Principality of Bulgaria

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Principality of Bulgaria Княжество България Knyazhestvo Bălgariya
1878–1908
Flag State coat of arms (1878–1927)
Anthem: "Maritsa Rushes" Шуми Марица (Bulgarian) Shumi Maritsa  (transliteration) Royal anthem "God Save the Tsar!"[1] Боже, Царя храни! (Bulgarian) Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!  (transliteration)
Principality of Bulgaria (dark green) and Eastern Rumelia (light green), united in 1885, formally as a personal union.   Principality of Bulgaria   Eastern Rumelia
Status	vassal of the Ottoman Empire[2][3][self-published source?]
Capital	Plovdiv (1878–1878) (Provisional Russian Administration in Bulgaria) Sofia (1878–1908) (Provisional Russian Administration in Bulgaria until June 1879) Tarnovo (1878–1878) (Bulgarian Constituent Assembly election, 1878)
Official languages	Bulgarian[4]
Religion	Orthodox Christianity
Demonym(s)	Bulgarian
Government	Unitary absolute monarchy (1878–1878) Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (from 1878)
Knyaz (Prince)
• 1878–1886	Alexander I
• 1887–1908	Ferdinand I
Regents
• 1886–1887	Stefan Stambolov
• 1886–1887	Sava Mutkurov
• 1886–1887	Petko Karavelov
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
• 1879 (first)	Todor Burmov
• 1908 (last)	Aleksandar Malinov
Legislature	None (rule by decree) (1878–1878) National Assembly (from 1878)
History
• Treaty of San Stefano	3 March 1878
• Treaty of Berlin	13 July 1878
• Constitution	28 April 1878
• Unification	6 September 1885
• Independence	5 October 1908
Currency	Bulgarian lev
Preceded by Succeeded by Danube Vilayet Eastern Rumelia Kingdom of Bulgaria
Today part of	Bulgaria Serbia

The Principality of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Княжество България, romanized: Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.

After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire on 3 March 1878. Under this, a large Bulgarian vassal state was agreed to, which was significantly larger: its lands encompassed nearly all ethnic Bulgarians in the Balkans, and included most of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia, stretching from the Black Sea to the Aegean. However, the United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary were against the establishment of such a large Russian client state in the Balkans, fearing it would shift the balance of power in the Mediterranean. Due to this, the great powers convened and signed the Treaty of Berlin, superseding the Treaty of San Stefano, which never went into effect. This created a much smaller principality, alongside an autonomous Eastern Rumelia within the Ottoman Empire.

In practice, Bulgaria's status as an Ottoman vassal was a legal fiction, and Bulgaria only acknowledged the authority of the Sublime Porte in a formal way. It had its own Constitution, flag and anthem, and conducted its own foreign policy. From 1880, it had its own currency as well. In 1885, a bloodless revolution resulted in Eastern Rumelia being de facto annexed by Bulgaria, which the Ottoman Empire accepted with the Tophane Agreement. On 5 October 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence as the Kingdom of Bulgaria.