Laval University

From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi

September 21, 2020

Congress of BerlinFathi Habashi

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/656/

Congress of Berlin 1878

Congress of Berlin at the Reich Chancellery.

Bismarck between Gyula Andrássy and Pyotr Shuvalov, on the left Alajos Károlyi, Alexander Gorchakov (seated) and Benjamin Disraeli [Painting by Anton von Werner]

The Congress of Berlin (June 13 –July 13, 1878) was a meeting of the representatives of the six great powers in Europe at that time (Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany), the Ottoman Empire and four Balkan states (Greece, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro). It aimed at stabilizing Europe in view of the tension prevailing what was called the Eastern Problem. The meetings were held at the Reich Chancellery, the former Radziwill Palace. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), led the Congress and claimed impartiality on behalf of Germany. The Congress took days off during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The problem was the massacre of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire and the Sultan always claimed reforms but he never did. These raised the anger of the Russian Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881) who claimed to be the protector of the Orthodox Christians and the Slavic people. The oppressed people in the Ottoman Empire always revolted and were brutally suppressed.

Reich Chancellery, the former Radziwill Palace

Delegates United Kingdom • Benjamin Disraeli (Prime Minister) • Marquess of Salisbury (Foreign Secretary) • Baron Ampthill (Ambassador to Germany) Russia • Prince Gorchakov (Foreign Minister) • Count Shuvalov (Ambassador to Great

Britain) • Baron d'Oubril (Ambassador to Germany) Germany • Otto von Bismarck (Chancellor) • Prince Hohenlohe (Ambassador to

France) • Bernhard Ernst von Bülow (State

Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Austria-Hungary • Count Andrássy (Foreign Minister) • Count Károlyi (Ambassador to Germany) • Baron Heinrich Karl von Haymerle

(Ambassador to Italy)

France • Monsieur Waddington (Foreign Minister) • Comte de Saint-Vallier • Monsieur Desprey Kingdom of Italy • Count Corti (Foreign Minister) • Count De Launay Ottoman Empire • Karatheodori Pasha • Sadullah Pasha • Mehmed Ali Pasha • Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian (representing

Armenian population) Romania • Ion C. Brătianu • Mihail Kogălniceanu Greece • Theodoros Deligiannis

Serbia • Jovan Ristić Montenegro • Božo Petrović

• Stanko Radonjić Albania • Abdyl Frasheri • Jani Vreto

Benjamin Disraeli Earl of Beaconsfield

Count Andrassy

Prince Gorchakov

Bernhard Ernst von

Bülow It seemed that the representative of Great Britain took a different view from his colleague in many of the matters. In the meantime, the Young Turkey, an organization that created at this time, was determined to settle the affairs of the empire without the tutelage of Europe. At first, they deposed Sultan Abdel Aziz and later his nephew Sultan Amurath V, then put Sultan Abdel Hamid II (1842-1918).

Abdel Hamid II the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Results of the Congress ● Recognition of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro as independent states. Romania, however, was forced to turn over part of Bessarabia to Russia ● Establishment of autonomous Principality of Bulgaria. still within the Ottoman Empire ● Acquisition of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria

● In a secret agreement, Cyprus which is not far from the Suez Canal, was given to the United Kingdom by the Ottoman Empire. Cyprus had mainly Greek population with Turkish emigrants ● Eastern Rumelia was restored to the Ottoman Empire under a special administration, and the region of Macedonia was returned to the Ottoman Empire.

The Congress effectively did not declare openly Russia's victory over the decaying Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War. Bismarck became the target of hatred by Russian nationalists and Pan-Slavic people, and he later found that he had tied Germany too closely to Austria-Hungary in the Balkans. However, most of the participants were not fully satisfied, and grievances on the results exploded in the First and the Second Balkan Wars in 1912–1913 and eventually the First World War in 1914.

Epilogue While the conserver Bismarck called for the Congress of Berlin as a neutral observer to solve the problems in Europe, he was fired later by Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), the new Emperor of Germany. The Kaiser opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy, preferring vigorous and rapid expansion to enlarge Germany. The Kaiser himself had to abdicate and escape to the Netherland in exile during World War I. Further, Sultan Abdel Hamid II was deposed by Young Turk Revolution, on April 27, 1909. Cyprus was formally annexed by the UK in 1914 and following violence in the 1950s between Greek and Turks, it was granted independence in 1960.

Europe after the Congress of Berlin

Europe today