On April 6, 1876, Prince Milan sent his uncle, M. Catargiu, to inform Prince Charles that he had decided on war with Turkey, and hoped that Roumania would not remain content with the rôle of a passive spectator, as it was to the interest of both countries to free themselves from the Turkish suzerainty. Prince Charles, however, did not abandon the strict reserve with which he had hitherto received similar communications.
The startling news of a deficit of 30,000,000 francs, at a time when the political situation rendered an increased expenditure on the army essential, led on April 11, 1876, to the fall of the Catargiu Ministry, which for five eventful and, on the whole, prosperous years had assisted Prince Charles in the consolidation of the Principalities. General Floresku was entrusted with the formation of the new Cabinet, which, as it included two other generals, was promptly dubbed the "Cabinet of Generals" by the Opposition Press. Strange to say, the life of this quasi-military government depended on the votes of the eight bishops, as the supporters of the Government disposed of thirty-seven, and the Opposition thirty-four votes in the Senate.
To Prince Charles Anthony, April 26th, 1876.
"The greatest excitement prevails here, and there are rumours of conspiracies and revolutions, which do not, however, daunt me. I go straight ahead and do my duty. My chief anxieties are the condition of our finances and the serious situation in the East.... Servia is in a state of great agitation, and is driving with all sails set towards war. I warned Prince Milan not to expose his throne and country to danger by a hasty step; but he declared that he could no longer master the current, and had to choose between a war and a revolution! Quite recently I called upon him to delay taking action, and informed him that he must not reckon on Roumania, which would observe the strictest neutrality. He received this exhortation in a very bad humour."
Yet another step towards the coming war was the outbreak of a revolution in Bulgaria, where a petition had been circulating for several weeks to induce the Sultan to convert that Vilayet into a constitutional kingdom. A manifesto was issued by the secret National Government of Bulgaria in Bucharest, calling all Bulgarians to arms, as the hour of their liberation had arrived. This manifesto was published broadcast throughout the Bulgarian Vilayet, and met with enthusiastic response everywhere.
In the meantime, the "Cabinet of Generals" was forced to resign owing to its inherent weakness, and a "Ministry of Conciliation," as Prince Charles termed it, was formed by M. Jepureanu on May 8, 1876.
Prince Charles welcomed the two Vice-Presidents of the Senate, Prince Jon Ghika and Demeter Sturdza, whom he had not seen for more than five years, with a few friendly words on the presentation of an address from the Senate on May 14. A few days later the Prince expressed his regret to M. Sturdza that he, whom he had always trusted, should have adopted during the past five years an anti-dynastic policy in personal opposition to the Sovereign. The Roumanian statesman replied that the only excuse he could offer was that he had misunderstood the Prince's motives, and thought that he had allowed himself to be induced by the views of one party to measures which would be of no benefit to the country.