Editing Benjamin Disraeli (section)

====Balkans and Bulgaria====
[[File:Fight near Telish 1877.jpg|thumb|Fight in Bulgaria during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78]]|alt=Cavalry wielding sabres fight men with guns on foot]]
In July 1875 Serb populations in [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]] and [[Herzegovina]], then provinces of the Ottoman Empire, [[Herzegovina Uprising (1875–77)|revolted]] against the Turks, alleging religious persecution and poor administration. The following January, Sultan [[Abdülaziz]] agreed to reforms proposed by Hungarian statesman [[Julius Andrássy]], but the rebels, suspecting they might win their freedom, continued their uprising, joined by militants in Serbia [[April Uprising|and Bulgaria]]. The Turks suppressed the Bulgarian uprising harshly, and when reports of these actions escaped, Disraeli and Derby stated in Parliament that they did not believe them. Disraeli called them "coffee-house babble" and dismissed allegations of torture by the Ottomans since "Oriental people usually terminate their connections with culprits in a more expeditious fashion".<ref>Roberts, pp. 150–151</ref>

Gladstone, who had left the Liberal leadership and retired from public life, was appalled by reports of [[Batak massacre|atrocities in Bulgaria]], and in August 1876, penned a hastily written pamphlet arguing that the Turks should be deprived of Bulgaria because of what they had done there. He sent a copy to Disraeli, who called it "vindictive and ill-written&nbsp;... of all the Bulgarian horrors perhaps the greatest".<ref>Jenkins, pp. 399–403</ref> Gladstone's pamphlet became an immense best-seller and rallied the Liberals to urge that the Ottoman Empire should no longer be a British ally. Disraeli wrote to Lord Salisbury on 3 September, "Had it not been for these unhappy 'atrocities', we should have settled a peace very honourable to England and satisfactory to Europe. Now we are obliged to work from a new point of departure, and dictate to Turkey, who has forfeited all sympathy."<ref>Roberts, pp. 151–152</ref> In spite of this, Disraeli's policy favoured Constantinople and Ottoman territorial integrity.<ref>Blake (1967), p. 607</ref>

[[File:Constantinople-conference.jpg|thumb|upright|International delegates at the Constantinople Conference: clockwise from top left, [[Saffet Pasha]] (Turkey), [[General Ignatieff]] (Russia), Lord Salisbury (Britain) and the Comte de Chaudordy (France)|alt=Four men]]
Disraeli and the cabinet sent Salisbury as lead British representative to the [[Constantinople Conference]], which met in December 1876 and January 1877.<ref name = "j409">Jenkins, p. 409</ref> In advance of the conference, Disraeli sent Salisbury private word to seek British military occupation of Bulgaria and Bosnia, and British control of the [[Ottoman Army]]. Salisbury ignored these instructions, which his biographer, [[Andrew Roberts (historian)|Andrew Roberts]] deemed "ludicrous".<ref>Roberts, pp. 160–161</ref> The conference failed to reach agreement with the Turks.<ref>Weintraub, p. 571</ref>

Parliament opened in February 1877, with Disraeli now in the Lords as Earl of Beaconsfield. He spoke only once there in the 1877 session on the Eastern Question, stating on 20 February that there was a need for stability in the Balkans, and that forcing Turkey into territorial concessions would not secure it. The Prime Minister wanted a deal with the Ottomans whereby Britain would temporarily occupy strategic areas to deter the Russians from war, to be returned on the signing of a peace treaty, but found little support in his cabinet, which favoured partition of the Ottoman Empire. As Disraeli, by then in poor health, continued to battle within the cabinet, Russia invaded Turkey on 21 April, beginning the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)|Russo-Turkish War]].<ref>Weintraub, pp. 576–577</ref>