ABSTRACT
A by-product of the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 was what Friedrich Engels called 'the re-emergence of the "Eastern Question"', which had lain dormant since the end of the Crimean War. Karl Marx and Engels felt strongly that Britain should repudiate this declaration to regain her freedom of naval action in the event of war with Russia. They feared that the restrictions imposed upon Britain as the foremost naval power would give undue advantage to Russia. The treatment by the Turks of the sultan's Christian subjects was the main issue; Russian propaganda presented the tsar as the protector and liberator of these subject nations, and especially of the Slav peoples under Turkish rule. During the last stages of the Franco-German War Marx and Engels had hoped for the intervention of Britain and other European powers on the side of France. In February 1878, they again felt that foreign intervention might save the day for the Turks.
