A veteran of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, General Sobolev was the main proponent of the strand of Russian foreign and military policy that saw for the Russians a duty to expel the Ottoman Empire from Europe and to take the Bosphorus for Russia in order to ensure full access to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] Sobolev awarded the other cabinet posts to members of the Conservative Party and won their favour by endorsing laws to reduce the size of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and limit the franchise to educated property owners, measures that ensured the Liberals were all but eliminated.

[3] Eventually, with the aid of pro-Russian Orthodox leader Metropolitan Mileti of Sofia, Sobolev forced the resignation of his nemesis Konstantin Stoilov, the Minister for Foreign and Religious Affairs, although Stoilov's departure prompted two other leading Conservatives to also quit the cabinet.

[4] With the government in ruins Sobolev turned to the Liberal leader Dragan Tsankov for a new coalition but he had another agenda in mind.

Tsankov won the support of both Alexander and the assembly for a constitutional restoration after convincing all parties that Russian influence had become too strong.