page_title: Union of Bulgaria and Romania
section_title: Initial proposals
hierarchical_section_title: Union of Bulgaria and Romania / History / Initial proposals
caption_attribution_description: en:Georgi Sava Rakovski (1821 - 1867) - Bulgarian revolutioner, de:Georgi Rakowski, bg:Георги Раковски
context_page_description: The union of Bulgaria and Romania was a project for the unification of Bulgaria and Romania into a common state. This would be accomplished under a federation, a personal union or a confederation. The idea had great support, especially in Bulgaria, and there were several opportunities to realize it. Usually, proposals came from Bulgarians and it was the Romanians, who would have composed the ethnic majority, the ones that were supposed to govern. Nevertheless, it ultimately failed to appear mainly due to the differences between Bulgarians and Romanians and the opposition from external powers like Austria-Hungary and especially Russia.
  This idea had its precedents. Bulgarians and Romanians first lived together under the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire, which extended its power north of the Danube. After the fall of this state would come the Second Bulgarian Empire, established through the cooperation of Bulgarians and Vlachs. The empire would also be defeated, this time by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled territories populated by Bulgarians and Romanians for centuries.
context_section_description: During the 19th century, the idea of federalization was present on the minds of both Romanians and Bulgarians. The Romanians desired to accomplish the independence, national liberation and unification of the Romanian nation, and notable supporters were Nicolae Bălcescu, Dimitrie Brătianu, Mihai Eminescu and Aurel Popovici, who either suggested the integration of Romania into a larger Balkan state or the federalization of the Austrian or Austro-Hungarian Empire in favor of the Transylvanian Romanians. On the other side, the Bulgarian liberation movement of the 19th century, with similar goals to the Romanians, was very focused on allying or uniting with practically all its neighbors to accomplish them, be they Romanians, Serbs, Greeks and even Turks.
  The Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Sava Rakovski advocated for unity among the Balkans to confront and liberate themselves from the Ottoman Empire. However, he was disappointed by the uncooperative nationalist attitude of the Greek and Serbian ruling elites. He went to Bucharest in late 1863 and saw the policies against the influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and for independence from the Ottomans that were taking place in the Romanian United Principalities, perceiving the country as a favorable option for the Bulgarians. Thus, in 1864, in the bilingual newspaper Badushtnost (Viitorulǔ in Romanian), Rakovski started talking about the relations between Bulgarians and Romanians, emphasizing that they had always been full of "brotherly love and union" and that cooperation between the two was necessary. He started calling for a Bulgarian-Romanian rapprochement based on equality. He also mentioned the Second Bulgarian Empire as a "strong state" in which Bulgarians and Romanians lived together. It is likely that Rakovski wanted a reestablishment of this empire. This newspaper intended to defend the rights of Romanians and Bulgarians against the Ottoman Empire and the Greek Constantinople Patriarchate. 
  It is not clear what were the plans of Rakovski for a hypothetical Bulgarian-Romanian union, but future historians have described that he sought a "Bulgarian-Vlach dualism" model. Rakovski developed good relations with the Romanian prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. However, Cuza was deposed in February 1866 by a coalition (known as the "monstrous coalition") of conservatives and radical liberals. Concerned about a possible Ottoman retaliation, they began to search for allies. One option was Rakovski, but they later learned that he was close to the prince, so they allied themselves with Ivan Kasabov. Being a former associate of Rakovski, Kasabov proposed that Romania supported a Bulgarian rebellion in the Ottoman Empire (since a Bulgarian entity did not yet exist) to divert attention from the coup in Bucharest. This was settled in one document, the "Act for Sacred Coalition between Romanians and Bulgarians". The Bulgarian Committee in Bucharest had to lead two other committees in Serbia and the Ottoman Empire, support them until they had funds on their own and, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, establish "autonomous and independent states" that would unite as one "confederation". However, this document was never signed and the Romanian liberals withdrew from the alliance after their government was replaced by Carol I, who became prince in May 1866.
  Another project for a union involving Bulgaria and Romania was that of Lyuben Karavelov. He intended a union of all the South Slavs and Romania, Albania and Greece. In the newspaper Nezavisimost, he presented his ideas, an "Eastern federation" composed of three cores: Serbia (including Bosnia and Montenegro), Bulgaria (with the regions of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia) and Romania, with an Albanian entity and with Constantinople as a "free city". Greece would also be in if it accepted to give up on the recovery of former Byzantine lands. Karavelov made partition plans for the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian territories. It would be a federation on the model of the United States and Switzerland. Another Bulgarian with a pr
caption: Georgi Sava Rakovski, one of the earliest supporters of a Bulgarian-Romanian union
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