It was one of several episodes in the continuing Balkan Crisis as vassal states struggled for independence from the Ottoman Empire but achieved a mosaic of nascent nation-states (Balkanisation).

The original treaty signed by Russia and Turkey at San Stefano created a greater pro-Russian Bulgaria out of the defeated Ottoman lands.

They initially threatened war against Russia and then convened the Berlin Conference at the behest of Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Andrássy to dismantle and to rework the provisions of San Stefano.

The treaty also established international recognition of the neighbouring former Ottoman vassal states of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro.

To counterbalance Russian influence and perceived Pan-Slavic expansion in the Balkans, Germany and Austria-Hungary thus concluded the Dual Alliance (Zweibund) in 1879.

On September 18, 1885, a rebellion and a coup in the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, aided by the Bulgarians, saw the people proclaim a union with the new (1878) state of Bulgaria, in violation of the Treaty of Berlin (1878).

Serbia had signed a secret treaty with Austria-Hungary in 1881 and was so sure in Austria's support that it made territorial demands on its western border with Bulgaria.

Subsequently, a Russian-backed coup, involving a group pro-Russian officers, forced Prince Alexander to abdicate on 9 August 1886.

The Great Powers, which were in a constant fear of war between them, continued with a series of complicated agreements and alliances, many of which were secret, as deterrents to one another's actions, largely at the behest of Bismarck.

Finally, the publication of the terms of the 1879 treaty persuaded Russia that further action was not in its interests and so it withdrew from involvement in Bulgaria, and the fear of war dissipated.