Ottoman Diplomats

Synopsis

Glavany reports that The Times considered the war to be declared between Turkey and Greece. He mentions that almost all French, English and Belgian newspapers disapprove of Greece’s attitude. They reject the idea of an aggressive intervention in favour of Greece and hope that Greece would meet Turkeys legitimate demands. Despite this situation, the financial world had been optimistic, until the note from prince Gortchakoff to the French government in which he asked for an explanation of the behaviour of their representative in Istanbul. Glavany sees this as an example and a proof of the dissension between Russia and the other powers, which was also true for Prussia. Their intervention in Athens was suspicious, and the Berliner press took more and more the side of Greece. Glavany notes that, when he went hunting with the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs (liberal Vander Stichelen) and certain members of the aristocracy, they unanimously approved of the Sublime Porte’s attitude and disapproved of Greece’s attitude. Glavany also mentions the change within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where marquis De Lavalette replaced marquis De Moustier. Glavany seemed to be glad with this change, as he described De Lavalette as liberal on the inside and pacifist on the outside. French Emperor Napoleon III also acknowledged that the French government had become more homogeneously liberal. In Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried – with his excursion to Dresden and his conversation with Saxony’s King John – to tighten the bonds between Prussia and the small states in the North. Glavany mentions that he does not know if Bismarck had succeeded, but he sees it as a positive sign that Berlin realized the need for rapprochements. Glavany also discusses some debates (concerning stamps and colonies) in the Dutch parliament, and he reports news from Spain, where it was finally peaceful. Furthermore, he writes about Belgian parliamentary debates concerning the press.

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