SERVIA, AUSTRIA, TURKEY, AND RUSSIA. 159 



and in favour of their national independence, and this intervention 

 involved her in hostilities with her ancient foe, the Ottoman Porte. 



The causes which led to that intervention, and to the conflict 

 which subsequently took place, have been described in the preceding 

 chapter on " Russia, Bulgaria, and Turkey," and it will, therefore, 

 only be necessary, in order to preserve the continuity of Servian 

 history, to quote the following passages from this chapter having 

 reference to the subject : — 



Prior to the Crimean War the Christian populations of the Turkish Provinces in 

 Europe were recognised as being under the Protectorate of Russia by the Treaty of 

 Adrianople of 1829, and confirmed by the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi of 1832 ; but the 

 Treaty of Paris (1B56) which followed the Crimean War, changed this, and imposed 

 upon the Great Powers the obligation which had previously been exercised by 

 Russia. 



From the year 1856 to 187s, when the insurrection broke out in Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina, there had long been constant and repeated complaints in regard to the 

 rapacity, injustice, and brutality of the Turkish Government or its officials. 



Time after time remonstrances had been made by our own and other Governments, 

 but to no avail. 



In the summer of 1875 the insurrection broke out in Bosnia. Prior to the outbreak, 

 the Bosnians had been doing what they could to obtain a redress of their wrongs, but 

 in vain, for in the autumn of 1873 a memorial was presented to the Austrian Govern- 

 ment by a number of the inhabitants of Bosnia, praying, among other things, ' ' That 

 an impartial Commission, composed partly of Christian subjects of the Sultan, should 

 be sent from Constantinople for the purpose of inquiry into the state of Christians in 

 Bosnia, and that this commission should carry on its labours with the support of the 

 Signatory Powers to the Treaty of Paris." 



Towards the end of April, the insurrection, fomented by foreign emissaries, spread 

 to Bulgaria ; but it was characterised by such barbarous atrocities that naturally 

 aroused a storm of public indignation in England against Turkey, and a strong 

 demand was made that England should separate herself from a nation which 

 perpetrated such cruelties, that a. stop should be put to Turkish rule in Bulgaria, 

 Bosnia, and Herzegovina ; a demand which compelled the Porte to take vigorous 

 measures to stamp out the rebellion. 



. . • • . 



The sympathy felt by the Servians for their brothers who still 

 remained under the Turkish yoke was naturally great, for the 

 relations between them were close, as they spoke the same language, 

 and cherished the same aspirations for freedom. 



Servia had, in the meantime, increased the danger of the situation 

 by a note of warning, addressed in the first instance to the Great 

 Powers, and subsequently to the Porte, and when the Russian 

 General Tchernaief offered his services to her, Servia believed that 

 " the hour and the man had arrived," and at once proclaimed her 



