Pressure Builds on Ottomans

Turkey was not idle. Military preparations were pushed forward.

Continuing Russo-Turkish War 1877,
our selection from Political History of Recent Times by Wilhelm Mueller published in 1882. The selection is presented in twelve easy 5-minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in Russo-Turkish War 1877.

Time: 1877-1878
Place: Balkans

On the 13th the Czar ordered the formation of six army corps out of the divisions stationed in the military districts of Odessa, Charkoff, and Kiev, and appointed the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievitch their commander. A Crimean army was also to be formed under the command of General Semyeka, and large reinforcements were ordered for Loris Melikoff in the Caucasus. In an explanatory circular Gortschakoff informed the great Powers that Russia was determined not to rest until justice had been done to the Christian subjects of the Porte. On November 18th a loan of one hundred million rubles was ordered, which was taken up in the Russian Empire within eight days. Orders were also issued placing the railroads at the disposal of the military authorities, the export of grain and horses was forbidden, torpedoes were laid at the entrances of the most important Black Sea harbors, and other necessary preparations made for war. These measures called forth, not alone diplomatic protests and inquiries from the English Cabinet, but also counter-preparations, and on November 18th it was announced that, in case Bulgaria were occupied by Russian troops, England would occupy Gallipoli and Constantinople in order to secure the Bosporus and the Dardanelles against the Russian fleet.

Turkey was not idle. Military preparations were pushed forward, and at the same time a constitution intended to checkmate the approaching conference was under preparation. On November 21st this instrument was completed and laid before the Sultan for his signature. As it conferred upon the Christians political equality with the Muslims, Mehemet Rushdi Pacha, a fanatical Old Turk, opposed it; but on December 19th his resignation was tendered, on account of “ill-health,” and Midhat Pacha became grand vizier in his stead. On the 23rd the new constitution was published in the presence of the dignitaries of the realm, while cannon thundered forth their welcome to the newborn sham. It is needless to mention all the beneficial provisions of this document, for they never were executed and it was not intended that they should be. The constitution was to serve as an excuse for paying no attention to the advice of Europe. The conference proper was opened on the 23d, Savfet Pacha presiding. Count Chaudordy had hardly presented the proposition of the great Powers when the sound of cannon was heard, and Savfet Pacha announced that a constitution had been granted and a new era had begun. This did not have the desired effect, however, and on January 1st the Porte found itself obliged to lay before the conference a counter-proposition. On January 15th the Powers as an ultimatum presented their demands in a somewhat modified form, omitting among other things the condition with reference to the employment of foreign troops, but giving their representatives a voice in the selection of governors, and providing two commissions appointed by the great Powers for the general supervision of the reforms.

The position of the Porte was difficult in the extreme; for if these two conditions were accepted, the independence of the Turkish Government was lost; while, if they were rejected, war was inevitable. On January 18th a meeting of the Extraordinary Grand Council was called, at which two hundred fifteen persons were present, including the Grecian Patriarch and delegates from the Armenian Patriarch, the Bulgarian Exarch, and the Grand Rabbi. The council advised resistance, and on the 20th the Porte communicated to the conference its rejection of the two obnoxious conditions. In their stead the Porte offered no guarantee but promises, and so the conference came to a close.

After the failure of the conference, direct negotiations were opened with Serbia and Montenegro and on March 1st a peace was signed with the former State, by which the status quo ante was restored, with the stipulation that the Turkish flag should be planted on the citadel of Belgrade along with the Serbian. With Montenegro matters did not run so smoothly. Turkey would not consent to any cession of territory and finally, on April 13th, negotiations were broken off and both sides prepared for a renewal of the war.

On January 31st Gortschakoff addressed a circular to the great Powers asking what they intended to do now that their advice had been rejected. England proposed a year’s probation. Gortschakoff inquired what was to be done at the close of the year, as “Russia could consent to such a probation only on condition that the great Powers pledged themselves to joint measures of coercion” in case Turkey failed to carry out the reforms within that time. Such a pledge England was unwilling to give, and the plan of the English Cabinet, so far as it can be said to have had one, appears to have been to shut its eyes and try to believe the assurances of the Porte. But Russia would not so readily abandon the policy of joint action on the part of the Great Powers, and in the beginning of March Ignatieff undertook a mission to Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and London — professedly on account of his eyes. Finally, on March 31st, the six Powers signed a protocol calling upon the Porte to make peace with Montenegro, reduce its army to a peace footing, and carry out the desired reforms. The execution of these reforms was to be watched over by the representatives of the Powers and, in case they were not carried out, the latter reserved to themselves the right of indicating the measures they considered necessary to the welfare of the Christian populations in the dominions of the Sultan.

The London protocol was presented to Savfet Pacha on April 3rd, and the Porte refused to accept it. The Turkish answer was received in St. Petersburg on April 12th and on the 13th, orders were issued to mobilize the whole Russian army. On the 24th of the same month the Emperor issued a manifesto ordering his troops to cross the Turkish frontiers and on the same day a circular-note was sent to the Powers informing them of the fact. In his answer to this circular Lord Derby expressed his regret at Russia’s action, which he regarded as a violation of the Treaty of Paris of 1856; at the same time, however, he announced the intention of the English Government to observe a strict neutrality in case British interests were not interfered with; Constantinople must remain in the hands of its present possessors, and the existing regulations with regard to the Dardanelles and Bosporus must be maintained.

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