence was the only effective one, and as the separation of the two countries, and their remaining under Turkish suzerainty, had been carried through against the will of Russia, all the efforts of Russia were directed towards loosening those relations with the Ottoman Empire, whilst bringing the destinies of the two countries in the closest possible connection with Russia, so that the latter should become the real suzerain in the place of Turkey, both countries forming Russian provinces as regards administration, and the armed forces of both acting as an advanced guard for Russia, ever ready to lend powerful aid to an attack on Turkey, but incapable of offering any resistance to the Russian power.

Eastern Roumelia was to be RUSSIAN INTENTIONS 11 CH I worked through the Consul-General, and Bulgaria through Prince Alexander, who was designated as ' hon jeune Prince,' and considered quite incapable of any independent action. That the latter assumption was a mistaken one, the history of the last few months has shown ; nevertheless, I believe that Russia's plan of binding the two countries indissolubly to herself could have succeeded if the Russians had manifested any regard for the just claims of the Bulgarians, and espe cially if they had not been so particularly unlucky in the choice of the instruments of their policy. Bulgaria was not on the level of a tribe of Turkomans, who can simply be ruled with the knout ; if others did not know that, it was excusable, but Russia, of whose Eastern policy Bulgaria forms the pivot, was bound to keep herself accurately informed on that point.

The exact opposite was the case. At first all went well, that is, exactly as Russia wished it. Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia showed by public manifestations that they considered the Sultan's suzerainty as non-existent, and in their attempts to stand out against it they enjoyed the Czar's protection. There was no mention made of the taking over of a portion of the national debt, as settled at the Berlin Congress; Bulgaria paid no tribute at all, Eastern Roumelia only a very insufficient and irregular one, and, whenever the ' Sublime Porte ' wished to interfere in any way with the administration in accordance with existing treaties, she made the discovery that her ' loyal subjects ' were prepared to ignore her wishes with the greatest possible indifference. How little influence the Sultan, ' the Ruler of the Faithful,' had in those countries was shown very plainly by the fact that the hard-hearted and unjust treatment of the Mahomedans was quietlyT continued, and that in those ' Turkish provinces ' they were looked upon as Pariahs, beyond the pale of the law, whose property was as little safe as their lives.

Fortunately, this has become much better of late years, and, at least in Bulgaria, Prince Alexander's personal influence had already before the war made it possible for the Turks in that country to lead a life worthy of human beings. For this they have not been wanting in gratitude towards him. They owe this amelioration of their condition entirely to the Prince personally, and not to the influence of Turkey, which at that time was positively nil in Bulgaria. After the termination of the war, it was both natural and inevitable that the Russians should fill nearly all the higher posts in the administration and the army, since there was an almost complete absence of individuals capable of filling them, and, moreover, everything had to be created anew. Considering the suspicion with which the Bulgarian views every foreigner, the Russian Government ought to have given especial attention to the choice of its RUSSIAN OFFICIALS 13 CH I officials and officers, and only to have sent the best and most capable men, who could have instilled into the minds of the Bulgarians real love and esteem for Russia.

Instead of this, they frequently sentindividuals who had ' come to grief,' or privileged persons to whom they wanted to give the benefit of the high salaries paid by the Bulgarians, without any regard to their qualifica tions. The consequences of this proceeding were not long in showing themselves, and in a few short years an unmistakable aversion against their liberators be came noticeable amongst the Bulgarians, which soon assumed the shape of an ardent desire to be rid of them as speedily as possible. The Bulgarian is by nature very parsimonious, and the habits of the Russian officers and officials, which very frequently were not in accordance with these principles, hurt his feelings all the more, as he well knew that it was Itis money that was being squandered in that way. Moreover, the Russians did not care to play the part of a benevolent, friendly, and unselfish guardian, but rather that of a hard and un scrupulous master.

They believed in the superiority of the Russian race over the Bulgarian, and were at no pains to conceal this view ; indeed, they often paraded it. An Eastern Roumelian prefect once repeated to me the following speech which had been addressed to him by a Russian consul at an evening party : ' You are a prefect ? Very well ; but I hope that you are aware that you only hold that post thanks to Russia, and that it is your duty to consider yourself a Russian prefect. You Bulgarians imagine sometimes that we are only here on a visit, but you must be made to understand that we are quite at home here.' 'And,' added the prefect, ' it was not as if the consul had told me this only once ! But whenever he met me he repeated the same thing, so that finally I used to get into a state of nervous excitement when I only caught sight of him in the distance.' One must admit that this was not the way to gain the affections of the Bulgarians.

Already during the lifetime, of the Emperor Alexander II. there had been no lack of unpleasant conflicts in Bulgaria between the Russians holding appointments there and Prince Alexander, but the fatherly benevolence and confidence which the late Emperor always showed towards the Prince had made it very easy to settle those cases, and had prevented any feeling of bitterness from arising between the Prince and Russia. As soon, however, as the Emperor was dead and the Prince could no longer count on personal support at St. Petersburg, the Russian officers and officials treated even the Prince with haughty disdain, and it soon became evident that their only object was to render the Prince's stay in Bulgaria so disagreeable as to force him to resign the government. When he did not do that they went still further.

Even Aksakoff ' himself addressed the Prince, to his face, in these curt words : 'We have 1 A leader of the Panslavist party in Moscow. PRINCE ALEXANDER'S DIFFICULTIES 15 CH I nothing against you personally, but we shall never stop agitating until we have accomplished your fall, because you are a German ! ' Is it surprising, considering the systematic hostility and persecution at the hands of the Russians, that Prince Alexander was not animated by any ardent love for his tormentors, but made the attempt to turn his subjects into ' Bulgarians.' Hard times were brought about for the peoples — especially in the Principality — by the introduction of Dondukoff's constitution, which gave the National Assembly rights of decidedly too far-reaching a charac ter for such a young nation. Young Bulgarians, who had mostly been educated abroad, embraced a parliamentary career with ambition, zeal, and passion.

Fac tions were formed which were led by them, but mostly badly led, owing to their want of experience ; and the result frequently was as complete a parliamentary jumble as could well be conceived. The greed of Abso lutists, the machinations of demagogues : nothing was wanting, and it required all Prince Alexander's tact and political honesty to pilot the ship of State safely through those breakers. The worst was that the Russians joined in this internal strife, favouring first one party, then the other ; upsetting first this Cabinet, then the other ; and playing off the various parliamen tary factions against the Prince. That under such circumstances everything did not come to utter grief, and that the young State did not completely collapse, must be considered a perfect wonder. On inquiring into the cause, Prince Alexander and his statesmanlike attitude must be taken into account in the first instance, and further, an unlooked-for quality developed by the Bulgarians.