The five European great powers struggle to keep the peace in the era where Realpolitik has replaced the Congress system.

1. Nineteenth Century Europe
PART 3
1871-1914
session 11
The Great Powers & the Balance of Power,
1871-1890

2. topics
I. Introduction
II. Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78
III. The Congress of Berlin, 1878
IV. Alliance Systems
V. The Bulgarian Crisis, 1886-87

3. Introduction
After a great storm, the sea is likely to work for some
time. So, after all the conflicts of the 1860s and the
culminating war of 1870, it was not surprising that the
international climate should have been turbulent for a
period. What was alarming, however, was that the
atmosphere did not improve with the passing of time.
Gordon A. Craig, Europe Since 1815, 3rd edition.
Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1971. p. 248.

5. WW Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth; A non-
communist manifesto (1960)
1. Traditional Societies
2. Pre-conditions to Take-off
3. Take-off
4. Drive to Maturity
5. Age of High Mass Consumption
The Five Stages

7. Panics, Recessions, Depressions
the business cycle
Agricultural Industrial Financial
US
1814
1818-1819
1836-1837
1857
1873
1884
1893
Britain
1815
1818-1819
1825-26
1836-1837
1847
1857
1866
1873
1890

9. Consumer and Heavy Industry
1760s to 1820s
textile mills
water power
Arkright’s “Water
Frame”
Hargreave’s “Spinning
Jenny”
Crompton’s “Mule”
Watt’s steam engine
(original use--pumping
out coal mines)
iron mills--”puddling”
transportation--”Puffing
Billy” & Fulton’s
“Clermont”

10. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Scottish moral philosopher and father of
political economy
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations (1776)
opposed governmental interference with
domestic and international trade
“the invisible hand” of competition and
rational self interest--> laissez-faire
cornerstone of 19th century Liberalism

11. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Scottish moral philosopher and father of
political economy
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations (1776)
opposed governmental interference with
domestic and international trade
“the invisible hand” of competition and
rational self interest--> laissez-faire
cornerstone of 19th century Liberalism

12. An illustrated depiction of Bogdan Zimonjić, Mićo
Ljubibratić, Stojan Kovačević, and Pecija in the 1876
issue of Orao, a Serb annual magazine published in Novi
Sad. 1875—Wikipedia
LEADERS AND COMMANDERS OF THE
UPRISING IN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
YEAR 1875

13. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Scottish moral philosopher and father of
political economy
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations (1776)
opposed governmental interference with
domestic and international trade
“the invisible hand” of competition and
rational self interest--> laissez-faire
cornerstone of 19th century Liberalism

14. A Russian painting of atrocities committed by Turkish
Bashi-bazouks. Konstantin Makovsky, 1875 —Wikipedia

15. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Scottish moral philosopher and father of
political economy
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations (1776)
opposed governmental interference with
domestic and international trade
“the invisible hand” of competition and
rational self interest--> laissez-faire
cornerstone of 19th century Liberalism

16. “Puffing Billy”
1813-14
for Wylam Colliery near
Newcastle upon Tyne
(not retired until 1862)

17. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834)
English political economist and demographer
An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
population appears to be expanding more
rapidly than the food supply
thus only war, famine and pestilence will restore
the balance, welfare for the poor only
encourages more of them!
known as Malthusian catastrophe and economics
came to be called the dismal science (Thomas
Carlyle)

18. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834)
English political economist and demographer
An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
population appears to be expanding more
rapidly than the food supply
thus only war, famine and pestilence will restore
the balance, welfare for the poor only
encourages more of them!
known as Malthusian catastrophe and economics
came to be called the dismal science (Thomas
Carlyle)

19. Russian troops repulsing a Turkish assault against the fortress of Beyazid on June 8, 1877,
oil painting by Lev Feliksovich Lagorio, 1891.
Mt. Ararat

20. Dragoons of Nizhny Novgorod pursuing the Turks near Kars,• 1877, painting by Aleksey Kivshenko

21. Russian crossing of the Danube,• June 15 1877, painting by Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, 1883

22. The Ottoman capitulation at Niğbolu (Nicopolis, modern Nikopol) on 4 July 1877 was significant, as it
was the site of an important Ottoman victory in 1396 which marked the expansion of the Ottoman
Empire into the Balkans. Nikolai Dmitrev-Orenburgsky, 1883

