1-626-326 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The sitting of the Congress of Berlin, 1878. The Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the leading statesmen of the European Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), the meeting's aim was to reorganise the countries of the Balkans. Otto von Bismarck, who led the Congress, undertook to balance the distinct interests of Britain, Russia and Austria-Hungary. As a consequence, however, differences between Russia and Austria-Hungary intensified, as did the nationality question in the Balkans.