Chapter 12: The Final Summit, 1874-80

Item 136
'The Tables Turned'
Cartoon by G. Bridgman, c.1867
John Johnson Collection Gladstone folder I (52)

Gladstone's stand drew negative as well as positive comment. Here his support for the Christian Bulgarians provided a moral argument for Russia's action. The publication of his famous Bulgarian atrocities pamphlets in September 1876 drew on unsubstantiated reports in the press, vastly inflated the numbers of the victims in the gruesome events, and appeared to call for the expulsion of the Turks from Europe (later modified by Gladstone to refer to Turkish ministers). Disraeli was quick to comment on Gladstone's carelessness with the figures and the impact of his pamphlet on prospects for a peaceful settlement. Gladstone, reinvigorated, later returned to the leadership of the Liberals, and the premiership.