Българите пред Европа през 1868-1869 г., представени от френския евреин Арман Леви
The Bulgarians before Europe in 1868–1869 As Presented by the French Jew Armand Levi

Summary/Abstract: The article addresses the historical events at the end of the 1860s which were critical for Bulgaria’s fate. The object of investigation is a document well-known to the historical science as is the petition concerning the Cretan Question, addressed on behalf of the „Virtuous Society“ to the delegates of the Paris Conference. The analysis of the archive documents disambiguates many of the questions in our historical science which have been neglected or misinterpreted, namely those concerning the authorship of the Petition and the brochures accompanying it („The Bulgarian Nation at the Paris Conference“ and „The Turks in Bulgaria“) which were issued only in French in Bucharest and sent to the European representatives of high diplomacy at the conference, the motives for their creation, and the ambiguities surrounding the reactions of the major international political factors – Russia and France. In addition, this article, based on a wealth of factual data, solves a great number of controversies in previous scientific recreations of the actions of the political circle around „The Elders“ in the period from the end of 1868 to the beginning of 1869, and resolves the almost mysterious case of the discrepancy between the names of those who had signed the two copies of the Petition. The author convincingly disproves the claims according to which Marko Balabanov participated in the drafting of the three documents, and pays considerable attention to the real author of the Petition and the accompanying brochures – Armand Levi whose role in the Bulgarian diplomatic initiatives mentioned has not been explored by our historical science. His role in the independent diplomatic initiative is a rare example of a representative of France, which is one of the most ardent supporters of the Ottoman Empire’s integrity, launching an extensive campaign in favour of the Bulgarian cause and opposing his own country’s policy, the result being the unarguable positive effects on the enhancement of Bulgarians’ political culture and self-confidence in the period of the Revival.

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