Blavatsky Blogger
Taking Theosophical
ideas
into the 21st
century
The Russo-Turkish War (1877-78)
The last
Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) was also the most important one. In 1877 Russia and
its ally Serbia came to the aid of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria in their
rebellions against Turkish rule.
The
Russians attacked through Bulgaria, and after successfully concluding the Siege
of Pleven they
advanced
into Thrace, taking Adrianople (now Edirne, Tur.) in January 1878. In March of
that year Russia concluded the Treaty of San Stefano with Turkey. This treaty
freed Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro from Turkish rule, gave autonomy to
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and created a huge autonomous Bulgaria under Russian
protection.
Britain
and Austria-Hungary, alarmed by the Russian gains contained in the treaty,
compelled Russia to accept the Treaty of Berlin (July 1878), whereby Russia's
military-political gains from the war were severely restricted.
Treaty of
San Stefano (March 3 [Feb. 19, Old Style], 1878), peace settlement imposed on
the Ottoman government by Russia at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of
1877-78; it provided for a new disposition of the European provinces of
the
Ottoman Empire that would have ended any effective Turkish control over the
Balkans if its provisions had not later been modified. Its most important
provision established an independent Bulgarian principality, which included
most of
Macedonia
and extended to the Danube and from the Aegean to the Black Sea. The
independence of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania was recognized.
The
boundaries of Serbia and Montenegro were extended so as to be contiguous, while
Romania
was
compelled to cede southern Bessarabia to Russia, receiving the Dobrudja from
Turkey in exchange. Bosnia-Hercegovina was to be autonomous. Parts of Asiatic
Turkey were ceded to
Russia,
and the Ottoman sultan gave guarantees for the security of his Christian
subjects.
The treaty
was opposed by Austria-Hungary, which disliked encouragement of Slav nationalism,
and by the British, who feared the new Bulgarian state would become a Russian
satellite and a threat to Istanbul.
The treaty
was modified by the terms of the Treaty of Berlin signed four months later on
July 13.
Congress of
Berlin (June 13-July 13, 1878), diplomatic meeting of the major European powers
at which the Treaty of Berlin replaced the Treaty of San Stefano, which had
been signed by Russia and Turkey (March 3, 1878) at the conclusion of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Officially convoked by the Austrian foreign
minister, Count Gyula Andrassy, the congress met in Berlin on June 13.
Dominated
by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the congress solved an
international crisis caused by the San Stefano treaty by revising the peace
settlement to satisfy the interests of Great Britain (by denying Russia the
means to extend its naval power and by maintaining the Ottoman Empire as a
European power) and to satisfy the interests of Austria-Hungary (by allowing it
to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina and thereby increase its influence in the
Balkans). In acting so, however, the congress left Russia humiliated by
substantially reducing the gains that it had
made under
the San Stefano treaty.
Furthermore,
the congress failed to consider adequately the aspirations of the Balkan
peoples themselves and, thereby, laid the foundation for
future
crises in the Balkans.
H P Blavatsky
defends the Czar
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