Századok – 1997

Tanulmányok - Diószegi István: Bismarck; Andrássy és a balkáni válság 1875–1877-ben III/557

622 DIÓSZEGI ISTVÁN The second part of the article discusses the great powers' efforts to settle the crisis, i.e., their meeting in Berlin and the Reichstadt Agreement, as well as the German efforts to solve the crisis by territorial arrangements to the detriment of Turkey. The author introduces the process as a result of which the Russians decided for war and the Austro-Hungarian attitude toward the Russian intentions. He points out that the well-intentioned neutrality of Austria-Hungary was partly due to its hopes for territorial compensation, partly to the lack of an alternative. Bismarck also considered the war against Turkey the lesser evil. In the concluding paragraphs the article deals with the last diplomatic efforts preceding the war, the conference at Constantinople and the London Protocols, and establishes that these efforts failed due to the rigidity of the Turkish government and the ambiguous attitude of its British counterpart.