23. Plevna’s Commander
1852-after Beshiktash Military HS, graduated
Ottoman Military College and entered the
cavalry on the eve of the Crimean War
1859-promoted for bravery to the General Staff.
Then sent to put down rebellions in the empire as
far away as Yemen
1871-commanded the Third Army in Rumelia
1876-when Serbia proclaimed independence he
suppressed them, then moved back as Russia
declared war
1877-he was ordered to defend Nikopol, but it
fell before he could reach it
He then prepared Plevna for the inevitable
attack. To defend his southern supply line he
took 5,000 troops to Lovech
Osman Nuri Pasha
1832-1900
circa 1860

24. Fight near Ivanovo Chiflik on 2nd October 1877 near Lovech. Pavel Kovalevsky
Closing the Gap on Plevna

26. Romanian troops storming the Grivitsa redoubt during the Romanian War of Independence of 1877–1878 fought
against the Ottoman Empire. The event took place on 30 August 1877. Henryk Dembitzky, 1881.

28. Taking of the Grivitsa redoubt by the Russians – a few hours later the redoubt was recaptured by
the Ottomans and fell to the Romanians on 30 August 1877 in what became known as the "Third
Battle of Grivitsa”. Nikolai Dmitrev-Orenburgsky, 1885

29. The artillery battle at Plevna. The battery of siege guns on the Grand Duke Mount.
Nikolai Dmitrev-Orenburgsky, 1880.

31. Monument/Chapel in Moscow for the Battle of Plevna

32. Pleven, Centennial Celebration, 1977
Russian and Bulgarian artists worked to construct this
historic cyclorama/panorama like those of Borodino or Sevastopol in the USSR.

33. Pleven, Centennial Celebration, 1977
Finished in time to celebrate Bulgarian independence (at the cost of 35,000 lives).

34. Pleven, Centennial Celebration, 1977
A photo of part of the 3d/2d interior display

36. Russia’s Hero
1868-sent from the General Staff to Turkestan and remained
in Central Asia until 1877
1873-In the Khivan campaign, in every sort of warfare he
distinguished himself, received the Order of St. George and
promotion to Major General
1877-commanded a Cossack brigade in the second battle of
Pleven. Initial success was wiped out. Turkish losses, 2,000;
Russian, 7,300
August, 1877-in the third battle, he took and held two
redoubts. By the beginning of Sept: Turkish losses, 8-10,000;
Russian, 20,000 and surrendered
9 Dec 1877-promoted to Lt Gen he led the fourth battle of
Plevna where Osman Pasha was wounded, and surrendered
with his army.
Jan 1878-crossed to Shipka Pass in a severe snowstorm
defeating the Turks at Shenovo capturing 36,000 men and 90
guns
Br. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote that he was the
world’s “ablest single commander” between 1870 and 1914
and called him a “skillful and inspiring” leader.”—Wiki
Mikhail Dimitreyvich Skobelev
1843-1882
circa 1881

37. Russia’s Hero
1868-sent from the General Staff to Turkestan and remained
in Central Asia until 1877
1873-In the Khivan campaign, in every sort of warfare he
distinguished himself, received the Order of St. George and
promotion to Major General
1877-commanded a Cossack brigade in the second battle of
Pleven. Initial success was wiped out. Turkish losses, 2,000;
Russian, 7,300
August, 1877-in the third battle, he took and held two
redoubts. By the beginning of Sept: Turkish losses, 8-10,000;
Russian, 20,000 and surrendered
9 Dec 1877-promoted to Lt Gen he led the fourth battle of
Plevna where Osman Pasha was wounded, and surrendered
with his army.
Jan 1878-crossed to Shipka Pass in a severe snowstorm
defeating the Turks at Shenovo capturing 36,000 men and 90
guns
Br. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote that he was the
world’s “ablest single commander” between 1870 and 1914
and called him a “skillful and inspiring” leader.”—Wiki
Mikhail Dimitreyvich Skobelev
1843-1882
circa 1881

