On April 27, 1881, Alexander I Battenberg overthrew the liberal government of Petko Karavelov and dissolved the National Assembly. Appoints as Prime Minister Gen. Casimir Ernroth. The general simultaneously performs the functions of military and interior minister. The government is made up of supporters of the monarch. The country is divided into five regions, led by extraordinary commissions.
This step is expected. Since his ascension to the throne in 1879, Prince Alexander Battenberg has been in strained relations with the Liberal Party, which insists on the parliamentary system enshrined in the Turnovo Constitution, at the expense of monarchical power. However, after two consecutive electoral victories of the liberals and the dissolution of the First Ordinary People's Assembly, he was forced to give them power in March 1880. His repeated attempts to suspend the constitution did not meet with support from Russia, which has a dominant influence over the Principality. The Russian position changed only after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by the Volodymyrs in March 1881. The new Russian Tsar, Alexander III, pursued a reactionary policy at home and favored a similar reversal of policy in Bulgaria.
Finnish by origin, Casimir Ernrot was born in 1833 in the Seesta estate (now Finland) into a wealthy noble family. Graduated from the Cadet Corps and the Nikolaev Military Academy in 1856. Served in the Kursk Infantry Regiment. Took part in the North Caucasus Wars (1856-1860). Participated in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (1861-1863). During the period 1863-1867, he was the commander of the Vitebsk Infantry Regiment. Major General from 1869. During the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), Casimir Ernrot was the commander of the XIth Infantry Division and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General ( 1877), recalls istoria.bg.
After the election of Alexander I Battenberg (1879-1886) as prince of the Principality of Bulgaria gen. Ernrot became his personal adviser and thus became involved in Bulgarian domestic and foreign policy. During the period 1880-1881, he was Minister of War in the government of Dragan Tsankov. He supported Prince Alexander Battenberg in his ambitions to abolish the Tarnovo Constitution and establish a one-man regime. It is with the help of the Russian general – Minister of War in the Principality – the prince prepares a plan for a coup d'état.
On May 11, requests for extraordinary princely powers for a period of 7 years were announced publicly. A princely decree was also issued to organize military courts against the actions of the opposition. Under the military dictate of the Prime Minister, a Grand National Assembly was convened, in which the prince's supporters gained a majority. It met in Svishtov on July 1, 1881 and in just two hours approved the powers requested by the prince and canceled the Tarnovo constitution. The Powers of Attorney Regime is introduced in the country for a period of 7 years.
On July 1, 1881, Gen. Casimir Ernroth resigns and dissolves the government. Until the middle of 1882, the prince himself headed the Council of Ministers. It also creates a new body – A State Council that performs the function of a legislative body. The abrogation of the Tarnovo Constitution is approved by Russia and its conductors and officials in the Principality. But the population and the opposition forces declare themselves against the coup and the cancellation of the Tarnovo constitution.
Back in 1881, Gen. Kazimir Ernrot leaves Bulgaria and returns to Russia. There he also held high government posts, from 1882 to 1888 he was Deputy Secretary of State, and from 1888 to 1891 he was Secretary of State for Finnish Affairs. He retired and retired to Helsinki, Finland, where he died in 1913.