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... conflict over the Balkans. Between 1875 and 1877 the Sultan of Turkey, whose empire covered this corner of Europe was faced with revolts in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. The Turks inflicted cruel treatments, for example the slaughter of 10,000 Bulgarians in 1876. This prompted Russia to help fellow Slavs. This made uneven ground for Austria, as she was afraid to support slow nationalism as this could threaten her own multi-national empire. With Russia's encroachment in the region, Austria was anxious to prevent it. Which left it increasingly difficult for Austria to maintain dialogue with St. Petersburg. Bismarck was concerned. AS this could lead to the failure of Austro-Russian relations and could compel Bismarck into making a choice between his Dreikaiserbund partners, thus presenting France with a potential ally. In 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey having secured Austrian neutrality with a promise to respect Habsburg interests in the Balkans. Eleven months later, ...