42. Results of the Siege of Plevna
The Siege of Plevna seriously delayed the main Russian advance into Bulgaria, but its end freed up Russian
reinforcements, which were sent to Gen. Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko, who then decisively defeated the Ottoman
forces in the fourth battle of Shipka Pass. The siege was widely reported on and followed by the public in Europe and
beyond. Although the declining Ottoman Empire was by this time often regarded as "the sick man of Europe", the
Ottoman Army's five-month-long resistance against a much larger army earned a degree of admiration, which may have
contributed to the unsympathetic treatment of the Russian Empire at the Congress of Berlin.
According to British diplomatic historian A. J. P. Taylor:
Most battles confirm the way that things are going already; Plevna is one of the few engagements which changed the course of history. It
is difficult to see how the Ottoman Empire could have survived in Europe...if the Russians had reached Constantinople in July; probably
it would have collapsed in Asia as well. Plevna...gave the Ottoman Empire another forty years of life.
The siege of Plevna also signaled the introduction of the repeating rifle into European warfare. Russian troops at
Plevna were largely armed with the M1869 Krnka,• a single shot lifting breech block conversion of the muzzle loading
M1857 rifled musket even though some units had been reequipped with the more modern, but still single shot, Berdan
rifle.• The old Krnka was soundly outperformed by the more modern single shot Turkish Peabody-Martini rifles• and it
became clear that the new Berdan rifle had also been rendered obsolete even as it was being introduced into service,
outclassed by the Turkish Winchester repeaters.• Reports of the heavy losses suffered by the Russian army at the
hands of the Turks at Plevna forced armies across Europe to begin the process of either reequipping with repeating
rifles or finding a way to convert their existing single shot rifles into magazine fed weapons.—Wikipedia

47. III. The Congress of Berlin, 1878

48. The Great Powers of Europe, in their dealings with one another, were never after 1871 able to re-establish that
sense of inter-dependence and mutual confidence that had enabled the European Concert to work so effectively
and with so little formal machinery in the first part of the nineteenth century. The Concert of Europe was, on
occasion, called into existence, and on one notable occasion, in Berlin in 1878, it acted with the authority and
efficiency of an earlier age.
Craig, loc. cit.

49. When the Russians resumed their push toward the Straits, they found the international climate had cooled
significantly; and, when Turkish resistance collapsed and the Russian government imposed terms, they
discovered that Great Britain and Austria-Hungary were prepared to oppose them.
This is understandable, for the Peace of San Stefano of March 1878, negotiated by the Russian ambassador
at Constantinople, an ardent Pan-Slav named Ignatiev,…”
Craig, op. cit., p. 254

51. Signing of peace treaty St Stefano."Forgotten photos of Russo-Turkish War” —Wikimedia Commons

52. The signing of the Treaty of San Stefano, 3 March 1878.—The Illustrated London News: Vol. 72, p. 264-265 (March 23, 1878)

54. Terms of the Treaty
…It called for the cession to Russia of Kars, Ardahan,
and Bayazid, and of Batum on the eastern shore of the
Black Sea,..”
Craig, loc. cit.
1
2
3
4
BLACK
SEA

55. Terms of the Treaty
…It called for the cession to Russia of Kars, Ardahan,
and Bayazid, and of Batum on the eastern shore of the
Black Sea,• as well as the area known as Dobrudja.•
Here, colored yellow

56. .
…It called for the cession to Russia of Kars, Ardahan, and Bayazid, and of Batum on the eastern shore of
the Black Sea,• as well as the area known as Dobrudja.• More significantly, it provided for the creation of a
large Bulgarian state, which would stretch from Macedonia to Salonika on the Aegean and which would be
occupied by Russian troops for a period of two years….”
Craig, loc. cit.
SALONIKA
DANUBE
B
L
A
C
K
S
E
A
AEGEAN SEA

57. Terms of the Treaty
…It called for the cession to Russia of Kars, Ardahan, and Bayazid, and of Batum on the eastern shore of the
Black Sea,• as well as the area known as Dobrudja.• More significantly, it provided for the creation of a large
Bulgarian state, which would stretch from Macedonia to Salonika on the Aegean and which would be
occupied by Russian troops for a period of two years.• The additional provisions of the treaty, for an increase
of Serbian and Montenegrin territory and for the creation of of an autonomous Bosnia-Herzegovina under
Austro-Russian supervision,…”
Craig, loc. cit.

