บท 49: Is it in the blood? (2) (July-September, 1875).
Herzegovina Uprising, Bosnia-Herzegovina]
In July-August 1874, Jovan Gutic, Simon Zechevich, Ilya Stevanovich, Trivko Grubachich, Prodan Rupar and Piotr Radovic of Bosnia met to prepare an uprising against the Ottoman yoke. Determining that they would make a move in 1875, a move known to Prince Nicholas I of Montenegro.
The leaders of the movement narrowly escaped the Ottomans.
Armed by Montenegrin and Serbian volunteers, the Herzegovina uprisings began on July 5.
However the first great victory of the uprising occurred on August 29 in the city of Nevesin, Turkish exhaustion allowed the creation of commissions to receive even more Serbian-Montenegrin and foreign support (creating commissions in Saint Petersburg, Rome, Vienna, etc.) .
The Ottomans with 15,000 men attacked the rebel positions of Niksic, Nevesine, Gacko, Bilechi and Goransko, which together numbered 10,000 men, worse armed than the Turks, but still there was fierce resistance.
On August 15, the Herzegovinian uprising spread into Bosnia, uniting Serbs and Croats against the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans formed guards at Banja Luka, Travnik, Bihac, Bossa Dubica and Kostaynitsa, Prijedor and Stari Maidan.
While more weapons flowed from Serbia, Montenegro and Austro-Hungarian Croatia to the rebels in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
While with a lot of foreign support (Slavic at least ...) the rebels in Bosnia-Herzegovina lack a clear direction (lack of organization), they lack serious foreign support from any great power and are less armed than the Turks.
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[Russia]
"I don't care if the rebels lose or win a few battles now, I want them to be heard. From Vladivostok to Lisbon, I want Europe to be notified every day of what is happening in the Balkans." Emperor Alexander III announces, having gathered various Russian journalists and writers. "In any language, English, French, German, Hungarian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian!".
At those words the courage of the Russians increases exponentially, their Slavic brothers and sisters were rising up against the Ottoman Empire.
A state with which the Russian Empire (which was considered a legitimate successor to the Byzantine Empire) had fought a considerable number of wars.
And there were many ways to help the rebels.
Pan-Slavic and nationalist newspapers began to distribute as many brochures as they could around Russia and more, brochures of the "heroic struggle" of the native Slavs of Bosnia-Herzegovina against the Ottoman Empire.
The brochures were transferred to Romania and Hungary, where they quickly became popular, and from there they were able to spread to greater corners of Eastern Europe.
Almost day by day accounts of the fighting were reaching ears outside the Ottoman Empire, the important thing was if the Ottomans made any mistakes ...
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From Russia it did not take long to form a corps of volunteers, members of the populist movements who decided to put aside the distant and diplomatic support to take up arms and go to fight against the Ottomans.
Populists like Sergei Mikhailovich Stepnyak-Kravchinsky, Dmitry Aleksandrovich Klements, Mikhail Petrovich Sazhin, and more.
The moods at home were obvious, the Russians didn't want to sit too long while the Ottomans had only one problem.
They wanted the Ottoman Empire to have a LOT of trouble.
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[Joseon and Russia]
On September 20, Japanese forces in the Unyo gunboat (led by Inoue Yoshika) entered Russia-Korean waters without permission, since in doing so passed near Chedzhu and Trivolny (Quelpart and Tsushima, Russian territories in the straits).
Alerting the Russian Pacific Navy, already alerted to this possibility by orders of the Admiralty. Because the Japanese ship conducted "artillery exercises" dangerously close to Busan, which is very close to the Russian Tsushima.
A Russian gunboat and minor ships set out to meet the Unyo in the Korean Strait (which counted with Russian maritime frontiers). The Unyo crew said they were going to replenish their drinking water supplies on Ganghwa Island, very close to Seoul (and where the French and Russians had attacked earlier).
In reality, the Japanese had orders to carry out a conflict with the Koreans to force the Korean government to listen to Japanese terms in certain aspects...
The Russian ship offered the Japanese to replenish their water at Chedzhu.
At first Inoue Yoshika responded negatively and asked to pass, but then the Russian navy prohibited him from passing so close to Russian waters (Quelpart and Tsuhima) because the first violation of said territory.
In part, the Russian captain's excuse was the undocumentation carried out by Inoue Yoshika, so the Japanese ship was told that it would have to return at another time fulfilling the requirements to enter Russian waters.
The Korean coastal navy timidly appeared on the scene of the Russo-Japanese encounter. The Japanese tried to say that they were on a mission to document the Yellow Sea and some nearby lands, not strictly opposed to the excuse given to the Russians but raised some suspicions..
However, the Russians and Koreans did not move from their sides of the strait, forcing the gunboat Unyo to retreat not to seek a conflict with Russia (a government directive in the Meiji Restoration, due to economic debt issues and that Japan was not industrially prepared for this).
Secretary Nikolai de Girs assured under the auspices of Emperor Alexander III that the ship Unyo and its crew would not have major consequences for the violation of Russian territorial (maritime) sovereignty.
An act without a doubt very welcome among Japanese diplomatic circles since even though Japan had her ambitions, they did not cause a major diplomatic crisis with Russia.
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[Russia]
The event received little attention, the actual newspapers were paying too much attention to the Balkan revolt issues to pay particular attention to the event (which didn't go too far) in the straits.
"Luckily the event did not escalate further." Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov announces calmly. "Giving orders not to let the Japanese pass without Korean permission is unusual emperor, we are usually very neutral on foreign affairs. Fortunately Nikolai de Girs seems to have calmed the nearby Japanese diplomats." The minister mentions.
"We are in a time of change, Japan whether we like it or not is going to try to industrialize and they will have some success in it." Emperor Alexander III responds. "Did the Koreans say something?"
"De Girs reports that the Busan authorities seem to remind us, they have sent some gifts to Chedzhu but nothing official." Minister Gorghakov explains.
"We are going to host a diplomatic meeting between Russia and the Joseon dynasty. We indicate that we are concerned about the recent violation of Russian and Korean territorial waters." Emperor Alexander III indicates.
"Understood". Minister Gorchakov sentences.
The response from the Joseon dynasty, led by Emperor Gwangmu (at the court dominated by his wife, Empress Min), would take a while to reach Nikolai de Giers.
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[Korean perspective]
After the Russia-Joseon-Japan straits incident, anti-Japanese factions in the court pounced on the need to do something against future Japanese attempts to interfere in Korean affairs or violate Korean sovereignty.
Good because Queen Min was looking for something to weigh against Japanese interest on the Korean peninsula.
Then the secretary of the Asian department of the Russian Empire, Nikolai de Girs approached to send diplomatic notes for the possibility of a Russian-Korean meeting before the recent tripartite meeting (Russia, Korea and Japan in the Straits).
It was seriously discussed whether it would be the right time (or whether Russia was even the right ally) to take such action, which could provoke an aggressive Japanese or Chinese response.
However, a conclusion had to be reached sooner or later.
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