Expelling Pomaks, Muslims or anything in that matter is out of the question. As I have noted before, the deacon held to the belief that everyone should be equal in this new republic. As for the wrestling out concessions form the great powers, it still depends on how the revolution happens, which is also a huge factor in whether we are going to see a republic or a monarchy.
A lion rises over the Balkans: The Third Bulgarian State
- Thread starter BgKnight
- Start date
Expelling Pomaks, Muslims or anything in that matter is out of the question. As I have noted before, the deacon held to the belief that everyone should be equal in this new republic. As for the wrestling out concessions form the great powers, it still depends on how the revolution happens, which is also a huge factor in whether we are going to see a republic or a monarchy.
Dementor
Banned
Even in OTL, Bulgaria didn't attempt any deliberate mass expulsions of Muslims. The events of 1989 were more of a case of people immigrating after their life had been made unbearable, rather than a forced expulsion. And of course, not all left - about 300 thousand in total, of which a third returned by the end of the year.
MarshalBraginsky
Banned
So in this case Bulgaria would be like a paradise, compared to say, Greece or even Serbia. Does Romania play a bigger role in this TL?
Dementor
Banned
I hope this doesn't include a back stab like in 1913?Romania will play the same role here as it did IRL.
And Paradise is probably a bit too strong. Things may well be better, but this is the Balkans, where things go wrong when one at least expect them to
I hope this doesn't include a back stab like in 1913?
And Paradise is probably a bit too strong. Things may well be better, but this is the Balkans, where things go wrong when one at least expect them to
We will have to see
Also yeah, welcome to the Balkans. Lots of Serbian music, fight scenes and alcohol mixed in with a hint of genocide.
MarshalBraginsky
Banned
But Bulgaria won't commit any atrocities ITTL, right? Would Macedonia still emerge or would it be one of Bulgaria's best provinces? Even the Serbs at one point thought that Nis was a Bulgarian city.
The part about the Genocide was a joke mate.
And I will expand on Macedonia on the next post.
It would be interesting to see Bulgaria become the center of a Yugoslav-like movement instead of Serbia.
But then again, everyone remembers how the Yugoslav dream ended up.
But then again, everyone remembers how the Yugoslav dream ended up.
This is fascinating... I've always been interested in Bulgaria as a source for a TL. Particularly after it was mentioned in a Flashman book with Sherman as a potential candidate for King.
MarshalBraginsky
Banned
First one ended in a blitzkrieg codenamed 'Punishment', and the second one spiralled out of control with a combination of Reaganomics and internal ethnic tensions, culminating in a riot during a Dinamo Zagreb vs Crvena Zvezda game.
Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
Is it possible for the Bulgarians to take Solun (Thessaloniki) in this timeline? If the Muslim Bulgarians are given a place in the new Bulgarian state, it's not out of the questions for the Jews to have a place as well?
I hope the update is finished soon!
I hope the update is finished soon!
Sorry for the wait Gentlemen, I had a busy few days and I couldn't write properly. In this update we will discuss the relationship with Serbia and the spreading of the revolution to Macedonia. You will also get a glimpse of Bulgarian society. Hope I nailed it, once again I will love to hear your thoughts and will ask you to excuse me if I am rather slow in updating. Dementor should totally shoot me a PM afterwords with his thoughts on the subjects discussed. Enjoy.
_____________________________________________________________
Exerts from “The History of Serbia
” by John K. Cox
© Greenwood LTD, 2002
Chapter V: the Post-Ottoman period and Eastern Question
… and so a great part of the following Balkan revolutions was played by the newly created Serb State, while it had made some efforts before, in the face of the First and Second Bulgarian Legions, it was forced to abandon them under Ottoman pressure. That again changed in May 1872, with the merger of the two main revolutionary organizations of Bulgaria under the name BRCK made contact with the Serbs via Lyuben Karavelov who personally traveled to Serbia. Karavelov was a radiant supporter of the Serb efforts and the leader of the Pro-Serb and Pro-Russian wing of the BRCK, this may in fact be because he had a Serbian wife who, for the most part, is considered to be the reason why elements in the Serbian government didn’t allow his offers to fall on deft ears. After a spending almost a month in Serbia, courting lower elements of the government, his efforts caught the eye of Medo Pucić with the help of Karavelov’s wife who sent a letter to Pucić.
