England, without completely abandoning its aim of maintaining the obstacle between Russia and India, slowly came to realise that upholding the disintegrating Ottoman Empire was futile. Only a reformed Ottoman Empire could provide the British with such a barrier to India, hence the constant efforts of the British government to force Turkey to strengthen its domestic structure through reform, and to bring to an end the organised oppressive regimes characteristic of the Ottoman sultans.
When English politicians finally grasped the ignorance and incompetence of men in power in Constantinople, and admitted that the Ottoman Empire was doomed to perish, they effected a policy turn-around. Convinced by the vital force and independent striving of the people in the Balkans, England realised it could create a more permanent and more sturdy obstacle than the Ottoman Empire, which was disintegrating and under threat of coming under Russian sway. England's new policy, therefore, was to concentrate on the improvement of these foetal states and the creation of similar national governments in the Middle East (of Arabs, Armenians and Kurds). 52
England's policy shift was clearly mirrored in the words of the great English politician Lord Bryce, a man who in addition to his good qualities, possessed truthful information about the Armenians and Armenia and was one of the first people to introduce Armenia to his own country and the European nations. "The question, in its present formulation, is no longer how the Ottoman Empire can be kept alive, but what we can do and with what measures we can reduce the ill-omened events which will follow its unavoidable fall." 53
Lord Salisbury, despite being one of the initiators of the Berlin Treaty, came to a somber conclusion regarding the Ottoman Empire and the sultan's policy towards the Armenians. "In the Berlin Congress, by defending and protecting the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, we actually bet on a sick horse." 54
At the same time, as Tyler remarks, having taken over Cyprus (1878) and more importantly Egypt (1882), the Ottoman Empire's services as the defender of the road to India were of much lesser value to England.
In fact, even during the period when England was vigorously protecting the Turks, the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire seen only as a "necessary evil" in the eyes of England. 56England's policy of defending the Ottoman Empire was in direct contrast with the policy pursued in many other places during the 19th century, such as South America, Italy and Poland, where the English government by endorsing the strive of the nations towards independence.
This shift of policy was predicted by Lord Salisbury during the 1876-1878 crisis. Despite working closely with Disraeli during the Berlin Congress, Salisbury realised the mistake that fiasco in which he had involved himself under the influence of Disraeli in deciding England's position.
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