During my travels in North Macedonia, I was puzzled to see lots of references and mentioned to ex-UK Prime Minister William Gladstone. What would a 19th-century British statesman have in common with a modern nation-state?

The answer focuses on the interdependencies of foreign policy and 19th century realpolitik.

The Bulgarian Horrors crisis

In April 1876, the Bulgarian Horrors crisis began¹. This was Bulgarian people, living in what was then the Ottoman Empire, revolting against Turkish rule. It was part of a larger pattern of troubles that had been brewing across the Balkans, starting with uprisings in Bosnia and Herzegovina² the year before. The rebels wanted freedom from Ottoman control and dreamed of independence. The uprising was shambolic and ill-planned, making it easy for the Ottoman forces to crush.

This doesn’t sound like much; protests happen everywhere and some are less successful.

The Austro-Hungarians were putting down a rebellion in Prague around the same time as this, but they weren’t being as brutal as this. Rebellious spirit was in the air everywhere at the time.

The crisis itself was about the terrible way the Ottoman Empire put down this rebellion³. The Ottoman government used irregular troops called bashi-bazouks^{4 5} to stop it. They carried out horrific massacres against Bulgarian civilians⁶, killing thousands of innocent people. The most shocking event happened in the town of Batak^{7 8}. Historical estimates show about 5 000 people were slaughtered⁹. They burnt villages and destroyed monasteries¹⁰. What made these events so terrible was that the violence was not just against rebels, but against ordinary Bulgarian families, including women and children.

The aftermath of the Bulgarian Horrors had a massive effect on European politics. News of the massacres spread across Europe through newspaper reports. This created enormous public anger, especially in Britain. People were shocked that their government had been supporting the Ottoman Empire¹¹. The crisis helped turn British public opinion against the Turks and made it impossible for Britain to continue its traditional policy of backing the Ottoman Empire against Russia¹². Eventually, this led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878¹³ and the Congress of Berlin^{14 15}, which created new independent Balkan states¹⁶ and began the long process of Ottoman withdrawal from Europe.

William Gladstone’s philosophy

The Bulgarian Horrors changed William Gladstone’s thinking about the Ottoman Empire. Before this crisis, Gladstone had considered retiring from leadership of the Liberal Party¹⁷. When Britain heard about the massacres, Gladstone felt he couldn’t stay silent. He was deeply moved by stories of innocent Christians¹⁸ being murdered by what he saw as a barbaric Muslim government¹⁹.

In September 1876^{20 21}, Gladstone wrote a famous pamphlet called “The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East“^{22 23}. In this powerful piece of writing, Gladstone argued that the Turkish government was guilty of “crimes and outrages, so vast in scale as to exceed all modern example”²⁴. He described the Ottoman Empire as “the one great anti-human specimen of humanity”²⁵ and said that wherever the Turks went, “a broad line of blood marked the track behind them”²⁶. This pamphlet sold thousands of copies and helped to turn British public opinion against the Conservative government’s pro-Turkish policy.

Gladstone’s philosophy became focused on the idea that Christian nations had the right to govern themselves, rather than being ruled by Muslim empires²⁷. He believed that Britain had a moral duty to protect Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, especially after the Crimean War when Britain had helped to keep the Ottoman Empire alive²⁸. When Gladstone returned to power as Prime Minister in 1880, he tried to put these ideas into practice. His government worked to implement the reforms promised in Article 23 of the Berlin Treaty, which was supposed to improve conditions for Christians in Macedonia and other Ottoman provinces. Gladstone soon found that actually changing things on the ground was much harder than writing about them in opposition.

Macedonia for the Macedonians: A Good but Flawed Idea

In 1897, Gladstone came up with his famous slogan “Macedonia for the Macedonians”. In a letter to the Byron Society, he wrote: “Why not Macedonia for Macedonians, as well as Bulgaria for Bulgarians?”²⁹. This idea seemed fair and reasonable – that the people who lived in Macedonia should have the right to govern themselves, rather than being carved up between the neighbouring Balkan states of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece.

Gladstone’s vision was based on the principle of self-determination³⁰ – the idea that people should choose their own government. He worried that if the Macedonians did not unite and work together, they would be “devoured” by the existing Balkan states who all wanted to grab pieces of Macedonian territory³¹. This was a wise prediction, as exactly this happened during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, when Macedonia was divided between Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece.

