rontier so much nearer to Constantinople, were now
fairly reassured on that point. They not only made no protest, but they
prevented Greece from doing so. There remained to be reckoned with only
Russia and Servia. Russia showed her displeasure by recalling every
Russian officer then serving with the Bulgarian army; but she did not
make war. Servia, fearful that this Bulgarian aggrandisement jeopardised
her own future in the Balkans, made war. Prince Alexander took the field
with his troops--made up of Bulgarians, Macedonians, and Turks living in
Bulgaria--and in the battle of Slivnitza Bulgaria won a decisive
victory. She was not allowed to reap any direct fruits from it, as
Austria interfered on behalf of Servia. The Treaty of Bucharest made
peace without penalty to Servia, and Bulgaria was left with a greatly
enhanced prestige as her sole reward.

It was a sad sequel to Prince Alexander's courage and address in this
campaign that the next year he was deposed by a conspiracy in which the
moving figures were the chiefs of the pro-Russian party in Bulgaria. The
majority of the Bulgarians were not friendly to this revolution, and
after the kidnapping of the Prince by the rebels a counter-revolution
under Stambuloff would have restored him to the throne had it not been
for the fact that he was irresolute in council though brave in the
field. He could have won back his Crown, but chose rather to surrender
it to Russia.

For some time after it was difficult to find a Prince for Bulgaria. The
Crown was offered in turn to Prince Waldemar of Denmark and King Carol
of Roumania. Finally, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha consented to
embark on the great adventure of ruling Bulgaria. Wealthy, descended
from the old French royal house on his mother's side, and connected with
the Austrian and German royal houses on his father's, handsome and
youthful, Prince Ferdinand had splendid qualifications for his new
responsibility. He showed, too, from the outset, a fine diplomatic skill
and successfully steered his country through the perilous days which
followed his accession. Russia at first refused to sanction the choice
of him as Prince, and that involved the other Powers in a policy of
refusing him "recognition." He was thus, in a sense, a boycotted
monarch.

With steady and patient skill Prince Ferdinand worked to overcome the
obstacles which stood in the way of Bulgarian national aspirations,
aided much by the masterful states