| Copyright | ||
|
Home Great Britain and Europe, 1815-78 The Eastern Question, 1876-8 |
The Eastern Question, 1876-8If Russia had repudiated one of the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the sultan had neglected to carry out another; his promised reforms for his Christian subjects, "the worthless promise of a worthless potentate", came to nothing, and "the relations between the sultan and his subjects, that is to say, the relation between the tyrant and his victims, went on just as before". Consequently there was continual unrest in the Balkan States. In 1875 the people of Herzegovina revolted; and 1876 their example was followed by the Bulgarians, whilst Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Turks. The Turks in revenge perpetrated in Bulgaria the most terrible barbarities. Thousands of people were massacred and tortured - in one place, it was said, a child was impaled on a standard and paraded through the streets.How did public opinion in Great Britain regard these events? On the one hand, the atrocities drew Mr. Gladstone from his retirement (p. 635), and in a series of speeches and pamphlets he summoned the nation to support a policy of freeing the Christian subjects of Turkey from the sultan's control, and of expelling the sultan, u bag and baggage, " from Europe. Lord Beaconsfield, on the: oilier hand, who was prime minister, distrusted the political designs of Russia, and favoured what he called the "traditional" policy of Great Britain—the maintenance of the integrity of the Ottoman dominions. The British nation was divided between the horror inspired by Turkish cruelty and the distrust provoked by long experience of Russian diplomacy, But when Russia, alter the failure of an attempt to secure European intervention in Turkey, declared war, and in 1877 invaded the Turkish territories in Europe and Asia, the latter sentiment steadily gained ground, and the memory of Turkish barbarity was gradually obliterated by the accounts of the bravery which the Turks exhibited for six months, against overwhelming forces, in the defence of Plevna, their stronghold in the north of the Balkans. But Plevna fell at last, and the Russians threatened to attack Constantinople itself. The Russians were consequently able to force the Turks to make peace (1878). But the terms imposed by Russia were such that Great Britain could not acquiesce in them, and war seemed then imminent between Russia and Great Britain. A British fleet brought up near Constantinople, and six thousand troops were sent from India to Malta. But then Russia agreed to refer the arrangement to a European congress. It met at Berlin, under the presidency of Bismarck, Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury being the British representatives. After critical debates a treaty, known as the Treaty of Berlin, was agreed upon (1878). By its terms Rou-mania and Servia and Montenegro were declared independent of Turkey; Bosnia and Herzegovina, though still belonging to Turkey, were put under Austrian administration; Russia received a fort and a port in Asia Minor; whilst Great Britain, by a separate treaty with Turkey, was given control of Cyprus. Two new States were created - one, Bulgaria, which was to be self-governing though under Turkish suzerainty, and the other, Eastern Roumelia, which was placed under a Christian governor nominated by the sultan but approved by the powers. At the time the treaty was thought to be a great triumph for Great Britain5 and Lord Beaconsfield proclaimed that he brought back u peace with honour ". The Eastern Question had been since the Franco-German War the only question in Europe which really interested Great Britain; and after the Treaty of Berlin even interest in that began to subside, and infractions of the treaty have not roused her to action. Eastern Roumelia was united to Bulgaria in 1885. Austria in 1908 annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, whilst Bulgaria at the same time declared its complete independence of Turkey. None of these measures produced anything but ineffective protests from Great Britain. British inaction was due to several causes. In part it was due to the growing feeling that, to use the words of Lord Salisbury, "we put our money on the wrong horse " in regard to the Turks, and long experience had taught Great Britain that Turkey would not reform herself - though recent events would seem to indicate that the traditional British belief in the future regeneration of Turkey was not wholly misplaced. In part it was due to the growing desire for peace and non-intervention which was felt by the nation and reflected by her foreign secretaries. But the chief cause of all is that the theatre of European diplomacy since 1878 has been no longer Europe but the World, and this denotes so important a change that we must say something about it in a new chapter. |
Chronology |
| product photography | copyright by www.uuo-ununoctium.info |