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Midlothian campaign
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==The Bulgarian Uprising of 1876== [[File:Konstantin Makovsky - The Bulgarian martyresses.jpg|thumb|Russian painting depicting the rape of Bulgarian women during the April Uprising]] In 1875 the [[Eastern question]] came to the fore for the first time since the [[Crimean War]].<ref>Robert Blake: ''Disraeli'' Prion, London 1966, p. 575.</ref> In July 1875 an [[Herzegovina uprising (1875β1877)|insurgency against Ottoman rule]] broke out in [[Herzegovina]], soon spreading over to Bosnia. Then at the end of April 1876 an insurgency had broken out in Bulgaria against Turkish rule. Military of the Ottoman Empire and [[Bashi-bazouk|irregular troops]] soon crushed the Bulgarian revolt, thereby committing brutal massacres and killing some 12,000 people. To block Russia from filling the vacuum, Britain had strong ties with the crumbling Ottoman Empire, long branded as [[Sick man of Europe]]. For London, it was essential to support Ottoman Empire against further Russian expansion.<ref>John Campbell: ''Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown.'' Vintage Books, London 2009, p. 126.</ref> This stemmed partly from British suspicions over Russian intentions towards India. In the 1860s a series of [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|Russian conquests in central Asia]] reinforced British concerns about Russia either marching to India direct or cutting the British rout to India. British politicians & diplomats feared that by taking Constantinople, Russia would have been able to threaten the Suez canal.<ref>Robert Blake: ''Disraeli'' Prion, London 1966, p. 576 f.</ref> In the 1870s, there were voices that this dogma had in fact become obsolete. With the return of the conservatives to power in [[1874 United Kingdom general election|1874]], [[Benjamin Disraeli]] became prime minister. This forms a landmark in British foreign policy, as it ended a period of isolation and non-intervention. Since 1865 the policy of both parties had been to abstain from Continental affairs.<ref>R. W. Seton-Watson: ''Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question: A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics.'' W.W. Norton & Company, London 1972, p. 3.</ref> From the beginning, Disraeli put his special attention to foreign policy and introduced an Imperial conception of affairs.<ref>R. W. Seton-Watson: ''Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question: A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics.'' W.W. Norton & Company, London 1972, p. 3 f.</ref> Disraeli also feared that by taking Constantinople, Russia could at any time march their Army through Syria to Egypt.<ref>Robert Blake: ''Disraeli'' Prion, London 1966, p. 577.</ref> So for Britain, the "Key to India" remained in Constantinople.
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