ssia finally broke was the claim, based upon her reading of the Vienna
note, to stand as religious protector of the Greek Christians in the
Balkan peninsular. That was the pivot of the whole negotiations, and the
war was the outcome of our support of the Turkish view--or, rather, our
conduct of Turkish policy, for throughout the whole period England was
conducting the Turkish negotiations; indeed, as Bright said at the time,
she was carrying on the Turkish Government and ruling the Turkish Empire
through her ministers in Constantinople.

I will quote a speech of the period made in the House of Commons. It was
as follows:

Our opponents seem actuated by a frantic and bitter hostility to
Russia, and, without considering the calamities in which they might
involve this country, they have sought to urge it into a great war,
as they imagined, on behalf of European freedom, and in order to
cripple the resources of Russia....

The question is, whether the advantages both to Turkey and England
of avoiding war altogether, would have been less than those which
are likely to arise from the policy which the Government has
pursued? Now, if the noble Lord the Member for Tiverton is right in
saying that Turkey is a growing power, and that she has elements of
strength which unlearned persons like myself know nothing about;
surely no immediate, or sensible, or permanent mischief could have
arisen to her from the acceptance of the Vienna note, which all the
distinguished persons who agreed to it have declared to be
perfectly consistent with her honour and independence. If she had
been growing stronger and stronger of late years, surely she would
have grown still stronger in the future, and there might have been
a reasonable expectation that, whatever disadvantages she might
have suffered for a time from that note, her growing strength would
have enabled her to overcome them, while the peace of Europe might
have been preserved. But suppose that Turkey is not a growing
power, but that the Ottoman rule in Europe is tottering to its
fall, I come to the conclusion that, whatever advantages were
afforded to the Christian population of Turkey would have enabled
them to grow more rapidly in numbers, in industry, in wealth, in
intelligence, and in political power; and that, as they thus
increased in influence, th