Gladstone’s idea had serious flaws that would cause problems leading up to World War I³². The biggest problem was that Macedonia was home to many different ethnic and religious groups – Orthodox Slavs, Muslim Albanians, Turks, Jews, Roma, and others³³. These groups did not all think of themselves as “Macedonians” and often had stronger loyalties to Bulgaria, Serbia, or Greece³⁴. When different nationalist movements tried to win over the local population, it led to violent competition between Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian armed groups. Historians call this the Macedonian Struggle³⁵. It made life miserable for ordinary people and created lasting hatreds between the communities.

The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 left all the regional powers unsatisfied with the borders that were drawn. Bulgaria felt cheated because it lost most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece. When World War I started, Germany and Austria-Hungary promised to give Macedonia back to Bulgaria. Faced with the possibility of righting what they thought was a historical wrong, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers³⁶. This led to a bloody campaign on the Macedonian front, where Bulgarian forces, supported by irregular paramilitaries, carried out terrible atrocities against Serbs and other groups they saw as enemies.

Conclusion

The cycle of violence and revenge that had started with the Bulgarian Horrors of 1876 was still continuing nearly forty years later.

It’s good to see the Macedonians respect Gladstone and his will to help create change. His fight led to the creation, and acceptance, of their country so they’ve good reason to be thankful. History tells us that a region ravaged by complex ethnic and religious divisions will not be easily tamed, even by a noble cause. And especially not by an outsider.

Everyone trying to “help” in the Middle East would do well to bear this in mind.

References

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
4. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
5. Çi̇çekN. (2017) ‘Bulgarian Horrors’ Revisited: the Many-Layered Manifestations of the Orientalist Discourse in Victorian Political Construction of the External, Intimate and Internal Other. Belleten. [Online] 81 (291), 525–568[↩]
6. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
7. Çi̇çekN. (2017) ‘Bulgarian Horrors’ Revisited: the Many-Layered Manifestations of the Orientalist Discourse in Victorian Political Construction of the External, Intimate and Internal Other. Belleten. [Online] 81 (291), 525–568[↩]
8. Reid, J. J. (2000) Batak 1876: A massacre and its significance. Journal of Genocide Research. [Online] 2 (3), 375–409[↩]
9. Reid, J. J. (2000) Batak 1876: A massacre and its significance. Journal of Genocide Research. [Online] 2 (3), 375–409[↩]
10. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
11. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
12. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
13. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
14. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
15. Whitehead, C. E. A. (2014) The Bulgarian Horrors [online]. Available from: https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0167317/1 (Accessed 27 August 2025) [↩]
16. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
17. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
18. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
19. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
20. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
21. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
22. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) Bulgarian Horrors | Ottoman Empire, Balkan Wars, Ethnic Cleansing | Britannica [online]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bulgarian-Horrors[↩]
23. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
24. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
25. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
26. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
27. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
28. Gladstone, W. (1874) The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. [online]. Available from: https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/pdfs/bulgarian_horrors_glad.pdf (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
29. Gladstone, W. (2012) The Macedonian Question [online]. Available from: https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/william-gladstone-on-the-macedonian-question-1168/ (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
30. Koliopoulos, I. (ed.) (2013) Books and Research Papers on the History of Macedonia and the Greek Heritage Collection. Blue Vergina Sun. [online]. Available from: https://archive.org/stream/TrueHistoryOfMacedonia/The%20history%20of%20Macedonia%20%28edited%20by%20Ioannis%20Koliopoulos%29_djvu.txt[↩]
31. Gladstone, W. (2012) The Macedonian Question [online]. Available from: https://thedocumentarynews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/william-gladstone-on-the-macedonian-question-1168/ (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
32. Hall, R. C. (2024) War in the Balkans / 1.1 / handbook – 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopaedia [online]. Available from: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war-in-the-balkans-1-1/(Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
33. Marinov, T. (2009) We, the Macedonians [online]. Available from: https://books.openedition.org/ceup/890?lang=en (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
34. Marinov, T. (2009) We, the Macedonians [online]. Available from: https://books.openedition.org/ceup/890?lang=en (Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
35. Hall, R. C. (2024) War in the Balkans / 1.1 / handbook – 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopaedia [online]. Available from: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war-in-the-balkans-1-1/(Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]
36. Hall, R. C. (2024) War in the Balkans / 1.1 / handbook – 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopaedia [online]. Available from: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war-in-the-balkans-1-1/(Accessed 28 August 2025) [↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.