Constantinople Conference The 1876 – 1877 Constantinople Conference ( from the conference venue " Tersane Sarayı " or ' Shipyard Palace ' ) of the Great Powers ( Britain , Russia , France , Germany , Austria - Hungary and Italy ) was held in Constantinople ( Istanbul ) from 23 December 1876 until 20 January 1877 . Following the Herzegovinian Rebellion started in 1875 and the Bulgarian Uprising in April 1876 , the Great Powers agreed on a project for political reforms both in Bosnia and in the Ottoman territories with a majority Bulgarian population . Participants . The Great Powers were represented at the conference respectively by : Of these , Lord Salisbury , Count de Chaudordy and Baron von Calice were Ambassadors Plenipotentiary to the conference , while Count Ignatyev , Sir Henry Elliot , Count de Bourgoing , Baron von Werther , Count Zichy and Count Corti were the resident Ambassadors of their countries in Constantinople . The US Consul General in Constantinople , Eugene Schuyler also took an active part in drafting the conference decisions . The Ottoman Empire was represented at the conference by : Midhat Pasha was the Grand Vizier ( First Minister ) , and Saffet Pasha the Foreign Minister of the Ottoman Empire . Although the Ottoman representatives participated in the plenaries of the conference , they were not invited to the preceding working sessions at which the Great Powers negotiated their agreement . Lord Salisbury and Count Ignatyev played a leading role in the process . Ignatyev was trying to dispel British misgivings about Russia ’ s assumed role of a protector of the Orthodox Slavs being but a disguise of its drive to take over the Black Sea Straits and Constantinople itself and thus – as Prime Minister Disraeli feared – potentially threaten the vital Mediterranean routes to British India . On his part , Salisbury saw the conference as a promising opportunity for mapping out a comprehensive deal with Russia over their conflicting territorial ambitions in Central Asia . Decisions . Bosnia . The conference envisaged the creation of an province including Bosnia and most of Herzegovina , while a southern part of the latter was to be ceded to the Principality of Montenegro . Bulgaria . The Great Powers agreed on a substantial Bulgarian autonomy to take the form of two new Ottoman provinces ( vilayets ) established for the purpose : Eastern , with capital Tarnovo , and Western , with capital Sofia . The conference determined that , as of the late 19th century , the Bulgarian ethnic territories within the Ottoman Empire extended to Tulcea and the Danube Delta in the northeast , Ohrid and Kastoria in the southwest , Kirklareli and Edirne in the southeast , and Leskovac and Niš in the northwest . These territories were to be incorporated into the two Bulgarian autonomous provinces as follows : The Great Powers elaborated in detail the constitutional , legislative , executive , defense and law enforcement arrangements , canton al administrative system , taxation , international supervision etc . for the proposed autonomous provinces . Conclusion . The agreed decisions of the six Great Powers were formally handed over to the Ottoman Government on 23 December 1876 , dismissing the opening Ottoman suggestions that the Conference ' s mission might have been obviated by a new Ottoman Constitution approved by Sultan Abdul Hamid II that same day . In the subsequent conference plenary sessions the Ottoman empire submitted objections and alternative reform proposals that were rejected by the Great Powers , and attempts to bridge the gap did not succeed . Eventually , on 18 January 1877 Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha announced the definitive refusal of the Ottoman Empire to accept the conference decisions . Legacy . The failure of the Ottoman Government to implement the decisions of the Constantinople Conference triggered the 1877 – 1878 Russo - Turkish War , depriving at the same time the Ottoman Empire – in contrast to the preceding 1853 – 1856 Crimean War – from Western support . Tsarigrad Peak in Imeon Range on Smith Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica is named after the conference ( ‘ Tsarigrad ’ being the old Bulgarian name for Constantinople ) .