Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/674

Rh 652 TURKEY [HISTORY. the part of the better Turkish statesmen to check the torrent of misrule. His creature, Mahmiid Pasha, main tained his place in spite of universal contempt, until a conspiracy was formed at Constantinople, which cost the sultan his throne (30th May 1876) and a few days later his life. His imbecile successor, Murad V., gave place after a reign of three months to Abd-ul-Hamfd II. The Bosnian insurrection had already extended to Bulgaria, and the slaughter of the Turkish inhabitants in certain villages had been avenged by massacres of the most fearful character. Servia and Montenegro took up arms. The resources of European diplomacy were exhausted in fruit less attempts to gain from the Porte some real securities War with for better government, and in April 1877 Russia declared Russia. war. The neutrality of Austria had been secured by a secret agreement permitting that country to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, if Russia should extend its influ ence beyond the Balkans. The Bulgarian massacres had excited such horror and indignation in England that Lord Beaconsfield was forced to remain neutral. The ministry contented itself with stating that England would not per mit Egypt to be the scene of hostilities, nor acquiesce in any prolonged occupation of Constantinople by Russian troops. Turkey was thus left without an ally. The Russians entered Bulgaria in June; and, while Rustchuk was besieged, their advanced guard under Gourko hurried across the Balkans. Meanwhile Osman Pasha, coming from Widdin, occupied and fortified Plevna on the Russian line of march. Against his redoubts the Russians, ill commanded, threw themselves in vain, and Gourko was compelled to fall back on the Shipka Pass. But in December the capture of Plevna, in which Roumanian troops cooperated, set free the invading army, and the march on Constantinople was resumed. The Balkans were passed in mid- winter ; Adrianople was occupied; and the Turkish armies were captured or annihilated. The Russians now pressed forward to the very suburbs of Constantinople, and on 3d March 1878 peace was concluded at San Stefano. In Asia the Russians had captured Kars and were besieging Erzeroum. Treaties The treaty of San Stefano ceded to Russia the portion of of San Bessarabia taken from it in 1856, together with the bte an Dobnulja, and also Kars, Batoum, and the adjoining Berlin, territory in Asia. It recognized the independence of Servia, Montenegro, and Roumania, and largely extended the territory of the first two. Bulgaria was constituted an autonomous state, though tributary to the Porte, and was defined so as to extend to the ^Egean Sea and to include the greater part of the country between the Balkans and the coast. Crete, Thessaly, and Epirus were to receive the necessary reforms at the hands of a European com mission. To this treaty Great Britain refused to give its assent, and vigorous preparations were made for war. The fleet was at the Dardanelles, and Indian troops were brought to Malta. Russia could no longer count on the neutrality of Austria. Under these circumstances the court of St Petersburg consented to submit the treaty to a European congress, which, after a secret agreement had been made between Russia and England on the principal points of difference, assembled at Berlin. The treaty of San Stefano received various modifications, the principal being a reduction of the territory included in Bulgaria and the division of that state into two parts. Bulgaria north of the Balkans was constituted an autonomous prin cipality ; Bulgaria south of the Balkans was made into a province, with the title of Eastern Roumelia, subject to the authority of the sultan, but with a Christian governor and an autonomous administration. Austria received Bosnia and Herzegovina. The territory ceded to Servia and Montenegro by the treaty of San Stefano, as well as that ceded to Russia in Asia, was somewhat diminished. The Porte was advised to make some cession of territory to Greece, and the line of frontier subsequently recom mended gave to Greece Janina as well as Thessaly. The usual promises of organic reform were made by Turkey. By a separate convention England undertook the defence of Asiatic Turkey and received Cyprus. The organization of Eastern