The Downfall of Russo-Bulgarian Relations, 1878-1886: From San Stefano to the Kaulbars Mission.
Rekun, Mikhail.
2011
-
Abstract: Between 1878 and 1886, diplomatic relations between the Russian
Empire and the newly-formed Principality of Bulgaria went from being exceptionally good to
being so poor as to be severed altogether. The purpose of this thesis is to discover first,
how this dramatic change came about, and secondly, why events fell out as they did. The
thesis focuses on the diplomatic and governmental ... read morerelationships between the two countries,
and pays particular attention to the notably personality-driven politics of the time
period. The thesis is arranged chronologically, beginning with the Liberation of Bulgaria
in the Russo-Turkish War, the ensuing Treaty of San Stefano, and then the Congress of
Berlin which split the Bulgarian state into three parts. It then traces the tumultuous
early years of the fledgling Principality and its relations from, from its creation by the
Assembly of Notables, to the Coup of 1881, and finally to the fifteen-month administration
of Generals Kaulbars and Sobolev in 1883. The thesis ends by looking at the Bulgarian
Unification of 1885, and then the August Coup and the Kaulbars Mission of late 1886. The
conclusion of this thesis states first of all that the disintegration of Russo-Bulgarian
relations was a slow, creeping affair. It became strained almost from the very beginning,
climaxing in the expulsion of Kaulbars and Sobolev, and was then finalized by the events of
the Bulgarian Unification and re-confirmed by the August Coup and Kaulbars Mission. The
second determination of this thesis is that the principal - thought not the exclusive -
cause of the downfall of Russo-Bulgarian relations was an aggressive mindset that ran
through much of Russian policy during the period. It was the attitudes of this mindset,
patronizing to the Bulgarians and antagonistic to the German Prince Battenberg, that were
the final cause of the break between Russia and Bulgaria.
Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2011.
Submitted to the Dept. of History.
Advisor: Howard Malchow.
Committee: Daniel Mulholland, and Gregory Carleton.
Keyword: History.read less - ID:
- 7m01bz01d
- Component ID:
- tufts:21011
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