Medo Pucić was the former teacher of the young Prince Milan Obrenović IV and had taken great strides to introduce the future Serbian leader of the importance of the Yugoslav idea. You may even say, he was the father of the future kingdom, being a prominent supporter of Balkan states. As such, the vigorous revolutionary that was strutting around in Belgrade calling for Serbian support for a growing instruction in Bulgaria was bound to catch his attention even without letters. Eventually he agreed to meet Karavelov, who would later remark “I have met many smart men in my days, but Medo Pucić had a truly revolutionary understanding of the world.”, of course that remark itself is still up to debate on whether it is Karavelov’s or was just added later on by Balkan Historians. But one thing is for certain, the two men grew into a friendship and Medo Pucić would play a huge role in the contact between Serbia and Bulgaria. In fact, Pucić was planning on leaving the country for Dubrovnik, but Karavelov’s appearance made him stay in Serbia.
While Pucić himself lacked a lot of leverage in the Serbian government, he had made important contacts as a teacher to the young Prince, including Jovan Ristić, the newly appointed Prime Minister of the Serbian Principality. In the following weeks, he would introduce the fiery Karavelov to Ristić. Karavelov, being a charming revolutionary, swayed Ristić, with help from Pucić to lend Serb support to Bulgaria’s revolutionaries. But what Pucić and Ristić didn’t count on, was the refusal of the Prince. Once Karavelov himself riled up for the support and was ready to return to Bucharest, news came from the Serbian Palace that no support was coming for Bulgaria under any circumstances. It seems the Prince was unhappy with the actions of the Prime Minister behind his back and didn’t want to startle the Ottomans.
This was a major setback, if Serbia couldn’t support the revolution then Karavelov’s plans easily fell through, he would leave for Bucharest with empty hands, but would return the following month to try to get some concessions. Again, he will get rebuked but his persistence would get even more supporters in the royal palace, already having the two most important men around the Prince, he eventually, on his third visit to Belgrade, managed to get a meeting with the Prince himself arranged. There are no eye witnesses of the meeting, but what is known is that the after a 30 minutes Milan I had been swayed and had agreed to supply the revolutionaries with weapons. However, this came under several condition which Levski would famously later call “Selling our soul to the devil”. They included starting the rebellion under Serbia’s direction and whenever Serbia called for it, even if that meant that the BRCK was not ready to lead a revolutionary war yet, also, Bulgaria was in debt to Serbia for the weapons, that meant that the future Bulgarian State was required to pay for at the very least half of the weapons Serbia send them.
This agreement would later lead to friction between the two countries that will culminate in several wars. Historians still debate on why Karavelov agreed to the conditions, but a lot of historians point to the fact that the Prince affirmed his commitment to the Balkan Federation idea and probably courted Karavelov with the prospect dear to his heart.
_____________________________________________________________
Excerpts from:
“Establishment of the Bulgarian National State:
1804-1918” by Charls and Barbara Jelavich
©Bulgarian State Press Ltd
And while the preparation for the Revolution was in full swing and armament was being distributed, the leadership was not so united, thanks to Karavelov’s Serbian Debacle. Eyewitnesses claim Levski was furious when he learned about the agreement Karavelov had struck, calling him a traitor and even threatening to withdraw the IRO from the BRCK. Apparently Zahari Stoyanov, his close aid, had stopped the Deacon from making any harsh decisions that could hurt the organization. They had even managed to keep the conflict within the leadership of the organization away from the ordinary members of the BRCK and if it wasn’t for Stoyanov’s books, we would never know about it. But the relationship between Karavelov and Levski would never be the same; Levski himself was about to cut all ties with Karavelov when Botev stepped in.
Botev had been a good friend of both Levski and Karavelov and knew the two men very well, he was able to somehow play on their sense of respect for him and for each other and return them back to the fold.
History now recognizes Botev as the man who singlehandedly kept the organization together, even though his motivations are still debatable. On the meanwhile, while the conflict in the leadership was happening, the preparations for the revolution itself were going smoothly, weapons were smuggled all over the country and people were getting armed. Levski made sure to create a strict hierarchy within the IRO to allow the revolutionaries to act as coherent military force, rather than a bunch of rebels with no organization. A general plan of mobilization and operations was drafted and was dispatched via couriers to all revolutionary districts. Training was grueling and was conducted in secret; many groups would go on “hunting trips” for more than a few weeks and train for combat in the forests. Enthusiasm flourished as the nation was drunk with ideals of freedom and liberation, however it was a dangerous game, as the Apostles were playing cat and mouse with the Ottomans and with death lurking around the corner every slip was potentially deadly. .
