Armenian leaders, lacking faith in reform within…

Armenian leaders, lacking faith in reform within the empire, begin to appeal to the European powers for assistance.

In 1878 Armenian delegates appear at the Congress of Berlin, where the European powers are negotiating the disposition of Ottoman territories.

Although Armenian requests for European protection go largely unanswered in Berlin, the "Armenian question" becomes a point of contention in the complex European diplomacy of the late nineteenth century, with Russia and Britain acting as the chief sponsors of Armenian interests on various issues.