On April 17, 1879, Alexander Battenberg was elected Bulgarian Prince. We must recall that Alexander Battenberg was a true hero - a volunteer of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. He was the nephew of the Russian Empress and was always in the forefront of the great liberation military campaigns.
He was also the godson of the tsar - liberator Alexander II. He was born on April 5, 1857 in Verona, Italy. He was the son of the Austrian general Alexander von Hesse Darmstadt and the Polish countess Julia von Hauke. He received a good education at the Dresden Military School. This helped him skillfully lead the defense of the common cause during the Unification.
He took on the responsibility and courage to oppose the Great Powers and lead this unique national act, when, in addition to being personally, he also connected himself with the Bulgarian people in a state capacity - forever.
You may forget me, but Slivnitsa - never! At least that's what history claims, these were the last words to the Bulgarians who were sending him off after his abdication.
However, let us recall that on June 26, 1879, in Tarnovo, Prince Alexander I took a solemn oath before the Great National Assembly. The Great Powers confirmed the election and at the beginning of August, the Sultan, according to the Treaty of Berlin, confirmed him with a firman as Prince of Bulgaria.
The young monarch was dissatisfied with the Tarnovo Constitution, which limited his rights. The struggle between liberals and conservatives created uncertainty in the country. On June 5, 1879, Battenberg appointed the first government headed by Todor Burmov, consisting only of conservatives. However, the parliamentary elections were won by the liberals.
The prince did not want to form a liberal government. He dissolved the National Assembly and appointed a new government of conservatives, headed by Metropolitan Kliment (Vasil Drumev). The new parliamentary elections were again won by the liberals. Now the prince stepped down and on March 24, 1880, he appointed the first liberal government with Prime Minister Dragan Tsankov.
The contradictions between the prince and the liberals deepened and became insurmountable when Petko Karavelov became the head of the government (November 28, 1880).
On April 27, 1881, the prince, with the help of the Minister of War Kazimir Ernrot, carried out a coup d'état, dismissing the government and dissolving the parliament. On May 11, he announced his demands: powers for a 7-year term, the establishment of new state institutions and the amendment of the constitution after the term expired.
The powers were voted on July 1, 1881 by the Grand National Assembly. But soon the country fell into a new internal crisis due to the conflict between Bulgarians and Russians in the government. On June 23, 1882, the executive power was taken over by Gen. Leonid Sobolev, sent by the Russian government.
At the beginning of 1883, the conservatives went into opposition. On September 6, 1883, the Tarnovo Constitution was restored and the powers were terminated. However, these actions of the prince made him an undesirable person for Russia, as they limited its influence in Bulgaria.
The unification of September 6, 1885 was proclaimed in his name. He became a key figure and became ”Prince of Northern and Southern Bulgaria”, entering Plovdiv in triumph.
Bulgaria sought international recognition of the unification. Alexander III's position was for ”Union, but without Battenberg”. England unofficially supported the Unification, but Austria-Hungary encouraged Serbia to attack Bulgaria.
Prince Alexander I Battenberg emerged as the first commander-in-chief in modern Bulgarian history. The Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 ended with victory and a dignified defense of the Unification.
The regime of Alexander Battenberg also rearranged the political system in the country.
It came to pass that the Liberal Party split definitively into two formations - the one led by Dragan Tsankov, which supported amendments to the constitution, and the wing of Petko Karavelov, which advocated the full restoration of the Basic Law.
The Conservative Party, whose authority had been lost, practically ceased to function and played no role in the parliamentary elections of May 1884, won by the irreconcilable liberals. With the formation of the new Caravel government in June 1884, the constitutional changes were effectively annulled. Formally, this happened in 1886 with a decision of the Fourth Ordinary National Assembly.