San Stefano, Treaty of

(1878)

   Signed on March 3, 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano concluded the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire that had begun the previous year. Negotiated by the Russian ambassador at Constantinople, it was very favorable to the Russians, forcing the Turks to cede significant territory along the eastern shore of the Black Sea. It also proposed the creation of several new states: a large Bulgarian state to be occupied by Russian troops for two years and an autonomous Bosnia-Herzegovina under Austrian and Russian supervision. The treaty was so unacceptable to Austria and other concerned nations, such as Great Britain, that it was immediately rejected and nearly resulted in a new war. In the end, Otto von Bismarck negotiated a new agreement at the Congress of Berlin in June 1878 that was far less generous to the Russians.

   See also <>.

   FURTHER READING:

    Crankshaw, Edward. The Shadow of the Winter Palace: Russia ’ s Drift to Revolution, 1825–1917. New York: Viking Press, 1976; Macfie, A. L. The Eastern Question 1774–1923. London and New York: Longman, 1989.

   LEE A. FARROW