Photograph of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, before the Balkan War.
PREAMBLE
Everybody Wants To Rule The Third Rome
1912
And then, Mehmet turned Constantinople into something else. After the long-running rule of the Greeks over Constantinople, eversince 1492, the Balkans is always been under the rule of the Turks, with their Mohameddan beliefs being their weapon, and also instrument to rule over the lands they claimed dominion over. But then, things began to change. The Ottoman Empire saw great leaders such as Suleiman, yet the Ottoman Empire also finds themselves at odds, when internal strifes, with such hardships being the rather dominant events that happened during the Empire's existence. Many races, nations, fell under the rule of the Ottomans during its run, and no region could be far more turbulent and fiery than the Balkans. Holding their religion strongly as the basis to take down the Ottoman rule, the nations of the Balkan region have tried their luck, on freeing their homeland from the Ottoman yolk. Many attempts have been done, and most of them, before the industrial revolution, saw countless of failures. Failure means death, failure means disunity. The Balkan region is never been truly united before, and nwo, things began to change. After the Slavic nations of the Balkans broke free, the Greeks, and eventually the Bulgarians, follow suit. The Ottoman dominance over the region is just waiting its end.
But then, things began to be more complicated, as each nations doesnt exactly see things hand to hand. Each of them believed that they are the true heir of the region, and thus, each other are competing to take down the Ottoman yolk, yet also, dominating the other. The Greek with their Megali Idea. The Serbs had their own dream of a united Slavic nations. But what about Bulgaria? The Bulgarians only had their "Greater Bulgaria" dream as their own driving force. But things, perhaps, must be changed. There must be a dominant force in the Balkans, and there is only one heel, to be put over another. The Slavs had their dreams. The Greeks had their dreams. The Bulgarians? Their dreams, per-se, does not mean that they could easily control the region. Even if Greater Bulgaria is achieved, threats could be seen elsewhere, and it even still could spell doom, if the British Empire spoke otherwise. The Bulgarian Dream needs to be amped up into levels that is still within the lands of probability, and the looming conflict on the Balkans might be the Bulgarians's last bet, on achieving this. With the alliances being made, the Bulgarians knew very well, that sooner or later, such web of alliances will be broken, and the Bulgarians must fight their fellow Balkan neighbors.
In order to question the inevitable, the Bulgarians had their own plan. Believing that the only logical expansion in order to assert power to quickly ran to Thrace, and even take over Constantinople, the Bulgarians does not truly care about any other regions that does not border the Third Rome. Sure, the Russians also dreamed about the matter, and the Greeks definitely also had their own plans for the city. Its either Istanbul, Constantinople, or Tsarigrad.
Only time will tell.
Tsarigrad: On How It Began