Roumelia was duly taken in hand by a Euro pean commission and brought to a favourable conclusion ; but it was not until a naval demonstration had been made by England that the final cession of Dulcigno to the Monte negrins was effected, and that Thessaly, without Epirus, was given up to Greece. Alexander of Battenberg became prince Bul- of Bulgaria. By a popular movement in 1885 Bulgaria garian and Eastern Roumelia were united into a single state. ( l uestl011 - This revolution occasioned the utmost displeasure at St Petersburg; and under Russian influence Prince Alexander was kidnapped and forced to abdicate. The Porte offered no armed resistance to the union. (c. A. r.) Literature. The best work on Ottoman history is Von Hammer s Geschichte des Osmanischen .Rc&es(Buda-Pesth, 1834-35), which covers the period between 1300 and 1774. The author availed himself of the writings of the Turkish annalists as well as of those of his European predecessors ; and all later Western historians of the empire have borrowed directly or indirectly from his volumes. This valuable work has been translated into French by Hellert, Histoire de I Empire Ottoman (Paris, 1835-41). The best English work is Creasy s History of Hie Ottoman Turks (London, 1854-56) ; it is compiled for the most part from Von Hammer. Prince Cantemir of Moldavia s History of the Growth and Decay of the Othman Empire (London, 1734) contains many interesting particulars, but is not always trustworthy. The best Turkish authorities for the period 1300-1730 are Sa d-ud-Din, Tdj-ut-Tcvdrikh (1300-1520); Pechevl, Tdrikh, i.e., &quot; History&quot; (1520-1631); Na faid, Tdrikh (1591-1059); Rashid, Tdrikh (1661-1722); and Chelebi-zada, TArikh (1722-28). For the later period, see Zinkeisen, Geschichte des Osmanischen Seiches, 7 vols. (Hamburg and Gotha, (2d ed., Berlin, 1877) ; H. von Moltke, Briefe tiler Z-iistande in der Tiirkei (1835-39) (3d ed., Berlin, 1877); Prokesch-Osten, Mehmed AH (Vienna, 1877); Rosen, Ge schichte der Tiirkei (1826-56) (2 vols., Leipsic, 1866-07); Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea (6 vols., new ed., Edinburgh, 1875-80); Eichmann, Reformendes Osmani schen Reiches (Berlin, 1858); V. Baker, War in Bulgaria (2 vols., London, 1879); W. Miiller, Russisch-Turkischer Krierj (Stuttgart, 1878). For the diplomatic his tory, seeAus Metternich s Papieren (Vienna, 1880-84) ; Wellington, Despatches(ac-w ser., London, 1867-71) ; Gentz, Depeches Intdites (3 vols., Paris, 1876-77) ; Sir H. Bulwer, Palmerston (2 vols., London, 1871); Guizot, Memoires (Paris, 1858-67); bir F. Hertslet, British and Foreign State Papers (London, 1819, and still in progress), and Map of Europe by Treaty (1875); Parliamentary History and Papers Presented to Parliament. SULTANS OF THE HOUSE OF The dates are those of the sultan s accession, according to the Moslem and Christian eras. 1. Osman I son of Er-Toghrul 2. Orkhan son of Osman I. ... 3. Murad I son of Orkhan 4. Bayezid I son of Murad I. A.H. 700 726 761 791 Interregnum 804 5. Muhammed I son of Bayezid 1 816 6. Murad II son of Muhammed 1 824 7. Muhammed II. son of Murad II 855 8. Bayezid II son of Muhammed II 886 9. Selim I son of Bayezid II 918 10. Suleyman I son of Selim I. 926 11. Selim II son of Suleyman 1 974 12. Murad III son of Selim II 982 13. Muhammed III son of Murad III 1003 14. Ahmed I son of Muhammed III 1012 15. Mustafa I son of Muhammed III 1026 16. Osman II son of Ahmed 1 1027 Mustafa I (restored) 1031 17. Murad IV son of Ahmed 1 1032 18. Ibrahim son of Ahmed 1 1049 19. Muhammed IV son of Ibrahim 1058 20. Suleyman II son of Ibrahim 1099 21. Ahmed II son of Ibrahim 1102 22. Mustafa II son of Muhammed IV 1106 23. Ahmed III son of Muliammed IV 1115 24. Mahmud I son of Mustafa II 1143 25. Osman III son of Mustafa II 1168 26. Mustafa III son of Ahmed III 1171 27. Abd -ul-Hamid I son of Ahmed III 1187 28. Selim III son of Mustafa III 1203 29. Mustafa IV son of Abd-ul-Hamid I. ... 1 222 30. Mahmud II son of Abd-ul-Hamid I. ..1223 31. Abd-ul-Mejid son of Mahmud &quot;II 1255 32. Abd-ul- Aziz son of Mahnrad II 1277 33. Murad V son of Abd-ul-Mejid 1293 34. Abd-ul-Hamid II. ...son of Abd-ul-Mejid 1293 A. p. 1301 1326 1359 1389 1402 1413 1421 1451 1481 1512 1520 1566 1574 1595 1603 1617 1618 1622 1623 1640 1648 1687 1691 1695 1703 1730 1754 1757 1773 1789 1807 1808 1839 1861 1876 1876