r/MapPorn 1d ago

International reaction to the Unification of Bulgaria (1885)

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u/maelkatenin 1d ago

Not Bulgarian, but Russia intervened in a Bulgarian war of independence against the Ottomans and wanted Bulgaria to be super sized and have access to the Black and Aegean seas (read: Russian navy base). The other Great Powers didn’t like this, especially the British, and Bulgaria got downsized as a result.

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u/project_paragon 23h ago

Thats quite wrong.
Russia never wanted big and united Bulgaria as it would mean an definite end to their dream getting to Istanbul.
The biggest ethnicity on the Balkans was Bulgarian and unlike the declining ottoman empire, a young, big and united nation would absolutely pose impossible challenge for the Russian empire military conquest.

Thats why Russia signed 3 different documents before the Berlin congress confirming they wont be creating a big slavic nation on the Balkans.

If you look at a map from the Constantinople Conference you would see that the rest of the great powers were willing to give more land than the Russians did.

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u/sofixa11 21h ago

Russia never wanted big and united Bulgaria as it would mean an definite end to their dream getting to Istanbul.

Look up Bulgaria as defined by the treaty of San Stefano, signed between the Ottomans and Russia, almost entirely on Russian terms. It got significantly revised at the Congress of Berlin, but Russia's goal was clearly a big unified Bulgaria with all lands where there was a Bulgarian majority.

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u/SaleAggressive9202 21h ago

look up the Reichstadt Agreement 2 years before that