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Author : M. Antoshkina
Staff editor of International Affairs;
Russia's Jubilation and Misery (Apropos of a Marginal
Note by Emperor Alexander III)
ON JANUARY 31, 1884 (the dates are given accord-
ing to the old-style calendar), the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Empire received a secret, en-
crypted telegram addressed to Minister Nikolay Girs.
Ambassador in Constantinople Alexander Nelidov
was informing his government of the birth of Bul-
garian Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha's
son, Boris, whom his father had entitled Royal High-
ness, heir to the Bulgarian throne, Prince of Tarnovo.
The minister gave the decrypted telegram to Emperor Alexander III. The emperor's response
was: "It would be funny if it weren't so sad!"
The second half of the 19th century was a time when Bulgaria fought for its independence.
And it was none other than Russia that helped the Bulgarian people to put an end to the atroc-
ities of the Sublime Porte and declare the Bulgarian principality an independent state. For Russia,
this resulted in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which it won at the expense of enormous
losses.
Russia was confident that it once more had the right to put its protégé on the Bulgarian throne
and nominated Prince Niko Dadiani of Mingrelia. But this time things went differently.
The Bulgarian people regarded Alexander II as a czar-liberator and had not forgotten to whom
they owed their freedom, but Alexander III met with a sharp rebuff. Bulgaria was set on stabi-
lizing its position in Europe, for which it wanted the throne to be occupied by a representative
of the European princely family and in no way by an "Asian" such as Prince Niko.
In order to withdraw from Russia's patronage, the Bulgarian regency sent its deputies to the
capitals of the Great Powers asking them to nominate a knyaz. This was when Prince Ferdinand
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha nominated himself.
The House of Coburg was one of the oldest European families, but Russia did not recognize
Ferdinand, who served in the Austrian-Hungarian army and was a Catholic by confession, as a
Bulgarian prince.
The Great Powers were unanimous in their desire to prevent Russia's expansion to the south.
Relations between Russia and Bulgaria were not restored until Alexander Ill's son, Nicholas II,
ascended to the throne. And interestingly enough, in 1896, little prince Boris III would be bap-
tized according to the Russian Orthodox tradition, and his godfather would be Emperor
Nicholas II himself.
Russia's Jubilation and Misery
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