Treaty of Berlin (1878)

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Treaty of Berlin
Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, for the Settlement of the Affairs of the East
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878
Signed13 July 1878 (1878-07-13)
LocationBerlin, German Empire
Parties

The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878.

France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Chancellor of Germany Otto von Bismarck
was the chairman and dominant personality.

The most important task of the Congress was to decide the fate of Bulgaria, but Bulgaria itself was excluded from participation in the talks, at Russian insistence.[3][4] At the time, as it was not a sovereign state, Bulgaria was not a subject of international law, and the same went for the Bulgarians themselves. The exclusion was already an established fact in the great powers' Constantinople Conference, which had been held one year before without any Bulgarian participation.

The most notable result of the conference was the official recognition of the newly independent states of

Romania, Serbia and Montenegro
(which had de facto been acting independently for decades).

Background

The

rebus sic stantibus and effectively terminated the treaty by breaching provisions concerning the neutrality of the Black Sea. The great powers became increasingly convinced that the Ottoman Empire would not be able to hold its territories in Europe.[5]

In 1875, the

anti-Turkish sentiments in Russia and Britain, which eventually culminated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877.[5]

Terms

The treaty formally recognized the independence of the de facto sovereign principalities of

Greater Bulgaria". The Treaty of San Stefano had created a Bulgarian state, which was just what Britain and Austria-Hungary feared the most.[7]

The Treaty of Berlin confirmed most of the Russian gains from the Ottoman Empire specified in the Treaty of San Stefano, such as

Bayazid were returned to the Ottomans.[8] The 1879 Treaty of Constantinople was a further continuation of negotiations. It reaffirmed the provisions of the Treaty of San Stefano which had not been modified by the Berlin Treaty and established amounts of compensation that the Ottoman Empire owed to Russia for losses to businesses and institutions during the war. It granted amnesty to Ottoman subjects and for release of prisoners of war.[9][10] In addition, Article VII of the treaty provided that in the territory acquired by Russia, subjects could choose whether they wished to be Ottoman or Russian subjects for a period of six months after the agreement became effective.[10][11]

Despite the pleas of the Romanian delegates, Romania was forced to cede southern Bessarabia to the Russian Empire.[12] As a compensation, Romania received Dobruja, including the Danube Delta.[12] The treaty also limited the Russian occupation of Bulgaria to 9 months, which limited the time during which Russian troops and supplies could be moved through Romanian territory.[12]

The three newly independent states subsequently proclaimed themselves kingdoms:

Bosnian crisis, a major European crisis that reinforced pre-World War I alliances.[13][full citation needed
]

The Treaty of Berlin accorded special legal status to some religious groups and also would serve as a model for the

Greece and the Ottoman Empire, which occurred after protracted negotiations in 1881, with the transfer of Thessaly to Greece.[citation needed
]

In the "Salisbury Circular" of 1 April, the Marquess of Salisbury, appointed foreign secretary the next day, made clear his own and his government's objections to the Treaty of San Stefano and its favourable position of Russia.[15] Historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, "If the treaty of San Stefano had been maintained, both the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary might have survived to the present day. The British, except for Beaconsfield in his wilder moments, had expected less and were, therefore, less disappointed. Salisbury wrote at the end of 1878: 'We shall set up a rickety sort of Turkish rule again south of the Balkans. But it is a mere respite. There is no vitality left in them. The treaty also calls on the parties involved to attack the nation that violates the treaty.'"[16]

The

Austro-Hungarian occupation although it formally remained part of the Ottoman Empire until it was annexed by Austria-Hungary thirty years later, on 5 October 1908. The Austro-Hungarian garrisons in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar were withdrawn in 1908, after the annexation of the Vilayet of Bosnia and the resulting Bosnian Crisis,[13] to reach a compromise with the Ottoman Empire, which was struggling with internal strife because of the Young Turk Revolution (1908). The chaotic situation in the Ottoman Empire also allowed Bulgaria to formally declare its independence on 5 October 1908.[citation needed
]

List of plenipotentiaries

See also

References

  1. ^ Hertslet, Edward (1891), "Treaty between Great-Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Turkey, for the Settlement of Affairs in the East, Signed at Berlin, 13th July 1878 (Translation)", The Map of Europe by Treaty; which have taken place since the general peace of 1814. With numerous maps and notes, vol. IV (1875–1891) (First ed.), London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, pp. 2759–2798, retrieved 8 February 2019 – via Internet Archive
  2. ^ a b Phillips 1911.
  3. .
  4. ^ Bourchier, James David (1911). "Bulgaria/History" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 04 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 779–784. Political History
  5. ^ a b Bogaert, Sina Van den. "Berlin Congress (1878)". Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law [MPEPIL]. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Schem, Alexander Jacob (1878). "Chapter IX [Third Book]: The Berlin Congress". War in the East: An Illustrated History of the Conflict Between Russia and Turkey, With a Review of the Eastern Question. H.S. Goodspeed & Co. pp. 685–700.
  9. ^ Константино́польский Мир 1879 [Peace of Constantinople 1879]. Great Russian Encyclopedia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  10. ^
    S2CID 246006401
    . Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  11. ]
  12. ^ .
  13. ^ a b "Bosnian Crisis"
  14. .
  15. ^ Walker, Christopher J. (1980), Armenia: The Survival of A Nation, London: Croom Helm, p. 112
  16. .

Primary sources

Further reading

External links

  • "Treaty between Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey for the Settlement of Affairs in the East: Signed at Berlin, July 13, 1878 (Translation)". The American Journal of International Law. II (4, Supplement, Official Documents): 401–424. October 1908.
    S2CID 246011615
    .