The Sofia Peace Conference had ended, but the impact it caused was only just beginning. A new wave of national independence movements began to surge.
For example, Sicily submitted an application for autonomy to Bulgaria, and it was swiftly approved by the Bulgarian government.
There was no helping it. Tiny Sicily alone had a population of four to five million, and national independence had long taken root in the people's hearts. If Bulgaria insisted on colonial rule by force, it might not even recoup the costs.
Sicily lay at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, with countless eyes around the world fixed upon it. They could not go too far. If Ferdinand's sons had not been so young, the Kingdom of Sicily would already have been established.
After the Sicilian Autonomous Government was established, the Sicilian people were satisfied, because the Bulgarians had also promised that if the autonomous government performed well, they could gain independence in fifteen years.
Since they could achieve independence without bloodshed, naturally no one objected. Small nations surviving by attaching themselves to great powers was also an international convention. They had nothing to complain about.
No one paid any attention to the protests from neighboring Italy. The two places had been separated for more than twenty years. Even if Italy wanted to return to the past, would the Sicilian people agree?
After the Sicilian Autonomous Government was established, Cyprus, Egypt, and South Africa also submitted requests for autonomy. Clearly, they were dreaming too big. What awaited them was a National Integration Act.
The Bulgarian government did not care about the colonies' revenues anyway. Its fiscal income came from the homeland. For the sake of long-term peace and stability, even turning the colonies into ruins would not matter.
Thus, the National Integration Act targeting the local