Treaty of Berlin, 1878

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The Treaty of Berlin was the final Act of the Congress of Berlin (June 13-July 13, 1878), by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Hamid revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year.

The treaty recognized the complete independence of the principalities of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and the autonomy of Bulgaria, though the latter remained under formal Ottoman overlordship and was divided between the Principality of Bulgaria and the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia, undoing Russian plans for an independent and Russophile "Greater Bulgaria". The Ottoman province of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as the former Sanjak of Novi Pazar were placed under Austro-Hungarian occupation, though formally remaining a part of the Ottoman Empire.

The three newly-independent states subsequently proclaimed themselves kingdoms (Romania in 1881, Serbia in 1882 and Montenegro in 1910), while Bulgaria proclaimed full independence in 1908 after uniting with Eastern Rumelia in 1885. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia in 1908, sparking a major European crisis.

The Treaty of Berlin accorded special legal status to some religious groups; it also served as a model for the Minorities System that was subsequently established within the framework of the League of Nations.<ref>Buergenthal, Thomas (July 1, 2002). International Human Rights in a Nutshell (3rd Edition). West Publishing Company. ISBN 0-314-26014-5. p. 7</ref>

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The Treaty also vaguely called for a border rectification between Greece and the Ottoman Empire which occurred after protracted negotiations in 1881 with the transfer of Thessaly to Greece.