_____________________________________________________________
Excerpt from: “Writings on Bulgaria’s Uprisings”
by Zahari Stoyanov; 1884–1892.
I couldn’t believe it; this was something that could never be seen before. I was in Sopot in contact with the local revolutionaries when I saw something that Ivan Vazov would later describe in his writings. I saw Bulgarians openly celebrating a wedding, when a Turk on a horse entered the town. A few years ago, Bulgarians will be forced by law, to do what the Turk wished and they would do it under fear of prosecution. They would be required to get off a horse if they rode one, to give up any weapons they have and so on. A wedding with singing and dancing deep into the night was unacceptable, so it was obvious that the Turk would command the Bulgarians to scatter.
But then, one of the dancers left the Horo and closed in on the Turk, he yelled at him to get off the horse and gathered a few Bulgarians around him to pull the Ottoman off the horse. Once down, they began yelling at him and the same Bulgarian that had pulled him down climbed on the back of the Turk, forcing him to walk around, degrading him to the level of a horse. This was amazing and it was the mood all over Bulgaria, people were rising up to the oppressors in both small events, such as the one mentioned above, and on big occurrences. It was now obvious that the Ottomans were losing their grip on power and even with excessive brutalities they couldn’t bring the people back under the yolk.
But not all was as good as it looked; we had lost a whole unit of rebels who were caught on a “hunting trip” by an Ottoman band and were slaughtered with no trial or jury. Other rebels were hanged for keeping weapons in their houses, two were executed for trying to kill the sheriff and the growing restlessness was drawing the eyes of the Ottoman authorities who were trying to tighten the security, while such draconian measures were unusual, apparently the Ottoman Governors of the region had sensed the situation and allowed for excusive brutality of anything resembling a rebellion or a preparation for one was unfolding.
While these turbulent preparations were flaring up in the central and northern regions of the country, the deacon travelled to vilayets of Skopje and Salonika, known as Macedonia nowadays. Traditionally Macedonia was pretty active in the national revival and the people there were pretty open to revolutionary ideas. But around the formation of the BRCK and the crisscrossing of the country, Levski didn’t have the time to visit Macedonia. And he didn’t trust just anyone with the task of forming new revolutionary committees.
In the following months he traveled to Odrin, Salonika, Skopje, Ohrid, Bitolja, Strumica, Debr and Nevrokop where he will set up the South-Western wing of the BRCK, with the Ohrid, Skopje and Salonika designated as the capitals of the revolutionary districts in the region. The head of the South-Western wing as a whole became the renowned hajduk Todor Pavlov Parmakov, also known as Todor Banchev, or just “The Hajduk”. Under his leadership, the local hajduci gathered around the Macedonian IRO giving the organization immense influence in day to day lives of the people. At times, the IRO substituted the Police in handling crime, the only way we knew was best.
However, even though we were adamant about Turks, Greeks and even Serbians living in Bulgaria peace and prosperity, the Macedonian IRO members did not share that outlook and so excluded any of the non-Bulgarian groups from the revolutionary activity. Thanks to the secrecy of the organization this didn’t cause fear or agitation between the ethnic groups, but if I only knew the problems it would cause down the road.
_____________________________________________________________
Exerts from “The History of Serbia
” by John K. Cox
© Greenwood LTD, 2002
Chapter V: the Post-Ottoman period and Eastern Question
… and so a great part of the following Balkan revolutions was played by the newly created Serb State, while it had made some efforts before, in the face of the First and Second Bulgarian Legions, it was forced to abandon them under Ottoman pressure. That again changed in May 1872, with the merger of the two main revolutionary organizations of Bulgaria under the name BRCK made contact with the Serbs via Lyuben Karavelov who personally traveled to Serbia. Karavelov was a radiant supporter of the Serb efforts and the leader of the Pro-Serb and Pro-Russian wing of the BRCK, this may in fact be because he had a Serbian wife who, for the most part, is considered to be the reason why elements in the Serbian government didn’t allow his offers to fall on deft ears. After a spending almost a month in Serbia, courting lower elements of the government, his efforts caught the eye of Medo Pucić with the help of Karavelov’s wife who sent a letter to Pucić.
