Background to the Bulgarian crisis

Bulgarian crisis 1885-1887Bulgarian crisis was a political crisis in the Balkans caused by the issue of Bulgarian unification and the competition among European powers for their sphere of influence in Bulgaria.

After the Berlin Conference of 1878 (1878), the political situation in the Balkans was still characterized by the development of the national independence movement and the opposition between Russia and Austria. In September 1885, Eastern Rumelia revolted, expelled the Ottoman Empire administrator, and announced its annexation to Bulgaria. Grand Duke Alexander of Bulgaria (reigned from 1879 to 1886) approved Eastern Rumelia's request. There has been a constant struggle between pro-Russian and anti-Russian forces in the Principality of Bulgaria. The Eastern Rumelia uprising was led by anti-Russian forces, so Russia reversed its previous support for the region's union with Bulgaria and condemned Archduke Alexander for tearing up the Treaty of Berlin. At the same time, the situation in Eastern Rumelia had the tendency to spread to Macedonia, where Bulgarians accounted for more than half of the population, which in turn caused panic in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia.