Salisbury was also no doubt influenced by the outcome of the 1880 parliamentary election in England, which itself was prompted in reaction to the eastern policy of Disraeli. The election result showed that opposition to this policy was supported by the majority of the English population. 57 Gladstone, leader of the Labour Party, conducted a merciless election campaign against this eastern policy, which came to be known as the "Midlothian Campaign". 58
The election ended in total victory for Gladstone and the Labour Party. The peculiar, charismatic power of "the deer-eyed man", Disraeli, who had held England under his sway for a long time, was thereby broken. The policy of unconditional defence of the Ottoman Empire was so resoundingly voted down that it could never again be resurrected.
From this point on, a new coolness characterised the relations between England and the Ottoman Empire, becoming more pronounced after England's occupation of Egypt in 1882.
The influence of other major powers in the Orient never reached the significance of England and Russia.
In France, the significance of profit in trade started to overshadow overall profit and replace the goals of the freedom-striving bourgeois, which up to that point had guided the foreign policy of the country. The policy of protecting material interests in the Orient replaced the defence of public rights.
Austria-Hungary, weakened by the awakening of the peoples under its rule, was forced to revaluate its ambitions regarding Salonik, and contented itself with defending the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.
Finally, Germany, which until 1890 did not have any major interest in the Orient, committed to defending the oppressor against the oppressed, according to the time-honoured Bismarckian formula.
Armenian Question from 1878 to 1894
With the signing of the Berlin Treaty in 1878 and the forced evacuation of the Russian troops in Western Armenia before reforms were implemented, England, therefore, took on the responsibility for improving the situation of the Armenians. We mentioned earlier that Lord Salisbury, Disraeli's foreign minister, did concurred neither with the insolent and cynical attitude of his premier nor with his expansionist fantasies. In Salisbury's opinion, every reform implemented to further order in the Ottoman Empire, and especially in the Armenian provinces, would have strengthened the Ottoman government. This in itself would have prevented Russia from intervening in the domestic issues of the Ottoman government, in which England took great interest.
One of the English government's first measures was to broaden its consular service in the Middle East and Western Armenia by appointing eight military consuls, led by Major Trotter, chief consul in Erzurum, and Major Charles Wilson, chef consul in Sivas. 61 The mission of these consuls was to notify their government about the situation in these provinces and the condition of its Armenian population thereby keeping the English government informed to allow for the implementation of its duties.
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