On 22 September 106 years ago, Bulgaria declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire. This act became possible three decades following the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation. Over those 30 years the Principality of Bulgaria was still a tributary to the Turkish Sultan. “In line with 18 and 19 c. practices new states could not obtain independence immediately”, explains Prof. Valeri Kolev from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. “If we take a look at other countries in the region like Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, they had precisely the same course of development: initially they held the status of autonomous tributaries and only later gained the status of independent states.”

What was wrong about Bulgaria’s 30-year tributary status?

“There were many ways in which the Ottoman Empire stood in the way of Bulgaria’s free development. One example was the railroad Constantinople – Edirne – Plovdiv – Sofia – Tsaribrod. The Bulgarian administration had no rights on it whatsoever though most of the road ran in Bulgarian territory. It was not allowed to appoint higher-ranking diplomats even in three neighboring countries – Serbia, Romania and the Ottoman Empire) without the sanction of the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman Government). Overall, there was quite a wide range of seemingly small restrictions that all served to create obstacles for Bulgaria. There was a discussion whether the Bulgarian state should have its own currency, issue its own post stamps or maintain its own postal and passport services. Any time Bulgarians wanted to make a trip they had to travel first to Constantinople to get a passport. Can you imagine a greater waste?”

In this context the Bulgarian political class starting with the first post-liberation government in 1879 took a consistent course of rejecting this tributary status and of broadening the sovereignty of the state. What were the reasons in both international and domestic perspectives to choose 1908 for the Independence act?

“In the first place, in July 1908 the revolution of the Young Turks broke out in the Ottoman Empire. This was a movement dominated by the military that sought to establish a model of constitutional and parliamentary rule in the Empire”, Prof. Kolev goes on to say. “They ousted Sultan Adbul Hamid II and declared the restoration of the 1876 Constitution. Well, of course, this was a rampant crisis in this colossally conservative and already sclerotic empire. In the meantime, 1908 saw the end of the 30-year term of the Great Powers’ Treaty of Berlin under which Austria-Hungary had occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was reluctant to pull out from that Balkan country and in fact planned to annex it for good. With this situation at hand, there was a coincidence in the plans of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria who both aspired for violating the Treaty of Berlin.”

In the summer of 1908 in Vienna and Budapest secret negotiations were conducted between Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the Emperor of Austria-Hungary Franz Joseph.

The campaign for the proclamation of Bulgaria’s independence was triggered by two events.  One of them was the start of a major transport strike of the Eastern railways on 5 September 1908 that paralyzed communication across Southern Bulgaria. In this way the Principality of Bulgaria experienced with great intensity the woes of the seemingly formal dependence by the Ottoman Empire.

The second event was a speech delivered by the Young Turk Grand Vizier who remarked that his country planned to tighten the regime for the autonomous provinces including Bulgaria. The Bulgarian diplomatic agent Ivan Geshov was not invited to an official royal occasion in Constantinople and as a token of protest was recalled to Sofia. The idea for declaring Bulgaria’s independence came from the French Ambassador in Constantinople: he hinted to the Bulgarian government that it could profit from the emerging crisis. For the proclamation of the Independence the medieval Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnovo was the best of choices expressing continuity with the great Bulgaria of the Middle Ages. The Manifesto of Independence was read out in the ancient church of the Forty Holy Martyrs and then once again outside the historical castle of Tsarevets. Prince Ferdinand received the title Tsar of all Bulgarians.

„Bulgaria gained equality with other European states; the status of the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular offices was enhanced”, Valeri Kolev specifies. “In the long last the Bulgarian state was free to conduct its own foreign policy. It had done so before, but now all sorts of hindrances had been cleared. By becoming an independent state the country had the right to conclude its own commercial contracts without consulting the Sublime Porte; to set customs duties and to determine the status of the border and passport authorities. On the other hand, we have to admit that Independence had its setbacks too. As a result of exiting the borders of the Ottoman Empire every campaign for the improvement of the situation of the Bulgarian communities that had remained in Macedonia (about 1.3 million) and Aegean Thrace (350 thousand) was already seen as interference into the affairs of a foreign state. Prior to 1908 the Bulgarian governments could freely take up such initiatives and interfere for the sake of the rights of Bulgarian communities.”

Unsurprisingly, given the overtly harsh policy of the ruling class in the Ottoman Empire against the Bulgarian population and other Christian communities back at that time, Bulgaria and its allies Serbia, Greece and Montenegro sought the solution of their national priorities by using the means of war. This way, only four years after Independence Day the First Balkan War against Turkey broke out.

English by Daniela Konstantinova