Intermezzo—The International Context (1878–1908)

Abstract

This chapter examines the international context of the European powers' humanitarian interventions during the period 1878–1908. It begins with a discussion of three major changes that took place simultaneously in the late 1870s and directly affected relations between the Ottoman Empire and the European powers. It then considers interventions outside Europe, including the United States's intervention in Cuba against Spain and the British and American intervention against the king of Belgium in the so-called Congo Free State. It also explores three ideological branches of Great Britain's humanitarianism that influenced the reform campaign in Congo: trusteeship, evangelical philanthropy, and the proponents of human rights. The chapter argues that the increased tensions and rivalries, continental and imperial, and new alignments among European powers increased the risk related to armed interventions, which hampered their occurrence.