58. Terms of the Treaty
…It called for the cession to Russia of Kars, Ardahan, and Bayazid, and of Batum on the eastern shore of the
Black Sea,• as well as the area known as Dobrudja.• More significantly, it provided for the creation of a large
Bulgarian state, which would stretch from Macedonia to Salonika on the Aegean and which would be occupied
by Russian troops for a period of two years.• The additional provisions of the treaty , for an increase of Serbian
and Montenegrin territory and for the creation of of an autonomous Bosnia-Herzegovina under Austro-Russian
supervision,• were hardly calculated to allay Austro-Hungarian fears (the more so because the Russians
conveniently forgot that they had previously promised that, in the event of Balkan changes, they would support
the Austrian acquisition of Bosnia); and the treaty as a whole was considered completely inadmissible by Great
Britain. Indeed, even before its signature, the British government had ordered the fleet to proceed to the Straits,
and British public opinion was in an excitable state.
Craig, loc. cit.

76. David Ricardo (1772-1823)
born in London, third of seventeen children
in a Sephardic Jewish family from Portugal
followed his father as a successful stock
trader, became wealthy and an MP
in 1799 read Smith and began to write on
economics
Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
(1817)
“the Iron Law of Wages”
favored free trade, repeal of the corn laws

80. The Bulgarian Crisis
In the middle 1880s, Bismarck’s security system was strained to the utmost by new Balkan
complications, this time in the state of Bulgaria. These arose from the fact that Russia, having
fought for Bulgarian freedom and, in the first years after the Congress of Berlin, helped the
fledgling state organize its political and military institutions, expected Bulgaria to repay these
services, not only with gratitude, but with deference to Russian advice. The majority of literate
Bulgarians, however, were imbued with national pride and had no desire to be particularly
deferential to anyone. This difference of view was given specific point by the politics of Prince
Alexander of Battenberg, a nephew of the tsar who had been elected to the Bulgarian throne in
1879 with Russian approval.
Craig, op. cit., p. 258.

81. Modern Bulgaria’s First Ruler
1877-78—during the war, Alexander of Battenberg
accompanied his uncle, Tsar Alexander II at the
front
1879—though only 22 he initially showed much
ability and dealt well with the factions of
experienced Bulgarian politicians
he threw his lot in with the nationalists in Sofia
against his Russian advisors. At issue was his
favoring an Austrian railway plan
1885—he consented to the Plovdiv Revolution
against Turkey in Eastern Rumelia which led to
union with Bulgaria.
1886—when Serbia invaded, Alexander led the
army and drove them out
20 Aug 1886—a coup by disgruntled officers who
felt they had not received enough rewards forced
his abdication 1857-1879-1886-1893

88. But all that lay far in the future and could not be foreseen in 1888. By the beginning
of that year the troublesome Bulgarian crisis had finally been liquidated, and
international tension had been relaxed. Bismarck could take satisfaction in the fact that
his network of alliances was still in good repair and, indeed, had been strengthened by
Great Britain’s association with the junior members of the Triple Alliance.• There was
no immediate prospect of new troubles in Europe. The warmongers in France and the
Pan-Slavs in Russia were in eclipse, and the attention of all powers was becoming
increasing absorbed by problems of territorial expansion and colonial exploitation in
areas far from the European center.
Craig, op. cit., p. 261.
Kaiser Wilhelm I died in Berlin on 9 March 1888, and Prince Wilhelm's father ascended the throne as Frederick III.
He was already suffering from an incurable throat cancer and spent all 99 days of his reign fighting the disease
before dying. On 15 June of that same year, his 29-year-old son succeeded him as German Emperor and King of
Prussia.—Wikipedia

89. It was Russia’s fate to enter European Great Power rivalry “behind” her competitors in so
many ways
the Crimean humiliation in 1858 led Alexander II to take a strong hand against Turkey as
defender of the Balkan Slavs
Bismarck briefly revived the European “Congress” system in 1878, but there were many
states which felt aggrieved with the resultant treaty
the diplomatic challenge of Bismarck’s final years tested his considerable talent
and the Bosnian crisis almost destroyed the alliance system he had constructed
the German military leadership first displayed its dangerous tendency to meddle
all themes for some troublesome future stories
jbp