Independence of Bulgaria
"
Bulgaria had been a widely autonomous principality since 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1878, when it was liberated from Ottoman rule in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Although it was still technically under the suzerainity of the Sublime Porte, this was a legal fiction that Bulgaria only acknowledged in a formal way. It acted largely as a de facto independent state. On 6 September 1885, it had unified with the Bulgarian-majority Ottoman autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia. After the Liberation, Bulgaria's main external goal was the unification of all Bulgarian-inhabited areas under foreign rule into a single Bulgarian state: the main targets of Bulgarian irredentism are Macedonia and southern Thrace, which continued to be part of the Ottoman realm. In order to join an anti-Ottoman alliance and claim those territories by war, however, Bulgaria had to proclaim its independence first. This would constitute a violation of the Treaty of Berlin's terms, an act unlikely to be approved by the Great Powers.
The chaos that ensued in the Ottoman Empire following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 provided suitable conditions for the Bulgarian proclamation of independence. Many of the Great Powers had also abandoned their support for the Ottomans, looking for territorial gains instead: Austria-Hungary was hoping to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Kingdom was looking to seize the empire's Arab territories in the east, and the Russian Empire's main target was control over the Turkish Straits. In September 1908 at a meeting in Buchlov (German: Buchlau, contemporary Czech Republic), envoys of Austria-Hungary and Russia supported each other's plans and agreed not to hinder Bulgaria's proclamation of independence which was likely to take place. "
Паднахте без стон, войни горделиви,
не за златен трон, не зарад кумир,
да беше тъй-днес щяхте да сте живи,
не бихте срещнали куршума, спете в мир.
В мир почивайте, сред покоя леден,
в тишина без зов на тръба, на вожд,
към вечността е маршът ви последен,
в сърцата ни.
Юнаци, лека нощ.
Bulgaria had been a widely autonomous principality since 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1878, when it was liberated from Ottoman rule in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Although it was still technically under the suzerainity of the Sublime Porte, this was a legal fiction that Bulgaria only acknowledged in a formal way. It acted largely as a de facto independent state. On 6 September 1885, it had unified with the Bulgarian-majority Ottoman autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia. After the Liberation, Bulgaria's main external goal was the unification of all Bulgarian-inhabited areas under foreign rule into a single Bulgarian state: the main targets of Bulgarian irredentism are Macedonia and southern Thrace, which continued to be part of the Ottoman realm. In order to join an anti-Ottoman alliance and claim those territories by war, however, Bulgaria had to proclaim its independence first. This would constitute a violation of the Treaty of Berlin's terms, an act unlikely to be approved by the Great Powers.
The chaos that ensued in the Ottoman Empire following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 provided suitable conditions for the Bulgarian proclamation of independence. Many of the Great Powers had also abandoned their support for the Ottomans, looking for territorial gains instead: Austria-Hungary was hoping to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Kingdom was looking to seize the empire's Arab territories in the east, and the Russian Empire's main target was control over the Turkish Straits. In September 1908 at a meeting in Buchlov (German: Buchlau, contemporary Czech Republic), envoys of Austria-Hungary and Russia supported each other's plans and agreed not to hinder Bulgaria's proclamation of independence which was likely to take place. "
Паднахте без стон, войни горделиви,
не за златен трон, не зарад кумир,
да беше тъй-днес щяхте да сте живи,
не бихте срещнали куршума, спете в мир.
В мир почивайте, сред покоя леден,
в тишина без зов на тръба, на вожд,
към вечността е маршът ви последен,
в сърцата ни.
Юнаци, лека нощ.