had gone too far. The
persecution died out until 1884, when the Jews were deprived of their
civil rights, and an attempt was made to compel them to enter the
Greek Church. But the Jew is steadfast under persecution, and the only
result was that some of them heartily joined the nihilists.

The public condemnation which followed these acts, induced Ignatieff
to advise the czar to adopt Melikof's scheme of a constitution.
Alexander did not understand this change of views and when de Giers
was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ignatieff resigned. He was
succeeded by D. Tolstoi.

Misunderstandings and the clashing of interests were dissolving the
triple alliance of Russia, Austria, and Germany. This was apparent in
the Balkan States which had been formed after the last Russo-Turkish
war. Charles I, King of Roumania, was a German prince who mistrusted
Russia's schemes. In March, 1882, Prince Milan Obrenovitch of Servia
assumed the title of king, and the czar offered no objection. The
ruler of Bulgaria was Alexander of Battenberg who was a relative of
the czar and had served in the Russian army, which may have been the
reason of his appointment. The Russian Minister at his court was (p. 244)
evidently of the opinion that his word, as representative of the czar,
was law, and when he found out that his orders were set at naught, he
withdrew from his post, whereupon the Russian officers serving in the
Bulgarian army, were dismissed. This gave grave offense at St.
Petersburg, but the affair was arranged, and the Russian Minister
returned. In September, 1885, there was a revolution in Sofia, the
capital of Eastern Roumelia, when the crown was offered to Alexander
of Battenberg, who accepted. He hastened to inform the czar, who was
too angry to pay any attention to letters or telegrams.

Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, although united under one prince, sent
deputations to St. Petersburg to appease the czar, but were informed
that their future would be decided by the great powers. Soon after
Servia declared war against Bulgaria; after a few unimportant
skirmishes, they were driven back by Prince Alexander, who would have
captured the capital Belgrad, if he had not been stopped by Austria's
intervention. Alexander, after another fruitless attempt to mollify
the czar, applied to the sultan, who appointed him as Governor-general
over Eastern Roumelia for five years. The czar protested and invited
the powers to a conference whi