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Congress of Berlin
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(1878)
A conference of European powers. It revised the Treaty of San Stefano (1878) which had ended the war between the Ottoman empire and Russia (1877–78). Under the chairmanship of the German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, the congress limited Russian naval expansion; gave Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania independence; allowed Austria-Hungary to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina; reduced Bulgaria to one-third of its size; and placed Cyprus under temporary occupation by the British. The congress left Russian nationalists and Pan-Slavs dissatisfied, and the aspirations of Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria unfulfilled. Bismarck's handling of the congress antagonized Russia, and the claim of Disraeli, that it had achieved “peace with honour”, proved unfounded.
