The Struggle for World Dominationand the Great Eastern Crisis of 1875-1878

Abstract

The proposed analysis evaluates Russian and British policies during the Great Eastern Crisis (1875-78), with bilateral relations being placed in the context of the global hostility between England and Russia lasting from 1815 onwards. In the period between the end of the Crimean War (1853-56) and early 1870s there were serious changes in the balance of power in Europe, which was related to the creation of the German Empire in 1871. The possibility of Russian-German geopolitical union however was a bad global scenario for the United Kingdom. Because of this, English policy during the Great Eastern Crisis was not that strongly opposed to the Russia one, and did not support the Ottoman Empire at all costs. This made it possible to establish political compromise between London and St. Petersburg, which eventually became the basis of the Congress of Berlin in 1878.