The Decline of the Ottoman Empire, The Sick Old Man of Europe

The Eastern Question was the collective term for the problems raised in south-eastern Europe by the weakness of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the rivalry of its successors. At the peak of the Ottoman Empire, it stretched from the Persian Gulf to the gates of Vienna, Austria but by 1870 it was commonly referred to as the ‘sick man of Europe'. Reasons for its deterioration can be attributed to the slip of the Turkish army into total decay, the backwardness of the Turkish economy and the corrupt and inefficient nature of the Turkish administrative system. Basically, the Ottoman Empire had remained for all intensive purposes a medieval state. These difficulties were compounded by the rise of Balkan nationalism. This issue also had he effect of involving the Great Powers in the region as their rivalries in the Balkans led to a series of conflicts in the late nineteenth century and substantially contributed to the outbreak of World War One. Russia viewed themselves as protectors of the Slav peoples of South-East Europe, the Austrians wished to annex land and also dampen Balkan nationalism lest it spread to their own Empire and Britain was wary of Russian attempts to control the Dardanelles lest their route to India be menaced and therefore supported Turkey against Russian encroachments. In 1875, disturbances began in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Balkan province of the Turkish Empire. Muslim overlords had been mistreating their Christian peasantry leading to mass revolts. Fearing a descent into full scale war, the Austrian foreign minister Andrassy sent a note to the Sultan demanding a series of reforms in the Balkans. All the powers signed the ‘Andrassy Note' but the Turks chose to ignore it and continued their policy of suppressing disturbances which had by 1876 spread to Bulgaria. Serbia and Montenegro decided to take advantage of the situation by attacking Turkey in the hope of acquiring territory.

The Great Powers gathered in Berlin, drawing up a memorandum in which they renewed their initial demands and threatened action if improvements were not forthcoming. However, because of British fears of Russia's intentions they refused to sign the Berlin Memorandum which encouraged the Turks to increase their repressive measures. But the Turks pushed the boat too far when one of their irregular armies, the Bashi-Bazouks committed massacres in Bulgaria, the British withdrew all support. Russia was given free reign and it took it, attacking Turkey and initially sweeping all before them before been held at Plevna. Sympathy in Britain swung back in favour of the Turks and for a time, a conflict between Russia and Britain looked to be on the cards but the Russians and Turks sued for peace, signing the Treaty of San Stefano. The Treaty of San Stefano created the large autonomous state of Bulgaria, confirmed the independence of Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro and granted territorial gains to Serbia and Montenegro. Britain viewed its suspicions as proven by the existence of Bulgaria which it believed would prove to be a Russian satellite. Britain with backing from Austria pressured Russia into accepting the Treaty to being reviewed at the Congress of Berlin, 1878. Presided over by Bismarck, it decided that Bulgaria was to be split up, parts being returned to Turkey, Britain annexed Cyprus, Russia annexed South Bessarabia and Austria occupied and administered Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Congress proved decisive as it marked the beginning of a resurgence in Balkan nationalism and the beginning of the movement of Europe into two divisive camps.

However, the Bulgarians proved to be anti-Russian and the country contrary to Britain's fears did not become a Russian satellite. In fact, they sided closer to Britain and France fuelling expectation that Russia would invade to right the wrong but this was prevented by the Dual Alliance which stated that the Germans would come to the aid of the Austrians who were sure to be affronted by any belligerent move by Russia against Bulgaria. The crisis also had the effect of Russia building links with France to stave off complete isolation. This had the effect of strengthening the divide between the two camps though Britain remained non-committal to either and from 1888 it began to drift from Turkey, indeed building links with Russia. No longer did Britain need to worry about Russia interfering with it's trade route to India as it had occupied Egypt in 1882 and Cyprus in 1878. Germany began to ally itself with Turkey, the alliance being cemented by the rise to power of the Young Turks in 1908. The Young Turks attempts to re-establish Turkish control over the Balkans led Austria to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina angering Russia and Serbia in the process. The Serbs felt that because Bosnia-Herzegovina was predominately a Slav province and that it should become incorporated into their state. Terrorist activities increased culminating in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the final straw which led directly to World War One. The strident nationalism of the Young Turk movement and its continued repression of other nationalities in their Empire led to the creation of the Balkan League, a coalition consisting of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro. In 1912 the League attacked and won immediate victories against the Turkish army, driving Turkey almost completely out of Europe, leaving only Constantinople and parts of Thrace under their control. However, the League turned against one another because of disputes over who deserved what part of the ‘sick man of Europe'. During the First World War, Turkey and Bulgaira sided with the Alliance, under the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) Turkey ceded all claims to the non-Turk lands of the former Ottoman Empire thereby ending the problematic Eastern Question.