262 



EASTERN QUESTION, THE. 



of cordiality and friendliness on both sides. 

 Roumania claimed to exercise the right of con- 

 cluding treaties with foreign powers, which 

 called out a protest from the Porte, with a 

 declaration that such a claim would not be 

 tolerated, and Roumanian treaties concluded 

 without consultation with the supreme Gov- 

 ernment would not be recognized by it. The 

 Powers replied to the Porte that their interests 

 on the Danube were too important to admit of 

 their being interfered with by exaggerated 

 pretensions of suzerainty on the Bosporus, 

 and on these grounds justified their direct ne- 

 gotiations with the Roumanian Government. 

 The Porte replied to this that the Treaty of 

 Paris must be maintained ; but that, if Rou- 

 mania would submit the treaties it proposed to 

 make to the Porte, such adjustments could be 

 effected as would meet the peculiar commercial 

 necessities of the principalities. A difficulty 

 arose between Turkey and Montenegro in 1874, 

 on account of the murder of some Montenegrins, 

 by Turks, at Podgoritza. An effort was made 

 by some of the Powers to make this a question 

 for joint settlement ; but the Porte refused to 

 allow them to interfere, and the adjustment 

 was made without any help from abroad. 

 Probably the most important event that hap- 

 pened during this period in reference to the 

 Eastern question was the private agreement 

 which the three Emperors of Russia, Germany, 

 and Austria made in 1872, to act together in 

 all matters relating to it, each Emperor cove- 

 nanting to take no steps tending to reopen the 

 difficulties with Turkey without first consulting 

 the others, and exhausting, in conjunction with 

 them, all means of reaching a peaceful under- 

 standing. This agreement, which has been 

 called the League of the Three Emperors, was 

 kept in the letter and spirit at least as before 

 the public until the Russian declaration of 

 war against Turkey; and Russia claims that it 

 did all that could be demanded under the 

 agreement before it issued its declaration. 



When the insurrection broke out in Bosnia 

 and Herzegovina, in 1875, all the resources of 

 diplomatic skill were employed to confine the 

 revolt to a narrow district, and to pnt an end 

 to it, so that it should not lead to a reopening 

 of the Eastern question, which all the Powers 

 alike professed to dread. Representatives of 

 the Powers were appointed to negotiate direct- 

 ly with the insurgents and with the Turkish 

 officers, and intervene between them so as to 

 adjust the difficulties, if possible, on the spot, 

 and before they should make too much noise ; 

 this failing, the Porte was advised to make 

 short and decisive work of suppressing the dis- 

 turbance, and was afforded facilities by Aus- 

 tria for the movement of troops, which it had 

 no right to claim except as a favor. As the 

 insurrection spread, in spite^pf forcible meas- 

 ures, the efforts were renewed to bring about 

 a settlement by negotiation. The discontented 

 Christian provinces had made definite state- 

 ments of their grievances and their demands 



for reforms, and the Porte was advised by aR 

 the Powers, in the Andrassy note of January, 

 1876, to pacify them. Affairs had grown no 

 better four months afterward, and the Berlin 

 note, in May, renewed the suggestions of the 

 Andrassy note, with a threat, concurred in by 

 all the Powers but Great Britain. Servia and 

 Montenegro rushed into war in July, but still 

 the Powers struggled for a peaceful adjustment. 

 Then came the conference at Constantinople, 

 and the grant of the Turkish Constitution, both 

 of which failed to secure the peace that was 

 sought; and finally the protocol, demanding 

 conditions which Turkey pretended to regard 

 as an insult to its sovereignty, and flatly reject- 

 ed. At last, Russia, declaring it would no 

 longer suffer the interests of its fellow-Chris- 

 tians in Turkey to be trifled with, went to war, 

 and compelled the world again to face the 

 dreaded Eastern question, with all of its uncer- 

 tainties, complications, and dangers. 



This question seems to grow in complexity 

 with every year, and presents at this time a 

 network of conflicting claims, and interests, 

 and difficulties, and contingencies, that may 

 well puzzle the wisdom of statesmen, and ex- 

 cuse the desire of modern governments to push 

 it aside. It is not a simple question of driving 

 the Turks from Europe, or of redressing the 

 wrongs of oppressed peoples ; its solution in- 

 volves a shock to the present adjustment of 

 power in the whole Eastern world, concerns 

 the conflicting interests of powerful and jealous 

 nations, possibly the very existence of some of 

 them, and is, in fact, beset with difficulties on 

 every side and at every point. 



Nearly all the chief Powers have interests 

 in the settlement of Turkish affairs ; but their 

 interests are very unequal. Thus, Germany 

 has hardly any direct interest involved. Its 

 present close connection with Russia, and the 

 moral support which it has given to its neigh- 

 bor all through the war, are ascribed to its an- 

 ticipation of future complications with France, 

 and a desire to secure a powerful friend when- 

 ever hostilities should arise. France has been 

 compelled, by its own internal situation, to be 

 silent in the discussions of the last seven years. 

 It had formerly very active interests both in 

 Egypt and Syria, and is still determined to 

 have a voice in whatever decision is made re- 

 specting the future fate of Syria. Italian in- 

 terests are not large, but are important to the 

 nation, and concern principally the acquisition 

 of commercial facilities on the eastern coast of 

 the Adriatic. The interests of Russia. Great 

 Britain, and Austro-Hungary, are direct, and 

 some of them vital. Russia needs a sea-coast 

 and access to the Mediterranean, which it can 

 get only by possessing the Black Sea and its 

 double straits, or by pressing through Armenia 

 and Syria ; Great Britain is concerned about 

 its routes to India and its commercial pre- 

 ponderance on the Mediterranean ; 'Austro- 

 Hungary anticipates being compelled to face 

 the question of its national existence. With 



