As Ferdinand and Stambolov settle into their roles running the country, their opponents foreign and domestic continue to try and take them down. As these attempts fail, strategies shift and the two will have to adapt to stay on top. Meanwhile, armed bandits and new railway lines are each doing their part to reshape Bulgaria in the eyes of the world.

Major Characters in this Episode

Stefan Stambolov

Tsar Alexander III of Russia

Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Captain Nabokov

G Nachovich

Konstantin Stoilov

Pere Toshev

Bishop Kliment of Tarnovo

Exarch Joseph I

Timeline for this Episode

• 1888 May - Creation of the Liberal club for the party of Radoslavov. Its organ was the newspaper “Народни права” (National Rights)

• 1888 June 23rd - Completion of the Vienna-Istanbul railway.

• 1888 Aug 1st - The first train to arrive in Sofia on the Vienna-Istanbul track.

• 1888 December 12th - The conservative ministers Constantine Stoilov and Grigor Nachovich leave the government and go into opposition.

• 1888 Dec 30th - The Saint Synod bishops are taken to their respective dioceses with convoys because they refuse to mention Knyaz Ferdinant’s name in their liturgies and are secretly supported by the exarch. During January 1889, they preach against the authorities and are put under house arrest.

• 1888 Dec 31st - Political amnesty is given for the years of the crisis 1886-1887.

• 1888, A law for border passports and tickets is voted in.

• 1888 late in the year - The first external loan is granted by a group of private British banks for 46,7 million leva for the buying out of the train track Russe-Varna and subsequently paves the way for more German and Austrian loans.

• 1888, Pere Toshev makes an attempt to found a revolutionary organization in Solon for Bulgarians in Macedonia.

• 1888, Founding of the Royal natural science institutes with a botanical garden and zoo, and a Natural history museum.