Medo Pucić was the former teacher of the young Prince Milan Obrenović IV and had taken great strides to introduce the future Serbian leader of the importance of the Yugoslav idea. You may even say, he was the father of the future kingdom, being a prominent supporter of Balkan states. As such, the vigorous revolutionary that was strutting around in Belgrade calling for Serbian support for a growing instruction in Bulgaria was bound to catch his attention even without letters. Eventually he agreed to meet Karavelov, who would later remark “I have met many smart men in my days, but Medo Pucić had a truly revolutionary understanding of the world.”, of course that remark itself is still up to debate on whether it is Karavelov’s or was just added later on by Balkan Historians. But one thing is for certain, the two men grew into a friendship and Medo Pucić would play a huge role in the contact between Serbia and Bulgaria. In fact, Pucić was planning on leaving the country for Dubrovnik, but Karavelov’s appearance made him stay in Serbia.
While Pucić himself lacked a lot of leverage in the Serbian government, he had made important contacts as a teacher to the young Prince, including Jovan Ristić, the newly appointed Prime Minister of the Serbian Principality. In the following weeks, he would introduce the fiery Karavelov to Ristić. Karavelov, being a charming revolutionary, swayed Ristić, with help from Pucić to lend Serb support to Bulgaria’s revolutionaries. But what Pucić and Ristić didn’t count on, was the refusal of the Prince. Once Karavelov himself riled up for the support and was ready to return to Bucharest, news came from the Serbian Palace that no support was coming for Bulgaria under any circumstances. It seems the Prince was unhappy with the actions of the Prime Minister behind his back and didn’t want to startle the Ottomans.
This was a major setback, if Serbia couldn’t support the revolution then Karavelov’s plans easily fell through, he would leave for Bucharest with empty hands, but would return the following month to try to get some concessions. Again, he will get rebuked but his persistence would get even more supporters in the royal palace, already having the two most important men around the Prince, he eventually, on his third visit to Belgrade, managed to get a meeting with the Prince himself arranged. There are no eye witnesses of the meeting, but what is known is that the after a 30 minutes Milan I had been swayed and had agreed to supply the revolutionaries with weapons. However, this came under several condition which Levski would famously later call “Selling our soul to the devil”. They included starting the rebellion under Serbia’s direction and whenever Serbia called for it, even if that meant that the BRCK was not ready to lead a revolutionary war yet, also, Bulgaria was in debt to Serbia for the weapons, that meant that the future Bulgarian State was required to pay for at the very least half of the weapons Serbia send them.
This agreement would later lead to friction between the two countries that will culminate in several wars. Historians still debate on why Karavelov agreed to the conditions, but a lot of historians point to the fact that the Prince affirmed his commitment to the Balkan Federation idea and probably courted Karavelov with the prospect dear to his heart.
_____________________________________________________________
Excerpts from:
“Establishment of the Bulgarian National State:
1804-1918” by Charls and Barbara Jelavich
©Bulgarian State Press Ltd
And while the preparation for the Revolution was in full swing and armament was being distributed, the leadership was not so united, thanks to Karavelov’s Serbian Debacle. Eyewitnesses claim Levski was furious when he learned about the agreement Karavelov had struck, calling him a traitor and even threatening to withdraw the IRO from the BRCK. Apparently Zahari Stoyanov, his close aid, had stopped the Deacon from making any harsh decisions that could hurt the organization. They had even managed to keep the conflict within the leadership of the organization away from the ordinary members of the BRCK and if it wasn’t for Stoyanov’s books, we would never know about it. But the relationship between Karavelov and Levski would never be the same; Levski himself was about to cut all ties with Karavelov when Botev stepped in.
Botev had been a good friend of both Levski and Karavelov and knew the two men very well, he was able to somehow play on their sense of respect for him and for each other and return them back to the fold.
