Foreign Affairs

In the summer and autumn of 1887, Bismarck and Salisbury extended the Mediterranean Agreements to the Balkans.

In December, Britain, Italy, and Austria exchanged notes, and the Second Mediterranean Agreements was signed. An alliance aimed at countering Russia over the Near East was formed.

This was Bismarck's adjustment to the alliance system. It fostered a balance in the Near East, with Britain, Italy, and Austria countering France and Russia, while preventing a Franco-Russian alliance and safeguarding Germany's position on the European continent.

From the late 1880s onward, the League of the Three Emperors gradually fell apart. But Germany still maintained alliances with Russia and Austria. This was the pinnacle of Bismarck's "ball never sets" diplomacy.

In March 1890, after Bismarck stepped down, his successors changed the country's foreign policy, and the alliance system began to unravel.

The most important part of Germany's new course was that the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty would not be renewed.

After Germany tore up the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty, Russia's diplomatic position grew increasingly precarious. Forced to draw closer to France, the two countries began alliance negotiations in 1891. Mutual distrust held them back, and the Franco-Russian Alliance was not formally established until 1894.

Under the direction of its "new course," Germany signed the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty with Britain in July 1890, resolving their colonial disputes.

At the time, this was considered a major concession by Germany, intended to draw Britain into the Triple Alliance.

From 1890 to 1894, Germany repeatedly urged Britain to expand its obligations under the Mediterranean Agreements. It staged demonstrations of force in the Mediterranean, showing the world that "the four powers stood united."

Against this backdrop, Ferdinand sent Archbishop Clement to Russia. The visit had two main aims: first, to appease the mainstream pro-Russian faction; second, to improve Bulgarian-Russian relations and secure a powerful ally at little cost.

There wasn't much time left. In a few months, Bismarck would step down, and Germany would tear up the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty. For Russia to break its diplomatic deadlock, courting Bulgaria was the obvious choice.

In fact, ever since the League of the Three Emperors had been formed, it had been riven with disagreements, especially the irreconcilable differences between Russia and Austria.

In 1885, an uprising broke out in Eastern Rumelia. The people expelled the Ottoman officials and declared union with the Principality of Bulgaria, proclaiming Grand Duke Alexander ruler of the united state.

What had started as a Bulgarian bid for national independence, under the interference of the European great powers and their struggle for control of Bulgaria, sparked a crisis that lasted two years.

After the Russo-Turkish War of 1878, the Principality of Bulgaria had become Russia's main foothold in the Balkans. The 1881 League of the Three Emperors included an agreement to unite Bulgaria, but as Bulgarian-Russian relations changed, Russia could no longer control its Bulgarian puppet government.

Grand Duke Alexander was descended from the nobility of a minor German state and was the nephew of the Russian empress. With the tsar's support, he became ruler of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1879.

After taking power, Grand Duke Alexander grew increasingly dissatisfied with the arrogance of Russian officials stationed in Bulgaria. Repeated negotiations failed, and his efforts to break free of Russian control became ever more openly anti-Russian.

Though Austria-Hungary was allied with Russia, it had no desire to see Russia monopolize control over Bulgaria. So it and Alexander drew closer by mutual agreement.

After Bulgarian-Russian relations broke down, Russia realized it could no longer control the Bulgarian government and began obstructing Bulgaria's unification. It threatened to withdraw its officers and dismantle Bulgaria's military forces.

Russia also called on the other great powers to join it in pressuring Bulgaria, forcing Grand Duke Alexander to dissolve the Bulgarian state.

At the conference of the great powers, Austria-Hungary sided with Russia under Germany's mediation, but the British resisted. Germany and Austria-Hungary had failed to take a firm position.

In the end, the two sides reached a compromise: Grand Duke Alexander became governor-general of Eastern Rumelia, Bulgaria achieved de facto unification, and Turkey retained nominal sovereignty.

That wasn't the end of it. Bulgaria's union drew the attention of smaller countries such as Greece and Serbia, which hoped to receive territorial compensation.

In September, King Milan of Serbia visited Vienna, hoping to win Austria-Hungary's support for territorial gains. When he saw that the great powers would not support him at their conference,

Serbia invaded Bulgaria in November. But the outcome was unexpected: despite their overwhelming advantage, the Serbian forces were routed by the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian army seized several important Serbian towns and advanced toward the capital.

To protect its interests in the Balkans, Austria-Hungary intervened in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. It forced Bulgaria to withdraw, while keeping Russia out of the matter. Serbia's defeat also brought a pro-Russian faction to power, planting the seeds of conflict between Russia and Austria.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Russia plotted a coup and overthrew Grand Duke Alexander. But British and Austrian intervention soon pushed events beyond Russia's control, and Ferdinand was proclaimed the new grand duke, worsening Russian-Austrian relations.

German-Russian relations were not as good as they seemed, either. The two countries clashed over trade. Cheap Russian agricultural goods entered the German market, hurting the interests of the Junker Nobility. Under their pressure, Germany imposed heavy tariffs on Russian agricultural products. Russia retaliated by imposing heavy tariffs on German manufactured goods, and the trade conflict between the two countries erupted.

In November 1887, Germany banned its domestic banks from dealing in Russian securities, shutting Russia out of the German capital market and pushing it toward France. The German-Russian alliance began to unravel.

At the end of November 1889, a Bulgarian diplomatic mission arrived in Saint Petersburg. The following month, Archbishop Clement was received by Alexander III. After four years, the Bulgarian-Russian diplomatic deadlock finally began to show signs of thawing.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand, well aware of the great powers' true nature, was forced to recognize the secret agreements made with Britain and Austria-Hungary during the Stam Government.

Britain and Austria-Hungary gained preferential rights in foreign trade with Bulgaria, and had to pay only very low tariffs. Given the disparity in industrial development between them, this was extremely unfair to Bulgaria.

With tariff revenues pledged as collateral, Britain and Austria-Hungary began a new round of encroachment into Bulgaria. At a heavy cost, Ferdinand's government won their support, and relations between them developed further.

In the long run, Britain and Austria-Hungary used their industrial advantage to dominate trade with Bulgaria, hindering the development of the Bulgarian national bourgeoisie.

Fortunately, Ferdinand had been intent from the start on developing state capitalism, using favorable policies and centralized management of resources to compete with the great powers. He had no intention of making the bourgeoisie the foundation of a strong nation; otherwise, Bulgaria's development would have been an uphill battle.

I have exams to prepare for over the next few days, so the daily update time may be irregular. Updates should return to normal after the 15th. I probably won't miss any updates, but if anything unexpected happens, I'll make them up later!