An Analysis of the Effect of the 1878 Berlin Treaty on Diplomatic Policy Making

Abstract

Politically, the Balkan region was split into multiple new entities such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania after the Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878. The Ottoman Empire lost the majority of its territory in Europe and the Balkans became an influential competitor among the Great Powers of Europe. The ambitions and interests of these Great Powers, the consequences of a declining Ottoman influence and the interests of the newly formed Balkan nations are the key components of analysing this competition. These components feed into the Berlin Treaty's influence in laying the foundations of the Balkan Wars in the 1910's and how the meddling of Great Powers caused underlying territorial and ideological tensions to escalate into warfare on 3 occasions, eventually creating the "powder keg of Europe".