First published by Methuen
& Co. Ltd. in 1938
Second edition published by Frank Cass
& Co. Ltd., 2 Park Square, Milton Park,
Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
First edition 1938
Second edition 1963
Transferred to Digital Printing 2005
TO
D. K. C.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION
THE DIPLOMATIC history of the Near Eastern settlement which followed the peace of San Stefano has escaped the detailed treatment given in recent years to earlier stages of the Eastern crisis of 18751881; some phases of the settlement have been examined in the recent monographs of Professor Dwight E. Lee, Dr. Manfred Mller, Professor R. W. Seton-Watson, and Mr. B. H. Sumner, but the full story of the negotiations is still, to a large extent, unknown. Yet it might very well be argued that the history of the three years which followed San Stefano was of greater importance for the history of Europe and of the Near East than the three years which preceded it; and it is at least true to say that the attempt to execute the decisions of the Congress of Berlin gave rise to a crisis as momentous and as prolonged.
The paucity of published material accounts largely for this neglect. The great German Foreign Office publication, Die Grosse Politik der Europischen Kabinette, has, for example, only half-a-dozen documents bearing on the twelve months which followed the Congress, and although the bluebooks and livres jaunes are voluminous enough for the day-to-day proceedings of the boundary commissions they throw little light on the relations of the powers. The memoirs and biographies which cover the period are, on the whole, disappointing for the post-Congress discussions.
The opening of various government and private archives since the war has, however, made possible a comprehensive study of the subject, and this monograph is based mainly on diplomatic correspondence in the Austrian and British foreign office archives, in the Russian embassy in London, and in various private collections. I had the opportunity in 1924 of transcribing the correspondence in the Russian embassy for the ten years following the Congress. The correspondence of Shuvalov before the Congress, and of Staal after 1884, have been published by Dr. Seton-Watson and Baron Meyendorff, but practically none of the material for the period 1878-1884 has appeared in print. Several prolonged visits to the Staatsarchiv in Vienna have been necessary in order to take full advantage of the wealth of material there; a good deal of the evidence found there, such as the details of the discussions in private and in committee during the Congress, and the whole story of the Austro-Turkish negotiations over the occupation of Bosnia, is quite new, and throughout the period the reports of the Austrian representatives in the Balkans and in various capitals supply an invaluable check on the British material. Although a good deal of the British foreign office correspondence has been published in the bluebooks, the omissions and paraphrasing in the latter have made it profitable to use the unpublished correspondence in the Record Office throughout, and the majority of references in the footnotes are to unpublished correspondence. There is also much interesting material in the Layard, Simmons, Tenterden and Schwegel papers, although it is easy to exaggerate the importance of private correspondence in these transactions.
The Congress settlement profoundly modified the economic development and internal politics of all the Balkan states, and was the starting-point of phases of domestic policy which were, in a sense, the direct product of the treaty of Berlin. I have, however, endeavoured as far as possible to limit the story to that of the relations of the great powers, and have dealt with developments in the smaller states only in so far as they affect the course of international diplomacy. As things turned out the setting up of the machinery of government in Bulgaria produced singularly little international friction; the various frontier delimitations, and the transfer of the administration of Eastern Roumelia from Russian to international control, resulted, on the other hand, in many serious crises, and have therefore seemed to call for fuller examination. I am only too conscious of the many pitfalls that such a treatment must encounter, and can only hope that in trying to avoid over-elaboration and unnecessary detail I have not neglected the local background unduly. I have not taken the story beyond the summer of 1880, although the coercion of the Turks over the Greek and Montenegrin frontiers might be regarded as the last chapter in the history of the treaty settlement. I hope, however, to deal with these developments some day in a study of the origins of the Three Emperors Alliance.
I am deeply indebted to Dr. R. W. Seton-Watson, my former teacher, for invaluable advice and encouragement, extending over many years. My thanks are also due to Dr. G. P. Gooch, for advice and many kindnesses. Mr. Sablin, formerly Russian charg daffaires in London, and Baron A. Meyendorff, kindly arranged for me to make transcripts from the archives of the Russian embassy in London. I have also to acknowledge the help and efficient service of the staffs of the Staatsarchiv in Vienna, and of the Public Record Office in London. My wife, Dr. Dorothy K. Coveney, has given me much help in transcribing manuscripts in Vienna, and in proofreading, and I have to thank Dr. R. Marleyn, Professor T. W. Riker, Mr. L. G. Robinson and Dr. Winifred Taffs for help on various points. The publication of this work was assisted by a generous grant from the University of London Publication Fund.
W. N. M EDLICOTT
22nd March, 1938
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
In the preparation of a second edition of this work I have taken the opportunity to correct a number of typographical errors in the original text, and have added an introduction dealing with recent discussions of the subject. But my main conclusions, for better or worse, remain unchanged.
W. N. M EDLICOTT
12th September, 1962
INTRODUCTION
THE FIRST edition of this book was published in 1938 and was kindly received by its reviewers, who seemed ready to accept its main conclusions. In this introduction I should like to refer to some recent work in the same field, and to say a word or two about some outstanding problems.
My general aim was to show that the Near Eastern crisis did not come to a neat and comprehensive conclusion in 1878 but continued for another three years, and indeed that this second phase, which ended with the signature of the three emperors alliance treaty on 18 June, 1881, was as momentous as the first. I also thought that in this country we had viewed the crisis too much from the point of view of British domestic politics. The best study of this aspect was R. W. Seton-Watsons Disraeli, Gladstone and the Eastern Question, published in 1935, an examination of Disraelis record through the unsympathetic eyes of a Scottish Gladstonian Liberal. On the continent the crisis was naturally viewed rather differently. For Russia there were poignant memories of the Turkish war and the tragi-comedy of San Stefano and Berlin; for Turkey, a series of almost unmitigated disasters, among which some would include the accession of Abdul Hamid; for Austria-Hungary, the occupation of Bosnia; for Germany, Bismarck