History now recognizes Botev as the man who singlehandedly kept the organization together, even though his motivations are still debatable. On the meanwhile, while the conflict in the leadership was happening, the preparations for the revolution itself were going smoothly, weapons were smuggled all over the country and people were getting armed. Levski made sure to create a strict hierarchy within the IRO to allow the revolutionaries to act as coherent military force, rather than a bunch of rebels with no organization. A general plan of mobilization and operations was drafted and was dispatched via couriers to all revolutionary districts. Training was grueling and was conducted in secret; many groups would go on “hunting trips” for more than a few weeks and train for combat in the forests. Enthusiasm flourished as the nation was drunk with ideals of freedom and liberation, however it was a dangerous game, as the Apostles were playing cat and mouse with the Ottomans and with death lurking around the corner every slip was potentially deadly. .
_____________________________________________________________
Excerpt from: “Writings on Bulgaria’s Uprisings”
by Zahari Stoyanov; 1884–1892.
I couldn’t believe it; this was something that could never be seen before. I was in Sopot in contact with the local revolutionaries when I saw something that Ivan Vazov would later describe in his writings. I saw Bulgarians openly celebrating a wedding, when a Turk on a horse entered the town. A few years ago, Bulgarians will be forced by law, to do what the Turk wished and they would do it under fear of prosecution. They would be required to get off a horse if they rode one, to give up any weapons they have and so on. A wedding with singing and dancing deep into the night was unacceptable, so it was obvious that the Turk would command the Bulgarians to scatter.
But then, one of the dancers left the Horo and closed in on the Turk, he yelled at him to get off the horse and gathered a few Bulgarians around him to pull the Ottoman off the horse. Once down, they began yelling at him and the same Bulgarian that had pulled him down climbed on the back of the Turk, forcing him to walk around, degrading him to the level of a horse. This was amazing and it was the mood all over Bulgaria, people were rising up to the oppressors in both small events, such as the one mentioned above, and on big occurrences. It was now obvious that the Ottomans were losing their grip on power and even with excessive brutalities they couldn’t bring the people back under the yolk.
But not all was as good as it looked; we had lost a whole unit of rebels who were caught on a “hunting trip” by an Ottoman band and were slaughtered with no trial or jury. Other rebels were hanged for keeping weapons in their houses, two were executed for trying to kill the sheriff and the growing restlessness was drawing the eyes of the Ottoman authorities who were trying to tighten the security, while such draconian measures were unusual, apparently the Ottoman Governors of the region had sensed the situation and allowed for excusive brutality of anything resembling a rebellion or a preparation for one was unfolding.
While these turbulent preparations were flaring up in the central and northern regions of the country, the deacon travelled to vilayets of Skopje and Salonika, known as Macedonia nowadays. Traditionally Macedonia was pretty active in the national revival and the people there were pretty open to revolutionary ideas. But around the formation of the BRCK and the crisscrossing of the country, Levski didn’t have the time to visit Macedonia. And he didn’t trust just anyone with the task of forming new revolutionary committees.
In the following months he traveled to Odrin, Salonika, Skopje, Ohrid, Bitolja, Strumica, Debr and Nevrokop where he will set up the South-Western wing of the BRCK, with the Ohrid, Skopje and Salonika designated as the capitals of the revolutionary districts in the region. The head of the South-Western wing as a whole became the renowned hajduk Todor Pavlov Parmakov, also known as Todor Banchev, or just “The Hajduk”. Under his leadership, the local hajduci gathered around the Macedonian IRO giving the organization immense influence in day to day lives of the people. At times, the IRO substituted the Police in handling crime, the only way we knew was best.
However, even though we were adamant about Turks, Greeks and even Serbians living in Bulgaria peace and prosperity, the Macedonian IRO members did not share that outlook and so excluded any of the non-Bulgarian groups from the revolutionary activity. Thanks to the secrecy of the organization this didn’t cause fear or agitation between the ethnic groups, but if I only knew the problems it would cause down the road.
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What is happening in Romania, Greece, Albania etc? Surely any revolution will have an effect on them?
MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Is it true that there were Christians in the Balkans who painted a cross on a Turkish man's fez? I kinda saw that picture one time.
Romania is one of the main supporters of the BRCK, allowing the organization to base itself in Bucharest.
Greece is a different subject, they don't have contact with the Bulgarian revolutionaries so the revolution itself will not have an effect on them, at first. But they won't be happy about the vilayets of Skopje and Salonika being engulfed in a Bulgarian Revolution I assure you.
Albania is even more detached from the Bulgarian Revolution, since Albanian Nationalism has yet to take root in the country, these are the opening days of the Albanian ‘national awakening', so we will see little of Albania for now.