Passage to Byzantium: The Romanov-Habsburg Feud that Led to World War I by Maggie Ledford Lawson

Author:Maggie Ledford Lawson [Ledford Lawson, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pellissippi Press
Published: 2019-11-25T05:00:00+00:00

15 Battenberg

Prince Alexander of Battenberg, chosen by the European Powers as ruler of a newly autonomous Bulgaria, arrived in Sofia in July 1879, expecting to assume the authority ordinarily enjoyed by a crowned head. Battenberg, also called Sandro, was the handsome, agreeable 22-year-old nephew of Czarina Maria, who was married to Alexander II. The Romanovs considered Sandro family. But he also was the son of a German general who was known for his devotion to Austria. Additionally, his Hessian family was related to the British royals. Sandro was to find himself caught in a maelstrom of conflicting loyalties and expectations that required far more maturity than he had at his command.

The Prince, arriving in Sofia, was shocked to find the Bulgarian capital working alive with Russian military officers, who appeared none too glad to see him. A deadline, set by the Congress of Berlin for withdrawal of the Czar’s troops from Bulgaria, had come and gone. Russian agents, most of them military, remained in control of the newly minted state. Battenberg soon realized they didn’t intend to leave and weren’t going to allow him to govern as he saw fit. “The scum of Russia has set up its headquarters here and has infected the whole land,” the Prince wrote home.[441] What Battenberg didn’t realize was that the “scum” had at least the nominal blessing of his uncle, Alexander II.

The Czar had joined other European states in supporting the elevation of his wife’s nephew to be the Prince of Bulgaria. However, the Czar’s ambitions for Battenberg were different from those of Austria and Great Britain, the other powers with interests in the region. As the young Prince would learn through experience, Alexander II intended for him to be a puppet, whose strings were pulled from St. Petersburg. The Czar expected Sandro to further the Russians’ immediate aim of establishing Bulgaria as a vassal state. The strategically located nation was to serve later as a convenient base for the Russian army as it pushed for a final solution to the Eastern Question in Constantinople.

Alexander II had good reason to think that Battenberg would support the Romanov agenda in Bulgaria. The young man had proven his mettle during the 1877 invasions of Turkey. Holding the rank of general in the Russian army, he had been among the first to lead the Czar’s troops across the Danube and to take them to the very gates of Constantinople.

The Prince respected Alexander II and wanted to please him. On the other hand, he was appalled by the behavior of the Russians that he encountered in Bulgaria. In a letter to his father, he said, “The Russian spoils system is … sanctioned and daily I find myself in the sad situation of having to sign on to the most unashamed demands or to be accused in Petersburg of betrayal and the injury of the holy feelings of the Bulgarians.”[442] Writing again a few days later, he said, “Whenever anything bad happens, the hand of this nation (Russia) is clearly behind it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.